I suspect the future of autism will be much like its past. Meaning, we’ll just carry on as we are – being born, living, and eventually dying and wondering in between those bookends of mystery what the fuck it’s all about.I’m sanguine about that. We are just human, after all (and, no, we’re not the “next […]
Can autism be prevented? Sure. We can all stop having sex and making babies. Problem solved.But other than that, no, not at the moment. Why? Because it’s genetic in origin and we don’t have the knowledge or technology at the moment to screen parents for autism-causing genes. Moreover, we don’t have the knowledge or technology to edit […]
Is there a cure for autism? No. Because it’s not something separate from the individual, an appendage or organ we can remove, or a disease we catch. We are autistic, and as I’ve written before that’s how some 90% of us self-identify. We no more “have autism” than people have blackness, gayness, or transness. There are various […]
What causes autism? No one knows exactly, although there’s a shitload of research going on right now to find out. We do know it’s genetic, but there it’s also highly likely there are some epigenetic effects, too.Time will undoubtedly tell. But what we do know, quite categorically, is whatever does autism it’s not fucking vaccines. This is a […]
Most people are probably aware many autistics suffer from sensory overload in some way, shape, or form. It seems to be common knowledge among most of the non-autistic people I’ve spoken to.Alas, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and as is so often the case the gap between the truth and what people […]
I’m often asked about adult autism diagnosis and if it’s worth all the time, trouble, money, and hassle you have to go through to get one.I can speak only for myself, but for me the answer is an unequivocal “yes”. It’s not always been easy and there have been times I wish I’d not bothered […]
Yes, today is my Aspieversary, exactly two years on from the day I went up to Cork for my formal assessment with the psychologist.And… … what a fucking couple of years it’s been. OK, so let’s get the obvious out of the way:How’s the pandemic been for you?A question I get asked a lot; a question most of […]
While there is no definitive “look” to autism, it is true it frequently comes with physical presentations such as clumsiness, poor manual dexterity, and joint hypermobility. It’s perhaps not obvious, but these can all exacerbate the sense of isolation many autistics feel because they can make us stand out and draw often unwelcome attention to […]
Masking in autism begins at an early age as children begin to realise the typical neurotypical encouragement to “be yourself” doesn’t extend to being yourself when being yourself is beyond what they arbitrarily deem to be acceptable.You couldn’t make it up, could you? As if that wasn’t bad enough all by itself, masking is positively encouraged […]
Autistic masking is where we mimic neurotypical behaviour to fit in and be accepted. But it’s exhausting, fruitless, and ultimately harmful to us because it changes, improves, or ameliorates our autism not one jot.Worst of all? It’s usually imperfect and fools no one for long (and can ultimately make life even harder for us because by […]
