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Erika Heidewald Is In Disrespectful Autistic Mode Profile picture
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16 Mar, 6 tweets, 2 min read
wanted to RT this bc i love the honesty & the convo that resulted and it’s a really good example of how even knowledgeable mental health professionals who really care usually can’t identify many autistic people bc even DOCTORATE programs don’t teach them much about us
and for the record i don’t think anyone could or should watch that set with no other info and say “she’s autistic, 100% accuracy,” bc anxiety or PTSD could manifest in experiences like that, but it’s very characteristic of autism & neurodivergence & should be recognized that way
especially in the context of everything else about me & the fact that i’m not socially anxious and even back then always confident & full of self-love, scripting social situations & knowing i couldn’t share my full self was very indicative of simply being autistic in an NT world
being autistic affects everything about you, every situation you’re in, every interaction you have, how you handle everything, and how everyone sees/treats you. until autistic voices are respected & allowed to shape the medical & cultural understanding of us and THAT is taught...
most mental health professionals who want to be helpful to autistic people simply can’t help us with many things we go through, and often will cause harm if we’re given advice assuming NT motives, experiences, & thoughts we don’t have. i don’t blame them personally whatsoever
that’s why i advocate so much for systemic change and encourage people not to put their hopes on professionals for validation and help. you gotta validate yourself & know yourself enough so you can advocate for the specific things professionals can help you with

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More from @erikaheidewald

Erika Heidewald Is In Disrespectful Autistic Mode Profile picture
17 Mar
Today is my stepmom Angie’s birthday. She died when I was 18 of an overdose of her prescribed pain medication. She struggled with mental illness and was a casualty of ableism, classism, and a carceral system that stole some of the short life she had instead of helping her.
She was a lot more than that, too. She taught me about makeup - a tool that helped her use her looks to survive in a world hostile to her, a skill I ended up needing. She didn’t understand the concept of things you weren’t supposed to talk about and she never sheltered me.
That was understandably controversial with other adults in my life but I’m grateful for it. Some of the more painful parts of my own mind were places only she could understand. She was a dreamer who believed I could do anything and I believed she could, too.
Read 22 tweets
Erika Heidewald Is In Disrespectful Autistic Mode Profile picture
17 Mar
the intersection of racism, misogyny, classism, xenophobia, and anti-SW bias is so fucking intense and horrific in the case of the hate crime murders in Atlanta. these are never just someone else’s problems. there are no unrelated issues of oppression. ImageImage
i don’t think an issue should have to affect you personally to AFFECT YOU. PERSONALLY. and i don’t understand how it’s possible to ignore hatred just because it’s not directed at you. but that distinction doesn’t even fucking exist anyway. nobody is free until everybody’s free.
Fannie Lou Hamer said that in 1971 as someone who experienced the intersection racism, anti-Blackness, misogyny, ableism, and classism and fought against it her whole life. Fifty years later, we refuse to learn the lesson.

blavity.com/blavity-origin…
Read 19 tweets
Erika Heidewald Is In Disrespectful Autistic Mode Profile picture
17 Mar
it’s annoying when people are like “you used a double negative! you didn’t speak directly, you make no sense.” sometimes a double negative is true and the positive would not be true. if you need to read or listen more times to consider it, that is okay.
some ideas are too complicated to understand the first time you ever hear them. not everything can be simplified past a certain point and still be true. if i said a double negative, it’s because the double negative is what is true. i didn’t do it by accident.
it’s also okay if you consider an idea for a while and still can’t make sense of it. put a pin in it. screenshot or bookmark it for later, or move on with your life. go get more context. many ideas require base knowledge to understand and that doesn’t make the ideas bad.
Read 12 tweets
Erika Heidewald Is In Disrespectful Autistic Mode Profile picture
17 Mar
neurotypicals get an ego boost - a need on par with oxygen - by inventing fictional people doing imaginary things they can feel superior to & then post it online so the people who agree with everything they say will validate them and boost their ego more. they are so fascinating
NDs are making fun of it not making sense as if the words making sense was ever the point lmao NTs really do throw words around like spare change and NDs get on the ground trying to pick up the coins and count them, leaving the NTs free to do whatever they want unopposed
i find it so fascinating how strong cognitive dissonance can be that NDs insist I’m wrong when I tell them that NTs think in social constructs and don’t convey their actual meaning with their words when NTs are out here tweeting stuff like this for the whole world to see
Read 17 tweets
Erika Heidewald Is In Disrespectful Autistic Mode Profile picture
16 Mar
Someone asked if any of my comedy is online and I’d deleted or privated all of it but I just rewatched this standup set and tbh it’s hilarious so I made it public. NOBODY REALIZED THIS GIRL WAS AUTISTIC?? 😂😂 that’s fucking hilarious #ActuallyAutistic
yes i look very different and no you should not mention it, i won’t like that
hmm a comedian with a very monotone voice, who makes jokes about not understanding social rituals, dresses like she thinks it’s the 1950s, sits in her room feeling COOL, and spends her time thinking about how names are weird and wondering what bees would say. so neurotypical!
Read 19 tweets
Erika Heidewald Is In Disrespectful Autistic Mode Profile picture
16 Mar
We have to stop rejecting arguments like these by equating them to toxic positivity arguments like “depression isn’t real! Just decide to be happy!” They are NOT the same argument and they’re never being made by the same people. That binary thinking is destroying mental health
You don’t have to read this thread and throw your anti-depressants in the trash and do mindfulness exercises instead. You also don’t have to read their thread and immediately reject it as denying your personal experience, misinformation (OP is FAR from uninformed), or “dangerous”
You can read their thread and *not immediately form a judgment on it at all.* You can and - for most of you - probably should recognize it as part of a worldview you don’t know enough about and use it as a jumping-off point to further educate yourself.
Read 13 tweets

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