TW: Toileting and autism (All pieces that I write on autistic people also apply to autistic adults, however I will often use the term "autistic children" based on the number of families here seeking information and support).
.
.
.
When our autistic children appear as though they have formed "habits"...

Every single time a person responds to the concept of positive autistic identity with comments such as:

"That's all well and good, but how about the autistic children who are *insert various behaviours and expressions along with communicative differences that society would slap on the label of...

Can we talk about theory of mind?

Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states such as beliefs, intents, desires, emotions and knowledge, among others, to oneself and to others. Theory of mind is necessary to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives...

When our children make promises and don't keep them, it's because they can't.

Often they'll really mean it when they say it, they'll really try, they'll really want to keep that promise.

But they can't.

Rather than punishing them or becoming angry, it's interesting to see what comes of giggling with...

A few weeks back, I wrote a post on how I'd tried a couple of options for ADHD meds and they hadn't worked out.

I found myself sleeping on the couch with zero motivation and personality along with a shut down of my impulsivity.

I hated it.

I couldn't connect with my "centre" and couldn't find...

Dear families,

If your child has been identified as autistic, I want you to know that they do not instantly require a plethora of therapies.

Our children may not even require any therapies at all.

Autism is a neurobiological divergence.

We are on our own timeline of development.

Those horror stories...

The beauty of being a PDAer and not adhering to or aligning with social hierarchies allows me to see people and situations for exactly what they are.

One year, on the first day of school, one of our girls came home excited. She said she'd had a wonderful day and couldn't wait to go back.

She was in...

So many of us believe we’re not worthy of forgiveness.

We struggle to forgive ourselves for the mistakes we’ve made with our children;

The moments we lost control,

The awful things we blurted out.

My eldest was born when I was 18.

I was an 18 year old troubled, homeless teen with a history...

As a neurodivergent, I live, love, process and experience life from my body.

My native tongue is energy - how a person feels, how an environment feels.

My antennae are my sensory systems and they way they process, always taking in sights, sounds, smells, feels, tastes, and most importantly how...

When you're autistic and you're not okay, you're really not okay.

Sometimes, everything feels bloody hard.

Setting boundaries, carefully sifting through language in order to avoid hurting others in your expression of boundaries, having your character questioned, and then,

We turn on ourselves.

What's...

What I want you to know first and foremost is that I am autistic.

I am an autistic person married to another autistic person, and we have created four perfectly whole autistic children.

We are not broken versions of non autistic people.

We are not second rate human beings.

We are autistic people.

We...

What is it to pathologise a human being?

To describe or understand all of their behaviour, their emotions, their wants and needs, their very being as symptoms of disorder.

Many parents will ask questions such as:

"How do I keep my child calm and stop them from melting down?"

And often, at the centre...