#intellectually disabled autistics

[enbycrip]

Yup, that includes nonspeaking and partially speaking autistic folks too. And learning disabled autistics. And autistic folk with lots of co-occurring conditions. And autistic wheelchair users ♿️ and other mobility aid users. Did you know that increasing evidence is being found of co-occurrence of autism and hypermobility disorders, including Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes, Marfan Syndrome and Joint Hypermobility Syndrome?

That includes queer and binary and nonbinary trans autistics - did you know autistic folks are about three times more likely to be trans or gender-nonconforming than the general population?

That includes sex workers too - did you know sex work is one job a lot of autistic folk can actually manage to do, and that’s really vital when it’s so difficult for so many of us to access disability benefits and reasonable accommodations in paid work?

That includes autistics with mental health diagnoses, including schizophrenia and psychosis. Autistic folks in prison and with criminal records too - do you know that the U.K. Government’s own disability strategy notes that about 40% of people in the criminal system are neurodivergent and/or learning disabled?

That includes Black autistics, indigenous autistics and autistics of colour, who are not only horribly more likely to be the targets of violence, including fatal violence, from law enforcement and from paid carers - the Judge Rotenberg Centre, notorious for subjecting autistics to *electric shocks* as punishment, primarily hosts BIPOC folk - but are also far more likely to be misdiagnosed or go undiagnosed?

[alex2xander]

Be nice and don't mock tumblr users that communicate differently.

Examples:

1.) Typing quirks

2.) No punctuation

3.) Random Capitalisation

4.) Long run on sentences

5.) Frequently misspelled words

6.) Missing spaces between words

7.) Repeating words and sentences

8.) Posts audios and videos instead of typing

9.) Express themselves through custom emojis

10.) Use an AAC (Augmentative and alternative communication) device

Some users have intellectual disabilities, use speech to text, struggle with grammar, have hand tremmers, have high support needs, etc.

Regardless of how they communicate and their reason why, they still deserve respect. They are trying their best.

[pixierainbows]

wish for smart autism people to STOP saying things like "most autism people actually smart ! ". is not true! is just so erase big part of autism community ! of people like Pixie, and intellectual disability autism people !

STOP say , is not okay ! people like Pixie, people with intellectual disability , are BIG part of autism community ! we deserve be part of own community !

STOP try push out of community, is ableism !

[zebulontheplanet]

Hearing constantly about gifted autistic kids and people seeing it as THEE autistic trait has completely disregarded those who aren’t gifted and made a HUGE divide in the community. Seeing constantly “yeah autistic people are usually gifted” is so annoying because a VERY large chunk of autistic people, aren’t actually gifted and media has just put the gifted people at the front because they’re more palatable. The “autistic gifted kid burnout” has become more so a trend than anything and I’ve seen a lot of people assume they’re autistic because they are the “gifted kid burnout person” when that isn’t even a requirement for an autism diagnosis. You don’t have to be gifted to be autistic. You don’t have to be!!

Start putting the people who struggle more in the spotlight. Those with intellectual disabilities, those with learning disabilities, those with cognitive disabilities, those who are just generally stereotypically “dumb” and embrace it!

We need to have a very big discussion about this as a community and it needs to start today.

[vm-sys]

laws should be written by simple language.

scientific books should be written by simple language.

studies should be written by simple language.

rules & regulations should be written by simple language.

every information, especially important one, should be written by simple language.

it's basic accessibility. people with intellectual disability, people with developmental disabilities, people with learning disabilities, people with language processing issues/language impairment, people with brain fog/low concentration, and people with other conditions that make comprehension difficult should have access to every information, especially important one.

i'm autistic and have some language processing issues. so i feel very isolated when i can't read studies, articles, books, and other info. i'm really interested in it, but can't process language. so i have to rely on others' interpretations instead of original text.

i wanna have access to first-hand information. i wanna have the opportunity to form my own opinion, not rely on others' explanations.

btw, "simple language" doesn't mean "avoid complicated ideas & nuances", it means "explain complicated ideas & nuances using mostly simple words and short sentences".

[zombielink5]

There’s an article that’s a review of DIA where the writer called the characters neurotypical. Baby how are you as an autistic gonna look at Patty, someone who is TEXTUALLY neurodivergent and her entire character arc revolves around it, gonna call her NT??? Do you think her parents infantilize her for fun? Do you think her parents only suggest jobs with no customer interaction for fun? Patty is literally not allowed to use kitchen appliances when home alone, do you think that’s just for fun? And what about being called slow and the r slur by everyone? You’re really gonna write that off as just shock humor? Patty also dropped out of her college program, and is on five different medications, some of which are sedatives. Again, ask yourself why these things are in the movie.

I need people to never speak on this movie actually, stay away from my developmentally disabled wife.

[dysmotility]

please please please don’t forget to include intellectual disability, psychosis / schizospec disorders, level 2-3 autistics, folks w dissociative disorders, and others with “severe mental illness” from ur conversations about mad liberation.

these are some of the most vulnerable and disenfranchised mad people, and we need to give them a voice.

these are the places where liberation is needed the most

[chronicallycouchbound]

Read the full post here

•

[ID: pink and pink outlined text on a dark background reads: “intelligence doesn’t equal morality. Caring for others can happen at any IQ level.” The side text reads “@ chronicallycouchbound” In the upper right hand corner is a simple diamond star shape graphic. End ID.]

[goodgriefnd]

Neurodivergent Passport

A wee update with some exciting news about My Neurodivergent Passport: a tool to communicate your needs, strengths, and sensory/communication profiles.

Following some feedback the passport has been updated.

You can now get a printed version of My Neurodivergent Passport! You can buy it here!

You can also get it as a free PDF on my blog.

[i-never-grew-up]

I love you level 1 autistics

I love you level 2 autistics

I love you level 3 autistics

I love you autistics who can talk verbally

I love you autistics you use AAC or other aids like sign language

I love you autistics with no professional diagnosis

I love you early diagnosed autistics

I love you late diagnosed autistics

I love you queer/trans autistics

I love you autistics who don't look autistic

I love you autistics who do look autistic

I love you autistics with co-morbid conditions (intellectual disabilities, ADHD, ARFID, etc.)

I love you autistics with 'scary' mental disorders (dissociative disorders, personality disorders, schizospec, etc)

I love you autistics with high empathy

I love you autistics with low empathy

I love you physically disabled autistics

I love you autistics! <3

[serpentface]

A witch of the Naig-Troibadnnas (Yellowtail river valley) people, resting and enjoying a smoke of the mild stimulant brolge leaf on a hot summer day.

Witches are a small part of the everyday cultural framework among the Hill Tribes. They are individuals considered born possessed by a virgranul, a type of disembodied wild spirit that seeks to inhabit human flesh, either entering the body at the moment of conception, or entering the body at the moment of death. The latter is a dire circumstance that requires significant intercession to fix (the dead body may wander off without rites, leaving the person's soul trapped and liable to warp into the dangerous fuldaigh spirit), while the former circumstance is what causes a person to be born a witch.

In the case of those afflicted in the womb, possession by virgranul is lifelong, and is both a curse and blessing- it divides and isolates them from the human world and causes other wild spirits (both benevolent and malicious) to be perpetually drawn to them, but also allows for them to be attuned to the subtleties of spirits, and able to work magic and divination that the everyday person is incapable of.

Witches are usually recognized from a young age due to marked behavioral differences or atypical development, though are sometimes simply identified as such without obvious behavioral indications, by other witches having read signs of their coming. Their occurrence is not frequent, usually once in a generation for any given tribe. An identified witch child will be taken from their family (the timing varies by tradition, though is usually upon puberty) and into mentorship by an established witch, who will impart their accumulated knowledge and skill and teach the child how to best harness their condition.

One can be a witch regardless of their gender, with the only commonality being that they must remain unmarried, and are expected to never have children (deemed too dangerous, unavoidably placing a child in the path of potentially harmful wild spirits). With no spouses or children to support them in holding a household and herds, witches are instead supported by their communities as means of payment for their services. They typically live in semi-isolation in the boundaries between the village and wilderness (a reflection of their own division between the world of people and of wild spirits, and a protective measure for their communities), and will periodically be brought needed supplies. They do not commonly enter villages unless summoned, or for the sake of certain holidays and festivals, and live most of their lives in seclusion aside from any given mentee (who will in turn care for their mentor in old age).

The societal function of witches is as intermediaries between people and their ancestors, people and wild spirits, and as especially skilled performers of practical magic (most commonly weaving protective spells into worn items, such as clothing or the nose rings of cattle). Forms of practical magic and intercession with ancestors and spirits are performed by all members of society, but a witch has intimate, detailed knowledge of such things and tremendous natural skill that makes them an invaluable asset.

Witches personally discern the identities of the spirits living in any given area and will attempt to familiarize themselves with them, learning in depth about their ways, giving warnings of where the particularly dangerous (or mischievous) ones are, and giving recommendations on which will be receptive to offerings in return for boons. When a village needs to commune with a particularly powerful or dangerous spirit (such as a wildfolk witch), they will commonly send their own witch as an intermediary.

They are ascribed have the ability to directly summon ancestors (who otherwise come and go of their own volition, and rarely ever deign to come at the call of one who is not their descendant). This is of great use when a person finds themselves punished by their ancestors with no certainty as to why, or cases where an orphaned child's ancestry must be identified to gain them proper spiritual support.

They are also regarded as having innate qualities of divination, particularly in reading birdsign (itself generally acknowledged as communication from ancestors, and occasionally gods). The average person has basic knowledge in reading omens of birds and a learned repertoire of key signs, but a witch can divine the messages of birdsign in immense and specific detail, through a vast knowledge system of the meanings of the species, sex, flight direction, gaze, prey, number, and songs of birds. It is common for people to approach a witch for a reading of the skies before undertaking a significant venture or life change, in order to receive detailed and specific advice.

Witches are always literate (and will be taught to read and write by their mentor if they cannot already) and will record their repositories of knowledge in tomes. These are items of absolute secrecy and taboo for a non-witch to touch (the consequences can be severe, you really don't want a witch ancestor-spirit upset with you). Witches can often become competitive about the knowledge stored in these tomes and are known to organize heists amongst themselves in order to gain access to each other's secrets. Most people avoid getting themselves entangled into the complicated rivalries of witches, as these competitions can get ugly and result in many a petty curse if one gains a witch's ire.

---

The only visual cue distinguishing this man as a witch is the tattoos on his forearms, otherwise usually regarded as inappropriate to mark in the contemporary Hill Tribes cultural sphere (the face, upper arms, and sternum is reserved for important clan/tribe/ancestry identification, hands and forearms are reserved for witches, and the rest of the body is appropriate for decoration). These unique forearm tattoos indicate his ancestral connection with a lineage of witches, not blood ancestry but rather the generations of mentors that have produced him. The lines extending down to his fingers are the newest, indicating that he has fully mentored another witch and gained a place in this ancestral line.

The rest of the tattoos here are tribe and blood ancestry identifiers (on the face and upper arms respectively, worn by all members of society), and purely decorative imagery (visible here is a deer, horse, eagle, and a dragon). He also has a snake on his forearm, applied decades ago in an act of youthful rebellion, which has since gotten in the way of critical open skin space.

His clothing is otherwise typical wear for warm seasonal conditions- a man's wool shawl and woven belt, short trousers, decorative deer hide (distinct to the Naig-Troibadnnas), and sandals (these are imported Wardi style sandals, which have been modified with preferred elevated heels). The horn shaped torc on his forearm identifies him as an esteemed elder.

[autisticfaun420]

My thoughts

You can be smart and be high support needs.

You can be smart and struggle with basic care tasks.

You can be smart and be diagnosed with an intellectual disability, even if you struggle with reading writing and math.

You can be smart and sleep in an enclosed special needs bed for your safety.

You can be smart and need constant supervision.

You can be smart and need your toileting handled by someone else.

You can be smart and still have violent meltdowns.

You can be smart and still need government assistance.

You can be smart even if you were in sped your whole life.

You can be smart and still need a guardianship and/or Conservatorship.

You can be smart and nonverbal, even if you struggle with AAC.

You can be smart even if they told you your IQ is low, IQ is notoriously shit at measuring intelligence and why they use it in diagnostics is beyond me.

You can be smart and all these things and more.

You can be smart even if everyone else in the room will always think that you’re not cause of your disability.

These are all things I have seen or apply to me. Being emotionally smart is also a thing too. When I would have violent meltdowns in sped and would be yelled at or met with traumatic situations due to the teachers not knowing what to do, it was often my intellectually disabled classmates who knew how to talk me and caress me out of it and they were a hell of a lot smarter then the teachers in those moments. Don’t let people think you’re not smart for any reason and if you don’t believe you are take a good look at your strengths and come back.

[psychiatricwarfare]

hey btw everyone- people with mental disabilities can and, very often do, experience sexual attraction, get horny, have kinks/fetishes/paraphilias, masturbate, have sex, etc. this includes people with intellectual disabilities and/or any kind of developmental disabilities.

please stop acting like mentally disabled people Never have Any sexual wants/needs when that is so unbelievably untrue that by saying that, youre just admitting that you have obviously never interacted with more than a handful of mentally disabled people, if any at all.

i see it all the time (particularly irl when i talk about my job) where people will try to say that mentally disabled people cant have sex because they're basically children or because they dont understand it or because they cant make their own choices or it would always be coercion or they never ever want it themselves and that just isnt fucking true????

mentally disabled people can make their own choices, they know what feels good to them and what doesnt, they understand when they want to do something and when they don't. mentally disabled adults are not "like children". mentally disabled people are capable of being sexual. sure, some mentally disabled ppl are asexual, just like some able minded people are asexual. because mentally disabled people are human beings, just like everyone else

[zebulontheplanet]

You know what.

Yes, I do need people to talk in simplified language with me. Yes I do need people to speak slowly. Yes I do need people to explain things more to me. Yes I do need people to talk to me with simple language. Yes I do need hand over hand with things. Yes I do need things explained multiple times. Yes I do need these things.

That is me. I need that. That doesn’t make me any less.

[stuffieautism]

i think we also need more compassion for those of us with higher support needs who have difficulties communicating and understanding things, with or without an intellectual disability. i get made fun of a lot for not having “proper” communication abilities that “match” my age and for not understanding “obvious” concepts/jokes that to me were not obvious at all. please have kindness for autistics who have difficulty with things you don’t. even if you are also autistic.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

always interested in autism community history n archive… especially high support needs / severe / low functioning / etc self identifier part of community history. we always been here we always will be n this include high support needs & severe & etc people. even back when resources n aids n techs n therapies n knowledge not as good as today we still there.

anyways. when do some searching, found old blog of person in UK with (to use word used call self) severe autism & mild intellectual disability & severe challenging behaviors & epilepsy causing todd’s paralysis n wheelchair user. unfortunately last blog update 2014, n hope doing alright, n it hard see when first ever blog. but. at least 28 by then, n been on Wrong Planet (older autism forum website that.. has its issues) since 2003.

it nice see “elders” of community talk about much of similar thing as we are today. we not so different. n it sad see it too. not much changed.

“the challenges of severe autism;low mental capacity with rigid thinking”

“the challenges of severe autism;needing behavior friendly furniture”

“being LFA and against the idea of personaly having a 'cure'”

“a communication barrier of severe autism; pain”

“the use of retard,and what intelectual disability is all about”

“the imbalance of respect in the autistic community”

“the consequences of poor restraining”

wrong planet for those who like archive.. can’t look through it personally bc no account

[there be outdated language. it 2014. n also disabled ppl allow call self whatever they want including severely disabled severely low functioning people. know people who call self that now. if you so hung up on “right language” you refuse bear through your own discomfort to read through people actually living it then assume you part of problem.]