didactics

same difference

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In a society where differences are recognized and celebrated, our experience of community is an experience of collective difference.

In a society where samenesses are recognized and celebrated, our experience of community is an experience of collective sameness.

In a society that celebrates differences, everyone being different is a given. No one pops out. All are included.

In a society that celebrates sameness, everyone being the same is a given. The differences pop out. Some are centered. Some are different.

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framing is everything

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Neurodiversity is the new (different! better!) cognitive frame. Astrology, Enneagram, Meyers-Briggs, Chinese medicine, naturopathy, homeopathy: having passed through these modalities, none of them made me feel seen in the ways that they were implemented by the particular practitioners who applied them to me. To be fair, I may have met with unskilled practitioners. Your mileage…

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PSA: SAD+CD & BSA

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“Social situations” is not one category. People with selective attention disorder [SAD] may have difficulty conceptualizing this, but people with broad spectrum awareness [BSA] will understand it intuitively. There are social situations that drain us, and there are social situations that activate us. There are endless gradations and variations of how social situations can drain…

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鈾撅笍

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My autistic traits are nothing to be afraid of. They are highly effective strategies in the environments for which they are adapted. If you spend time with me in these environments, a little of these traits may rub off on you, and your movement through these environments may be eased.

I have come to never doubt this.

I have also come to never doubt that people with autistic traits are not to be feared鈥搘hether we are nonverbal or highly talkative, highly energetic or profoundly still, highly organized or seemingly chaotic, hermetic or super social. If you recognize the environments for which we are adapted, and move through these environments with us, we often rub off on you in ways that make these environments easier for you to navigate.

We are connected to something, which sometimes makes us appear disconnected to you. If you connect with us, you connect to something, too.

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neuroemergence

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Because no one asked, here’s one take on neurodivergence: We have the Latin-derived terms horizontal and vertical to describe the x- and y-axes in a two-dimensional model. The fact that there is no handy, colloquial Latin-derived word for the z-axis, or depth, suggests that writers and thinkers driving language forward are not accustomed to interacting…

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neurodiversity journey: recognition

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Now that I am coming to understand my own neurodivergence, from the inside, (my punch card is getting full! It’s pretty clear I have autistic traits, in addition to ADHD, aphantasia, and proprioception hyposensitivity. Hurray!), I understand some of my differences as gifts. My inner blindness reroutes my visual processing through my language system鈥搘ords are…

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neurodiversity journey: autism spectrum

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TW: expletives In my studies since diagnosis with ADHD, I have learned of my aphantasia and proprioception hyposensitivity. I have been participating in support groups with other ND people, and I have come to believe that I may be autistic as well. So, I go online to take the Autism Spectrum Quotient test (created by…

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馃挄

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As I recognize that my child has moved beyond the range of my radar, my only comfort is in knowing that the last thing I said to him was:

“I see you and recognize how your body and mind are working things out in their own way. I’m sorry for the unhelpful and unrealistic expectations that I put on you. You will try and fail according to your own particular set of circumstances, and you will always get another chance. I love you. You are perfect.”