Only managed to raise $13 for food, still trying to raise money for my physical. $174/$299

Please consider donating.

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ourinsatiabesouls

#MutualAidRequest
#Disability #MutualAid #disabilitymutualaid #BlackMutualAid #crowdfunding #PWD #DisabilityCrowdFund #Queercrowdfund
#BlackMastodon #autism #HelpFolksLive2025 @mutualaid @mutual_aid@hexbear.net @mutual_aid@starflower.space @MutualAidVisibility

@actuallyautistic

It is a common misconception that autistic's hate change and aren't always able to deal with it. In fact, I can't help thinking that as deeply attuned to the world and as aware of everything around us as we are, that we know only too well and perhaps more than most, that the world is always changing and that nothing ever really stays the same. That change is as inevitable as the seasons and that stability is an ongoing process and not a static and frozen moment. That we are, in fact, only too familiar with the fragility of things and that we work damn hard to keep the sameness around us and to maintain the stability we crave. That we, unlike many, deal with change all the time, just in our own way.

No, what I really think we hate is losing control of that, of not feeling as if we have any say in what is going on. Of plans being suddenly changed by others, of things being imposed rather than chosen. Of events being beyond the control of our foresight. Because if we haven't been able to plan for something, now, or in the past, then we have nowhere to go, no steps we can make. We are adrift and all too often scared and angry, without the agency and control that we need to feel safe and until we can get that back and are able to return to some sort of familiar ground, then that is the way we tend to stay.

So no, it's not that we can't deal with change, or hate it. It's not more, or less, stressful for us, than it is for everyone else, a fact we often overlook. It's just that we have to deal with it our way and in a world that is not made for us and where it's not always possible to do that, as much because others don't always think about it and let us, then hating that, is hardly surprising.

#Autism
#ActuallyAutistic

This week I launched a book, signed dozens of books in bookshops, was interviewed about being autistic for the Irish Times (published today), had a photographer come to the house, travelled to another city, spoke to multiple strangers.

I also got overwhelmed and cried on a city street, lost the ability to speak for one hour, felt anxiety to point of body shaking, woke in night with anxious thought spirals, felt increased sensory sensitivity.

This is #Autism

@actuallyautistic

With #AutismAcceptanceMonth near: reject Autism Speaks' blue puzzle piece propaganda, ableist lies, and neurotypical voices talking over us. Listen to #ActuallyAutistic voices:

• Reject AS: https://autisticmama.com/do-not-support-autism-speaks/ (CW: discussion of ableism)
• AS and the Judge Rotenberg Center: https://www.autistichoya.com/2013/11/an-unholy-alliance-autism-speaks-and.html (CW: discussion of ableism, torture, murder)
• Don't "light it up blue": https://www.meriahnichols.com/light-it-up-blue-is-bad-this-is-why/
• Go #RedInstead: https://learnfromautistics.com/wear-redinstead-on-autism-acceptance-day/

@actuallyautistic

Discredited anti-vaccine advocate will lead #CDC study on #vaccines and #autism

A discredited anti-vaccine advocate who has no medical background and who has been disciplined for practicing medicine without a license will reportedly lead a questionable federal study on vaccines and autism—despite a large volume of existing research that has found no link between the two and despite a thorough debunking of claims that vaccines cause autism.
#vaccine

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/rfk-jr-hires-anti-vaccine-advocate-to-study-debunked-vaccine-autism-link/

“David Geier is NOT a vaccine skeptic. Stop calling him that.
Letting him head an “investigation” into vaccines and autism will legitimize his decades of lies and illegal medical treatments that harmed children.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/immunologic/p/david-geier-is-not-a-vaccine-skeptic

The MOVE 4 Kids Event is a national fundraising event in support of the MOVE by GoodLife Kids physical activity and fitness program for youth with autism and intellectual disabilities, offered by GoodLife Kids Foundation.

If I raise enough in donations to let at least one kid with #autism or other #intellectualdisabilities to use this valuable resource, it'll be awesome. It's a great program for kids who are often left out.

I hope my #infosec colleagues can help me blow this goal out of the water! More info, and donation link here:

https://goodlifekids.akaraisin.com/ui/MOVE4Kids2025/p/3ea63f5e66fd48528a96d4ba64c3998c

To my fellow famously #protest-averse #Americans:

#April5

#MoveOn, #Indivisible, 50501, etc are having nationwide demonstrations

Everyone show up

*Everyone*

"But I have to go to Starbucks and scroll Instagram"

The #economy is about to go in the toilet due to #Trump. That's a thing a lot of you assholes pretend to care about

The rest of us will be there for #NeriAlvaradoBorges

Deported to #ElSalvador over a "gang" (#Autism Acceptance) #tattoo

Find your local spot

Show the fuck up

Jetzt auch ohne Glitzer #autism #antifa #autismus
Zu finden auf dem #eh22

Messed up & totally illegal

#MotherJones is reporting that one of the men “deported” to #ElSalvador’s #CECOT is Neri Alvarado, who was working in Dallas as a baker. An #ICE agent told him they were questioning ALL MEN WITH #TATTOOS.

Neri has an AUTISM AWARENESS TATTOO in honor of his 15-year-old brother w/ #autism.

#law #immigration #FreedomOfExpression #Constitution #AlienEnemiesAct #CivilRights
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/trump-el-salvador-venezulea-deportation-prison-cecot-bukele/

Late Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that David Geier has been hired as a "data analyst" by the Department of Health and Human Services, which is now headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent and fervent anti-vaccine advocate. Kennedy and Geier have both long touted the false claim that vaccines cause autism, despite the extensive evidence showing that they do not. In March, HHS directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reexamine the nonexistent link between vaccines and autism, using funds from taxpayers that could have been directed at other research. @ArsTechnica reports:
https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/rfk-jr-hires-anti-vaccine-advocate-to-study-debunked-vaccine-autism-link/

Vaccine skeptic (sic) hired to head federal study of #immunizations and #autism - The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/03/25/vaccine-skeptic-hhs-rfk-immunization-autism/ “It seems the goal of this administration is to prove that vaccines cause autism, even though they don’t,” said Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds autism research. “They are starting with the conclusion and looking to prove it. That’s not how science is done.”

https://www.europesays.com/1943530/ Report shows alarming measles resurgence in Europe and US #Antibodies #autism #blindness #brain #children #deafness #disability #europe #healthcare #hospital #hygiene #ImmuneSystem #InfectiousDiseases #Measles #medicine #Meningitis #MMR #Mumps #pathogen #Pneumonia #polio #PublicHealth #research #Respiratory #Rubella #Vaccine #virus

[Long post] My unhelpful brain has been grinding on the disappointing (understatement) #ADHD assessment last week.

Here's my conclusion, which might be helpful for someone thinking about paying for an online assessment:

You need to make sure *exactly* what the practitioner/practice is licensed to assess. Those details may not be 100% clear on their website.

If they're only licensed/permitted for one thing and you suspect you're dealing with a combination (like #Autism & ADHD for example), they may not be able help you.

So as soon as they realize you're outside the assessment criteria they're licensed for they could close and lock the door. They can't even offer advice aside from "Find a psychiatrist" because – and please note, this is only an educated guess – if something goes wrong they could be legally liable.

I hate that this is "buyer beware" but here we are. I thought I'd done my due diligence. I scoured the web for reviews. I read all the Reddit threads. I emailed the practice twice before booking.

But the thing that didn't occur to me was what happens if your neurodivergent brain is a combo pack. And that's what did me in. "Find a psychiatrist." Exactly what I was trying to avoid because extensive wait times as well as gender and age biases.

(Nice try, sunshine. Spent the cash. Nope.)

The entire system is a hot mess. Publicly-funded as well as privatized services.

I hate posting this deeply personal information. But what I hate more is knowing how many people end up face-first into the same brick wall I just ran into. We need to have each others' backs. So

I mentioned earlier that I have this weird thing where sometimes I can't do things that I need to do. I had a period of three months where I wouldn't check my payslips, even though I needed to in case I got underpaid. I have frequent periods where I can't check my emails. This is especially if I've emailed someone I'm not close to and am expecting a reply.

As example is if I received faulty goods on Ebay. I've missed out on refunds because I send the complaint, but then I actively avoid checking for a reply.

Does anyone else experience things like this? I was looking at demand avoidance: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour/demand-avoidance#What%20is%20demand%20avoidance

But I don't know if it's that or some weird manifestation of #anxiety. The best I can describe it is apprehension? It's hard to put a proper name to it. I get milder forms, where for instance if I need to transfer money to my savings and there's nothing stopping me, but I won't be able to do it. Then randomly I'll snap out of it and feel like I can do it. It's not procrastination or getting distracted. It's a different feeling from that.

@actuallyautistic @neurodiversity

please help a #disabled, #queer woman with #groceries, menstrual products, transit fare, utilities, & medical #bills. she's really been struggling with all her bills. anything helps!

$174/299 needed ASAP

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ourinsatiabesouls

@mutualaid

@actuallyautistic

Insomnia is incredibly common for those of us who are autistic/adhd. Like many things, its presentation can be quite variable. In so far as it can be as much a spectrum as anything. I have the, struggle to fall asleep and then at some point wake up in the night and really struggle to get back to sleep, or, continue to wake up on the hour, every hour variety. It's the way I've always been and so, of course, I thought it was perfectly normal and because no one else ever said anything, the way everyone slept. Which is probably why it took me so long to realise that I did in fact suffer from insomnia, especially as it didn't fit the classic trope of someone barely sleeping at all and wandering the world at night, lonely and unfulfilled.

In fact, I've always enjoyed sleeping and dreaming, even though my dreams have always been of the batshit crazy variety that never made sense. In fact, I wouldn't know a normal dream if it bit me. As an "over-sensitive" child I would often have quite extreme nightmares, but even they were weird, because once awake they were never actually frightening, they were just strange. So, given that and my logical and pattern orientated brain, it's always amazed me somewhat how much I do love dreaming and how much pleasure sleep can bring me.

In fact, for a while I even resented it, the time I had to spend sleeping. It felt too much like escapism, of hiding in fantasy, rather than facing the real world. An act almost of cowardice and certainly like I was letting myself down somehow. But, in fact, what I've realised recently, is that I enjoy and value it for exactly the opposite reason. That even though the dreams never made sense and over-heat my pattern seeking brain and just leave me baffled. They represent a level of truth that isn't always present in the way I deal with the world when awake. There is no hiding my emotions, or reactions in them. There is no lying to deal with the world, or to be able to get by. There's just me and, in a very strange way, like my dreams, being finally able to be honest and open in the ways I can't always be in the real world.

#Autism
#ActuallyAutistic
#AuDHD

This post has been brought to you, in part, to celebrate the fact that I am no-longer the amazing one-handed typist. But that now that the splints are off and the paw is healing, back to being the barely capable two-handed typist.

ExeFunk Tip:

If you've got a MacBook, opt-v makes a nice checkmark character √ for making quick casual lists.

My system:

+ To Do - this item is undone
+ This is a subtask that is undone
√ This item is done
? I don't know if this should be done
x I decided against doing this
- I'm making a note or something that doesn't need to be done.

If I need to get real fancy, I copy/paste in a 1/2 symbol for things that are partly done. (There is no shortcut key on Mac but I could make an auto-replace shortcut if I wanted.)

I've got a number of other list systems, but this is what I use for writing projects (lists go in the related Scrivener file) and when I'm making quick lists in notes apps.

Hoy masto, help besoin de ressources :
Sur le parentage dans la petite enfance avec un enfant autiste (en maternelle) qui peut avoir du mal à s'exprimer.

Tous les tips auxquels vous pouvez penser à cet âge sont les bienvenus
En particulier sur le moment du coucher.
Je transmettrai vos réponses
#parenting #autism