YA Fiction Author. Feminist. Body Positive. Socially Awkward. #ActuallyAutistic. #BlackLivesMatter She/Her.
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Jan 9, 2021 • 37 tweets • 7 min read
We all mock Americans for their complete ignorance about the rest of the world. My sixth grade teacher told me why - and we are now seeing the payoff. (Thread)
In 6th grade, I was attending an international school in Curaçao, an island in the Dutch Caribbean. Most of our teachers were American. Most of us were not. My classmates were Venezuelan, Indian, British, Canadian, Brazilian... and we had a handful of American kids.
Jan 8, 2021 • 44 tweets • 6 min read
Dear America. Apropos of nothing, I feel like telling you about the decline of the Roman Republic and the ineptitudes of a famous coup, called the Cataline conspiracy.
First let me set the stage. The Roman republic was one of the first (and is still the longest-lived) attempts at democracy. It fell apart after nearly 500 years. The Cataline conspiracy was one of the harbingers of the end.
Dec 8, 2020 • 40 tweets • 6 min read
Dear fellow white people. You seem to struggle with the meaning of the word “racist”. You think it means “hatred for other races”. This is incorrect. Allow me to explain.
When someone makes a post like this, white people immediately say things like, “look, it isn’t racist! It just looks for contract. See how, if I manipulate the photos, I can make it select for black people”!
I never thought I would do this... I’m going to ask you guys to donate to a behaviour analyst. Hear me out. This analyst has been vocal in ABA groups about listening to autistic people. Her fellow analysts have responded by reporting her to the board. That’s right.
They want to remove her credentials and have her kicked out of the ABA field for LISTENING TO US AND DEFENDING US.
She’s also freshly widowed with a toddler and fighting for her life in hospital because surgeons effed up her C section two years ago. gofundme.com/f/be-kind-help…
Aug 4, 2020 • 22 tweets • 4 min read
So I watched the first couple episodes of #LoveOnTheSpectrum and I am gutted. It feels like watching one of those true crime docs. Like, you know it’s going to upset you but you care about the victims do you have to find out what happened.
First of all I want to say that I loved the autistic folk in the show. Michael is sexist and views women as objects but so what else is new. But it is just heart wrenching the way their families openly laugh at them.
Mar 17, 2020 • 24 tweets • 6 min read
This is the kind of attitude that gets people killed.
Here is how I explained it to my nine year old:
Ebola and other plagues are usually easy to catch and stop. They are deadly, but that very deadliness makes them stand out. We spot them. We stop them.
#Covid ‘s mildness is the most dangerous aspect of it.
Many people who catch it don’t even experience symptoms.
Children, who cough on everything and never wash their hands CARRY IT WITHOUT SYMPTOMS.
When symptoms do show, they come two weeks later. Two WEEKS.
Sep 20, 2019 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
The social model of disability has people very confused and others deliberately misinterpret it to negate the needs of disabled people. I want to clear a few things up for those who say the social model eliminates the medical model. (Thread)
I need glasses. I need them to drive or see any distance. My friend’s son has needed glasses since he was eight months old. Is this a genuine medical issue? Yes. Is it a disability? Not any more.
Aug 11, 2019 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
The rarity of guns also affects the mentality and the culture. My son, who had a nerf gun battle at his last birthday party and owns an arsenal of them, was so shocked and uncomfortable being near the gun counter at a US Walmart that he asked if we could leave.
In Canada don’t have guns available for purchase all over the place. You don’t see people carrying guns. In rural areas many families have hunting rifle, but I have NEVER known someone who wasn’t a cop to own a handgun. That affects the culture and attitudes of the people.
Jul 22, 2019 • 44 tweets • 8 min read
Okay, fellow white people, we need to have a TALK.
Raise your hand if you learned about Ancient Egypt or Rome in grade school
👋 👋
Great.
But did you learn about the pyramids of Peru which were built 5,000 years ago? That’s BEFORE EGYPT. (1/?)
Before the Egyptian pyramids, before STONEHENGE, complex civilizations in Peru and surrounding areas were building massive stone cities complete with amphitheater’s, courtyards, sacred alters, you name it.
They made textiles. They had irrigation systems. (2/?)
Image Description: a copy of the play “All in a Row” lying on a blue pillow.
TW: #puppetgate
Okay, let’s start with the cover. My husband pointed out that the image has three upright cakes neatly lined up and the one blue cake that is fallen over. I assume that since there are four characters, the blue one is the autistic character. Out of place.
Jan 3, 2019 • 56 tweets • 10 min read
Dear world. It’s time to correct some assumptions about #autism. I am #actuallyautistic and fortunate enough to be professionally diagnosed. I would appreciate your taking the time to read this thread so you can learn about autism from a person with autism.
One of the biggest assumptions people make is that autism involves intellectual disability. This is incorrect. Autism often shows up in combination with a variety of other disorders and ID is one of them but the vast majority of people with autism do not have ID.
Aug 26, 2018 • 31 tweets • 6 min read
Confused about person-first language? Is it acceptable or not? Here's a brief history on PFL and how it went from etiquette to ableism: #pfl#ableism#acutallyautistic
In 1983, at the dawn of the AIDS crisis, a brave group of activists stood up at a health conference and made a declaration which would later be known as The Denver Principles. It was a profound treatise on human rights in the medical profession which lives on to this day.
