This is a lovely piece and it really resonated with me. As a very sensitive (also undiagnosed autistic) kid living through the Cold War, I had tremendous fears about nuclear war. Last week was A LOT.

JFK, Trump & 6 Decades of My Autistic Nightmares Existential crises fry my autistic brain. I've always needed to know what's going on... Like, will we live through the weekend? I trace the line from the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis to modern political tensions, reflecting on a life defined by sensory…

#Medium readers... this may resonate with you. Existential crises fry my autistic brain. I've always needed to know what's going on... Like, will we live through the weekend? #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #PoliticalNews medium.com/artfullyauti...

#Medium readers... this may resonate with you. Existential crises fry my autistic brain. I've always needed to know what's going on... Like, will we live through the weekend? #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #PoliticalNews medium.com/artfullyauti...

View on ThreadSky: https://tbsky.app/profile/johnnyprofane1.bsky.social/post/3mjexjo3zp22v

🧵 Autism Acceptance vs Autism Awareness? Angels dancing on heads of pins? I'm more into Autism Equity. I dón't want someone's condescending acceptance of me. I want what everyone wants. As free a life as anyone else. And freedom without equity doesn't seem remotely possible for me. 1/2

"What if this is the last walk I can ever give Gussie… give Stripey?" That got me out of my chair Wednesday night. The night of Iranian Crisis countdown. 64 years of autistic trauma, a Catholic schoolyard, a recurring nightmare. #ActuallyAutistic #IranWar open.substack.com/pub/johnnypr...

🧵 April doesn't have to be the cruelest month for #ActuallyAutistic folks. We could #OccupyApril. Freaking OWN it. Case in point... My autistic autonomy. 1/2

"What if this is the last walk I can ever give Gussie… give Stripey?" That got me out of my chair Wednesday night. The night of Iranian Crisis countdown. 64 years of autistic trauma, a Catholic schoolyard, a recurring nightmare. #ActuallyAutistic #IranWar open.substack.com/pub/johnnypr...

I don't need my agenda 100% of the time. But I DO need 100% of my attention devoted to my agenda... some time... Every day. #AutismAwarenessMonth You got anything on your autistic chest you want the World to be aware of? 2/2

🧵 April doesn't have to be the cruelest month for #ActuallyAutistic folks. We could #OccupyApril. Freaking OWN it. Case in point... My autistic autonomy. 1/2

I hear you! I was a very sensitive kid during the Cold War with parents who were news junkies, so I was really aware of, and terrified about, the possibility of nuclear war. The past decade of Trump has brought all of those fears (and memories) back!!

I've grown so much stronger over 7 years writing. Learned so much about being... a form of sentient human. Filled with compassion & curiosity & wonder... & deep damage. Squeezing out thru that tiny hole in my face... One word at a time. Gotta love #ActuallyAutistic #AutismAwareness

Invoke the fucking 25th, you crazy bastards... or you'll be living in hell. #Congress #Iran #WW3 .

Invoke the fucking 25th, you crazy bastards... or you'll be living in hell. #Congress #Iran #WW3

So many starter packs available to help you quickly connect to the Autistic and Neurodivergent Communities I hope you'll spend #AutisticPeoplesMonth getting to know us a little better 🫶

Maybe I just try too hard to get people to see that I’m not completely odd for humanity? Lol 😂😂😂 Sometimes I believe that I am just too weird for other people.

When RFK Jr. called autism an "epidemic," I had a PhD, years of research, and a daughter named Phoebe. I was afraid to respond. She wasn't. She said: "It's about time." 🧵

Calm before skills! Co-regulation—not lectures—helps neurodivergent kids thrive. Reset, adjust, breathe, repeat. Rituals + choices changed our mornings. Try “calm first, skills second.” 5-min read → bit.ly/3JPmK5N #Parenting #Neurodiversity #CoRegulation

#NoCar #NoClass #NoKings #ActuallyAutistic

Horror stacked on horror...

🧵 Some nights? I feel like a busted spring... a broken dancer in a jewel box... trying to wind myself up for one more performance. Hell... most mornings, too. #Autistic. #ADHD. Born way back in 1953... Full piece, images, video, podcast here: open.substack.com/pub/johnnypr... #Neurodivergent

For #Medium readers... quick clip from one autistic elder's experience in the career track. Burnout ain't a bad week. It's a presence... that curls up beside you. Then, won't let go. If this resonates, click for the full article here: medium.com/autisticrn/s... #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #auDHD

Biggest crawdad chimney I ever saw. Local Greene County, Indiana lawn. Must be a foot or more high... A Crawdad Castle? Itcs the weekend. What's your secret special interest? #SpecialInterest #ActuallyAutistic #LovingKindness #SentientBeings #Animals #Crawfish

Biggest crawdad chimney I ever saw. Local Greene County, Indiana lawn. Must be a foot or more high... A Crawdad Castle? Itcs the weekend. What's your secret special interest? #SpecialInterest #ActuallyAutistic #LovingKindness #SentientBeings #Animals #Crawfish

View on ThreadSky: https://tbsky.app/profile/johnnyprofane1.bsky.social/post/3mg5xaeaby226

This new piece, LETTING GO, isn’t an answer. It’s an accusation… and a terrified question: “If I let go of the dream of being somebody... what would I be then?” Swipe through the images. If one hits you in the gut, that's the one for you. open.substack.com/pub/johnnypr...

But I'm still driven to 'matter"... surrounded by folks who think one Netflix series and a couple of think-pieces mean they “get” us. They don’t see the psych wards. The childhood terror. The way fame and “being known” can become a kind of one-person cult you’re too scared to leave. 2/3

🧵 Some nights? I feel like a busted spring... a broken dancer in a jewel box... trying to wind myself up for one more performance. Hell... most mornings, too. #Autistic. #ADHD. Born way back in 1953... Full piece, images, video, podcast here: open.substack.com/pub/johnnypr... #Neurodivergent

#Medium readers... If your family history feels like a knot of secrets & pain, you’re not alone. Autistic elder. Born 1953. That's 7 decades of American history twisting MY family. Check out ‘Slouching toward Montauk’. medium.com/artfullyauti... #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #Poetry #MentalHealth

For #Medium readers... quick clip from one autistic elder's experience in the career track. Burnout ain't a bad week. It's a presence... that curls up beside you. Then, won't let go. If this resonates, click for the full article here: medium.com/autisticrn/s... #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #auDHD

If your family history feels like a knot of secrets & pain, you’re not alone. Autistic elder. Born 1953. That's 7 decades of American history twisting MY family. Check out ‘Slouching toward Montauk’. #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #Poetry #MentalHealth #Psychology #Neurodivergent

A few mutuals asked me to put this up native here. This is “Letting Go.” A 3-minute video from a longer piece About Walmart checkout lines, family harm, psych wards, dreams that refuse to die. Content note: language, trauma, performance pressure #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #Poetry

#ActuallyAutistic folks on #Spotify… I’m 73, still chasing dreams I may never catch. Especially that gut-deep need to matter as an autistic elder. This 41-sec clip is a taste. Click for the full Walmart-to-rage-to-hope story: open.spotify.com/episode/2pXn... #AuDHD #AutisticElder #Poetry

Autistic badass. My kinda peeps.

At 73, I'm still chasing dreams I'll never fully reach. The biggest? That gut-wrenching need to matter… For the full story… the Walmart moment that sparked it & the rage-to-hope ending… Head to #ApplePodcasts. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/7... #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #AutisticElder #Poetry

A few mutuals asked me to put this up native here. This is “Letting Go.” A 3-minute video from a longer piece About Walmart checkout lines, family harm, psych wards, dreams that refuse to die. Content note: language, trauma, performance pressure #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #Poetry

I'm autistic. I speak plainly and simply. Which of course makes most people suspicious... Average humans spend their time interpreting hidden motives. I speak out loud... to discover mine. Who designed these beings? Who gave them language? And why? Lol #ActuallyAutistic #auDHD #Neurodivergent

"Wanna know what could really change things happening in America right now...? A law making it a felony for a politician or a law officer... to lie." I know. Idealistic to the point of fantasy... but I'm posting this. just wanted your experience of it. #ActuallyAutistic

We may not have heard the worst horrors of the Epstein Class... yet... Bodies of girls who died in abusive sex at Eostein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico? Local news reports not hitting corporate news .. youtu.be/kQ8YKlX13qM?...

I'm autistic. I speak plainly and simply. Which of course makes most people suspicious... Average humans spend their time interpreting hidden motives. I speak out loud... to discover mine. Who designed these beings? Who gave them language? And why? Lol #ActuallyAutistic #auDHD #Neurodivergent

7 Autistic Decades. I’m Still Driven. What If I NEVER Get “There…”? Still driven to matter. Desperately. Almost 73. And I can’t unwind… busted springs, broken dancer in a jewel box. This piece isn’t an answer. It’s an accusation. And underneath? A terrified question I can’t stop asking.

I can’t see faces. When I try to remember someone… even my wife… I see a shifting swirl of features. This is about being friends… when your brain doesn’t work the way the world expects. No inspiration porn. What it’s like. #ActuallyAutistic #Poetry johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/p/autistic-i...

Also on #Substack johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/p/this-autis... 2/2

#Medium folks aren’t afraid of a little vulnerability… and following it all the way inside. Full text + performance video: medium.com/artfullyauti... Do you struggle with “I know you… but I can’t place you” panic? Let's talk in comments... #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #Neurodivergent #MentalHealth

I can’t see faces. When I try to remember someone… even my wife… I see a shifting swirl of features. This is about being friends… when your brain doesn’t work the way the world expects. No inspiration porn. What it’s like. #ActuallyAutistic #Poetry johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/p/autistic-i...

#Medium folks aren’t afraid of a little vulnerability… and following it all the way inside. Full text + performance video: medium.com/artfullyauti... Do you struggle with “I know you… but I can’t place you” panic? Let's talk in comments... #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #Neurodivergent #MentalHealth

shocking. somehow more shocking than anything so far from ICE. beyond cruelty. #Minneapolis www.linkedin.com/posts/laura-...