#there's still ableist language and some ableist concepts being used

[chronicallycouchbound]

A Guide for Coming into Disability

Note: While this is meant to serve as a guide for people who are becoming physically disabled and people newly recognizing their existing experiences of disability (including chronic illness), I feel that this guide is helpful for anyone, disabled or abled. No guide is one size fits all, but I hope this can help supplement other resources that exist.

Recognizing Disability

The first aspect of coming into disability is conceptualizing what disability means for you. Some initial questions to consider are:

What is disability?

What does it mean to be disabled?

How do you identify disability in yourself or others?

Only you can define what these mean for yourself, but many definitions and models of disability exist.

Loss & Grief

As you begin to transition into a disabled body, the first sign of that change is often the experience of loss. Loss of ability, access to the world, hobbies, community, loved ones, and your sense of self are just some of the types of loss you might be experiencing. Additionally, when being a part of any marginalized community, you are now not only beginning to experience the trauma of discrimination that you’re personally facing but you are also exposed to a communal trauma of systemic marginalization.

Due to the ableist society we live in, every single person is internalizing ableism. Everything we see on the news, in movies, in classrooms, etc. is absorbed subconsciously to create a personalized narrative of the disabled experience. Weather or not that ableism is externalized doesn’t matter, because if you’re not actively dismantling internalized ableism and practing anti-ableism, then that ableism will hit you much harder when you transition into disability. The work to navigate this is constant, evolving and will change with time.

All of this is very heavy. Always unpacking, always processing, always grieving. But it does get easier to navigate, especially with the proper supports. To cope with this, I highly recommend seeking out appropriate support groups (many are online, Facebook, Discord, The Mighty are some great places to look) and considering grief counseling. Through this, remember to be gentle with yourself, cut off people if you need to, set boundaries, and do what you need to to support yourself and keep yourself safe.

Spoon Theory in Practice

A large portion of my disabled experience is simply just learning. Learning about my body, treatments, my limitations, and what I can still do. This dynamic learning often requires more language to explain complex concepts. This brings us to the spoon theory. If you don’t yet know about spoon theory, here’s the original essay by Christine Miserandino.

Spoon theory works to help explain the energy limitations of chronic illness and has been widely adopted by the greater disabled community. Essentially, it is a metaphor that uses spoons as a metric to showcase energy levels in a tangible form. Over time your spoons will change, different activities might require more or less spoons, and recharging your spoons may also evolve. This is why it’s important to use the concept of spoon theory to help you set boundaries with yourself and others.

For yourself, being able to identify your spoon levels and use them appropriately to ration energy can help you avoid falling into pitfalls like the “Boom-Bust Cycle” and better pace yourself. I put this into practice by creating lists rating activities by spoon levels. I have a master list of meals I can eat, categorized by how many spoons it usually takes to make the meal. This way, I can plan out in advance on low spoon days, like when I have PT, and know I won’t have the energy to cook a meal that takes three spoons to make, I can meal plan for the week and buy what I need for a one spoon meal that day. This can also be applied to things like chores and hobbies. I sort my to-do list by priority, and then by how many spoons it will take to do the activity. Knowing your spoon levels can assist in setting boundaries with others as well. I always have a standing appointment on Tuesdays, so I never make plans that day. I always ask for help with certain chores because even if I physically can get them done, I won’t have spoons for the rest of the day or even the week.

Accepting Disability

In order to cope with the loss of certain activities, finding accessible alternatives can go a long way. You might be able to find an adaptive way to still participate in a hobby, like adaptive basketball. There are also so many options for hobbies in the world, and you might be surprised by what works for you now! This is a good time to start to focus on what you can do, with adaptations, vs what you used to be able to/now can’t do.

Mobility aids are a beautiful tool. My advice is if you think that an aid might help you, you should at least try it! If it ends up not helping, or you don’t need it, you can always donate it. I also like to say (and my physical therapist likes to remind me) Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

And, of course, ask for help before your body demands it.

Disabled Liberation & Disabled Joy

If you have the spoons and time, you should prioritize learning about our history as a community (Crip Camp on Netflix is a great place to start) Additionally, you can learn about disability theory, models of disability, ugly laws, cripple punk movement, and our rights.

Disabled Joy is a concept that considers our joy to be a revolutionary act in and of itself. I use ‘joy’ here, rather than happiness, because while similar, happiness is based in the root word ‘hap’ meaning chance (as in mishap and happenstance), meaning that the experience itself is based in luck and external factors, and focus instead on the sensation associated with it– regardless of your situation, which is joy. Disabled joy looks like my partner sprinting while pushing me down the sidewalk with the wind in my face. It looks like a perfect day in Sims 4. It comes with safe foods and the healing power of accessible plauygrounds. You find it where it comes, and I hope you can find it in yourself.

Finding Community

The best part of the disabled experience, for me, is our thriving community. When it comes to community building, I always suggest online options first because they’re available 24/7 for most people, and you can reach community from your home. I’ve already mentioned online support groups, but also, online content creators are a great way to find community. If your social media following list is primarily able-bodied creators, especially ones who focus on activities that aren’t accessible to you, it can be really damaging to your mental health. This can help you to find friends who get what you're going through.

Self-advocacy and systemic advocacy resources from our peers and organizations can give you the tools and feel empowered to create change. Seeking resources by and for our community can be lifesaving. You’re reading one right now.

Welcome to the community.

♿️❤️ (wheelchair emoji, heart emoji)

[womenaremypriority]

Saying “some people socially and medically transition and are seen as a woman or a man by those around them and should be treated as men or women” is one thing but this website is on a whole other level.  Everyone has a gender identity that we have no way to verify, exists solely in one’s head, but we must respect it, put it into law, and affirm it higher than the sex one is born as.  They use the word gender constantly and are essentially speaking a different language.  There are a million gender identities but yet none.  The confusion is the point, but anyone who is confused and calls it nonsense is a bigot.  Because they are so deeply into their religion, they see it an obvious.  But in reality, it is constructed inside their head.  I once identified as genderfluid, nonbinary and used neopronouns lol when I say it’s a religion I mean it.  Someone can have a sincere belief in something unprovable without being delusional- it’s called religion.  And the concept of a gender identity, especially one more important than sex, is one.  The concept, like any religion, is hard to define, constantly changing and at war with other people who believe in it.  No one can pinpoint how many rules there are or if there should be any in the first place.  Wearing different clothes than your sex is supposed to and messing around with the concept of what it means to be an ideal ‘man’ or ‘woman’ is perfect and always been a part of gay culture.  That’s not what this is.  The people on this website are playing pretend.  They think they’re messing with and rebelling against society like the gays of the 20th century but they’re not.  They’re playing a game- a game constructed in their own head, a game that posits someone’s internal sense of self is more important than psychical reality.  There sense of self is hinged on this, like most religious people.  Telling them “your god/gender identity” does not exist is taken to mean YOU don’t exist.  They, like any religion person, take people’s confusion and disagreement as an attack- they see themselves as the counter culture.  They think this is rebelling against the establishment, to use neopronouns, to say a lesbian is a ‘queer attraction to women’ or any other nonsensical meaning, to say you are catgender, to say you are a man or a woman.  They’re not doing anything to dispel the patriarchy or heterosexual domination.  They are playing a game.  They think the fact it’s a game means it’s revolutionary- it’s not.  They are prisoners arguing over what color to paint their wall.  I mean it when I say it plays so well with not doing anything to the powers that be that it might as well be a CIA plot.  It’s done nothing to actually change society, long or short term.  The only thing it has done is make us unable to describe ourselves, make communication clogged up and complicated, essentially meaningless and exhausting.  It’s enabled predators to say ‘lesbians can like men too!’ It’s confused and overwhelmed people into not talking about heteropartriachy because now there are a million new terms we have to think about, a million new ways we could say something wrong.  And instead of discoursing about anything meaningful, we are discoursing whether men can be lesbians or whether ‘autisticgender’ is ableist.  Our conversations are meaningless.  Because our words are meaningless.  When lesbian means nothing, when women means nothing, when gay means nothing, but yet we are still here… you have done nothing to help anyone.  You have only made conversation harder and done the work of our oppressor.  And sure a lot of this only exists online.  But this nebulous ‘gender identity’ is taken as fact, this concept of lesbian meaning ‘non men loving non men’ is put into serious conversations.  

Yet, they have the audacity to say radical feminists are doing the work of the patriarchy when that is what they are doing.  Who benefits when ‘men’ and ‘women’ are now reduced to a feeling in ones head, or some undefined social role or concept?  Who benefits when now, lesbian and gay men means basically nothing?  Who benefits when women is now something you can opt in or out of?  Who benefits from conversations about gender being a joke? Who benefits from this?  You think men aren’t benefiting?  You think it’s straight people who are being hurt when we struggle to define ‘lesbian’?  You think you’re fighting the system?  You’re doing its work.  

[trans-axolotl]

hi so ive been reading a lot of your mad liberation stuff (i think thats the term i cant actually remember atm) and im having trouble understanding some of it so i want to like ask this for clarification

is it like. not quite antirecovery but that "recovery" shouldnt be the default? like mad ppl should be able to live as is, and if they want to seek recovery they can but shouldnt be looked down on for not doing that?

or that like. "recovery" doesnt look like psychiatric definitions?

sorry i dont know if im phrasing things right im pretty dissociated lol

ty for your time tho!

hi anon!

I'm always happy to answer clarification questions. I know when I was first learning about antipsych stuff, there were so many terms and concepts that were new to me, and I'm always still learning more.

A lot of what you've said is stuff I agree with! When I'm thinking about the concept of recovery, it feels important to me to really analyze what people really mean when they say "recovery" in the current psych system. I might ask questions like:

Who gets to define recovery? Is the mad/mentally ill/neurodivergent person supported in setting their own priorities and goals, or is the only thing prioritized the mental health professional's ideas about wellness?

How do ableist concepts of normality and conformity contribute to our ideas about recovery? What ways might recovery frameworks get in the way of radical acceptance of mad/MI/ND people's traits? How do ideas of recovery contribute to stigma and violence against mad/MI/ND people?

What ways does the psych system enforce recovery, even at the cost of bodily autonomy and freedom? What ways does psych treatment use violence to enforce recovery?

Within the current psych system, I think that "recovery" is not a neutral concept, and I think it's one that contributes to a lot of fucked up patterns within the psych system. There's so many ableist and sanist ideas that label mad/MI/ND people just existing as a threat, and force cure on us instead of building a society that embraces madness/MI/ND. The language about being a "danger to yourself and others" reveals the ways that mad/MI/ND people are often labeled as inherently unsafe if we're existing in public, if we have nonconforming behaviors, if we talk to ourselves in public, if we stim, etc. There's this pattern set up within the psych system where unless we're actively compliant with treatment, unless we're institutionalized, unless we're taking our meds and going to therapy and doing every little thing the psych system asks us to, we're labeled as dangerous and unstable.

In a system where "treatment" is often violent, coercive, and oppressive, I think that the way recovery is defined is a really harmful framework. Recovery in the psych system is more about compliance then it is about actually listening to our needs. It treats mad/MI/ND people as unworthy unless we're doing every single thing that the psych system wants us to. And I think that mindset is super damaging to mad/MI/ND people. It makes us feel like we're not deserving of support, care, accommodations, and community unless we're willing to give up our autonomy, conform to ableist ideals about "normal" behavior, and give up so much of ourselves. I'm much more interested in separating morality from our ideas of health and wellness, meeting people where they're at, and embracing the idea that it is totally fine to exist openly and fully as a mad person. We do not have to change ourselves in ways we don't want to. My mad community is always going to be one that embraces + prioritizes people who have no interest in recovery, who want and need to keep using behaviors labeled as dangerous, odd, and crazy, who don't comply with treatment and who demand the right to exist anyway.

I think that as mad/MI/ND people, we should have the room to define healing/coping/resistance/resilience/care in a way that is affirming and supportive for us, instead of just being restricted to "recovery." Our distress, pain, and hurt is very real, and we deserve support, skills, resources to help us navigate that in a way where we aren't shamed and aren't forced into coercive treatment. We should be able to set our own goals and priorities about what actually feels important for us in making our lives better/more tolerable. I'm not super interested in telling mad/MI/ND people to stop using the term recovery because I think for a lot of people it's a familiar shorthand to sort of describe a lot of different ways of healing. But I think it really is worth critiquing the concept, doing self inquiry about what it actually means to us, and analyzing the ways we use recovery in our communities and who that might exclude.

Personally, I don't like to use recovery language around a lot of my own madness, because it's important to me to be able to validate and affirm the ways I exist as a crazy person in the world. I think of my bipolar & psychosis as fundamental ways that I engage with the world, and I'm really glad that those are the ways I experience my life. I don't think of my bipolar and psychosis as a transient state that I will "recover" from and wake up one day and have all that taken away from me. I find a lot of value and meaning in my psychosis and my mood cycles, and I think I would lose a lot if I no longer experienced them. At the same time, there are ways that my psychosis and bipolar have changed the way my bad days look, ways that my self harm has really caused me a lot of distress and was really debilitating, and ways that my relationship with suicide is incredibly, incredibly difficult. I've been able to find support, healing, and care from places outside the psych system in a way that feels more meaningful for me than the psychiatric systems definition of recovery. Every time I go into the mental health system and try to express that I don't want to stop having hallucinations, that I want to use harm reduction for my self harm, and that I don't want to go on meds, I am labeled as noncompliant, antirecovery, dangerous, and incapable of living outside of institutions. This is despite the fact that I have worked really hard in building up a support system, access tons of resources, have found a bunch of coping strategies that work for me, and have built a life that accommodates my madness.

So to answer your question, I am against the ideas the recovery should be the default and I am really critical of the way the psych system uses recovery as a foundation for coercive treatment, but I fully support mad/MI/ND people's right to find healing, support, resistance, care, coping skills, resources in whatever way makes sense to them and fits with their needs and autonomy.

Summary: The current concept of recovery in our mental health system is based on ableist ideas about normality and labels mad/MI/ND as dangerous for just existing as mad people. Coercive treatment like psych wards tries to force ideas about recovery onto all mad/MI/ND people, and makes us feel like we are unworthy if we aren't doing everything we can to be compliant. Mad/MI/ND people have the right to define what healing/coping/resistance/care means to them, and if that means rejecting ideas of recovery, treatment, and conformity, our autonomy should be respected.

Feel free to ask any other questions!

[roguemonsterfucker]

I was gonna reblog a post that had some really good points about these recent hbomb videos but then they went and used ableist language so I guess I gotta make my own post.

Please y'all, as fun as it is to make jokes about Tommy Tallarico and James Somerton and the other folks Hbomb has "taken down," we need to remember that taking these people down was NOT the point of his videos.

The Oof video was originally conceived as a simple video concept about how easy it is for our history to be lost and forgotten "through the lens of a video game sound that had been reused without credit for a decade." Hbomb fell into a black hole when he stumbled across all of Tallarico's lies and used the information he found to further emphasize his point. Credit in video games wasn't and sometimes still isn't taken seriously. The people that actually create the games (and other content) we love are often forgotten while the biggest names involved are put on a pedestal and given all the credit. That is the point of the video.

And the Plagiarism video also holds deeper meaning than just James Somerton. Plagiarism is a serious issue and there are multiple people profiting off of it. With things like ChatGPT, it's easier than ever to write something quickly that is based off of the hard work of others. When I think of "content mill" I usually think of videos like Five Minute Crafts (which also steal content and ideas from people btw!), not video essayists. So Hbomb's plagiarism video is a wake up call to all of us to be aware of the content we consume. Not only is plagiarism harmful to the original creators but it can also accidentally spread misinformation. Potentially extremely harmful misinformation.

Hbomb's videos always have a deeper meaning than "fuck this guy in particular." His Vaccine's video wasn't even purely about Andrew Wakefield, it was about how to combat misinformation.

Also, as someone who is very anti harassment, I beg of you, PLEASE do not go harassing people because of hbomb's videos. I don't care what they did, they don't deserve death threats, suicide baiting, or any cruelty directed at them. It's one thing to make funny posts about what they did here on tumblr but I beg you, do NOT go messaging them or tagging them or interacting with them in any way. Unless you have an actual legal dispute with them (such as if you paid money to them you would like refunded or if they plagiarized you) just don't talk to them.

In addition to harassment just being bad in general, we've seen in hbomb's video that James Somerton will weaponize that harassment. Someone very politely interacted with him and he claimed they sent him death threats. So let's not actually send him death threats please and thank you.

[polyamorouspunk]

Fully agree with you on the trans thing. It’s something I struggled with for a LONG time that I didnt *want* to be fully 100% trans. Like I fit in with trans people, I was transmasc, but I never felt *trans*. If that makes any sense??

People used to tell me all the time that I had to be trans if I checked xyz boxes. And I hated it. Now, years later, I’ve made it to a point that I just *am*. And it took me SO LONG to realize that was even an option. To just be myself without putting a label on it. I dont need to be fully cis or fully trans. Im just a little bit of everything and fully me.

It still confuses my queer friends. That I just *do not* care and dont put any importance on it. So its nice to see someone else with that opinion. Thank you

Yes!

Listen like I do not care if people reblog my posts and disagree with me. Like that’s you’re right as an individual. But what I don’t like is when I make a post talking about my identity and someone “corrects” me on it.

The problem with the push to be super inclusive, sometimes, is that people stop making it about who *wants* to be a part and who doesn’t.

I know people who are gay men who have 0 interest in being part of the LGBTQ+ community. Gay men who are like I’m not queer I’m not part of the community I’m just gay but I’m not identifying with the community in any way.

I know people who have described their “gender” to me almost verbatim the way that trans people have described to me their gender and have told me they do not consider themselves trans in any way, and it kind of sucks because I’m like… I know that if I were someone else they might put that label on that person even if that person doesn’t want it?

I’ve had people ON THIS BLOG send me asks telling me I am not trans and other people send me asks saying I’m not cis. Like lmao it’s so fucking funny pick one you guys. I gotta be one or the other- SIKE no I don’t. I’ve had people dump me over saying “I’m both cis and trans” which in hindsight seems kinda ableist because that was actually when I started IDing as plural so like. The idea you can’t be both is like. You know there are people with different experiences than you right. Like some common enough to be in textbooks. Not like some “out there” concepts like if you can grasp the concept of DID you can understand how perhaps to some degree a person can be different than their literal AGAB without being trans. Just for one example.

Sometimes I also fail to realize this but. When you reblog someone’s post, or comment on it, or send them an ask, etc… you are coming into THEIR space. I mean it very much went through my mind to be like “just ignore it” but I was like someone is coming onto MY post where I try and validate MY gender experiences and telling me people like ME are quite literally exactly what I’m talking about where I’m like actually I’m valid if I’m a little trans and outright saying “YOU AREN’T A LITTLE TRANS UWU” like. Hi it’s you you’re the problem you’re the people I’m validating myself to. Like I don’t care how politely and nicely you try and dress it up with inclusive language do not put me into a box I do not want to be put in because you think “that I have to be trans because I check xyz boxes” yeah literally. I know fully cis people who check “xyz boxes” and I ain’t out here telling them that actually they’re trans and valid for it. Like bro if you tell me you’re cis who am I to disagree.

In the near future you’ll never hear the words “I’m transgender” come out of my mouth directly. I might post it on here or say irl that I “dabble in transgenderism” but I do not outright say irl in person that I am transgender not because I’m “dealing with internalized transphobia” and “not ready to fully accept myself to be transgender in the real world instead of just offline” like no I just don’t ID as “transgender” period. Or you know what maybe I am but also who are you to say that’s what I am? How are you helping exactly? How is acting like I can’t “really accept myself for who I truly am” helping me any? Idk. Just because you have good intentions doesn’t make it better than the people who have bad intentions. Both are issues. Both are problematic.

Learn to go “actually it’s not my fucking business if someone is trans or cis or neither” and “they can call themselves whatever they want” and that includes NOT wanting to be included.

[reveseke]

Spontaneous crossover / au time with Spiderverse and Criminal minds about Spiderverse! Reader within Criminal minds ( feat a arcade themed stim board bc i wanted to make one <- TW bright colors & lights + flickering { Glowcore popping balloons } )

(( CW Sooo ~ Rather dark themes, mentions of being a lab rat, kidnapping, possible paranoia at some point even | mention of Jumping spiders ( due to the powers ) | You have been warned, approach at your own risk :3 ( probably didn't get all of it down these were the ones I thought off, if you find more please lemme know! )

Au/tropes — Crossover of Spiderverse × Criminal minds | Sci-fi | scientific super powers | found family (mention/hinted) | Angst(hinted)

Random – concept headcanons | Arcade theme in play

About reader — Masc! Aligned; trans, nonbinary & masc ambiguous friendly ! | He him pronouns used | R instead of y/n or m/n used | teen! reader around sixteen fifteen y.o ? | Hinted to have small amounts of background & a dog! | Tech savvy reader !!

Disclaimer – English is my second language and I'm Dyslexic, grammatical errors are more than going to happen. this is barely proof-read completely, it's just breezed through that's it lol.

DNI — Fudanashis/Fujodashis, fem-aligned, basic DNI criteria(ableists, racists, sexists etc), Maps(+other related terms), Pedophiles, transmeds, TERFS ( + other related terms ), antisemetics, proship/profic, kink/nude/18+ blogs, sh/pro-ana/Ed blogs, blank blogs

Gif ID. Three gifs in upper row; a gif showcasing the 90s arcade mat designs with varying colors and shapes, second gif of a bundle of cables with small flashing RGB lights in between the cables, third gif of cyan and magenta glitters being stirred.

three more gifts row down; a gif of glow in the dark stars if varying colors being thrown down, a gif of two balloons filled with green and orange glowing liquid Uber a black light being driven over by a car popping them, third gif of three arcade machines against a wall flashing lights and active. Gif ID end

Credits — 👑|👑|👑 — 👑|👑|👑

What if spiderman! Au, masc!reader being something similiar to Spider-Man, a teenager and gets to work for the government when he's caught. Of course suffering through the court etc -> as in assault charges that can be linked to him even if it was against bad guys. Y'know lol .

Also bad guys just being criminals most of the time. And actually being normal people. Ofc there can be an alternative of serums etc etc.

If they were serumed up then there would be more chaos tbh.

But I'm still thinking wether or not it be the known sci-fi type with differences to the actual Spider-Man powers. Also bc i personally love jumping spiders, i think the powers will circle them specifically. ( So the suit design descriped wouldn't be the one Spider-Man actually wears bc originality if i ever continue on this concept lol )

R just swinging around and avoiding cops and agents as he starts to realise he's being chased / targeted.

His powers are seen as something pricy and unique, one could say people may be interested in seeing him fighting in a rink.

I think he would be a lab rat if caught by anybody who has the proper or improper equipment and skill(s) to be used.

I think the first time he'd use his powers would be after being attacked or scared and having the fight or flight response activated.

Most likely panicked and absolutely bat shit scared.

At some point may have had something to do with a murder or being an accessory in it. Koff Koff. Or maybe just do something with a murder of somebody in general bc of not knowing how much power he actually has.

:0 Vigilante good guy misinterpreted to be a bad guy bc his powers went haywire.

Oh yeah heh mentioned jumping spiders above, think about ultraviolet vision as something R would be able to access.

Also bc of 15-16 y.o R he would be in highschool during these times. ( Think about it being the present)

Getting a dog for his own protection, company and to combat the possible paranoia the shit underneath may have caused and is spoke of.

Yes I'm kinda just portraying this origin of Reader to be close to the original spider-man origin. Thinking of ways he could get his powers; i don't like the origin how that ended, bc angst i need angst and the Reader being a full lab rat by being kidnapped for tests with other people. Either they survived it or died during the testing. ( I think he could have been a bit younger when this happened. )

Also kinda wanna include Survivalist intuition(link) to the mix in a way, not only for thee possible danger intuition that will be part of the myriad of things the testing may have given him.

Having a friend group that somewhat knows what's up with the reader and tries to help him as much as they can. Which includes possible not talking to the cops or FBI if being questioned at one point bc the fbi found possible lead to the reader after seeing him appearing around newspapers and the streets of Virginia mainly.

If the reader does have parents they are spoken with aswell, if he does not then he's basically taken in as the shared child of the BAU team in time lmao .

If he does not have parents as in they aren't really there in his life that much.

Finding out he's a student, a minor in general surprises them a little, especially after connecting dots and finding out what may or may not have happened to him when he was younger.

After being caught he's held accountable for the crimes he's committed. And doesn't exactly deny them either. But he's also offered a possible job bc they could actually use someone like him in the forces due to his powers.

Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait what if more sci-fi type of shit is going on and the technology is a little more advanced from the 2000- 2018 (i think?) Technology evolution. And the reader was tech savvy and build his own equipment and instead of actual webs or chemically composed webs it's just wires?? Like grappling hooks but small and study as fuck ¿¿ Lmao

So like in a way he's not smart in chemistry way, but in technology & physics way if you will lol ??

And if the reader liked a more colorful arcade-ish designs ?? :0

The fanfiction would be a crossover obviously, but idk if there would a specific world to be put in. Bc spider verse! Reader sounds really cool. Especially arcade-aesthetic style/ tech savvy(kinda like Peni from Spiderverse, but not completely y'know?) version would be really cool.

AAAAAAAAAAA— just thinking about a case where spiderverse! Reader is already part of BAU and is sent to go undercover in a school campus bc there's a killer and nobody knows anything and he's the only one that could easily without raising any suspicious'

Also how he's secretive about being hurt and sucking it up to bandages himself home bc that's basically what he's been doing. The amount of scars and wounds he has and how's he not dead yet ?? The teams shook lol .

Oh also JJ's basic maternal instinct; he's basically if put to work with the BAU department under Hotch as a trainee also under her, Emily and Penny's gaze. Also Hotch and Derek lol imo would look after the reader a little if they're assigned with him.

Also Derek will absolutely if the Reader is energetic and speaks alot pretend to be annoyed before actually being annoyed bc he can't catch a break off of you ( in this situation he'd voice it out politely. Instead of ignoring R completely lol ) . Also teasing how much of a motor mouth R can be.

With Reid he can absolutely talk about the most random things that come to mind and if he doesn't know what R's on about R can actually educate him on it !

Also i actually think especially if the Reader is neurodivergent Reid would absolutely be the best person to talk about hyperfixations and specials interests. In other seriousness you could pour your interests and likes to him and you'd get a good conversation out of it :³ .

Also mama hen Rossi content. You cannot convince me this man does not hen over the team in general. I have seen too many headcanons and hints off of this, + the show let's it up as well in some episodes and I am headcanoning it myself lmao. He's really caring tbh.

Can you already tell I'm hip deep in found family trope content with the old BAU team lol ?

Absolutely think once Penny gets a sniff at something R's interested in she's going to get him something related to that to keep his mind off of the dark things the job forces him into. She's absolutely the one you could just pour out and she's ready to help, care and possible be doting ;; .

Also just randomly thinking about those roof-top chase scenes where reader would be the dominant one bc he could catch up faster with the target especially if it's jumping roof top to roof top. Bc naturally much stronger and longer leaps than a human can do and more stamina. ( Bc of having a jumping spider specific powers )

[mediaevalmusereads]

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft (10th ed.). University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: academic book, creative writing guide

Series: N/A

Summary: The most widely used and respected text in its field, Writing Fiction by novelists Janet Burroway and Elizabeth Stuckey-French guides the novice story writer from first inspiration to final revision by providing practical writing techniques and concrete examples. Written in a tone that is personal and non-prescriptive, the text encourages students to develop proficiency through each step of the writing process, offering an abundance of exercises designed to spur writing and creativity. The text also integrates diverse contemporary short stories in every chapter in the belief that the reading of inspiring fiction goes hand-in-hand with the writing of fresh and exciting stories.

***Full review below.***

Content Warnings: references to war/violence/trauma/suicide/etc (as examples of stories, excerpts from stories about these topics, etc)

This book is non-fiction, so my review will be structured a little different than normal.

I picked up this book on recommendation from a friend who is a creative writing instructor. I wasn't really looking to improve my own creative writing, but rather, I was looking for a guide that would give me the language to talk about writing from the perspective of craft. That being said, you can still use this book if you're interested in creative writing instruction: I'm just letting you know that I'm not coming at this from the perspective of one who writes creatively.

There were a lot of things I really appreciated about this book. I really liked how focused each chapter was, getting right to the point with few embellishments but plenty of illustrative examples. Every concept, therefore, was easy to grasp, even if implementing it in one's own writing is a challenge.

I also appreciated that each chapter dealt with a particular topic (character, plot, point of view, etc) and offered numerous freewriting prompts and suggested readings. These collections help the reader both practice what they've learned and to seek out material that illustrates the concepts of each chapter, and I think they're varied enough that most readers will find a reading or prompt which resonates with them.

Lastly, I appreciated the way that Burroway explained why certain writing choices were better than others while also acknowledging that some prescriptivist "rules" can be broken. For example, Burroway very clearly breaks down the difference between showing and telling and explains when showing may be more effective versus when telling is the better choice. She also explains what effects showing and telling have in the reader so that authors can approach a project more mindful of their impact.

All that being said, I didn't give this book a full 5 stars because there were some little things that irked me. For one, this book is somewhat biased against genre fiction and makes some generalizations that I don't think are fair. Still, there are some passages that acknowledge that genre fiction can be productive and that writing to reader expectations isn't always a bad thing, so maybe I'm more annoyed than offended. Additionally, this book uses some metaphors that may or may not be upsetting to people. For example, Burroway describes plot in terms of a war (specifically the conflict over the Gaza Strip) and facial features (which may come across as ableist at times). I can't speak for everyone and perhaps I'm reading too much into these comparisons, but it's better to be aware that they're used.

TL;DR: While there was nothing in this book that was essentially "new" for me as a person familiar with literary criticism and craft, I do think Writing Fiction is a good resource for people who may just be starting out (like high school or college create writers or adult writers who don't recall much from English class). It gives a lot of clear, concrete advice and provides useful language for articulating what constitutes "good writing" in the modern age. For these reasons, I think it's a helpful text, but by no means the only handbook one should use when crafting a story.

[warrenkoles]

Wow I feel like going through the tags and replies of this just shows how much ableism still exists even within our own communities. Personally I've only ever seen this term used by ND people referring to themselves (neurospicy mostly, not really neurosparkly) but it is really not a big deal if some ND people enjoy referring to themselves in a little fun way. I really feel like so many ND people especially on here and twitter have never actually hung out with other ND people who are not like them, and so this concept of it being too "immature" or too "infantilizing" just comes off as super rude, if not actually ableist. "Don't infantilize ND people" = "don't take away our autonomy because you think we're incapable of knowing what is best for us" NOT "don't make us all look like kids by using language that I consider to be childish".

It's okay if you don't like the terms and don't want to be called that, but that doesn't mean you have to be so rude about the people who do, especially when a lot of us have been bullied for these exact things (being seen as "cringe" or "immature"). I don't get how so many aren't seeing that.

If you are neurodivergent (including all psychological conditions, neurological conditions, and developmental conditions) I have a question for you and pls elaborate in the tags if you feel comfortable

[fireinthehole69-212]

Things I have learned from living abroad in Ireland.

The concept of poverty has to be reconsidered, giving away money is not the same as paying for something you desire, when doing this last one you have to consider how often you do or get something for pleasure, how long spend overthinking if you should get it, and from where you're getting it.

People who run business ain't going to be a manager, if so a supervisor, the first ones are focused in passive income bureaucracy and vices.

Having a job can mean that you no longer have a purpose, in post-slavery societies it often happens, and the Irish job market is no exception, and you can end up in an asphyxiating one easily, you also should expect coworkers to be hard to cheer up, and to deposit trust on you, the dream of nice people here is to be self-sufficient and having a close group of people, there's no interest in blindly trust big corporations or people due to generational trauma.

There's an expectation of where and how the Brazilians and the Polish should be and behave, also everyone makes the assumption that you want to socialize with people from your country over other people.

The economic market is so poor and narrowed that there's indicators that personal economics and real state are being used to control the mobility of individuals, being this a theory without direct evidence.

Due to their past of self-induced beliefs in the superiority of their race is not hard to find someone trying to fuck with your mind, testing or teasing you, some do by cultural influence, and others truly still believe the fact. This only shows up if you present yourself as a nobody, since it seems they make distinctions by socioeconomic status too.

Is common practice to have an ableist way of communication based in subtlety and double meanings.

Doesn't looks like it but there's a huge difference between wanting the money to have a tesla and wanting to make one.

The conceptualization of mental illnesses are inherently associated with weaknesses and victimization in the patient, so mental diseases associated with aggressiveness and abusing behavior often are left untreated, well known to happen in another places but here is specially noticeable.

The romanticization of intelligence can go to extremes here, has I said this also happens in another countries, but the threshold on which people start being critic towards other characteristics of an individual are way higher than average, I perceive this as a poor collective intelligence, reasons could be poor socialization due private and gendered schooling, or a social behavior dragged from the times of famine, maybe both.

Being said that the freedom of press actually exist, the general quality of it is really poor, controversial topics had to be really relevant to made it to the biggest media, making a follow up of topics like politics or economics by their means difficult, public television is under-stuffed and overpaid, alternative press exist but newspapers can run out, and in the internet are rarely cited outside facebook groups.

The housing market is currently inflated due to how open it is to the international investment, sharing language with counties who have a business model way different to the European one, and considering the product being seen like an asset more than an utility, basically big firms bought flats and houses and let them be, artificially altering the balance supply/demand, this plus demographic changes in a society who bought most of all real state in a short time-frame are going to make a generational market crash, who probably will freak out investors and aggravate the whole thing even more, mortgage rates are good tho, but you have to be sure you want to stay here forever, if you're less than 40 you ain't going to make passive income from rentals or sell it for a decent price in a given future, get that out of your mind.

You have to worry a lot about prices outside big retailers, while this doesn't really happens at others places of europe, where you can just enter any small shop of any city and neighborhood without giving a worry, here you can expect price increases not by fractions of the average but by multipliers, see very basic stuff being three times more expensive can happen quite often.

You can tell racism is really present and not addressed or interfering in politics, since it's location Ireland is quite homogeneous genetically speaking so the Irish have to ways of tagging people, one is realizing you're an expat, so a filter of positive racism is applied, where you will have relentless conversations about culture and stuff in a polite fakeish and exhausting way who can last for months until you see the real person, and the second one is a subtle trend of seeing more people of a given eye or hair color or small stuff like that in some job positions than others, btw this is totally normalized, is not a big deal for them because they don't have to address huge consequences from racism like other countries do, like India, the south of Europe etc, where this kind of stuff can generate huge altercations.

There's successful expats, but I have the feeling they already had a huge network of people and got offered a job position in the country by a multinational who operates in Ireland before even coming, right now is quite difficult to become successful as a first gen expat, seems like there's an intention on changing that but it will take decades and some friction along the way.

Both Poland and Ireland government/military are making the "Bad cop and Good cop" game with Ukranian refugee's workforce.

[autisticcassandracain]

Now that I've finished volume 1 & 2 of The New Teen Titans I feel like giving my official ranking of the Teen Titans based on how much I personally like them:

Koriand'r: Love of my life. She's the reason I read this comic I love her so MUCH. I'd literally be here all day if I went in depth on why I love her. Spectacular showstopping amazing 10/10.

Joey: Listen! He's just a lad! Just a nice little lad! I knew practically nothing about him going in but I love him now. He's just a genuinely kind and compassionate person, his power is cool as hell, and I'm actually pleasantly surprised by how well his disability was handled. 

Donna: Her arc about creating an aura of perfection around her and being scared to watch it crumble is really good, her leadership arc was likewise great, the issue where she found her family was fantastic, the Amazons as a concept are super interesting to me, and I really love her relationship with Kori and Dick! She's a little bland but that's ok I still love her.

Raven: She doesn't grab me as much as I feel she should for some reason? But she's still a good character. I like the idea of an empath being wildly incompetent with her own emotions, I have to respect and admire her selflessness, and her powers are cool as hell.

Kole: Yes I know she was only in like 5 to 10 issues and existed to be killed off in Infinite Crisis but have you considered: I love her.

Dick: When he's not being a jackass he's really nice! He weirdly feels a lot more... idk, human? In the ntt than I've usually seen him in batfam comics. I especially like how much this era leans into his detective skills. Unfortunately he's also quite frequently a jackass and it makes me want to strangle him.

Vic: His combination of brains and brawn feels very unique, I love how they don't downplay his intellect, and his relationship with the school for disabled kids and his grandparents is adorable! That said there's only so much self pity and 'I look like a monster' monologues I can take before I start to roll my eyes at it.

Tara: Yes we're counting her. Her character was abysmally written, her backstory makes no sense, her flat evil personality is infinitely less interesting than a more nuanced alternative, and of course there was the whole victim-blaming Mess with Slade, but also I thought she was funny. She's a bitch and it's entertaining.

Garfield: As a self-proclaimed chauvinist and the designated group sexual harasser I'm legally required to dislike him. I'd probably like him a little better if he didn't also wallow in self pity constantly but here we are. Yeah your whole family is dead and I guess that sucks but in the immortal words of Donna Troy, that's not exactly unique in this group. Go cry about it in your McMansion. Occasionally has some good moments and his friendship with Vic is cute tho.

Danny Chase: I feel embarrassed having to put him on this list bc I've literally never heard anyone or anything mention him so I'm pretty sure he's getting written out in 2.5 issues flat but. Still a Titan. His entire personality is 'loud-mouth 14-year-old ex-spy' so he's mostly just boring and kind of annoying. Feels like he's only there to get more kids to read comics and I'd bet real money that's the actual reason he exists. And on top of that his powers are boring.

Wally West: This is an NTT Wally West hate blog. I hate this guy so much. He's a conservative in the 80's and as if that wasn't bad enough all he does is feel sorry for himself, complain, and lash out at others. Every time he opens his mouth my brain goes 'That's what I thought you'd say you stupid fucking Republican!' I'm not even going to try to be objective here. If I could push him off a roof I would. Fuck NTT Wally West.

[a-queer-seminarian]

so ya wanna know about autism: masterpost

I give this google doc link out to individuals a lot, and realized it might be useful for a lot of people if i shared it more widely. It’s a masterpost of a whole bunch of Autistic Stuff -- here’s the link to the actual doc, but i’ll also post it all here on tumblr (under a readmore after the table of contents).

(edit: if the hyperlinks aren’t working for you, here’s the google doc url that you can copy and paste into an internet browser to access everything: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16BqhRv4IlZ6KcElGAEZOx8sFYwRs4W1jF-ddY_XKYnE/edit?usp=sharing )

Please spread it around (including sharing the google doc link outside of tumblr wherever you want). Feel free to comment with more resources, tumblr posts, articles, etc. that you find helpful! And if any links are broken, let me know.

It can be a major challenge for adult autistic folks to find content for us and by us, because so much “official” content is 1) ableist and harmful and 2) geared towards parents of autistic children. So I’ve compiled just about every resource I’ve got that discusses autism by and for #actuallyautistic folks.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

- ORGANIZATIONS AND SELF ADVOCATES

- DEFINING AND DESCRIBING AUTISM

misc.

Metaphors and images for autism

Disability models

Issues with Functioning Labels, ideas of “Mild” - “Severe” autism

- AUTISM AND INTERSECTIONALITY

misc.

Autism among women

Autism and race

Autism and LGBTQ

- STUFF ON SELF DIAGNOSIS

misc.

Is it ADHD or Autism??

Tests / checklists

- STUFF ON PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS

- AUTISTIC PRIDE / CULTURE AND HISTORY!

misc.

Autism / disability history and culture

The Neurodiversity Movement

Person first vs. identity first language

Cureism

- AUSTITIC TRAITS (BEYOND THE ONES COMMONLY DISCUSSED!)

Misc. - samefoods, lists, needing to know what to expect, etc.

Stimming

Communication stuff - misc. - Verbal/nonverbal - Infodumping - echolalia - Prosopagnosia - Aphasia - Eye contact

Special interests / hyperfixations

Auditory Processing Disorder

Sensory issues / Sensory Processing Disorder

Meltdowns and Shutdowns and Burnout

Executive function

Emotion stuff

- MASKING / PASSING / SCRIPTING

- WHY AUTISM SPEAKS AND ABA ARE SO BAD

- MISCELLANEOUS

Suicide

Allyship / for allistics - For parents of autistic persons

More non-speaking autistic self-advocates

misc.

_________________

SOME ORGANIZATIONS AND SELF ADVOCATES

ASAN!!

The Autistic Woman and Nonbinary Network

Amethyst Schaber’s “Ask and Autistic” YouTube full of videos on various autistic stuff

Lydia X.Z. Brown / Autistic Hoya 

Dr. Nick Walker

Mrs. Kerima Çevik

“Non-Speaking Autistic Speaking” - Amy Sequnzia’s blog

“The thinking person’s guide to autism”

The How-To Wiki for autism is actually really helpful! 

Ollibean blog .

DEFINING AND DESCRIBING AUTISM

Video: “What is autism?”

“About autism”

“What being autistic means to me”

Myths about autism .

Metaphors and images for autism - “Autism is a sundae bar” - “Autism is purple” - “Understanding the spectrum” comic - Another visual on the idea of a spectrum - And another visual on the spectrum - not an on-off switch .

Disability models - Understanding disability models - Video: models of disability discourse .

Functioning Labels, “Mild” or “Severe” autism - Article on functioning labels - “What’s wrong with functioning labels? A masterpost” - Another article on problems with functioning labels - “I don’t experience my autism mildly; you experience my autism mildly” - A non-speaking autistic who is labeled non-functioning discusses labels - “Most people would consider me low-functioning, but I hate that word” - Tweets from actual autistics on functioning labels - How the same person may be labeled low or high functioning at different times - “Mental Age Theory hurts people with disabilities” .

AUTISM AND INTERSECTIONALITY

Article on autism in communities of color + in the LGBTQ community

Autism, intersectionality, and STEM college outcomes

Articles on intersectionality on The Art of Autism .

Autism among women - A reminder about talking about differences in autism in “females” - “I thought I was lazy: the invisible struggle for autistic women” - “The women who don’t know they’re autistic” - “The gas-lighting of women and girls on the autism spectrum” .

Autism and race - “Being Autistic, Black, and Femme” - “Black and Autistic: Is there room at the advocacy table?” - “Autistic, Gifted, and Black” - “I, too, am Racialized” - Autistic Hoya on being Chinese & a transracial adoptee - Video: “Growing up BLACK in a neurotypical legal system” - The Autism Wars: Mrs. Kerima Çevik’s blog .

Autism and LGBTQ - “Autism and gender variance - is there a cause for the correlation?” - “The intersection of autism and gender” - Issues being transmasc and autistic - “Gendervague: At the intersection of Autistic and trans experiences” - “I’m an autistic lesbian and no, I don’t wish I were ‘normal’” .

STUFF ON SELF DIAGNOSIS:

A self-diagnosis masterpost!

Autistic self-dx is valid

“Reasons why self-dx is good from the pov of a professional” 

Some reasons why autism may go undiagnosed 

“Five reasons I am self identified as autistic”

“Beware of gatekeeping”

A masterpost of “resources for women who believe they might be autistic”

A therapist who’s never met an incorrect self-dx-er .

Is it ADHD or Autism?? - Links to information on the intersections between autism and ADHD - A list of things that are more ADHD, things that are more autism, and things that are both - Science: decoding the overlap between ADHD and autism - The concept of neurodivergent “cousins” .

Various tests / checklists: - ASD Checklist - List of inclusive autistic traits - Book: I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults .

STUFF ON PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS:

Privilege in being able to get a diagnosis

Pros and cons of getting one

Someone answers the question “Was it worth it for you to get diagnosed as an adult?”

Professional diagnosis can get some people deported :/

This person’s journey from self-dx to pro-dx .

AUTISTIC PRIDE / CULTURE AND HISTORY!

The wiki how-to on accepting your autism

The wiki how-to on autistic strengths 

“7 Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture”

“I’m autistic and proud of it”

“You are not a burden” 

“What is self advocacy?” .

Autism / disability history and culture - Video: “Is autism a disability?” - A google drive “disability library” full of amazing content - A tumblr tag full of posts with autistic history - Book - Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking includes essays that explore the history of autism and of autistic self-advocacy - Book - Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity .

The Neurodiversity movement - The neurodiversity paradigm - Video: basic terms and definitions - Video: what is neurodiversity? - Liberating ourselves from the pathology paradigm .

Person first vs. identity first language (“person with autism” vs. “autistic person”) - ASAN on identity first language - Why it matters - Video: Autism ACTUALLY Speaking - Science: a study on what labels actual autistic persons prefer - An image showing the difference between person first and identity first language .

Cureism & seeking causes of autism - Video: “Autism and the disability community: the politics of neurodiversity, causation, and cure” - Video: Self advocacy in a culture of cure - An analogy against cureism - It’s okay that some autistics do want a cure - Quotes on Truth Is by Julia Bascom about not needing a cure - Cureism is eugenics - “If a cure is found, no one will force you to take it” .

AUTISTIC TRAITS (BEYOND THE ONES COMMONLY DISCUSSED!)

“Thinking about patterns of opposite extremes among autistic people” (e.g. how we tend to be sensory avoidant or sensory seeking, extremely gender conforming or extremely gender nonconforming, hyper-empathetic or hypo-empathetic)

An essay on inclusive autistic traits

This tumblr is dedicated to answering people asking about whether various things are autistic traits!

This person lists the reasons they think (know) they’re autistic; the list includes a lot of traits that often aren’t talked about 

“Some autism things” .

“What are samefoods?” - “Why do autistic people tend to samefood?”

It’s okay if you don’t like certain things / avoid certain things because of your autism

Wanting/needing to know how long something will last, what to expect .

Stimming! - Video: what is stimming? - Video on self-injurious stims - Video: autobiographical look at stimming and its role - More than a coping mechanism - A masterpost of examples of various types of stimming - Video on vocal / verbal stimming - Examples of vocal stimming as communication - A tumblr blog with a tag full of examples of body stims .

Communication stuff - Trouble with volume modulation; repetition; inconsistent talking habits - Autistic idiolects - Autistic dialect? - Autistics communicate differently amongst each other! . - Verbal/nonverbal - - Selective mutism - - Semiverbal communication - - Different amounts of access to speech - - A person on being non-verbal and using AAC - - People who are nonverbal still deserve to be listened to .

Infodumping - What is infodumping?

Echolalia - “Autism and Echolalia: what you need to know” - What is echolalia? - A tumblr blog’s tag featuring examples of echolalia

Aphasia and autism

Prosopagnosia (Face blindness) - Science: a study confirming that some 67% of autistic persons have some degree of facial recognition difficulties - Science: a study offering theories for why this is!

Video: Autistics and eye contact - Science: Researchers explore why autistic people avoid eye contact

Tendency to overexplain .

Special interests / hyperfixations - Some info on hyperfixations - Video on special interests - Emphasizing the intensity of these things - “What’s so special about a special interest?” - “Why we love what we love and why it should matter to you” - Not every autistic person knows everything there is to know about their special interest - “Interest hopping” - Dividing our life into “eras” of special interests .

Auditory Processing Disorder - Examples of APD - “You might struggle with auditory processing if…” .

Sensory Processing Disorder - Video: What is sensory processing disorder? - Video: a virtual experience of what it’s like to be at a party as someone with SPD - A post about some of the weird sensory stuff that many autistics experience (such as feeling nauseated when your real issue is a headache) - Many sensory issues aren’t just annoying, but physically painful - Difficulty in explaining autistic hypersensitivities - Auditory sensory musings - Trying to describe sensory overload - Not noticing when we’re hungry - Weird tolerance for big pain, intolerance for small pain - Science: “Unseen Agony: Dismantling Autism’s house of pain” - Tumblr blog with a tag of other posts about sensory issues .

Meltdowns and Shutdowns and burnout: - Meltdowns vs. shutdowns - Video: “What are autistic meltdowns?” - Video: “What are autistic shutdowns?” - A description of meltdowns - Signs of a shutdown in autistic people - How to support someone having a shutdown - Science: “Autistic shutdown alters brain function” - How to avoid meltdowns - “Dealing with meltdowns” - “The protective gift of meltdowns” - Video on autistic burnout - Article on burnout - Science: Autistic burnout described by a researcher - An article on autistic regression (burnout) - “Help! I seem to be getting more autistic” - talks about how things like burnout, aging, new environment, being around other autistics, and more can cause this .

Executive function - Video: “What is executive functioning?” - A chart describing the different aspects of executive function - “Executive functioning problems - a frustrating aspect of being autistic” - Autistic inertia .

Emotion stuff (including empathy) - Our emotional regulation is different - Article: (some) people with autism can read emotions, feel empathy - Video on misconceptions around autism and empathy - “Double standards: The irony of empathy and autism” - Science on the “double empathy problem” involving relationships between autistics and non-autistics - Not a bad person for not having empathy - More musings on autism and empathy - “Autistic grief is not like neurotypical grief” .

Alexithymia: - Science: Overlap between autism and alexithymia - Video: what is alexithymia? - “I don’t know how I feel”

MASKING / PASSING 

Video on passing

An infographic on autistic masking

Another video on masking / “hiding” in a neurotypical world

We are not obligated to mask or “act less autistic”

When you mask less and get told “you’ve been acting more autistic”

Getting called high-functioning because you mask/pass well

Scripting: - Video: what is scripting? 

WHY AUTISM SPEAKS AND ABA ARE SO BAD

A guide to identifying good autism organizations (and how they can improve!)

Autism Speaks:

Some facts and statistics 

An AS masterpost

Another AS masterpost

Video: What’s wrong with AS?

Video: a non-speaking autistic’s response to discussions between Autism Speaks and GRASP

“Enough with the puzzle pieces”

“I resign my roles at Autism Speaks”

“Responding to Autism Speaks” .

ABA:

Video: what’s ABA? 

“Studies find thin evidence for early autism therapies” 

Masterpost of why ABA is harmful

More on how ABA is abusive even if a kid “seems to like it”

An autistic describes ABA’s “quiet hands” method

And another post on how ABA is harmful

Trauma and autism

Alternatives to ABA

MISCELLANEOUS 

Suicide - Video: Speaking to suicidal autistics - Science linking autism and increased suicidality - Video: “diagnosis saved my life” .

Allyship / for allistics - Video: How to be an ally - Resources for supporting autistics during Autism Acceptance month and year-round! - Autistic accessibility needs - “How to be a friend to autistic people” - 15 things you never say to an autistic person - What to say / not to say to an autistic adult - Video: what shouldn’t I say to autistic people? - Video: Things not to say to an autistic person - Video: “Isn’t everyone a bit autistic?” - Don’t talk about “mental age” - “To those who tell autistic persons ‘everyone experiences that’” - Why it’s not helpful to say “well I don’t think of you as disabled / as autistic” - How to support a loved one who’s gone temporarily nonverbal - How to support someone having a shutdown - Help reduce meltdowns in a loved one - Don’t restrain an autistic person having a meltdown - Understanding why autistics seem “so picky” - Making communication easier for your autistic friend - Avoiding ableism against AAC users - How to protect your autistic employees from ‘no script found’ situations” .

For parents of autistic persons - “Don’t Mourn for Us” - “You don’t ‘lose a child to autism’” - Advice from autistic adults on treating your autistic children with respect - A masterpost of advice for “autism parents” - It’s okay if your kid doesn’t hug you or say “I love you” - “They keep publishing these violent articles” - “When you’re autistic, abuse is considered love” - You don’t have to tell everyone who comes across you and your kid in public that your kid is autistic / you don’t have to constantly apologize for your kid! - Your kid isn’t bad / uncooperative just because they have certain differences - Don’t tell autistic adults we are “nothing like your child” - A tag full of more tumblr posts about / for “autism parents”

More non-speaking autistic self-advocates - Video: “In My Language” by Mel Baggs - Mel Baggs: “Don’t ever assume autism researchers know what they’re doing” - Lysik’an: “You don’t speak for low-functioning autistics” - Film: Deej

Autistics and the idea of “getting out of your comfort zone”

Autistics accommodate allistics far more than the other way around 

It is icky when autistic persons are only valued when we’re “productive” 

Parents who are themselves autistic

Autism as genetic? - Science: “Autism Genetics, Explained”

Science: links to some studies on autism and gastro-intestinal issues, autism and caffeine, autism and sleep, autism and stimming, autism and queerness, autistic strengths, and more

[hyperlexichypatia]

The problem with these suggestions is that you're challenging the ableist language and doing word-substitution without actually challenging the underlying ableist ideas.

The problem with ableist language isn't that people use clinical words in a non-clinical way. The problem with ableist language is that mental or physical deviation from the norm -- i.e. the concept those words are coined to describe -- is considered undesirable.

The problem isn't using a term for "detached from reality but not in a clinical way", it's assuming that there's one universal "reality" that neurodivergent people are "detached" from.

Even if someone is diagnosed as a "narcissist," it's still ableist to equate neurodivergence with being "shitty."

Sometimes there's not a good word substitution, because there's no non-ableist way to express an intrinsically ableist concept.

If the concept you're trying to convey is:

Some people are worse at being embodied than other people

Some people are intrinsically, biologically worse at thinking than other people

Some people's cognitive processes make them unfit for decision-making or leadership

Then there's no non-ableist word substitution you can use, because ableism is baked into the concept.

I would suggest, when you're tempted to use an ableist term, thinking about what idea you're trying to convey, and whether that idea is based on false assumptions about disabled people, rather than just whether it's non-preferred language.

I shared a post earlier that was a rather lengthy list of ableist terms everyone should stop using (and I fully agree, hence why I shared it) but something that bugs me about that post and others like it is how no one is offering alternatives. If we can’t say all these common, colloquially used terms then what can we say? I think people will always be more receptive to stuff like this if instead of just putting limitations on them you also give them new options.

That’s why I thought I’d share some!

If you want to say dumb/stupid/lame, try saying ‘ridiculous’ or ‘absurd’.

If you want to say ‘insane’, try saying something like ‘wild’ or ‘messed up’.

If you want to say delusional/delulu, you could say that someone is ‘in fantasy land’ or idk ‘lost in a daydream’ or something. Tbh it’s easiest to say something like “what are [you/they] even on about?” (It’s actually really hard trying to come up with another way to say “detached from reality but not in a clinical way” so this is the best I’ve got since I’m pretty sure ‘confused’ or ‘out to lunch’ is also ableist language.)

Instead of using sociopathic/psychopathic/narcissistic to describe undesirable behavior, honestly just say ‘shitty’. Unless there’s a diagnosis, they’re not a narcissist, they’re just being shitty. If you’re in a situation where you can’t swear, get creative.

Hope this helps!

[fixomnia-scribble]

Evolution

HOLY HECK.

Criminal Minds: Evolution (aka Season 16) is off to an incredible start. Spoilers and pics below the cut. Messer and the team have pulled off the tricky balance between taking us back to familiar places and faces, and finding new energy as well as new problems to contend with in new ways.

Below be spoilers.

Firstly, this is a welcome-back to the characters, not a plot analysis. I’m intrigued by the idea of a season-long arc, and I think it’s an interesting concept: how pandemic life may have altered crimes that depend on predator access to people out in public.

One comment I’ve seen online, about the psychological game the killers are playing, is: “Isn’t it horribly ableist to show the choice between permanent disability and death this way?” And this is my response, as a non-disabled person: I think the point was to make the viewer think that. I think the point was to make people think, hang on, would I actually pick death over permanent paralysis? Wouldn’t there be plenty to fight for and ways to live? But this is just me.

Let me just get the predictable out of the way: everyone is back, if only name-dropped a couple of times, and they look amazeballs. Age and experience are cool, network people. So far there’s no word on whether Gubler and Henney will sign on for future episodes, but they are clearly missed and not forgotten, while on supposed secret assignments.

Prentiss is the new Strauss, dealing with the budget-bleating Dep Dir Bailey, a spindly, grinning 30-year-old with his eye on a top job. He probably hasn’t been in the field since Academy, has no respect for Prentiss and has no idea what hell he is in for.

Lewis is her usual powerhouse self, still relatively fresh in her mental outlook compared to the long-time agents who have gone though bitterness and back together. She’s also dating a lady powerhouse at DoJ, thereby becoming CM’s first canonically queer BAU agent. The world does not end, and Prentiss’ response is that it’s nice to have someone so happy in the office - and that Tara’s going to get so much shit from the team - simply for making such a catch, and dating someone over at DoJ.

(Note: thanks to the eagle-eyed forum spotters who noted Tara’s plaid jacket and closeup of her nice short manicure as a little extra bi-coding. Whether it was intentional or not, you’re right, that’s hilarious!)

Which brings me to the next point: there is cussing! A lot of it! Because this is on streaming, not cable! Rossi and Prentiss, predictably, get to drop all the bombs, some of them fairly large. Not only is it disarmingly natural, but it feels like a relief. Of course these two have been cussing all the way through - we’re just now getting to sit at the big kids’ table and hear it.

Here’s hoping we get to hear Prentiss cussing in multiple languages.

Rossi is having a Truly Awful Year. Having re-married his third wife at the end of S 15, he’s been grieving (or trying not to) since her death from an undisclosed illness a year ago. He’s living in a basic commuter hotel to avoid rattling around his mansion alone, living on room service, a landslide of case notes, a couple changes of clothes, Alka-Seltzer and eyedrops and microwaved pasta (!) He’s abrasive and snappish and obsessed with the case, and the higher-ups are noticing.

Each member of the BAU tries to reach him, clearly not for the first time.

Prentiss’ intervention scene just slew me. She threw everything she had into it, all her affection and hard-earned wisdom and shared grief, and he quietly handed it all back with “You’re a better person than me, Emily. And I’m okay with that.”

(Confession: even with Rossi in the depths of grief, Shipper!Me is still jumping around going is it finally time for these two?? I have headcanoned them as being friends with extended benefits for years, whenever both are fancy-free and in the same city. They get each other on a very deep level and they’re friends, first and foremost. They could light a fire and yammer about old-school sci-fi writers all night, or shut up and hit the sheets together to forget a bad case.

The last scene in which they’re obviously and appreciatively checking each other out and cracking jokes about not getting laid is not helping.)

Alvez is doing his best largely a solo agent, since the team have been split up into single SSA units rather than partners. He consults with JJ regularly, and she backs him up in dealing with Rossi’s outbursts. We get less insight into his inner life than the others, but it’s clear he’s concerned about the team, and is trying to bring in enough solves to prove their worth.

Penelope! Is! Back! She’s living her best damn life, and has new firm boundary skills. As always, she has a lot going on - her Anglophile Baking Club, and mentoring small genius security network coders on the super-secure young adult chat site she developed, for starters. The look on her face when Alvez knocks on her door is priceless, as is their banter, picked up without a pause from S15. (I may have replayed, “Take your carbs and exit, sir”, a few times.)

Garcia’s turn at Getting Through to Rossi is magic. Whether she had the right words or whether it was just the right time makes no difference - it was a gorgeous scene. The power of Garcia is highest when she is just herself, not trying to offer well-known words of advice. She manages to deliver a sound waking-up as well as a shift in perspective. And clearly he hadn’t let anyone hug him in a long time. Clingy Rossi is rather sweet, but don’t tell him that.

In contrast, the lighting as Rossi leads Garcia back to her old lair is like returning to Kansas before the tornado. I hoped for a moment that her decorations would still be up, but as we enter, we see tidy piles of boxes, a rank of dark monitors on the grey walls, and a starkly clean desk. But as she logs in, each monitor pops awake in determined pastels, and we see her retrieve the pink post-it note that she’d left for the next incumbent of the room - not knowing it would be her. We don’t see what she wrote, and we never will, and that’s as it should be. It’s a wrench seeing her step back into the darkness of her old life, but it’s also a triumph. She’s still got it, and it’s on her terms now.

Lastly, but far from least, JJ quietly shines in these opening episodes as a stalwart, seasoned profiler, nearing the top of her current skill set and about ready for a bump up the ladder. She’s been emotionally anchoring the team while trying to work harder than ever to ensure their future as a unit, and it’s telling on her. She and Will hardly see each other, Henry has his first girlfriend, and she’s missing them all. But she’s resourceful as ever, and Will is his rock-solid self. They’ll find ways to make their schedules, um, meld together. On the kitchen counter if need be.

(If Rossi retires and he and Prentiss get together and JJ steps up as the new Hotch and maybe gets to stay in DC more, and if they get the jet back along with Reid and Simmons...)

[who-is-page]

re post 700126918662668289 - like i get what you're saying, but i think the community needs to take more seriously the concerns about gatekeeping. there are people who, while calling what they're doing just anti-KFF, do stuff like enforce rigid term boundaries, keep 'linkers from using the term "otherkin" as an umbrella term for alterhuman experiences *as there is a long history of doing*, etc. i've seen a lot of them. *this* is what we're worried about, not calling ableists out on their shit

I mean, shrug? Anon, if someone tells another person that they're using the wrong word for their experience, that's kind of an inevitable issue to some degree. If people are seeing the language issue of KFF and reacting to it by putting pressure on language across the board, then that still seems like a problem that isn't going to be solved until the original cause is actually addressed.

Also, otherkin isn't and shouldn't be an umbrella term for all alterhuman experiences-- that's why the term alterhuman was proposed in the first place, to help offer an alternative opt-in label that was open to anyone, no questions asked. Like, not my monkey therian not my circus, but there's no reason to try and pull otherkin to reference all alterhuman phenomena when the term alterhuman is pretty well known and liked already. That's confusing at best, and yeah, likely going to piss people off at worst when they feel like someone is intentionally misrepresenting their identity and community to others by advertising it as a much broader umbrella term than it actually is.

I'd also say that that claim of historically using otherkin as an umbrella for all alterhuman experiences isn't really substantiated. Otherhearted folks split specifically because they didn't feel the term 'kin accurately applied to their experiences; vampires were only put under the umbrella for a short time, it seems, and that died out likely because the experiences are too drastically different; the concept of human factkin was coined by a troll, and prior to that animal factkin was considered a Were/Therian experience historically though it largely fell out of the spotlight in the 2010's seemingly; theriomythic was coined explicitly to be a subset of neither the therian nor otherkin community; I'm genuinely not sure if othervagues were ever a widely-known or established thing by a different name at any point in community history; furries stopped being considered therians and weres seemingly around the time the community was starting to merge in a lot of ways with the otherkin community, at least from what I've seen from furry fandom vs. otherkin in the 2000's; etc. Otherkin was different twenty years ago: wider in some ways of who it would accept, but narrower in others. But it wasn't the umbrella term that we use alterhuman for now, and people who try to fit it into that niche are going to be disappointed.

Either way, I still think that people would get more luck arguing with language-based serious gatekeeping by taking stress off the people who feel like they're already cornered animals from the KFF issue. If someone already feels like they've lost parts of a community or Internet culture that's important or meaningful to them, then they're going to be on the defensive and reacting even more aggressively to things they perceive as in the same vein. Telling them "You're wrong and gatekeeping," isn't going to get them to stop and have a thoughtful discussion with you, full of nuance and mutual understanding. It's going to raise their hackles and get you blocked, because they view you as being the aggressor. There's likely not going to be any progress made on the language gatekeeping until people feel comfortable and secure enough to engage in that type of discussion with good-will and empathy. Which right now, a lot of people seemingly don't. Frankly, not to be cynical, but I don't think we'll ever reach that point with the way the community is now, because so many people are angry and feel hurt, and also because I'm already seeing some concerning ideas and patterns raise their heads in community spaces that I have a sinking feeling are going to bloom from this nonsense and then cause more havoc down the line. (The constantly unaddressed Zoo stuff in the therian community is something I felt the same way about fourish years ago and, lo(l) and behold, now it's a Problem.) I'm in a position of, "eh, I'll give it five or ten years" myself.

(You're also always going to have some amount of people who are like, "no, these experiences do not belong under the umbrella." It's unavoidable, and sometimes people have decent historical backing to their arguments. But I recognize that it seems like you're talking about a more pervasive issue than just the regular old language discourses that've been a part of the community since age memoriam. Still, don't expect to be able to get rid of all of it, it's just a part of People Having Opinions.)

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

How about an au where punz doesn't show up during the disc War final

That was one of the first AUs I ever planned out in my head, eventually getting refined into my protege!innit AU. So here you go my lovely anon, here’s the concept, slightly refined. (Also, quick warning that Tommy does use some accidentally ableist language in this! Also, this is INCREDIBLY dark)

Tommy clung onto the headless body of Tubbo desperately, sobbing and sobbing and praying for somehow a way for him to come back, his cries echoing throughout the underground vault the only sound. Hands grasping onto his hair, stern but not harsh, barely brought him back into reality.

Dream sighed. “Tommy. Follow me.”

“No.”

His hair was tugged, harshly. “What do you mean, no?”

“No. I’m not coming with you.”

Dream held out the bloodstained axe, dripping with Tubbo's blood. It nearly made Tommy sick to see it again. “You don’t have a choice. Come with me or you will die here.”

“Maybe that's what I want! Maybe I’d rather die and be with Wilbur and Tubbo than be your fucking toy to torture or whatever!” Tommy shouted, the broken voice echoing.

Dream sighed again. “If you’re going to be difficult…”

The axe handle hit Tommy's head. All went black.

He woke up in a cell too dark and too bright, suffocatingly small and blistering hot with the heat of the lava. The yellow orange red mix was mesmerising. It should be so so easy to just touch it and end everything and go to whatever came after. It must be better than being a psycho bastard's personal punching bag.

He passed out from the pain when he tried to stand. He woke, again in the bed in the cell. It was surprisingly comfortable, better than the bed he had managed to put together in exile, and he hated it. That implied a level of permanence to his hell.

Wilbur's coat was gone, he noticed. He was pretty sure he was in a different set of clothes, too. He would not have the time to worry about those things soon.

(Meanwhile, a skull with ram horns and a bloodsoaked red and white hoodie and a patchwork longcoat wash up on the shores one day. They are taken to a home where a half-exploded beanie sits waiting for its wearer, and there are three extra seats at the table that will never be filled.)

Tommy had no idea how long he was alone in the cell. It could have been hours, days, weeks, an eternity. Time meant nothing, anymore. He still felt far too sick to leave the bed, the headache and bleeding from when his head was hit barely getting any better along with him feeling weaker and weaker, desperate for any water, any food.

He was certain he was going to die when he, half conscious, heard footsteps and was sat up on the headboard. Water was held to his lips, his throat and lips so dry he could barely take sips. When he’d finished the bottle, he was hand fed warm bread, so hungry it tasted like ambrosia on his tongue and so delirious he couldn’t even muster the energy to be angry he was being fed like an animal.

When warm hands were moved away, and he heard footsteps on the floor, Tommy let out a confused, animalistic chirp, barely aware what was going on but just knowing he didn’t want to be alone again. A laugh echoed from the walls, and a hand was run through his hair. Tommy leant in, purring like a cat. As he fell back into unconsciousness, all he could do was beg whoever was there in a voice scratchy and barely audible to please, please not leave him alone again.

He didn’t dream anymore. That was too much thought, hurting his head and making him almost sick, though he didn’t have enough food in him to be sick anymore. He just let himself be consumed by the darkness, and he slept well for the first time in a while.

He was alone again when he woke. Almost alone. A ghostly figure sat cross-legged at the lava keeping him prisoner, the green of his shirt almost invisible through the red stained blood, and his head in his hands and not on his neck. Tommy wasn’t sure if he was going mad already or if this was like Ghostbur, but either way he felt less alone with the ghostly form of Tubbo with him.

Ghost Tubbo disappeared when the lava parted, Dream entering into Tommy's prison. Tommy glared at the masked man, and he laughed. “Last time I was here, you were begging me to stay.”

Tommy felt himself turn red slightly at the memory of that, but continued glaring. “Fuck off.”

“Tommy, don’t speak to me like that or you’re not going to be able to eat today.” Dream said, with the tone Wilbur got when he used to tell off Tommy when he was doing something stupid. It made Tommy's blood boil.

“I don’t care,” he said, even as his throat ached and stomach throbbed. “Just let me die.”

Dream shook his head. “You’re too fun.”

Tommy growled. “And you’re a fucking sociopa-“

Tommy's cut off to hands around his neck, claws digging in deep enough to bleed. “I’d advise you listen, Tommy.” Dream said, voice as cheerily calm as always. “Or I’ll make you listen.”

Tommy sputtered for breath when his neck was released. “What do you want?”

“I just want to spend time with my only friend. Is that so hard to believe?” He laughs at Tommy's disbelieving expression, looking for the hidden meaning in the words. “You’re going to make this difficult, aren’t you? You know, things would be much easier if you stopped trying to defy me.”

(By the time Dream left, Tommy was holding a broken nose, black eyed and bruised, starving, and defiance in his eyes slightly dimmed.)

Life fell into a sickening routine. When Dream wasn’t there, Tommy slept. He was too dehydrated to cry anymore, so he just stared at the wall when he was awake. Ghost Tubbo was there, sometimes. When Tommy dared speak to him, he was mechanical, emotionless, entirely dedicated to protecting Tommy but painfully aware he couldn’t do anything but watch.

When Dream was, he’d bring food and water. Most of it ended up discarded, Tommy being deemed as too disobedient to deserve it. Sometimes he gave in and acted good being so desperate and hated himself for it. On those days, Dream talked with him, messed with his hair and hugged him and treated him with a twisted form of the affection Tommy recognised from Wilbur, or maybe Phil. On most days, Tommy was “punished.“

He’s not sure how long it took, but Tommy noticed as he slowly lost sight in one of his eyes as he took more and more blows to the head, how his left arm started hanging completely limp after being broken one too many times, how the web of scars covering his entire body only grew, both larger and deeper.

The first time Tommy died, it was unintentional. His head was hit against the obsidian, and something inside him broke, and he’s dead before he could even realise he’s dying. He wasn’t sure whether the afterlife is better or worse. It’s dark, and empty, and Wilbur is frightening, but there’s Tubbo- the Tubbo he knew, not the dull eyed ghost who as Tommy had learnt from Ghostbur was a separate entity.

It’s a month in the afterlife, apparently, before he’s brought back, the cell a mess of colour and noise and heat and touch and all of it too much, too much. Dream is excited, enthusiastic, asked him everything he can about the afterlife. Tommy refused to talk, and the slap across the face he received was a far, far, worse pain than gouging claws and broken limbs. He talked after that, through pained tears.

After that, it became a part of the routine he grew worryingly accustomed to. Like clockwork, every thirty visits he was killed, and like clockwork, he was always revived after one month in the afterlife, one day outside it. Dream asked him inane, weird questions about the afterlife. Sometimes he took Tommy's blood, sometimes he gave him weird injections. Dream was always weirdly kind on those days, and Tommy grew to long for them in a twisted way. He hated himself for it.

Bruises grew around his neck, refusing to heal. Deep deep cuts on his neck and his wrists stayed open, bleeding slightly when touched. Stab wounds and axe cuts covering his torso did the same. His hair turned white in chunks. Dream started dying it blond. It hurt and got into his wounds on his head. He learnt to tolerate it because when he squirmed and tried to get away it upset Dream and that's worse.

It’s easier to behave, so he does. He barely talked for a while, but he learnt that’s another thing that upset Dream. He bit his tongue and pretended it’s Wilbur, it’s Phil when Dream held him in his arms and ruffled his hair and talked gently to him. One day he brought in a jukebox and played the discs. It reminded Tommy of a time before the cell. He couldn’t remember the colour of grass or how the sunset looked. He hated it. Dream offered him the discs if he behaved, later on. Tommy grabbed them from his hands and shattered the plastic in two, because he didn’t want them, he didn’t want them to even exist because what was the fucking point of caring about anything anymore? Not discs, not people, not anything. Dream laughed and laughed.

(A ghostly teen, head held in his arm, gathered the shards. He stood at the door of a snowy house, uncaring of the pain as his body dissolved in it, not even reacting. When inside, he explains, monotone, to a paling looking angel and a crowned anarchist who’s hunger for blood increased by each word.)

If anyone else wants to send in some more AU ideas it’d be lovely and I will make them heavily involve c!primeboys no matter what and again that’s a challenge.

[mellometal]

Hi, everyone.

I have something extremely important to talk about that is NOT fandom related. I really do hope this can reach everyone on here, especially since it's still Autism Acceptance Month.

A few quick questions for anyone who happens to see this before I dive right into this: Have you ever heard of Dhar Mann? If so, have you ever seen his videos? What do you think about them?

If you don't know who Dhar Mann is, he's a content creator whose main platforms are Instagram and YouTube. He makes these videos about various scenarios from a couple on the brink of divorce, to kids bullying one of their peers, even about Autism Spectrum Disorder. All of his videos have some kind of message at the end that really drives the point home. One of his most recent videos is about ASD, which is what I'm going to discuss today.

Personally, I think some of his videos are interesting, despite the concepts being reused and recycled over and over; however, how I feel about the video he made about ASD is the complete opposite. I'll summarize the video he made so you don't have to watch it. (If you really want to watch it to see exactly what I'm talking about, I'm not gonna stop you. Do what you need to do in order to form your own opinion.)

The video Dhar Mann made about ASD is about this boy who excludes his autistic brother from participating in activities with his friends at school. The boy bullies his autistic brother and does pretty much everything to make his brother's life Hell, even going as far as to pretend that he doesn't know his own brother. The boy "instantly regrets his decision" when their mom is called into the school to discipline her son for bullying his autistic brother. What his mother says is what REALLY upsets me. The message of this video in particular is this, WORD FOR FUCKING WORD. I wish I was kidding. But here's the message below:

How the video concludes is the boy reluctantly includes his autistic brother in every single activity, the boy sees his brother's potential, and they live happily ever after. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo.

As an autistic woman who works with disabled people for a living, that message Dhar Mann put in this video specifically is not only extremely ableist, but is also spreading misinformation about ASD.

News flash to all the people who still spread misinformation about ASD: Not every single autistic person is a little white boy in elementary school, nor is every single autistic person a young white man who's a Super Genius™️. (I could go on all day long about how the media stereotypes autistic characters and autistic people in general, but that's a whole other topic.) No autistic person is the same, meaning we all fall on the spectrum in different places and all that jazz. There's no "look" to autistic people either because no autistic person looks the same.

Autistic women exist.

Autistic girls exist.

Autistic nonbinary people exist.

Autistic BIPOC and AAPI exist.

Autistic people who are completely nonverbal exist.

Autistic people who are completely verbal exist.

Autistic people who are in the middle of being nonverbal and verbal exist.

Autistic people who require minimal to no support exist.

Autistic people who require moderate support exist.

Autistic people who require full support exist.

Autistic LGBT people exist. (Reason why I bring this one up is because the media almost always shows cishet autistic men and I don't see autistic LGBT representation very often, if ever.)

Autism isn't something you can "catch". People have this same mentality about ADHD and Tourette's Syndrome too, which, by the way, you can't "catch" either.

Autism doesn't "go away" when you reach adolescence or adulthood. Why? BECAUSE AUTISTIC TEENAGERS AND AUTISTIC ADULTS EXIST. Autistic kids grow into autistic teenagers, then into autistic adults.

You can't "cure" it either. Unless you can build a time machine and a device to go back in time to change how a person's brain develops, there is no cure. ABA therapy is a fucking shit show in itself that does more harm than good.

The title of the video is a real squick for me too. It's mostly because I don't particularly enjoy people using person first language (the "boy with autism" part). I've seen many other autistic people on multiple other platforms sharing that same sentiment and preferring identity first language (autistic person). There are also others who prefer using person first language and those who don't have a preference. That's all perfectly valid. Whatever you prefer people using when referring to you, or whatever you refer to yourself as, in this case, is totally valid and I love you. This goes for disabilities in general, not just Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Regarding the message in this video, here's my response to it! A quick heads-up, my response is VERY long and VERY passionate. I was VERY close to making a response video where I tear that video apart AND tear Dhar Mann a new asshole. Unfortunately, it worked me up so much that I was really struggling with what I wanted to say and I had to stop multiple times because I kept stumbling on my words. That's how angry this message made me. I'll try my best to explain whatever parts you have questions about. I put my response in the nicest way I possibly could, despite me seething with rage, wanting to go OFF on him.

(The first part of my response are the first three screenshots, and the second part are the last three screenshots.)

The first part of my response, I did forget to add that the message is offensive and disrespectful to autistic people as a whole. I apologize. My initial comment got way too long. I pretty much covered that when I told him the message is ableist. I wanted to clear that up before anyone asks about it.

The second part of my response is me opening up about my experience with being diagnosed with ASD, formerly known as As//per//ger's Syn//dro//me, at sixteen years old. I also went into how not calling ASD what it truly is (which is a disability) and calling it a "different ability" instead is extremely harmful and is treating being disabled like it's a bad thing.

By the way, saying that a disabled person is disabled isn't a bad thing. I'm disabled. It is what it is. Does it have its challenges? You bet. Does it help me with certain things? Hell yeah. I can really absorb information about my favorite bands, characters, shows, books, etc., and tell you a lot about those things. For example, I can tell you that Su can't ride a bike or read manga and she's okay with that. I can also tell you she can't tie her shoes very well, which is why her boots don't have laces and are slip-on and/or zip-up. But that doesn't mean my struggles are nonexistent or that I never struggle. I do, and it makes my life Hell at times.

The narrative that autism is a bad thing to have, every autistic person is somehow broken and they all need to be "fixed" is also super fucked up and not true. That's the narrative that I received when I was diagnosed by a therapist I had. I'm gonna be real here, I cried when I was first told that I was diagnosed with ASD. I felt like I was broken. I already felt like a total outcast. Being told about my diagnosis made me feel even more broken than I already felt. I was so ashamed of myself, despite me not doing anything wrong whatsoever, that I masked for SEVEN YEARS of my life. I masked for so long that I forgot I was even diagnosed with ASD in the first place. I wasn't taught how to really put my special interests into good use. I kinda had to figure that out on my own. I was pretty much under the assumption that me being interested in anime, cartoons, music, comics, theatre, writing, etc., to the point of obsession, was somehow weird and hurting people around me. You know, despite those things being harmless. Despite me being able to separate those things from other things that are important (like work, for example). Despite my only surviving parent, other family members, and the woman he was dating at the time completely overreacting and not bothering to see exactly what makes these things so special to me.

(By the way, having a disability does not completely make who a person is. There are a lot more things that make who a person is than that.)

It's kinda shocking that I wasn't able to come to terms with my diagnosis until this year. Considering that I masked for so long due to being ashamed of myself, plus being treated like a burden for being disabled, it's probably not very surprising. I initially thought at the time that it was the worst thing to have, as I was already struggling with enough shit back then, but came to realize it's not a bad thing. It doesn't change who I am. But I'm glad I came to terms with it finally nonetheless.

This is getting way too long, so I'm gonna wrap things up here. If you've read this far, thank you so much. I'm sorry this got so long!

If you watched the video, what are your thoughts on it? If this is your first time hearing about Dhar Mann, how do you feel about him? If you're a Dhar Mann fan, did this change your opinion on him in any way? Feel free to sound off in the comments!

Have a great day, everyone!