#autism acceptance day
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I’m posting the ever-so-rare photo of myself alongside one of my characters based on my childhood because today is World Autism Acceptance Day, and I wanted to show my little corner of the internet who this particular autistic person is:
I was officially diagnosed in February, at age 38 (I’m now 39). A lot of people thought I couldn’t be autistic. Some people who know me in real life still don’t. And until around 10 years ago, I didn’t think I could be either, because I was nothing like the stereotype media portrays. I was told that autistics lacked empathy (untrue), and never played make-believe (also often untrue) and only enjoyed STEM. I was — and am — an empathetic artist -- and make believe? I can spend days sketching finely bedecked bears brewing tea or carefully choosing the right words to weave tapestries of fiction — though perhaps my hyper focus was a bit of a red flag. Even so, how could autism describe me? I was a good student. I got straight A's. I didn’t act out in class. I can make eye contact…if I must. And lots of girls hate having their hair brushed with an unholy passion, right? Clearly I swim in sarcasm like a fish, so autism couldn't be why I was so anxious all the time, could it?
If someone had told me when I was younger what autism ACTUALLY is — instead of the nonsense I’d seen on screens — I would have seen myself in it. I didn’t hear that autistics have sensory issues until I was in my mid-twenties, which is when I first began to really research autism symptoms, and I had almost all of them: sensitivity to light, smells, fabrics, temperatures, textures, and certain touches, all of which make me feel anxious, I fidget (stim), I never know what the hell to do with my hands or where to look, I talk too little or too much, I have special interests, I have entire animated movies memorized shot-by-shot and can remember the first time and place I saw every movie I've ever seen but I often forget what I'm trying to say mid-sentence, I echo movies and tv shows (my husband and I have a whole repertoire of shared echolalias, making up about 20% of our conversations), I was in speech therapy as a kid, I have issues with dysnomia and verbal fluency, I toe-walk, I can't multitask to save my life, I like things just-so, I’m deeply introverted but not shy, I need to recover from all social interaction — even social interaction I enjoy — and I find stupid, every day things like grocery shopping, driving and making appointments overwhelming and intensely stressful, sometimes to the point where I struggle to speak. It turns out, I am definitely autistic. My results weren't borderline. Not even close. And while these aren’t all of my challenges, and not everyone with these symptoms is autistic, it’s definitely something to look into if you present with all of these things at once.
So why did it take me so long to get diagnosed? The same bias that exists in media threads through the medical community as well, and because I'm a woman who can discuss the weather while smiling on cue, few people thought I was worth looking into. Even after I was fairly certain I was autistic, receiving an official diagnosis in the US is unnecessarily difficult and expensive, and in my case, completely uncovered by my insurance. It cost me over $4000, and I could only afford it because my husband makes more money than I do as a freelance illustrator — a job I fell into largely because it didn’t require in-person work; like many autists, I have been chronically underemployed and underpaid, in part due to physical illness in my twenties, which is a topic for another day. But it shouldn’t be like this. It shouldn’t be so hard for adults to receive diagnoses and it shouldn’t be so hard for people to see themselves in this condition to begin with due to misinformation and stereotypes. Like many issues in America, these barriers are even higher for marginalized groups with multiple intersectionalities.
It’s commonly said that if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. This is why it’s called a spectrum, not because there’s a linear progression of severity (someone who appears to have low support needs like myself might need more than it seems, and vice versa), but because every autistic person has their own strengths and weaknesses, challenges and experiences, opinions and needs. No two people on the spectrum present in the same way. And that’s a good thing! No way of being autistic is inherently any better than any other, and even if someone on the spectrum struggles with things I don’t — or can do things I can’t — doesn’t make them more or less deserving of respect and human dignity.
But speaking solely for myself, the more I learn about autism, the happier I am to be autistic. I struggle to find words and exert fine motor control, but my deep passion and fixation has made me good at art and storytelling anyway. I find more joy watching dogs and studying leaf shapes on my walks than most people do in an entire day. More often than not, the barriers I’ve faced weren’t due to my autism directly, but due to society being overly rigid about what it considers a valid way of existing. My hope in writing this today is that maybe one person will realize that autism isn’t what they thought — and that being different is not the same as being less than. My hope with my fiction is to give autistic children mirrors with which to see themselves, and everyone else windows through which to see us as we actually are.
If you’re interested in learning more about autism or think you might be autistic, too, I recommend the Autism Self Advocacy Network autisticadvocacy.org and the following books:
What I Mean When I Say I’m Autistic by Annie Kotowicz
We're Not Broken by Eric Garcia
Knowing Why edited by Elizabeth Bartmess
Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, PhD
Loud Hands edited by Julia Bascom
Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
(trigger warning: the last two contain quite a lot of upsetting material involving institutionalized child abuse, but I think it’s important for people to know how often autistic children were — and are — abused simply for being neurodivergent).
Thanks for reading 💛
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Bchan is a 15 year old girl who just found out she's autistic. Keep up with her highs and lows in a world where "normal" is not the norm!
Since I'm still working on the 'Autistic? Me?' reboot, for this autism acceptance day I've put up all the original 19 episodes for free on Gumroad and Itchio!!
You can donate if you'd like, but I thought it'd be nice to make them available before I edit out the site. :)
Happy autism acceptance day, everyone!
#autism#autistic me#autism acceptance#autism acceptance day#autism awareness#neurodivergent#art#neurodivergence#neurodiversity#asd#autistic things#my art
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Autistic Spencer Reid
Happy Autism Acceptance Month, everyone! By request, my wonderful friends and I have taken on the daunting task of documenting the reasons why Spencer Reid is considered Autistic. Big thank you to you @spencer-reids-adventures and @foxy-eva specifically for their help. We hope everyone enjoys! This is not an exhaustive list.
Stimming/Self-Stimulatory behavior, including rocking/spinning in his chair, twiddling with his fingers, gripping sheets, bouncing his legs, biting his lip/tongue, rubbing his eyes, spinning pens, pacing (e.g., S6E12 "Corazon")
Averse to touch, dislikes hugs (S7E13 "Snake Eyes" & S11E11 "Entropy")
Explains multiple attempts at masking, including "being more conversational," (S2E19 "Ashes and Dust"), scripting conversation (S15E4 "Saturdays"), saying what people want to hear (S6E20 "Hanley Waters")
Verbosity - Difficulty recognizing when he's talking too much/speaking at inappropriate times (e.g., S1E16 "The Tribe" & S10E16 "Lockdown")
Began studying behavioral science to understand behavior that made him frustrated/confused (S11E22 "The Storm")
Averse to hosting/hanging out in his space; didn't invite his friends to his apartment for over 15 years (S15E9 "Face Off")
The only team member capable of proficient communication with other Autistic people (S6E16 "Coda" & S11E22 "The Storm")
He is referred to as Autistic by multiple characters, including a literal profiler, and does not deny or question it (S1E5 "Broken Mirror" & S8E3 "Through the Looking Glass")
Lack of social awareness, such as focusing on a convention while at a workplace shooter crime scene (S7E3 "Dorado Falls")
Various special interests, like Doctor Who (S6E16 "Coda" & S7E23 "Hit")
Literal thinking, such as focusing on scientific accuracy of a star-based fable (S5E13 "Risky Business")
Difficulty recognizing common phrases, such as the "sitting in a tree" song (S3E14 "Damaged") or jokes (S7E9 "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" & S1E8 "Natural Born Killer")
Makes inappropriate references, such as to Derek's playboy behavior (S1E18 "Somebody's Watching") and Rossi's age (S7E13 "Snake Eyes")
Coordination/Spatial deficits (S1E17 "A Real Rain" & S8E6 "The Apprenticeship")
Hyperfocuses on a task to the point he doesn't notice his surroundings (S5E20 "A Thousand Words")
Unusual/hyper-specific pedantic language (S3E6 "Remembrance of Things Past")
Resistance to change, manifested as a luddite dislike of technology (S6E7 "Middle Man" & S8E4 "God Complex") and struggling with Gideon's death (S10E14 "Hero Worship")
He receives (apparent disability) accommodations to be in the field (S6E10 "What Happens At Home...")
Introverted, difficulty sharing emotions, even with his closest friends (S10E13 "Nelson's Sparrow")
Heavily bullied as a child (S3E16 "Elephant's Memory")
Difficulty making friends (S2E1 "The Fisher King Part 2")
Trouble with eye contact, which persists throughout the series
His mother is schizophrenic, which has a strong genetic link to Autism
Dislikes small talk (S8E3 “Through the Looking Glass”)
Enjoys memorizing lists (S7E11, “True Genius”)
Savant skills - eidetic memory and hyperlexia
Matthew Gray Gubler has also explained that, regardless of the canonical confirmation, he views and portrayed Spencer Reid as Autistic. Specifically, he stated:
"He's an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger's syndrome. Reid is 24, 25 years old with three Ph.D.'s and one can't usually achieve that without some form of autism." (Note: Asperger's is an outdated term with Nazi origins, which is now referred to as a part of "Autism Spectrum Disorder" by most countries)
DISCLAIMER: I am Autistic, as diagnosed when I was a toddler. These thoughts are my own and shared for fun. If you disagree, please make your own post about it rather than posting them here. This was a labor of love for fans like me and those who love Autistic people and the characters like us. Thank you for respecting and understanding my boundaries!
Looking for more to read? Check out my Autistic headcanon posts for Penelope and Hotch!
Thank you everyone! 🌈♾️❤️
#spencer reid#autistic spencer reid#spencer reid autism#autism acceptance month#autism acceptance day#world autism day#spencer reid fanfiction#spencer reid fanfic#spencer reid criminal minds#spencer reid headcanons#spencer reid character study#dr spencer reid
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This Autism Awareness Day be aware that I have new stickers in my store!
Mild autism? Nah. Honey Mustard Autism!
Check out Honeydew's Autism Sauce stickers and show off your flavour of autism!
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its autism awareness month and autism acceptance day so here's tech bad batch
#autism#autism awareness month#autism acceptance day#im autistic yall#accept the unaccepted#star wars#tech bad batch#the bad batch
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i forgor it was autism day yesterday so i'd like to wish a very happy autism month and late autism day to data from star trek specifically :)
#star trek#star trek tng#star trek the next generation#star trek next gen#data soong#data#commander data#data tng#autism#autism acceptance day#autism acceptance month#actually autistic#autistic#data's so autism it has to be canon#like#he doesn't get social cues or humour#he mirrors the actions of his human friends (especially geordi)#he has a flat effect#he has a special interest (sherlock holmes)#he can't process his emotions in a ''human'' way and doesn't quite get facial expressions#and even when he does get the emotion chip installed he still exhibits literally every other autism trait#that's what i love about data post generations. the emotion chip didn't suddenly make him human-#-or neurotypical. he's still good ol' autistic data he just knows how to laugh and cry now :)#that what i was afraid of when i first watched the movie because i thought they'd just do a whole 180 with his character-#-as soon as geordi installed the chip but luckily they did not and i'm very happy about it#anyway shoutout to data!! i love him very much <3
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happy autism acceptance day! here’s some autistic stuff about me :-)
#autism posting#autism swag#autism#autism acceptance#autism acceptence month#autism acceptance day#actually autistic#autistic things#autistic adult#autistic artist#being autistic
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it's autism acceptance day
you know what that means >;)
*proceeds to infodump about crocodiles while he lovingly listens while making zero eye contact*
#tf2#tf2 sniper#autism acceptance#autism acceptance day#yeah he is autistic#and so am i#sniper my beloved
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Happy Autism Acceptance Day 🌈♾️
Here’s some book recommendations from us at The Hidden Bookcase with canon autistic rep to celebrate!
All our love to our autistic bookwyrms today and everyday 💕🐉📚
#autism acceptance day#autism acceptance month#autism acceptance week#autistic representation#own voices#book club podcast#book recommendations#book podcast#LGBTQ books#queer books
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Acceptance, Not Awareness
Finally, I have the right symbols AND the right terminology! This has made up for the past two years, hopefully. Happy Autism Acceptance Day and Autism Acceptance Month from someone who is ACTUALLY autistic - and has ADHD.
#autism acceptance#autism acceptance month#autism acceptance day#xfohv#xfohv infinity#acceptance not awareness
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Autistics, after we advocate for autism acceptance and not just awareness, again:
[ID: image of Lorelai Gilmore from "Gilmore Girls" saying: "I love it when I talk and no one listens. Makes me think of home". End]
#actually autistic#autism#autistic#autism acceptance#autism acceptence month#autism acceptance day#autism memes#autistic meme#tw ableism#m's meme
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[Image ID: A digital drawing of Blaze the Cat and Tails the Fox from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is based on the "iPod Brothers" meme with the two ducklings. The background is white. Blaze stands with legs spread and arm raised as if preparing for a fight. Tails is in front of her, fists raised with an excited smile on his face. A speech bubble coming from Blaze says, "Im AU.", while Tails says "and im Tism." On the bottom of the image is large black text with a yellow border reading "The Spectrum Siblings." /end ID]
back from my Lent fast just in time for Autism Acceptance Day. this is directly inspired by a RotTMNT version of The iPod Brothers that I cannot find again for the life of me. it's out there! somewhere! it had Raph and Donnie for autism, and then a matching post with Mikey and Leo for ADHD (three guesses what I'm drawing next), and it was very good.
here's a (marginally) less meme-y version because this actually turned out pretty well considering how fast I whipped it up
[Image ID: The same drawing as was described above, but without the text. A golden infinity symbol, tilted diagonally, has been added to the background. The lineart has been changed from black to a dark gold-brown, matching the symbol. /end ID]
#my art#2024 art#autism acceptance day#autism acceptance month#autism acceptance day 2024#autism acceptance month 2024#autism#blaze the cat#miles tails prower#sth#sonic the hedgehog#sonic fanart#digital art#redraw#meme redraw#image described#has id#its my first april since getting Diagnosed so i wanted to commemorate it somehow#sonic and marine version coming soon probably hopefully#might make a just blaze version later 'cause i'm pretty happy with how she turned out#accidentally posted this on my main whoops#tomfoolery
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Happy world autism acceptance day ♾️🌈😊❤️❤️❤️
#doodle#my art#fanart#autism acceptance#autism acceptance day#world autism day#clown oc#rainbow clown#clown art#tiny clown#World autism acceptance month#autism#actually autistic#rainbow butterfly#rainbow#rainbow colors
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Happy Autism Acceptance Day!!
You all are loved and appreciated by me!!
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Time for some more Pokémon autism headcanons! (Happy Autism Acceptance Day!)
Since today is Autism Acceptance Day, I figured a good way to celebrate is to give a list of all the characters across all forms of Pokémon media that I headcanon as autistic! If you'd like to see me do an in-depth character analysis about any of these characters (other than the ones I've already done of course), please feel free to let me know who you'd like to see me cover! I will do my best to make them!
Anyway, here's the list!
Games: Red, N, Hop, Nemona, Penny, Kieran, Crispin (I actually see Hop and Nemona as AuDHD)
Anime: Ash, Goh, Sawyer, Clemont, Liko, Roy, Dot (I actually see Ash and Roy as AuDHD)
Manga: Red, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Black, Henry Sword, Casey Shield (I actually see Red, Sapphire, Pearl, Black, and Casey Shield as AuDHD)
And of course, my PokéSpe OC Orange is autistic, and I've been thinking about going in-depth on him too...for a while now actually 😅
I have already done character analyses for the Sinnoh Trio (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum), as well as Crispin, and I collaborated with my friend @sinnohanvulpix to make an analysis about Goh a while back (though Vulpix wrote it and posted it, but we came up with the contents of the analysis together, and I reblogged it), so if you haven't seen those, please feel free to check them out!
It makes me so happy to see so many autistic-coded characters in Pokémon. Pokémon is my main special interest and I always get excited when engaging in any form of Pokémon media, and seeing autistic-coded characters just makes it even better and the characters much more relatable for me!
Again, please let me know if you'd like to see me do analyses on any of these characters (that I haven't done already). I would be more than willing to fulfill your requests!
And Happy Autism Acceptance Day to all my fellow autistics out there! I hope you all have a good day!
#pokemon#pokemon headcanons#autism headcanons#love the autism coding in pokemon#even though it's not intentional#autism acceptance day#actually autistic#let me know if you want me to do any character analyses on any of these characters#i will try my best to analyze any of the characters in this post if you want me to do so#pika's headcanons#pika talks
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While actual accurate autistic rep is still extremely rare, I am so delighted how there are not one, not two, but three bisexual autistic women* I can relate too.
Entrapta (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power): Master enginner and mad scientist but secretly longing for connection. I see myself so much in how austracized she is by everybody but her love interest, disabled too Hordak, and her other struggles and mental health issues, but also, this is the only non-own-voices rep on the list and it shows, and large parts of the fandom are awfully ableist too
Aster (An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon): Forced to live on the lower decks of a racially segregated generation ship, Aster acts as an doctor for the people there and is very needed in her community, but also ends up having frictions with them due to her directness, and more dangerously, ends up in conflict with the white overlords
Xandri (Failure To Communicate - Kaia Sonderby): Xandri acts as the first contact and language expert on her spaceship, using her outsiders view to her advantage. Her fellow crew is fairly accepting in the most part, but command isn't, and the aliens she encounters on diplomatic missions, or the human reactionaries also are not.
*Aster, probably due to the generation ship being patriarchal and so language about that being limited, calls herself a woman and uses she/her, but she also, like her lover, is non-binary.
#autism acceptance day#autism acceptance moth#actually autistic#autistic representation#autistic rep#Entrapta#She-Ra#Spop#Aster Grey#An Unkindness of Ghosts#Xandri Corelel#Kaia Sonderby#Failure To Communicate#fanart
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