#neurodiverse mutual aid

[fru-fru-brigade]

Sorry, sorry, but after we had to leave Dad's house after he threatened us, we have a bit less than two weeks where we managed to crash, and we'll need probably somewhere between $700+ and $850+ to manage a move to the only place that's likely to be an option in such a tight time window. We should be able to cover some of that, but with other expenses, we're not sure how much.

[amoristarchive]

⚠️GoFundMe Post Incoming⚠️

https://gofund.me/a9451648

Hey! I know we don’t usually post anything all that personal, but we recently shared a GoFundMe to our Instagram and wanted to do the same to our tumblr.

We write a bit about our trauma in the GoFundMe, but we’ve tried our best to keep it safe for our abusers to see. That being said, that means we mentioned minimal about the situation at hand and how awful we are feeling. We are not in a great situation, so if you could share the link or our posts, me and Dev would appreciate it!

We are working towards some goals, like getting temporary jobs in order to afford cost of living, but where we live now isn’t a perfect situation and is also temporary. We have until June to figure out a permanent situation, so anything you can donate helps. Any share helps.

[confused-n-sinning]

Hey everyone, it's Autism Acceptance Month

Meaning

Time to take down Autism Speaks

A man called David Page started this on Tiktok. His autistic son took his life, and due to that he wants to make a change, he wants to shut down the organisation Autism Speaks.

Why?

Only around ONE PERCENT of Autism Speaks' revenue goes to helping autistic people and their families.

Autism speaks supports eugenics. They want to cure or get rid of autism. Autism can't be cured, it should be accepted and accommodated.

The majority of the people working there are not autisic.

They spread misinformation and stigma that autistic people should be feared and that they ruin families.

Autism speaks silences real autistic voices

How do we shut them down?*

Call Autism Speaks' phones lines as much as you can this month and keep them busy, so that less donations go through.

Keep their website open this month to overwhelm the server.

Use the #autismspeaks on every social media for random spam, so that its harder for their content to be found.

Live stream! Post! Share other posts! Talk about why Autism Speaks is harmful! Be loud and our voices will be heard.

*I'm using the suggestions from David Page's videos

Go follow David Page!! I found him on tiktok. Share his videos on other socials.

[jellycatstuffies]

Unfortunately, I have bad news. My disability money that I receive because of my Level 2 Autism, my main income, has not come in this month due to a bureaucratic mess-up that is going to take too long to be solved and may also not come in next month. (I am in Germany btw, and it is not just a stereotype that bureaucracy here is horrible and just... hellacious)

Coinciding with that, my parents have stopped supporting me financially thinking that the money that the state gives me now is way more than I deserve and that I am somehow living "the rich life" with that... I get this money because I cannot work a job. If you could work a job in Germany, they would absolutely make you, but they have ruled that out for me now completely. The money one does get as a severely disabled person is not more than what a non-disabled unemployed person gets (a fact that is unethical and immoral in my opinion but that as a sidenote) We have special needs, for example, I need meal replacements due to my autism which I am also working on having covered by insurance, but again, it is taking forever.

To make it through this month after having paid my rent, I will need some other financial support. I do have some of my Jellycats up for sale on my Ebay and may put up more (shipping outside of the EU is not an option for me, sorry) but I would appreciate it more if this post was shared so I might receive some emergency Ko-fi donations.

I would not be writing this here if it wasn't an emergency. This blog is about Jellycats and the autistic boy that loves them and sharing them with the world. It is making me uncomfortable to post this in my safe space which is why I will delete this post after the end of the month. But for now, I am desperate and do not know where else to turn to.

(I will continue to be posting on my blog as usual, that is not changing, although please understand that I am under a lot of stress right now and the frequency might be less this month)

Thank you for reading, for sharing and for your support, whether financial or emotional, it is greatly appreciated.

Happy Autism Acceptance Month💖

-Victor

Ko-fi / Instagram

[efangamez]

Help Me Exist Again Sale <3 An Indie Game Sale that helps me live!!!

I'm Efan, a nonbinary transfemme who's a game developer and designer! Please reblog this post if you can't buy pls!!! 💛💛💛

I'm selling all my games individually at 15% off, and a BIG bundle discount for all my paid games at $25! That's nearly a 75% discount!

​I haven't been able to pay for much for a while now, and bills are starting to heighten, especially during tax season. I have ​been stuck inside for months, avoiding nearly all pleasure costs of living. I have been living in a deficit for a while now, and I'd like to live again. 

​With the money, I'll be able to pay for therapy, pay for medications, get diagnosed for mental things and disabilities, buy a new PC, and pay off my taxes. 

There is no problem if you can't buy the bundle, but it would truly help me a ton if you did. I just wanna live again. 

If you don't wanna buy a game, you can send some help via my PayPal or Kofi linked in my Linktree below!

We are currently nearing 15%, a goal I wanna reach by Tuesday! Can we do ittt???

Again, thanks for reading this far, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

[reedandstorm]

Oh, How We Laughed* is now available for pre-order!

This anthology showcases short stories, poetry and artwork made by queer and disabled creatives, and strongly features indigenous, neurodivergent and transgender voices. It was edited by Reed and Storm Editing and also features work by head editor Cameron Rutherford.

Funds raised by sales will go to the Collaborative Radical Intersectional Performance Space, Drop In Care Space and Pay The Rent who all support local communities, and to the 15 featured creators.

This anthology is an exhibition of the strong emotions that connect humanity and make us all unique. Our fear, joy, loss, exhilarating highs, depressive lows, and so much more. How we express those emotions might be different, yet we all strive for a laugh.

(*Cried, chuckled, suffered, retreated, enjoyed, blanked, masked, cringed, smiled, consumed, planned, protested, disappeared, felt, ruminated, withdrew, celebrated, raged, meditated, screamed, froze, danced, existed…)

[autisticmind]

Do you guys ever feel so much sudden rage at society for failing to provide the bare minimum support you needed/need to survive/thrive that you have to actually time. out. your mind for a while to calm down????

[brainwormcity]

Help me help others?

Okay, so this isn't really my usual type of post, but I recently was hired as a peer support specialist. They hired me specifically for my lived experience as a queer, trans person in the Midwest and a big part of my work will be providing resources.

I was hoping to compile a relatively exhaustive list/database of resources for a myriad of different issues and I intend to do a lot of research on my own but I was hoping you all might give me a hand by replying with some resources that have been helpful to you. They don't have to specifically be LGBTQIA related, of course, but those are especially helpful.

I'm talking about things relating to college, housing, transportation, childcare, etc. A huge part of peer support is helping people traverse barriers and I know that some of you have an experience that is valuable in that area.

If you can, please reply below with websites, hotlines, or otherwise that have been helpful to you in transitional periods of life and if you don't have anything, please consider reblogging. I plan to create some sort of organized document and when I have something composed, I'll make it available here as well. I really want to do well by my future clients and I know that with your help, I can do even better.

Thanks in advance!

[sunnythecavelion]

Hello, I feel bad about having to do this but I live off of social security money because I’m disabled and can’t work or drive, and recently they’ve suspended my pay due too missing paperwork, we’ve sent them the paperwork but it’s been 3 weeks since I was supposed to be paid for may, I still haven’t, I don’t know when I’ll have my next check and I have no other source of income, So if you’d like to help out a disabled neurodivergent Trans man and have the money too I would greatly appreciate a small donation, you don’t have to, even just a reblog to get this post out there would help,

I only have Ca$happ

My Ca$hTag is VojtaKR

Even just 1$ would help honestly, and thank you for taking the time to read this post, it means a lot,

[faeary-art]

I'm in the negatives now because something unexpectedly came out of my bank. Please help me

And mommy needs to pay her phone bill, please don't leave me hanging

http://PayPal.me/faeary

http://venmo.com/u/faeary

http://cash.app/$Faeary

[586ondisability]

Why is tumblr a good platform for disabled people?

I think there are a couple of key features of tumblr that make it a particularly good space for disabled people:

Multiple/flexible post formats: tumblr allows for text, visual, audio, and video formats in the same post and through the same process - this means it is easy to make dynamic posts, and that the experience of using the site is similar regardless of how and what people share. There is also virtually no limit to post length, while having features to put long content under a ‘read more’ break. This allows for a massive variety in types of posts and content, meaning there is rarely a need to go outside the framework of the site to share media, and people are not limited to a particular niche or format. This makes the site accessible to a large portion of the disabled community, as people can use whatever format is most convenient for them(1).

It’s relatively easy to curate your experience: While the search function is notorious for having its issues, it does function well enough to allow users (especially new ones) to find the communities they are looking for. People typically tag things with fairly clear and common terms, so searching through tags like ‘disability’, ‘chronic illness’, ‘accessibility’, or specific medical conditions will bring you to posts about that. (Unlike reddit, where finding the relevant subreddit is often difficult due to unintuitive naming, or facebook groups that are often invite only) Once you’ve found some posts and people to follow, it’s often easy to find likeminded people through reblogs, and blocking and filtering functions are available to avoid negative experiences. There is also no (unavoidable) algorithm – user’s ‘home’ feed is in backwards chronological order of only (and every) posts made by people they follow, meaning users can almost complete control over who and what they engage with.

The culture of informal writing: I’ll make another post about this specifically, because it deserves more in-depth discussion, but briefly – the flexibility (i.e. lack of policing) in the use of punctuation and grammar on tumblr reduces a significant barrier to engagement for many people with disabilities, and allows for integration of tone indicators and unique voice in ways that are more comfortable for many neurodiverse and disabled people. However, this can be a barrier for others who struggle to follow posts due to the lack of structure.

Culture of accessibility and collective care: In much of the disabled community on tumblr (see ‘curating your experience’), there is a culture of accessibility awareness and community support. Users regularly add image descriptions to posts, fact check (often confirming and putting explanations of sources in plain language), and share tips and resources for everything from pain management, to social scripts, to navigating medical systems.

Limited censorship/corporate oversight: There are absolutely issues with censorship, cancelling/mass reporting, and account deletion on tumblr, but relatively speaking, people can say far more on tumblr without getting shut down or banned for ‘community guideline violations’ than other social media sites (largely due to the lack of advertising revenue associated with the site, but that is a separate topic). While this creates its own issues, it means that people can speak openly and plainly about their experiences and struggles, without concern that their language, tone, or subject matter will be unpalatable to a wider audience. Given that disabled people’s very existence is often seen as inappropriate, upsetting, or NSFW in public or on other online platforms (2, 3) this is an important factor for a space that disabled people can exist authentically within.

This will be obvious to most disabled people, and to many other people with marginalized and stigmatized identities, however I think it’s worth spelling out: As a disabled person, talking to non-disabled people about being disabled involves a lot of labour – explaining our conditions and needs, navigating assumptions and biases, and trying to still be taken seriously. This is present even when people mean well, because cultural understandings of ‘wellness’ and productivity run deeply, and narratives about ‘not letting disabilities stop you’ are common.(For any abled people reading: It’s a bit like having any specialized knowledge – if you’re a biologist, sometimes you might not mind explaining the basics to people who are genuinely curious but have only taken high school science classes. But sometimes you just want to talk to other biologists, so you can get right into the nuances and details that a beginner doesn’t have the background to understand.) And the reality is, often people don’t mean well and have deeply ableist views, and that makes those conversations much, much more upsetting and exhausting (4, 5, 6)

Creating a ‘world’ where our experiences and struggles are normal, but not ignored, means being able to have conversations honestly, without the lengthy conversations involved in getting abled people ‘up to speed’ with the reality of our experiences. We can just vent without worrying about it being misinterpreted by people who don’t have the necessary context, or talk about things that are seen as embarrassing to most abled/neurotypical people, like struggles with hygiene or keeping up with ‘basic’ chores (7, 8, 9, 10). Especially important, is talking about the successes and positive aspects of our lives with people who will recognize them as that, even when they don’t fit with the expectations of abled society.

Having a space that is created and dominated by disabled people talking about their actual day to day experiences creates a ‘world’ where disability is reframed from being an individual issue, into a political and structural one(1). Disabled people are often highly isolated in person, but in these online spaces we can build communities, validate each other's experiences, and identify patterns(1). These online communities fulfill the many of the same radicalizing and mobilizing functions as mutual aid groups, allowing us to recognize how many of our struggles are a result of systemic barriers, rather than individual failings(11). Seeing ourselves as members of a community, with shared struggles, but also the capacity to support and care for each other in our own ways, allows us to unlearn internalized stigma and begin to see ourselves – disabilities and all – as worth fighting for(12, 13).

1: Chronic Media Worlds: Social Media and the Problem of Pain Communication on Tumblr (Elena Gonzalez-Polledo, 2016) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305116628887

2: https://www.tumblr.com/isabellascarlett1/728748026570686464/theres-nothing-inherently-scary-about-someone?source=share

3: https://www.tumblr.com/bebsi-cola/770123239730102272/strangers-treat-visibly-disabled-people-as-either?source=share

4: https://www.tumblr.com/thatasgardianprince/770124331990859776/a-nurse-said-this-to-me-today?source=share

5: https://www.tumblr.com/mxmorbidmidnight/770288749336838144/being-disabled-in-public-is-crazy-because-i-never?source=share

6: https://www.tumblr.com/spooniestrong/770064532530937856?source=share

7: https://www.tumblr.com/mosscaller/770310122025189376/the-sound-of-heavy-rain-while-you-are-in?source=share

8: https://www.tumblr.com/mybodychoseviolence/747511637937897472/surely-this-will-not-cause-my-chronic-illness-to?source=share

9: https://www.tumblr.com/stars-and-branches/762673020537044992/chronic-pain-pisses-me-off-cause-im-not-even?source=share

10: https://www.tumblr.com/tinylambnursery/751201988663033856/to-the-people-who-struggle-with-hygiene-kinda?source=share

11: Mutual aid: building solidarity during this crisis (and the next) (Dean Spade, 2020)

12: Public Scholarship as Disability Justice (Jaipreet Virdi, in Crip Authorship, 2023) https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/89491

13: “My Voice Is Definitely Strongest in Online Communities": Students Using Social Media for Queer and Disability Identity-Making (Ryan A. Miller, 2017) https://muse-jhu-edu.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/article/663305

Note - Most of the article links will likely require accounts/logins to access.

[fru-fru-brigade]

Donation Post!

Dad's been acting up so we might need to move out sooner than we're actually ready to, plus a lot of *other* stuff has been going on. Whether it's to find a place, to eat until the kitchen is repaired (and until we can leave our room without fear), or just stuff to help deal with the stress of this nightmare situation, you can help us out here:

Venmo: Nezuneko Cashapp: Nezumichan

[cryptidnearby]

A friend needs help.

[geeky-jay]

Night boost!

- 4/12

A black family needs your help again! (April 3rd)

I don't like on how this is the 3rd time I'm asking for help during this situation, but this is the only way I can do to help.

We have been in some progress since last time, we're currently working on gaining the ability to buy a house throughout the weeks up till now. And so far, we're waiting on a word from them telling on what're we suppose to do next.

While we're waiting for that, we do need help with keeping up with the hotel room, food and bills while also saving up for the house. Every bit helps!

Goal amount is $3,350!

$815/$3,350 (USD)

You can donate on either Paypal or Cashapp.

Paypal

Cashapp

All boosts and donations are greatly appreciated!

[reedandstorm]

Look what arrived in the mail! I got my contributor copy of Oh How We Laughed* by Buon-Cattivi Press which you can order now. It was wonderful to write and edit for this great anthology which is donating it's profits to some really good causes! If you love art, short stories and poetry by queer, disabled and neurodivergent creators, give this collection a read!

-Head Editor Cameron

[kariconqueso]

I quite randomly stumbled upon the Stimpunks foundation today, but they offer $500 mutual aid grants to neurodiverse and disabled individuals for general living/medical expenses. They even have creative grants you can apply for too. I can't believe I've never heard of them before so I'm passing the word along!

Giving Tuesday

“Staying alive is a lot of work for a disabled person in an ableist society.” —Disability Visibility: First Person Stories From the 21st Century

It’s Giving Tuesday.

Stimpunks Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit by and for neurodivergent and disabled people. We help keep people housed, fed, connected, and alive through direct giving. We believe that direct support to individuals is the most effective approach to alleviating the barriers and challenges that prevent neurodivergent and disabled people from thriving in neurotypical and ableist environments.

Donate now.