Tag: neurodiversity

piefacemcgee:

theblueboxonbakerstreet:

the-fandoms-are-cool:

jellobatch:

psicologicamenteblog:

Source: An inside look at ADHD.

Follow Francesca Mura on Pinterest

Me 100% of the time. Luckily Ito help for my ADD when I was a child

fun facts!

  • ADD and ADHD are the same disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder was officially renamed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in 1994. Many people use ADD to refer to Type One presented here, and ADHD to refer to Type Two, but they are the same core disorder.
  • In many cases where ADHD carries into adulthood, it’s a genetic issue [My grandfather, mother, siblings, and I have all been diagnosed with ADHD], though this does not always occur.

hello yes this is me

more fun facts!

  • there are a lot of talks about how ADHD is overdiagnosed, and that may be true for boys, but for girls ADHD is severely underdiagnosed.
  • older studies mostly looked at hyperactive boys and that’s the perception we have of ADHD. because of this many girls will go undiagnosed until adulthood.
  • most girls/women who have ADHD are inattentive type. they tend to be introverted, disorganized and daydreamers. 
  • girls will internalize these as personal failings and teenage girls have a much higher rate of suicide and self harm because of it
  • ADHD is often comorbid with anxiety and depression, both of which are caused by the failings from having ADHD
  • depression can present itself differently in people with ADHD. it’s more of a discouragement from constantly failing, but it can be just as debilitating.
  • read this article from the atlantic: It’s Different for Girls with ADHD

themoreyouknow.jpg

AAaaaaaahhhhhh seeing this on my dash makes me so happy! I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was only three years old and I’ve struggled with it my entire life. In fact, I’m so disorganized and forgetful that my parents pulled me out of school so that I wouldn’t flunk it. I constantly forgot to hand in assignments, and my inattentiveness was so bad when it came to homework that my mom had to hover over me and make sure I did it every day. It was an extremely stressful ordeal, especially once I got to middle school. I was homeschooled for my high school years, using an independent study program, but I was so far behind on my assignments that that’s when my parents removed me from it by the time I was 15. I still don’t have a high school diploma, a driver’s license, or even a GED.

As a result of all of this, I’m dealing with anxiety and depression, as well, but with the help of medication and therapy, I’m getting things under check. I do okay without ADD-specific medication now, so I’m starting to feel much more confident about getting a driver’s license and just going and getting my GED so I can start looking for jobs.

ADHD is a seriously underrepresented mental disorder on this site, so I’m really happy to see this infograph.

And this is why I have a self-diagnosis of inattentive type ADHD as well as my autism, even though the person who diagnosed my autism wasn’t interested in giving me the double diagnosis when I raised the probability of it. While the autism spectrum does come with its own bunch of executive function problems, I still remember the blinding clarity of reading the chapter on ADD/ADHD in Different Minds by Deirdre V. Lovecky and thinking, oh my God, this is me, this explains why I couldn’t handle school past the age of eight. There are still a lot of thinking/working memory/attention issues I have to wrangle on a daily basis that are due to my ADHD, not my autism.

no more – a letter to suzanne wright

mim-lilly:

My girl cracking herself up with scripts last night I was once asked, “If you have so much trouble with the fact that Autism Speaks uses the words “disease” and “cure” in its marketing materials, w…

My favorite part:

“You grabbed an autistic child’s face to make her look at you.

.
And then something miraculous happened. My girl spoke for herself. “I HATE BEING TOUCHED!” she yelled. God, I was so proud of her. So instead of leading, I followed. I loudly praised her for telling you – with words – not to touch her. I repeated her words to make sure you’d heard them, loudly and clearly, “I’m so proud of you,” I said, “for telling Mrs. Wright that you DON’T LIKE TO BE TOUCHED.”
.
It was in the car on the way back home from your house that Katie would explain to her sister that she really does like to be touched, but not without permission by people she doesn’t know. And it was then that she would turn to me, fuming and indignant and say, “Doesn’t that lady run the biggest Autism charity in the world? I don’t get it. Does she even know anything at all about autism?”   

no more – a letter to suzanne wright

faeleverte:

iamshadow21:

askanautistic:

Appreciation for all the Autistics out there who have executive functioning problems/issues with processing, remembering and organising information and as a result often feel like they frustrate others and themselves.

This is me, so much, and why I flunked high school despite testing as gifted. 😦

Thank you for this reminder. I’m stressing myself out tonight, can’t sleep, anxiety at maximum levels.

We started school this week.

Such a simple sentence. No big thing. Kids in many places did recently or will soon. But this doesn’t mark days of freedom, backpacks, books, and bullies. Because I homeschool three of my kids.

The two middle kids are profoundly gifted. They’re also neuroatypical. The youngest is also gifted, and different yet again. They just don’t “fit,” and there aren’t a lot of educational choices where I am. So I keep them home and work my tail off to keep up with their driving need to LEARN.

And it’s hard! Some days it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. A lot of days I hate it. I’ve given up most of my plans for my life beyond kids, because I’ve got more than a decade of this ahead of me (unless miracles happen, but being practical…).

I needed this reminder. That there’s nothing wrong with these gorgeous little people. That there’s nothing wrong with me. That they deserve to grow up never feeling off or outside or broken or wrong or damaged.

To everyone who grew up the way I did, to everyone who has struggled and fought and still not been “good enough,” you’re amazing. You’re strong, and you’re perfect, and you’re all the constant reminder of why, and your stories give me strength for one more day.

I think I would have thrived in a homeschool environment, mainly because my mother is a teacher who taught us kids to read using home-made phonics cards long before we went to kindergarten. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an option for us, especially in the era before Asperger’s studies were known about in the West. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was an adult.

I have so much respect for people who homeschool their neurodiverse kids. I have known multiple internet friends over the years who have made the choice to do it. They are raising such amazing kids in an environment so precisely tailored to their kids’ strengths and learning styles, I can’t help but feel awed (and not a little jealous). I know it doesn’t suit all kids or all families, but those who I know who are doing it are doing it well and for the right reasons and their kids are thriving in a way that they possibly wouldn’t (or didn’t) in a conventional setting.

Things You Can do to Help Disabled People That Don’t Cost A Cent

neurodiversitysci:

  • Do not talk about an obviously disabled person in front of them as if they can’t hear or understand you.
  • Do not talk to a disabled person’s companion instead of them.  
  • Ask permission before touching people, or their wheelchairs/other equipment. Even if you want to help.
  • Ask disabled people about their lives and really listen to their answers.  (Within reason. Asking people personal questions about their sex lives, for example, is rude unless you are very close to them and they’ve communicated they’re OK with that).
  • Listen to what they say whether they are speaking, writing, typing, using text to speech, using a letterboard, using PECS, gesturing, using sign language, or using any other form of communication.  People who cannot speak can still communicate.
  • Stand up for people you see getting bullied.
  • Understand that disabled people don’t just need friends, they can be friends, too.
  • Every public place does not need to have loud, blaring music and TVs with flashing screens.  
  • If you blog, put bright, flashing images that can trigger seizures under a cut so that people with seizures can avoid looking at them.
  • If a job can possibly be done without a person driving, don’t require candidates to drive/have a driver’s license, and don’t interview candidates and then reject them because they don’t drive.
  • When talking to someone who has trouble speaking or stutters, and takes a long time to speak, wait for them to answer. Don’t keep repeating the question or pressuring them. Yes, if you’re like me and your mind is going really fast and you forget what people are saying if they take too long, it can be hard to be patient.  Do it anyway.
  • If you are talking to a deaf person, make it easier for them to lip-read by facing towards them while looking at them, and not covering your mouth with your hands.
  • If you are talking to someone with hearing impairment or auditory processing disorder, it is more helpful to slow down or rephrase what you’re saying than to just speak more loudly.  
  • Some disabled people have difficulty understanding nonliteral language such as metaphors and idioms (e.g., “a stitch in time saves nine”). If you’re talking to someone like this, try explaining what you mean by these figures of speech, or just not using them.
  • Recognize that failure to make eye contact does not mean someone is lying to you. It may be uncomfortable for them.
  • Recognize that unwillingness to go out to loud, crowded bars does not mean someone isn’t interested in socializing with you.
  • If people have difficulty spelling, or using the appropriate jargon/terminology for your social group, do not assume they’re stupid.  You may need to paraphrase some “jargon” for them.
  • Recognize that a person can need time alone and it doesn’t mean they don’t like you or want to be with you. It’s just something they need so they can function at their best.
  • If a person does not recognize you, do not assume they don’t care about you.  They may be face-blind.
  • If a person does not remember your birthday (or other major names, numbers, or dates) do not assume they don’t care about you. They may simply have a bad memory.
  • Understand that a disabled person’s talents, however esoteric, are real, not unimportant “splinter skills.”
  • Colorblindness affects more than just knowing what color something is.  To a colorblind person, colors that they can’t see will look the same if they have the same degree of lightness/darkness.  That means that to a red-green colorblind person, a red rose on a green background will blend in instead of contrast starkly, and the Chicago CTA El map will be difficult to understand.  Understand that something that stands out to you and seems obvious may literally not be visible to a colorblind person.
  • Accept stimming.
  • Don’t tell them “but you look so normal.” But, if they accomplish something you know they were working really hard to do, it’s great to compliment them on it.
  • Understand that a person can be working incredibly hard to do something and may still not perform as well as you’d like them to, as well as the average person would, or as well as the situation demands.
  • If someone has a major medical problem, disability, or chronic illness, then just eating some special healthy diet or exercising more isn’t going to cure it. It might help, it might hurt, it might do nothing, but they’ve probably heard it before, and it’s none of your business in any case.
  • A person with OCD knows that checking or counting or whatever compulsion they perform won’t really prevent disaster from happening, it’s just a compulsion. That doesn’t stop them from feeling the need to do it anyway.  A person with anxiety may know at least some of their fears are irrational or unlikely to occur. That doesn’t stop them from feeling anxious.  A person with trichotillomania may know it hurts them to pull out their hair or pick at their skin, but they have trouble stopping themselves anyway.  A depressed person may know they would feel better if they got out of their house and talked to people, but that doesn’t make them feel any more up to doing those things. A person who hallucinates may know the hallucinations aren’t real, but that doesn’t make them go away or feel less upsetting.  You see the pattern?  You can’t cure people with mental illnesses by telling them they’re being irrational or hurting themselves.  If it were that easy, they’d have cured themselves already.
  • Do not tell a person with ADHD or mental illness that they should not be taking medication.  This is a personal decision. Furthermore, since medications have wide-ranging effects on people’s bodies and minds and often unpleasant side effects, most people taking medications have thought through the issue, done a cost-benefit analysis, and decided that the ability to function better is worth it.  Their decision should be respected.
  • A disabled person with intellectual disability who has the academic or IQ abilities of, say, a seven year old does not actually have the mind of a seven year old. They have different life experiences, needs, stages of life, bodies, and so on.
  • If a disabled person is having a meltdown, they are not angry, they are terrified.  They’re not throwing a tantrum or being aggressive, they have gone into fight or flight. The best thing you can do is remain calm yourself and help them calm down. It may help to keep your distance, keep your voice low and calm, let them retreat to a safe place if they know to do that, or remind them to do so if they don’t.  Reasoning with them won’t work well because they’re unlikely to be able to hear and understand you.  The worst thing you can do is start yelling yourself, threatening them, be violent to them, cut off their escape route, or get right up in their personal space.  

Other ideas?  Please reblog and add more.  The more the merrier.

neurowonderful:

Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a pro-Neurodiversity, pro-Autism documentary starring actual autistic advocates?

Wouldn’t it be amazing if this educational film exposed the controversy of Autism Speaks, while at the same time covering topics like the Judge Rotenberg Center and the horrifying society-sanctioned pattern of disabled people being murdered by their caregivers?

Wouldn’t the icing on the cake be an exploration of the Autism Acceptance/Neurodiversity movement through the eyes of autistic people, featuring interviews with Ari Ne’eman of The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Landon Bryce of thAutcast, artist/author Robyn Steward and autism activist Zoe Gross?

This film exists! The documentary is Citizen Autistic, Produced by William Davenport, and it needs help. William Davenport is currently trying to raise enough money to be able to do a screening tour and bring this incredibly important film to people all over the US. They have an indiegogo campaign here, and their goal is to raise $5000.

This is a big opportunity for the a/Autistic community to spread a message of truth. As William Davenport said, “After screening the film, people have remarked to me, ‘I didn’t even know that adults have autism’.” Right now the loudest voices are the voices coming from Autism Speaks and other pro-cure and anti-acceptance organizations led and directed by non-autistics. But films like Citizen Autistic can be a part of changing that!

Please check out their indiegogo campaign here and consider donating, and please help spread the word! Citizen Autistic also has a facebook page here. To see more excerpts from the film you can see William Davenport’s vimeo page here.

Even though my funds are very limited, I just donated $25 to this because the $25 perk is a DVD copy, and as an Australian, it’s likely that this is my only legit way of getting to see this film. So if you’re an international autist who wants to see Citizen Autistic and can afford it, donating is a great way of not only helping out, but allows you to experience the film, too.

(Source: http://neurowonderful.tumblr.com/)

jabberwockypie:

youneedacat:

ufod:

heres an idea: instead of trying to “fix” autism try to fix the way allistic people react to austic people because saying you want to cure autism and trying to find a way to make sure autistic children arent born is just like saying that you want to cure gay people and thats :///////

They actually did that.

As in, there were studies.

They found that when they tried to improve the social skills of the autistic kids, nothing much happened.

When they improved the social skills of the nonautistic kids (by telling them how to properly interact with autistic people without freaking us out and overloading us), then the autistic kids’ social skills suddenly improved.

Why?  Because we were reacting to being treated with respect for the first time ever, by other kids.  Because other kids were making room for our sensory sensitivities and our social differences.  Because they were making an accessible environment for us, and in an accessible environment, suddenly we thrived socially.

And that says everything about where the social skills problems actually lie.

How about making things that autistic people need more accessible and not cost WAY more money than most people can afford? If people are nonverbal much of the time but, say, have a much easier time typing, how about we just ACCOMMODATE THAT with electronic thingies that talk or whatever works best for that person?

My brother is 15 and autistic.  He also has some cognitive impairments.  Sam is … I don’t know a good way to say “more autistic than me” (which sounds awful) without resorting to a Functioning label, unfortunately, and I don’t want to do that.  (I’m afraid I avoid looking up autism stuff like the plague because it makes me want to set the cure and anti-vaxxer types on fire and I don’t need that added stress.)  *considers*  Sam consistently has more difficulties than I do, though we’re both on the Autism Spectrum.  How’s that?  (Seriously, if you can help with terminology, I’d appreciate it. iamshadow21, do you have anything for me that doesn’t sound terrible?)

You know what would be really great for Sam?  A service dog.  Even though we’ve been working on the “Sam, you have to look both ways before you cross the street.  Stop look and listen!” thing for years, Sam just can’t get it down.   That’s a serious safety hazard!  And I think it’d help him feel less isolated, too.  AND it’d help his anxiety and stress levels in loud, crowded public places when he starts to feel overwhelmed.  But there’s no way we can pay thousands of dollars for that.  AND a lot of service dog programs are focused around little kids with nothing for teens or adults.

Most of the autism programs – at least in our area – stop around age 10.  MAYBE a couple go to age 12.  But … apparently autistic kids aren’t going to grow up to be autistic teens and autistic young adults?  There is quite literally NOTHING for a kid Sam’s age.  There isn’t in most places.  And I’m not talking about a cure thing, but being able to socialize with other people his age who GET IT.

Sam knows he’s different.  He’s a pretty happy kid, but he does know that.  He’s lumped into a general special ed class for his first and last hour at school and mainstreamed for the rest with an aide and I HATE IT.  I hate it SO MUCH.  Half the time they just dick around and show the kids movies.  That is not educational in any way whatsoever – it’s not like they talk about the content in any way.  They don’t even seem to have anyone trained properly in Special Ed – based on my observations at any rate.

You know what Sam needs to learn that ISN’T stupid movies?  Real life skills like practice with money and how much money is worth.  (We work on that at home with his allowance for chores, but we can’t do it completely alone.)  Telling time – though he’s actually not bad at that and I try to work with him, but I’m not a trained teacher and I can’t quite figure out which part is tripping him up.  IN THEORY his actual teachers should be able to help with that.

I threw a hardcore temper tantrum – tears streaming down my cheeks and repeating sentences over and over and rocking A LOT, and screaming over my mom using the telephone – when I found out that in high school they were putting him in the “Vocational Training” class.   That’s a polite way of saying “They have the Special Education kids empty the trash and the recycling bins and sometimes work in the cafeteria serving school lunch so they don’t have to pay somebody to do it.”  And if Sam is doing that, he should damn well be getting paid.  I went to that high school (before I dropped out).  I saw the way the other assholes at high school treated those kids!

The ONLY reason that I’m putting up with it at all is that my mom has been sick/injured enough to require a lot more of my attention and doesn’t have the energy to deal with it and *I* can only handle so much – especially since I’m Sam’s sister and not his legal guardian.  And Sam likes it, but he’s being taken advantage of horribly and it infuriates me.  I want to rip their faces off with my teeth.

Goddamned fucking circle people.*

*Again to quote House:  See, skinny, socially-privileged white people get to draw this neat little circle. And everyone inside the circle is “normal”. Anyone outside the circle needs to be beaten, broken and reset so that they can be brought into the circle. Failing that, they should be institutionalized. Or worse – Pitied

If he can tell you, I’d ask him how he categorises his autistic experience and respect that, but basically, disability is not a dirty word. If particular aspects of his autism are disabling, if they affect his life in ways that need accommodation or support, then disability or difficulty are the right words to use. You are both autistic, but your patterns of dis/ability will be different from each other, as they would with any two autistic people, especially if either of you has other diagnoses to factor in. Sam may struggle with things you can manage, and vice versa. Many autistic people object to functioning labels because they imply a line, with ‘severe’ at one end and ‘neurotypical’ at the other and all the bullshit assumptions that go along with that flawed viewpoint, when really, neurodiversity is like a colour wheel scattered with buckshot. Everyone’s skills and difficulties form a different constellation.

Are using stim toys If you’re not autistic appropriative?

fuckyeahstimming:

dearneurotypicals:

dearnonacepeople:

I have ADD and am interested in something to fidget with

not at all, in my opinion. people belonging to many different categories of neurodivergence stim, so any neurodivergent person who wishes may use stim toys.

if anyone feels that i have erred, your contributions are welcome

Stim toys are for anyone who stims.

What I don’t think a lot of people realise is that EVERYBODY STIMS. Everyone. And all in their own way. You swing on your chair? Twirl your hair? Crack your knuckles? Jiggle your foot? Click your pen? Sing or hum to yourself? Wrap yourself in your favourite fluffy garment just because it feels nice? All of these things are stimmy.

Do you know what they call stimming in neurotypical people, particularly babies and toddlers? They call it self-soothing, and it is considered a POSITIVE THING, an important developmental milestone. It is when the child starts to comfort themselves and be less prone to separation anxiety when alone or when their parents leave the room or put them down. Neurotypical kids tend to stim in less and less obvious ways, but lots of people suck their thumbs, well into late childhood or even adulthood. And that’s fine.

What parents, educators and therapists who try to stamp out all stimming behaviour seem to fail to recognise is that stimming performs a very important function in ALL PEOPLE to help them self-regulate. Slinkies? Koosh balls? Stress balls? Rubik’s Cubes? Those little desk sculptures with the swinging balls? All developed for and bought by a largely neurotypical population, and no one would shame an adult for owning or enjoying one of them, even though they’re stim toys, plain and simple.

So do whatever feels right for you and feels best. And fuck anyone who shames you for it, because stimming is a trait that’s common to everyone, even if some forms are more socially acceptable than others.