...learning the 'rules'...

"Girls are generally recognized as superior mimics. Those with [Asperger's Syndrome] hold back and observe until they learn the 'rules', then imitate their way through social situations."

~Tony Attwood

What do you think?

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...measuring the success of our societies...

“To measure the success of our societies, we should examine how well those with different abilities, including persons with autism, are integrated as full and valued members."

~ Ban Ki-Moon, Former United Nations Secretary-General

...the movement of rivers and stars...

“We contain the shapes of trees and the movement of rivers and stars within us."

~ Patrick Jasper Lee

...the reason I'm successful...

“My autism is the reason I’m in college and successful. It’s the reason I’m good in math and science. It’s the reason I care."

~ Jacob Barnett, sixteen-year old math and physics prodigy

...then their abilities will shine...

“Do not fear people with Autism, embrace them. Do not spite people with Autism, unite them. Do not deny people with Autism, accept them for then their abilities will shine.”

~ Paul Isaacs

...what comes naturally...

“Let’s give people with autism more opportunities to demonstrate what they feel, what they imagine, what comes naturally to them through humor and the language of sensory experience. As we learn more about autism, let’s not forget to learn from those with autism. There are poets walking among you and they have much to teach.”

~ Chris Martin, Unrestricted Interest

...a bright thread...

“I see people with Asperger’s syndrome as a bright thread in the rich tapestry of life.”

~ Tony Attwood

...differences in cognitive functioning...

“The concept of neurodiversity provides a paradigm shift in how we think about mental functioning. Instead of regarding large portions of the American public as suffering from deficit, disease, or dysfunction in their mental processing, neurodiversity suggests that we instead speak about differences in cognitive functioning."

~ Dr. Thomas Armstrong

...the first stone spears...

"Who do you think made the first stone spears? The Asperger guy. If you were to get rid of all the autism genetics, there would be no more Silicon Valley."

~ Temple Grandin

...the world was made up of words...

“Years before doctors informed me of my high-functioning autism and the disconnect it causes between person and language, I had to figure out the world as best I could. I was a misfit. The world was made up of words. But I thought and felt and sometimes dreamed in a private language of numbers."

~ Daniel Tammett

...the difference between high-functioning and low-functioning...

“The difference between high-functioning autism and low-functioning is that high-functioning means your deficits are ignored, and low-functioning means your assets are ignored."

~ Laura Tisoncik

Autism Acceptance Month: 'Smile' - Autism & Feminism

I've been an autistic feminist since birth. Sounds a bit hyperbolic, doesn't it? After all, one can't make decisions about their philosophical ideologies as an infant, and you'd be right to be skeptical of anything said by anyone who really believed they had. No, what I mean is that I was part of a feminist household. My mother is a feminist, and she raised me with the ethics and philosophies of feminism. Long before I knew what philosophy was, or that feminism had a political presence, I believed that everyone is, and should be perceived as, equal, despite any differences, real or imagined. Today, I proudly state myself to be a feminist.

Likewise, while I didn't know growing up that I am autistic, I was already expressing myself as an autistic person. I tended to be tomboyish, not in a sports way, but in a climbing trees and collecting rocks kind of way. I generally disliked wearing skirts and dresses, preferring comfortable pants and overalls which had pockets to put random weird shit into that I found on the ground. I was fascinated by science, especially astronomy. I had numerous special interests. I had food sensitivities that sometimes resulted in dramatic scenes (I recall an incident with a macaroni and bean salad). I had a lisp, which I viciously corrected on my own. I became so stressed in middle school, that I got ulcers, and generally suffered from other stomach issues. I was rather solitary. I didn't have a lot of friends. And I had the distinct sense that I was different. The list goes on. But I had no idea that some of the things I experienced could turn out to be a link between autism and feminism.

...what is abundant...

“Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique.”

~ Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism

Autism Acceptance Month: My Story: How Autism Is Making Me Brave

I've slowly been coming out of the autistic "closet" for some months now. This is a real thing, if you didn't know, and it highlights one of the major issues of being autistic, particularly, as it turns out, for women.

Talking about my diagnosis has been difficult, due to various amounts of backlash in my life. But I passed my 5-year anniversary last year, and, while I didn't think I'd put a time limit on getting loud and proud (if that's what you can call it) about my Autism, the timing just feels right.

Maybe that's part of the problem, you know? Because I've been able to "pass" for so long, to hide under a guise of quirky neurotypicality, and many of my fellow Autistics haven't. I get to choose when the world "knows" about me, at a time when Autistics are speaking out for themselves louder than ever. I get to ride on that tide of "we're not going to take this shit anymore" activism, without necessarily having put in the hardcore work they have. And I feel guilty about that.

I feel guilty about a lot of things. It's kinda my go-to. Guilt has become my holy war. But that's a post for another time.