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The Autisticats

12 Apr, 9 tweets, 2 min read

I’ve been feeling emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed lately, and a lot of the reason for that is the fact that I’m managing this account.

The bigger it gets, the more people read my posts, and the more people comment or DM with their unsolicited opinions on my life & work.

I’m someone who takes other people’s opinions seriously, and it can be really hard for me to know when to mentally walk away from comments that assume negative things about me.

Because what if there’s a grain of truth in what they’re saying? What if I need to change?

I am constantly self-reflecting, and constantly striving to do better.

There’s so much about my life that people who don’t know me personally have no idea about.

But I’m a highly sensitive autistic person. It’s hard to stop things from getting under my skin.

And it’s not just this account that I have to manage, it’s my schoolwork and daily life and relationships too.

Lately I’ve been forgetting assignments and neglecting laundry because I’ve been too stressed about this account.

Nobody here would know that if I didn’t tell them.

I’m talking about this because sometimes I think people don’t realize the emotional energy it takes to read dozens of people’s opinions about you every single day.

Usually I’m happy about reading comments, but lately I’ve been hesitant about it.

I wish it wasn’t stressful.

So here’s a reminder that there are living, breathing humans behind every account you follow.

And there’s a lot you don’t know about us, because you only know what we choose to share.

Please stop making assumptions about people you don’t know. It’s so draining.

I love reading comments from people who respectfully raise points I hadn’t covered in the post they’re replying to. It makes the content more comprehensive, and shows me where I have room to grow.

But when people accuse me of lying or having bad intentions, it’s upsetting.

I’m not perfect. I’m not always going to phrase things perfectly, and you might not immediately understand what I’m trying to say.

Remember that I’m just a human being and I’m trying my best.

All I ask is that you respond to me with respect and compassion.

@NeeMonetAU

My friend Tee (@NeeMonetAU) recently said to me,

“No one is built to withstand a constant barrage of other people’s opinions.”

That includes me, Tee, and all of the other people you follow on social media. Humans aren’t built for this.

Please understand that.

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More from @autisticats

The Autisticats

@autisticats

14 Apr

In one of my classes yesterday, we were talking about Sufi people who spin and chant repetitively as a form of worship & spiritual practice.

It made me think about how repetitive movement & vocalization is present in every religion I can think of (Praying the rosary, etc.)

In those contexts, repetitive movements like spinning in circles, rocking back and forth, touching & moving beads, etc. are not only socially acceptable- they’re praised as signifiers of devoted worship.

Chanting is the same. Repeating a word, phrase, or script over and over.

To me as an autistic person, all of this is familiar.

Stimming and echolalia are the words used to describe the same actions listed above, when done by autistic people.

Our repetitive actions are rarely praised. Often, we are punished or forced to stop instead.

Read 10 tweets

The Autisticats

@autisticats

13 Apr

I don’t have a long written thread for you today, just some childhood photos for #TheFaceOfAnAutisticChild tag.

Here’s me with some dandelions when I was about one year old.

I often didn’t smile in photos, even when people were smiling at me, which I now know is an autistic trait.

But that doesn’t mean I never smiled- it just means I smiled when I wanted to, on my own terms.

Read 9 tweets

The Autisticats

@autisticats

7 Apr

Please stop assuming that autistic self-advocates have no understanding of, or proximity to, so-called “severe” autism.

In fact, many of us were (or are) ourselves labeled “severe” ; are parents of children labeled “severe” ; and/or are caregivers for people labeled “severe.”

Many autistic parents of autistic kids have children with high support needs and communication challenges.

I know of many all-autistic families, where each child has vastly different traits and needs.

This complexity is often erased in conversations about the ND movement.

Detractors of autistic self-advocates often insinuate that we are “not like their children” or that we have no understanding of “real autism.”

But those ideas are flimsy and they fall apart upon closer examination.

You just have to be willing to pay attention.

Read 9 tweets

The Autisticats

@autisticats

5 Apr

The other day, Abby found five white hairs on my head in the span of about five minutes. It was slightly unsettling, because I’m only 19 years old.

So last night I did some research on premature greying, and found this article: nature.com/articles/d4158…

Persistent activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) can turn hair grey, because hair follicles are highly connected to sympathetic neurons.

I have POTS and several anxiety disorders, on top of being autistic and having lasting trauma from childhood experiences.

All of those factors mean that my SNS is basically in a constant state of alarm (hence the grey hairs).

I wanted to better understand how all of the dots connect, so I did some more research and specifically focused on autism.

What I found is important.

Read 9 tweets

The Autisticats

@autisticats

31 Mar

I have made so many posts about the fact that most autistic people prefer identity-first language, but a lot of non-autistic people still leave comments like this when I use the word “autistic” in my writing:

“*People who have autism. Person first language is important 🙃”

Comments on our Instagram page are limited to people who follow us (to limit abuse and ableism).

So, whoever commented this ostensibly considers themselves an ally to autistic people.

But they are still acting in a way that betrays their arrogance in this space.

I’m not going to explain why people should use identity-first language for the 100th time (you can just go to identityfirstautistic.org).

Instead, I’m going to explain why it’s totally inappropriate for anyone to “correct” an autistic person on this issue.

Read 8 tweets

The Autisticats

@autisticats

29 Mar

Today is the first day of #AutismAcceptanceWeek, so I have a request for everyone who interacts with autistic people (particularly nonspeaking autistic people):

Don’t talk about us while we’re right in front of you as if we’re not there, and don’t infantilize us.

I used to volunteer at a school for disabled people, and we had a lot of autistic students.

Almost all of the teachers would talk to each other about the students, and even complain about them, while they were right there in the same room.

It was so viscerally wrong.

I knew for a fact that the students understood what was being said about them. I watched as their facial expressions and body language changed.

But the teachers didn’t really seem to notice or care.

I was afraid to tell them to stop, in case it would cause me to lose my job.

Read 10 tweets

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