#authenticallyautistic

[asupportedlife]

Yesterday’s sensory support was being at the playground with my son. Using our hands, being tactile...We found an interesting bucket seat that I think you sit in it and someone spins you around in. I knew he wouldn’t be keen on that, but I knew he would be keen on filling it with bark. So I show d him by picking up handfuls and dropping the bark in slowly as if it were a cascading waterfall. He understood and started to copy me, fully enjoying himself ✨✨✨When I was a child, my mum was not joyful. She was quite the opposite actually. She didn’t participate in life with us, she was afraid to be seen in the world as herself, afraid to be embarrassed. So she sat on the sidelines, she didn’t cheer (and what team was I in anyway, I wasn’t!), she just...didn’t.

My journey of recovering from CPTSD has bought me to a place of healing so that I could have a child of my own. It’s a struggle to be with him sometimes, and when I say, with, I mean, be present and not embarrassed by my own self...just the same way she was. We allow our son to live authentically autistic, as that’s who he was born to be. Showing him that his mum is not afraid to be in a public park, filling a seat with bark and not worrying if we are ‘doing the wrong thing’. Showing him that fun is just fun, and playgrounds don’t need to have rules (as some parents think they do). I’m showing up for him, and I will continue to do so his whole life, he’s more important than how I feel.

Image description: a small child stands over a red bowl at a park and the bowl has some bark in it.

[dmnsqrl]

Posted @withrepost • @autistic.barbie COMMUNICATION👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 . . . . . #actuallyautistic #authenticallyautistic #aspergers #aspergerssyndrome #aspie #aspiegirl #aspiegirlturnsmother #autism #autismmemes #autisticadults #boycottautismspeaks #autismspeaksdoesntspeakforme #adhdmemes #adhd #sensory #sensoryprocessingdisorder #sensorybin #sensoryoverload #sensory #sensoryintegration #sensoryactivities #actuallyautisticmemes https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SxdWRDscXw0wi2qStiNIUTbHaH68SXEpVLYY0/?igshid=im85dz28q4ab

[authenticallyautistic-blog]

Stimming

Hey guys! Reblog and tell us about your favorite/most used stim. 

[autisticnarwhal]

Tangled/Rapunzel Stimboard and Aesthetic #actuallyautistic #autisticadult #autisticwomen #autismacceptance #autisticcommunity #autisminwomen #lateidentifiedautistic #autisticallyme #differentlywired #authenticallyautistic #specialinterest #Disneycore #Disneyfan #Tangled #Rapunzel

[bloglizziekamiya]

Signal Boost

Hey guys! Please check out my new blog authenticallyautistic! It's a blog focusing on autistic people and their experiences and hopefully, a way to give them a voice. Also it's a project for college lol so I'd love to see what you all think!

[asupportedlife]

Today’s sensory support comes in the form of making a visual aide for my son. We’ve been having so much success with using visuals and since learning how to use the Pages app I have been making so many for him. If you’re a parent supporting your autistic child I couldn’t recommend visuals any more highly. Breaking things down into steps is super helpful and your kiddo will thank you for it (even if they can’t tell you in words)! When our son asks for his ‘orange ice’, we can go to the recipe card (if they’re not already frozen) and show him where in the process we are. This reduced his frustration and helps him understand what’s happening.

Image description: a visual aide for making orange ice blocks, broken down into the seven smaller steps.

[asupportedlife]

This morning’s sensory support is creating another visual aide recipe card for my son. This time it’s his favourite, marmite toast for breakfast. This will be the 4th recipe card I’ve made for him. We are finding them so helpful, I can point to where I am at in the process and tell him what I’m doing and he accepts and understands that I’m making food for him.

I can’t even stress enough how important visual aides are for your autistic child/ren. But even more so, for any child that isn’t NT and does have a harder time understanding or processing spoken language. These are key in reducing frustration for your child and as a knock on effect, for yourself too. Using visual aides gives you more interaction with your child, especially if they are non speaking or use limited mouth words and are often no eye contact. Using these have absolutely increased the amount of fun moments we have together.

I will post the finished visual later on when I have the time. So if you’d like to make one for your child you will have an example to follow. I’ve found some on Pinterest but of course you need to adjust to suit your child’s needs. This formula works for my son because it is broken down step by step, it meets his level of understanding. Your child may need fewer or more steps.

Image description: a grey plate sits on a grey speckled bench top. On the plate is a jar of marmite, a knife and two pieces of toast spread with marmite. Marmite is a traditional New Zealand breakfast toast spread that most kids grow up eating. Made from the left over yeast products of beer brewing, Marmite is quite a salty and savoury spread, but us Kiwi’s love it.

[asupportedlife]

Another sensory support for today, rice turtles! My son is loving turtles at the moment and one of the same/same foods he enjoys is rice. It can be challenging to come up with ways to support his eating, I’ve found that making the rice into shapes has been helping. We use sushi rice and the powdered vinegar so it stays together. He struggles to use a fork and although we always give him the option, he mostly chooses his hands and that’s cool. I started by making a caterpillar because he was interested in them, that evolved into other shapes by using cookie cutters...and now it’s full on turtles.

Image description: three turtles made of rice sit on a blue plate that has a white paper on it.

[asupportedlife]

Making marmite toast, follow on from my post earlier this morning. Just an example of how I chose to make this, I used the Pages app on apple iPad.

Image description: visual aide broken into 8 steps of making marmite toast.

[asupportedlife]

This morning’s sensory support was, panda rice/sushi combo. I bought this for my son, knowing he loves rice and animals I thought he would love it. He’s autistic and is particular about food due to his senses. I didn’t realise it had chicken inside it😞I opened it for him after he gestured that’s what he wanted and he burst into tears. I was so sad for him because I didn’t understand immediately that he was upset because of the chicken. His Nan figured it out within two minutes and was soon removing the chicken and making the rice into balls for him. I was at his side, hugging him, wiping his tears when he would let me. He started to eat and repeat words from his video, it felt to me then that he was starting to feel better about things. Supporting him through these times means everything to me.

Image description: on a blue background sits a clear plastic sushi pack. It contains 4 small pieces of chicken sushi and a rice ball that looks like the head of a panda.

[authenticallyautistic-blog]

Hey guys! We have a new video coming out tomorrow that we’re very excited about. Instead of viewing autism as a burden, we look at how teenage boy and his family accept the difference, not try to smother it. Can’t wait to see what you all think!

[autisticnarwhal]

Alice In Wonderland Aesthetic/Stimboard #actuallyautistic #autisticwomen #differentlywired #autisminwomen #lateidentifiedautistic #autismacceptance #autisticallyawesome #authenticallyautistic #autisticadult #Disneyfan #Disneycore #specialinterest #AliceInWonderland #Alice #WelcometoWonderland ♾

[asupportedlife]

Yesterday’s sensory support was visual, bought to me by my son in the form of him building a train track. Out of the 30 or so pictures I took, I do really love this one. His little hand trying to put broken track together reminds me of the determination he has. Bear in mind, we have lots of track that isn’t broken. As he persisted in playing with the broken pieces, it became clear that there was something about the struggle that he was enjoying or learning from.

Taking a moment to step back and allow him to be frustrated is how I allow him to build resilience. When a parent takes over and fixes things for the child, it teaches the child that someone else knows best, they don’t learn to trust themselves and that can have dire consequences in adulthood.

By staying close, giving him gentle encouragement and support, he was able to move through the frustration and keep his play going.

Image description: the pale hand of a small child can be seen putting pieces of blue train tracks together on a white table.

[asupportedlife]

My two furry sensory supports, our corgis Winston and Bert, saying goodbye to friends, succulents, the start of the banana grove and food forest at Whakangā Farm💜 (Purple Heart emoji). All sensory supports that took place over the long weekend in Northland. Creating this space is calming and stressful for me all at the same time. But the purpose in it is where my heart is at.

Whakangā Farm, what is it for?

We are creating a community, for autistic and neuro divergent young people to connect with each other in ways they choose to. We will have lots of different spaces at the farm and the idea is that people will choose to do what they want and that’s cool. We will require the young person’s parent/caregiver to attend with them. This group is intended to be a family/friend group, not just for the children but also for the parents. As parents of neuro divergent kids we also have challenges that we often face completely alone. And some of us parents are also neuro divergent, and being able to connect on that level is also very much needed within our larger community.

There are zero expectations to be social, you could pick flowers if you want to. Sit in the food forest, pick fruit off trees and have a snack. Weed a garden and check out the worms. Feed or pet chickens. Play or sit with a friendly dog. Take a walk around the outside of the farm using the purpose built track. Sit in a quiet space and watch birds. Play on the playground, with different things to keep kids of all abilities engaged, there will be something for everyone.

There will also be morning or afternoon tea provided by us, depending on the time of day the group meets. And of course you’re welcome to bring your own food and drink, we understand and accept people have their own sensory needs, those are absolutely supported here. The aim is to have the group meet weekly so that there is consistency for the kids and this also allows people to build real connection with others.

I’m super excited about this project, and can’t wait to keep sharing it with you.

Image description, first two images are of my corgis, third image is a giant pile of mulch in the foreground with toi toi in a line behind it and trees behind them, the fourth image is three people with their backs to the camera, walking down a driveway with grass either side and it’s an overcast day. The fifth image is of succulents of various colours and the sixth is of two banana palms with toi toi behind it.

[dmnsqrl]

#Repost @aut.in.sight_aut.in.mind (@get_repost) ・・・ We can support Autistic children to develop an authentic self AND learn necessary skills. It’s not an either/or situation. But when we are well-meaning but (mis)guided by neuro-normative expectations, we risk teaching our Autistic children to construct a version of themselves to please others, a false self to avoid others from feeling discomfort, to inhibit their feelings, preferences, impulses, and needs in order to appear “normal”. This is not healthy for anyone; Autistic or non-Autistic. “Authenticity is central to wellbeing and a strong predictor of mental health. Yet, we teach Autistic children how to blend in and meet neuro-normative expectations, how to appear “normal”, often at the expense of developing their authentic self. Then we wonder why so many Autistic adults have co-occurring mental health conditions.” #actuallyautistic #therapautist #autist #autie #aspie #autismspectrum #neurodivergence #autisticwellbeing #AUThenticity #authenticallyautistic #mentalhealth #neuronormativity #autinsightautinmind https://www.instagram.com/p/BpzeRZillq0nN-BRIalblDBzYBEtaPozV74mOI0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hdu7wciy20qs

[authenticallyautistic-blog]

It’s here! Check out our video and tell us what you think!