#autismacceptance — Public Fediverse posts

New on my #blog: https://aspi.blog/2026/04/04/maiden-county-ton-for-mousley/
A look at goings on at #Edgbaston where #Warwickshire are taking on #Surrey, and a #photo gallery.
#cricket #CountyCricket #CountyChampionship #WarwickshirevSurrey #WARvSUR #Autism #WNAG #AutismAcceptance #photography #birds #cormorants #sandpiper #GreylagGeese #insects #bees

February Roundup -2026

In this neurotypical society, anything can happen, and going outside at all is scary enough as is trying to keep yourself together.
More info: https://www.deviantart.com/dominicdelagol2/art/The-Outside-World-Auctober-2025-1255700786
#originalcharacter #autism #autistic #human #infinity #mom #mother #oc #pane #red #neurodivergent #actuallyautistic #autismacceptance #godara #redinstead #lightitupred #rainbowinfinity #auctober #eddant #mrsgodara #mrseddant #auctober2025

In this neurotypical society, anything can happen, and going outside at all is scary enough as is trying to keep yourself together.
More info: https://www.deviantart.com/dominicdelagol2/art/The-Outside-World-Auctober-2025-1255700786
#originalcharacter #autism #autistic #human #infinity #mom #mother #oc #pane #red #neurodivergent #actuallyautistic #autismacceptance #godara #redinstead #lightitupred #rainbowinfinity #auctober #eddant #mrsgodara #mrseddant #auctober2025

In this neurotypical society, anything can happen, and going outside at all is scary enough as is trying to keep yourself together.
More info: https://www.deviantart.com/dominicdelagol2/art/The-Outside-World-Auctober-2025-1255700786
#originalcharacter #autism #autistic #human #infinity #mom #mother #oc #pane #red #neurodivergent #actuallyautistic #autismacceptance #godara #redinstead #lightitupred #rainbowinfinity #auctober #eddant #mrsgodara #mrseddant #auctober2025

In this neurotypical society, anything can happen, and going outside at all is scary enough as is trying to keep yourself together.
More info: https://www.deviantart.com/dominicdelagol2/art/The-Outside-World-Auctober-2025-1255700786
#originalcharacter #autism #autistic #human #infinity #mom #mother #oc #pane #red #neurodivergent #actuallyautistic #autismacceptance #godara #redinstead #lightitupred #rainbowinfinity #auctober #eddant #mrsgodara #mrseddant #auctober2025

New on my #blog: https://aspi.blog/2025/10/11/mental-health-day-at-watatunga/
A look back at a fascinating morning and early afternoon yesterday, spent at Watatunga Wildlife Reserve, complete with #photos
#Autism #AutismAcceptance #photography #wildlife #birds #mammals #ungulates #WaterBuffalo #deer #antelopes #BrindledWildebeest #CapeEland #EasternBongo #Crane #JavanPeafowl #GuineaFowl #GreatBustard #WatatungaWildlifeReserve

I am autistic and have other disabilities. And like many, life has been shaped by exclusion, by being told I had to prove my worth and being treated as if my differences were flaws. That is why Donald Trump’s recent claim has cut so deeply. He said that autism could be prevented if mothers avoided paracetamol in pregnancy.

This is not true, and there is no credible scientific evidence that paracetamol causes autism. In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has said paracetamol is safe in pregnancy when used correctly. Autism Awareness Australia has stated there is no single cause of autism, and the Queensland Brain Institute has explained that autism arises from a complex mix of genetics and environment, not from one factor or one drug. These are facts.

What disturbs me most is the falsehood and the message underneath it. It suggests autistic people are broken and need fixing. It says our lives should have been avoided. This reflects the medical model of disability at its harshest: treating people as conditions, as deficits, as problems to be eliminated. I have lived with that view pressed on me from many directions. In classrooms where teachers assumed I could not learn. In communities that treated access as optional. In workplaces that demanded I change rather than the environment. These words from Trump echo every time I was told that I was less.

When I think of these remarks, I think of autistic children who will grow up hearing that they should not exist. I think of parents who will carry guilt, believing they did something wrong. I think of how easily this same logic spreads to every disability. If autism can be framed as awful, so can blindness, deafness, mobility impairments, or mental illness. This is the danger.

These ideas do not stay in speeches. They shape policies, schools, healthcare, and workplaces. They decide whether disabled people are offered jobs or whether society sees us as worth investing in. If disability is framed as a burden, exclusion is normalised. If it is framed as a tragedy, pity replaces equality. If it is framed as preventable, our very existence is questioned.

I want to say clearly that autism is not a disease and does not need to be cured. Autism is part of human diversity. Autistic people bring creativity, honesty, focus, persistence, depth, and community. We are musicians, writers, carers, scientists, leaders, neighbours, friends. Our lives are meaningful. Our contributions are real. We are not mistakes.

In fact, the autistic scholar Dr Damian Milton speaks of the “double empathy problem,” which reframes autism not as a lack, but as a difference in communication between autistic and non-autistic people. Autism is not the absence of humanity, but a different way of being human. That reframing is what society needs, not rhetoric that blames mothers or devalues children.

I also know this is not only about the United States. Here in Australia, we face our own battles with underfunded systems, with access treated as optional, with stereotypes that devalue our lives. Harmful ideas spread quickly across borders, and when a leader with influence speaks them, they ripple out everywhere.

So let us be clear. Autism cannot be prevented by avoiding paracetamol. What must be prevented is the harm caused by words that tell disabled people they are less. We deserve respect, dignity, access, and a fulfilling life. That is not optional. That is not negotiable.

To every autistic person: you are not broken. You are not a problem. You are worthy as you are. To parents: do not carry guilt. Carry pride in your children and the richness they bring.

We must confront misinformation. We must resist the medical model when it reduces us to conditions. We must insist on the truth: barriers come not from our neurology or bodies, but from inaccessible environments and prejudice. Autism is not something to be eliminated. It is something to be understood, respected, and embraced.

#AutismAcceptance #DisabilityRights #Neurodiversity #ActuallyAutistic #DisabledAndProud #RespectDignityAccess #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #StopAbleism #InclusionMatters #HumanRights

Self-care is important! Brush your teeth, take breaks, eat healthy foods, drink lots of water, get good sleep, get some sunlight in, some fresh air and more!

Even as a super intelligent entity, Caesium likes to rest easy and recharge with her green blanket around her!
#originalcharacter #autism #autistic #blanket #caesium #green #infinity #oc #periodictable #recharging #red #selfcare #neurodivergent #actuallyautistic #autismacceptance #redinstead #rainbowinfinity #auctober #auctober2024

Looking back, a lot of my problems in/with therapy or that were "therapy resistant" can be explained by my therapists being allistic-centred and not considering that I might be autistic and not considering solutions that would work for me (regardless of diagnosis).

:masto_face_with_rolling_eyes: my most long-term trauma therapist continually asking me to look them in the eyes when they told me stuff wasn't my fault or otherwise validated me. They meant well, wanting me to see that they really meant the reassurance. But even though I like eye contact sometimes, other times I really really don't. I think I don't like it when uncomfortable emotions are involved.
Why do allistics think avoiding eye-contact is some kind of absolute disconnection??? Do they not have other ways to connect???? Are they ok, I am worried ❤️
🌱 It would have been SO HELPFUL to spend some time on finding a way for me to get that extra connection and feedback that actually worked for me. Like holding hands and them squeezing my hand as reassurance.

:masto_face_with_rolling_eyes: Interpreting situations where I avert my eyes as me definitely being ashamed and needing to overcome that shame. To the point where I don't even know if that feeling is shame or not, I just assumed it was. But since I started thinking of myself as autistic, it dawned on me that while it is a feeling of unease or being uncomfortable, it is not shame. Thanks for gaslighting me, therapists :////
🌱 They should have encouraged me to find ways to make more situations less uncomfortable INCLUDING BY AVOIDING EYE CONTACT. And have more ways to deal with shame aside from "tell me while looking me in the eyes so you see I don't judge you". Like humour, hand-squeezes, creative things, etc.

:masto_face_with_rolling_eyes: Everything around my problems with phonecalls. WTF. Mental health professionals just fucked up constantly around it. I remember sitting in a psycho-education course where they talked about ways to overcome phobias and I went "well OK but literally none of that works for me wrt phonecalls, I have tried, I have had this problem for over a decade, what is even up with that?" and they couldn't even help me figure out what was going on and just went "you prolly have too much trauma". Thanks for nothing.
🌱 They should have considered the possibility that I have other reasons rather than some nebulous trauma that keeps phonecalls from working for me. I have tons of trauma but it's not phone-related.
🌱 They should have encouraged me to find ways to AVOID phonecalls and assert my right to communicate in other ways and yell at institutions, health insurance etc who require phonecalls instead of making me comply with their shitty expectations. I'd rather write an email or letter.
🌱 They should NOT require me to make phonecalls to access their care, to cancel appointments when I'm sick, etc!!!! Have you heard of email.

:masto_face_with_rolling_eyes: One time a therapist in psychiatry thought I was rude for not immediately verbally replying to their "good morning" while passing me in the hallway. I was deep in thought and didn't see you coming and couldn't switch on my verbal that quick!!! Doesn't mean I hate you ffs.

:masto_face_with_rolling_eyes: Idk if this is me being autistic but one time I was being mistreated in trauma therapy (their concept SUCKED) and asked them a bunch of questions to try to understand what they were even saying and doing and why. I was branded as a troublemaker and kicked out. FOR ASKING QUESTIONS about things I genuinely didn't understand and genuinely wanted to understand and work with them, via letter. That place had lied to me by promising something before I got admitted and then doing a 180 once I got there.
🌱 Don't fucking lie and don't be hypocrites and don't punish people for asking questions. Just be honest and do your best to communicate clearly.

:masto_face_with_rolling_eyes: Therapists kept pushing me to conform and assimilate into society. Didn't even occur to them to ask me what my goals were – not that! – despite talking a big deal about how they are here to support me in MY goals.
🌱 Accept and celebrate people for who they are, even and especially when they fall outside of society's (current) norms! Listen to them about their own goals and inner wisdom. Be curious.

There's probably more… If you had similar experiences, feel free to share.

#ActuallyAutistic #autism #autistic #therapy #TraumaTherapy #CPTSD #PTSD #AutismAwareness #AutismAcceptance

Neurodivergents: Shall We Live... Apart?
Actually Autistics in Free, Supportive Neurodiverse Groups?

A poll. 10 questions. 10 Clicks. A few minutes.

A ton of information for future articles and podcasts about real, raw, authentic #AutisticLife.

#AutismAppreciation #AutismAcceptance #Neurodiversity #ActuallyAutistic

https://johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/p/neurodivergents-shall-we-live-apart?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

@actuallyautistic @actuallyadhd
@actuallyaudhd

New Year. New You. New Me. New Relationship...

Still #ActuallyAutistic. In my 70s. Shooting for Guinness "Oldest Autistic Male"...

Just not yet. Or any time soon...

#ActuallyAutistic #AutismAcceptance #Neurodiversity #AutisticLife #AutisticAdults #ADHD #AuDHD