A Neurodivergent Rebel's Ramblings

I’ve been thinking about the direction. I want NeuroDivergent Rebel to go in the new year, and I’ve built up with the help of all of you, this platform that I think is really awesome, but I think it has the potential to be even more awesome. And as many of you know, the reason I started asking autistic is because I never want my voice to be the only voice that’s heard on this platform. So I ask a lot of questions, hoping that many of you will share your experiences as well. And in the new year, I’m hoping to start interviewing other NeuroDivergent voices in the community. This Podcast is available as a blog on my website at: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2023/01/04/askingautistics-david-rivera-pt-1-autism-echolalia-and-mimicry/

If you would have told me at the beginning of 2022, that by the end of the year I would be the author of a best-selling business ethics book (Workplace NeuroDiversity Rising) that would be praised in Forbes as “an excellent ‘how to manual’ based on lived experience and professional competence” I’m not sure I would have believed it. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2023/01/01/2022-was-amazing-and-i-am-excited-about-2023/

There are a lot of obstacles that Autistic and NeuroDivergent People face, from sensory challenges, communication challenges, and misunderstandings with NeuroTypical people, and sometimes even other Autistic and NeuroDivergent People. There’s also the challenge of not having people respect and understand the way you process information. With all of these obstacles that NeuroDivergent People face in the world, for many of us, one of the biggest obstacles that we can face, unfortunately, is often going to be the attitudes that other people have about NeuroDivergent People and NeuroDivergent traits. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/12/28/societys-attitudes-towards-autistic-and-other-neurodivergent-people-can-be-deadly/

According to understood dot com: executive functioning is a set of mental skills that includes working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. We use these skills every day to learn work and manage daily life. Trouble with executive functioning can make it hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions among other things. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/12/21/executive-functioning-differences-and-neurodivergent-people-my-autistic-adhd-experience/

Something that we tend to agree upon, when talking about Autistic burnout, is that it is the result from having to force ourselves into a society that wasn’t designed to take our needs and considerations into account, whether that is our sensory processing differences, our differences in the ways our bodies move and the ways we communicate. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/12/14/autism-and-burnout-my-experience-with-autistic-burnout/

I, like many Autistic People, experience stomach issues and stomach distress. There are a multitude of reasons, and triggers, for my tummy troubles. Today I’m gonna share about my experience of being Autistic and having problems with my stomach, and digestion, and why I think so many Autistic People also struggle with this. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/12/07/autism-food-my-autistic-experience-with-eating-stomach-and-digestive-problems/

I feel my emotions very intensely, and because of that intense internal emotional experience, sometimes that results in me having a very intense outward emotional expression, that can be seen by other people around me. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/11/30/neurodivergent-emotional-differences-my-autdhd-autistic-adhd-perspective/

First off, there are various types of energy a person can feel, or experience, in one’s body. There is emotional energy, when you get really excited, happy, angry, or scared, energy rises in your body… or if you are feeling down and depressed, you may have energy drained out of your body. Those are emotional energy fields. There is also sensory energy. For example, when I feel sensory overload, my brain feels like electric static is erupting out of it, and I have way too much electric current flowing through my body, and I need to slow that pulsing energy field down to stop the sensory overload. There’s emotional energy, and there’s sensory energy… as an Autistic ADHDer, there is also inertia, Autistic Inertia, or just the struggle to get energy moving, and slow energy down, once it is moving. As an Autistic Person, with the Autistic Inertia, and as an ADHDer, I struggle to get myself going in the morning, struggle to get myself started, but then also struggling to stop myself, once I get going. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/11/23/we-need-to-talk-about-neurodivergent-energy-regulation-my-autistic-adhd-perspective/

One of my main stims, since I’ve been a very, very, young Autistic Person, has been revolving around music: singing, humming, dancing, rhythmically making up lyrics to things- rhythmic stimming. A lot, throughout my entire life, has been stimming with music, which is literally one of the main reasons I picked the name Lyric, because music is such an integral, and important, piece of my life. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/11/16/rhythmic-stimming-stimming-with-music-my-autistic-neurodivergent-experience/

Hi, my name is Lyric, and I am a late discovered, NeuroDivergent adult, meaning I’m Autistic, but I didn’t find out I was Autistic until I was 29, and the ADHD wasn’t diagnosed until I was in my mid-thirties. I went a large portion of my life, falsely, believing I was a NeuroTypical. Because I did not have the autism or ADHD labels for myself growing up, other labels were put on me as a young person: “stubborn rebellious, difficult hyperactive, poor self-control, someone who doesn’t apply themselves”. All of these were put on me because nobody knew that I was NeuroDivergent, and, in a lot of ways, my NeuroDivergence was punished growing up. If you’d like to know the ways in which my NeuroDivergent traits were punished, please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/11/02/autism-and-adhd-are-not-bad-behavior-ways-i-was-punished-for-being-neurodivergent/

As I’ve said, I’m openly Autistic, and I’ve been openly Autistic since I started this blog, almost six years ago now. At this point I can’t “put the cat back in the bag”, so to speak. It’s now forever out on the internet. If you Google my name, you will find out that I am Autistic, ADHD, trans, and all of these other details, that I can no longer hide from people. That’s a real thing to consider, about being openly Autistic: how open do you really want to be? While this has worked out well, for me, being openly Autistic does not come without some risks. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/11/09/the-dangers-and-risks-of-being-openly-autistic/

I’m covering a reader question: “wondering if you could cover the topic of connecting with other people, and building friendships while on the spectrum.” Something else that’s incredibly important, for me, as an Autistic Person, and my relationships with other people, is: I need people in my life to be willing to accept me for the whole person, my strengths, my weaknesses, all of my identities, my Autistic traits, my me being a Queer Person. All of these things have to be okay. The people in my life can’t be people who need for me to put parts of myself away, when I’m around them. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/10/26/autism-developing-authentic-relationships-my-autistic-experience/

As an Autistic Person, I find that my brain is constantly processing a lot of information on overdrive. I don’t tend to have filters that allow me to filter out distractions and background noise and other sensory things. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/10/12/autism-sensory-overload-my-autistic-experience/

Some of the meanest, and cruelest, things that were done to me, as a young person, by other young people, were people tricking me into doing things, because I thought they were my friends, but really they were trying to trick me into doing things that would get me in trouble, or that would amuse them. When I was very young, I didn’t understand, yet, that people would sometimes act like you’re friends, to get you into trouble. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/10/19/autism-adhd-and-bullying-my-neurodivergent-autistic-adhd-autdhd-experience/

There are a lot of NeuroDivergent People who are discovering that they have brains that work very differently than many other people in adulthood, and late in life. This week I wanted to talk about why. I was not labeled Autistic or ADHD, however, I was labeled stubborn, difficult, sensitive, rebellious, fussy. The list really goes on and on. I could do an entire video, just listing off horrible things I was called, because I didn’t know I was NeuroDivergent growing up This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/10/05/why-are-there-so-many-late-diagnosed-or-discovered-autistic-and-neurodivergent-people/

A lot of time, we spend talking about sensory distress, sensory overload, and sensory troubles, because these things often are more obvious to people on the outside, or can be more of an inconvenience on our day to day lives… but there’s also a good side to these sensory differences, called sensory euphoria, and I wanna talk more about that with you today. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/09/28/autism-neurodivergent-sensory-euphoria-my-autistic-perspective/

Every single human being, whether they are NeuroDivergent, NeuroTypical, Autistic, non-Autistic, has their own unique sensory profile. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/09/21/autism-neurodiversity-and-sensory-processing-an-autistic-perspective-on-spd/

NeuroDivergent masking is when a NeuroDivergent Person, either consciously or subconsciously, camouflages, or masks, their divergent traits in order to blend in or to appear NeuroTypical. Now, when we talk about masking for NeuroDivergent People, whether that’s Autistic People, ADHD, Dyslexia, any other neurodevelopmental difference, it’s important to understand that this camouflaging, this blending in, this masking, is something that many of us do in self-defense. It can be a subconscious thing. Some of us are not even aware we are doing it. It’s something we do for safety and self-preservation. It’s a survival skill that can be harmful to those of us who adapt this survival skill. However, being able to blend in, and being able to be invisible, in a society that can be unfriendly, and even hostile, to those whose minds work differently, is something that we do to be safe. It’s not intended to be a manipulative or deceptive bait and switch. The thing about masking, as a NeuroDivergent Person is: I learned to mask, even though I didn’t know, I was NeuroDivergent. I learned to mask, even though I wasn’t in any formal NeuroDivergent Conversion Therapy type of a program. I learned to mask, because not having an autism diagnosis and a label growing up, meant a lot of the Autistic struggles I had were labeled as behavioral problems and punished. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/09/14/autistic-and-neurodivergent-masking-unmasking-and-burnout/

As I have said in previous videos, as an Autistic Person, I feel that there are experiences I encounter in the world that are more intense for me than they are for people whose brains work differently than my own. For example, my sensory experience. Sometimes things that I will encounter, in the sensory environment, such as bright lighting, certain types of smells, sounds, and physical sensations on my skin, can literally trigger my fight, flight, or flee response. Most often the first response to a sensory overwhelm, for me, is to run, “Get away!” This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/09/07/autism-eloping-my-autistic-experience-with-running-off/

I’m an Autistic adult, and that means sometimes life, and the world around me, can be overwhelming. When I am overwhelmed, I may meltdown, or shut down. People talk a lot about Autistic meltdowns, I think, because they are noticeable and can be more of an air quotes, “inconvenience on other people”. A lot of people, who are not Autistic, might not understand what it’s like to shut down, as an Autistic Person, so I wanted to share that with you today. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/08/31/autism-and-shutting-down-my-experience-with-shutdowns-as-an-autistic-adult/

When talking about Autistic and NeuroDivergent brains often, because things are looked at through a medical lens, we have a pathological medical model. For autism specifically, we have what is known as the “triad of impairment”. I’m going to dive in and give my thoughts on this “triad of impairments model” of autism. Talking about the triad of impairments this week: the triad of impairments is social impairment, language and communication impairments, rigidity of thought and behavior. Those are the three triad of impairments that they are saying that Autistic People have. I would like to counter and add that this is very limiting, because it misses two major impairments that I feel contribute to all of the first three: sensory processing differences, because that can be an impairment on social, language, and communication as well as motor control, because that has a big impact on our language and communication as well. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/08/24/autism-and-the-limitations-of-the-autistic-triad-of-impairments/

Something else that’s really important, that I want everyone to understand about stimming, that I think is confusing to some people, who don’t have stimmy brains, is: how important stimming is, and how there are different types of stimming. NeuroTypicals all lump it in under one thing, in one definition. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/08/17/autistic-and-neurodivergent-stimming-fidgeting-and-sensory-seeking/

According to Web MD, which is where I’m going to get the definition today, people with hyperlexia II, are often air quotes, “obsessed with numbers and letters, preferring books, and magnetic letters over other types of toys. They’re also frequently remember important numbers such as license plates and birthdates. These children usually have more typical autism signs, such as avoiding eye contact and affection, or being sensitive to sensory stimuli.” This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/08/10/autism-hyperlexia-my-autistic-hyperlexic-experience/

Though each and every single Autistic Person is different, many Autistic People make different noises, repeat sounds, or make other vocalizations. There are three main types of Autistic vocalizations I’m going to be talking about in this week’s video: the first one is echolalia, the next one is Palilalia, and verbal stimming. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/08/03/autism-vocalizations-my-autistic-experience-with-echolalia-palilalia-and-verbal-stimming/

Sometimes when I am unable to get away from other people, or the situation that I am in, or event that has triggered my meltdown, then I will go from flee to fight, and have a meltdown, where I may become air quotes, “combative”, “aggressive”, “defensive” -because I feel as if I am in danger, and cannot flee and get away from the danger, so then it switches to “defend myself and fight”. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/07/27/autism-learning-to-recognize-autistic-meltdowns-before-its-too-late/

It was August 23rd, 2016, when I went in for the first part of my autism assessment, an in-person interview with myself and the person who would be reviewing my childhood history and medical records. By the end of August, all of the interviews would be concluded, and by early September 2016, at the age of 29, I would be diagnosed Autistic. At that point in my life, being almost 30 and having such a bombshell of a piece of information dropped upon me, I skimmed a 13 page (actually 14 page) diagnostic report, but was very overwhelmed, and couldn’t process the report in front of me. In fact, I threw the report into a paper shredder, and destroyed the report. However, recently, more than five years later, I’m feeling more ready to face the information that was in front of me all of those years ago. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/07/20/late-neurodivergent-diagnosis-diagnosed-autistic-at-29-reading-my-autism-diagnostic-report/

There are three main reasons that I feel as if the autism diagnostic criteria, and the way we define Autistic People, and all NeuroDivergent People, is going to have to, eventually, be rewritten. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/07/13/3-major-flaws-in-the-autism-diagnostic-criteria-my-autistic-opinion/

Up until 1973, psychologists and psychiatrists will still consider homosexuality to be a form of illness. It will be 1987, the year I’m born, before homosexuality will be completely removed from the DSM. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/06/29/lgbtqia-autism-medicalization-timeline-a-neuroqueer-conversion-therapy-history-lesson/

I didn’t find out I was Autistic until I was 29, and my ADHD wasn’t diagnosed until several years later, however, autism and ADHD are both lifelong neurodevelopmental differences. This means I was Autistic and ADHD my entire life, growing up, as a child, and I will be Autistic ADHD, my brain will be the same, the day I die. There were obvious manifestations of my brain difference as a child growing up, many of which were labeled as “behavioral problems” and dismissed, or I was constantly scolded for acting in a very Autistic ADHD way. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/07/06/things-i-got-in-trouble-for-growing-up-as-an-undiagnosed-autistic-adhder/

Gender is a social construct and a social identity. Someone’s gender is determined by how they feel. An individual can feel more like a man, more like a woman, they can also feel like both, neither, or something in between. According to one study that included 641,860 people: “people who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are three to six times more likely to be autistic as cis-gender people.” This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/06/22/autism-gender-101-my-trans-nonbinary-autistic-experience-with-autigender/

This week, I’m going to be talking about attractions, sexual and other kinds of attractions to people. Who we’re attracted to, and different orientations that people may have. Whether they are attracted to other humans… or not. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/06/15/pride-month-pansexual-polyamory-human-attraction-is-a-spectrum/

These things, that society tends to value in heteronormative culture, are ways that I have been told I am wrong throughout most of my life… or that the way I experience my gender identity and my orientation, and my attractions to other human beings, is wrong, much like being told, being ADHD and Autistic is wrong. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/06/08/pride-month-why-we-need-queer-pride/

Learning I’m Autistic has helped with some things, and made them easier. I am studying facial expressions and body language, to learn what some of that stuff means. I’m learning it in a very unnatural way, and I hear some people picked up on that naturally in life, which is hard for me to fathom… but I’m learning it. I’m capable of understanding these things, it’s just like learning a foreign language to me. Some things, however, haven’t gotten any easier, because some things might be more difficult for some of us. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/06/01/the-challenges-of-being-autistic-in-a-nonautistic-world/

What’s it like being Autistic? The answer to that question is going to change a lot, depending on the Autistic Person you ask… but I’m happy to share my experience with you this week. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/05/25/what-is-it-really-like-being-autistic/

There are people out there in the world today who do not know that they are NeuroDivergent, and may never know in their lifetimes. Not knowing that our brains work differently from that of a lot of other people on this planet, can have impacts on us, on our mental health, and our sense of self-worth; when we constantly compare ourselves to others around us, whose brains do not work as ours do. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/05/18/i-see-autistic-neurodivergent-people-who-dont-know-their-minds-work-differently/

Not knowing that I was Autistic for the first 29 years of my life, meant that I had a lot of miscommunications with other people, because I did not understand the differences in Autistic and non-Autistic communication, or the differences in human communication, and how my communications were often being misinterpreted by the people around me; and also how I was constantly misinterpreting what other people were trying to communicate with me, because I didn’t understand communication differences, and I assumed that everyone communicated like me. When you do this, it’s really hard to decode other people’s intentions. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/05/11/my-autistic-experience-of-the-human-communication-spectrum/

For Autistic People, many of us are excluded from the right to having a proper education, whether that is because we are put into these “special autism schools” that keep us out of general education, or we are excluded from education in other ways. I spent time in general education, special education, and even gifted and talented educator. None of my needs were accommodated in these classes, they were not tailored to my individual learning needs, and the school system was very traumatizing for me. I feel lucky I survived it. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/05/04/autistic-neurodivergent-academic-exclusion-oppression/

The problem with autism is that people, in society, don’t really see Autistic People as, fully human, complete beings. We are seen as a lesser ,second-class tier, of human. We are seen as broken, defective, NeuroTypicals, that need to try harder to fit ourselves into the NeuroTypical mold, or that we have somehow failed, because we do not fit into the NeuroTypical mold. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/04/27/the-exclusion-dehumanization-of-autistic-neurodivergent-people%ef%bf%bc/

Autistic people are so defined, especially by the medical industry, by our struggles, pains, deficits, and the hard parts in life. Often the joys, positive experiences, in our skills are completely ignored. We don’t even, really, have a good understanding of what Autistic success looks like, because, by definition, Autistic People are often described by our failures. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/04/20/we-dont-have-a-definition-for-autistic-success-because-we-only-talk-about-autistic-struggles-pain/

Shame is defined as a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or perceived impropriety. That is one definition talking about how shame is experienced from the inside. However, I want to talk more about having shame that is put on you from society and people around you; shame that is unjustified, that many NeuroDivergent, LGBTQIA, and other marginalized people may feel, and the impact that shame has on those of us who are in those groups. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/04/13/shame-kills-autism-neurodivergence-pride-shame/

As an Autistic Person on the internet, I really dread April. That is because I am Autistic all year round. I am out there talking about autism all year round. All of a sudden, in April, there is this flood of non-Autistic People suddenly talking about autism from an outsider’s perspective. In April, there are a lot of people who want you to “be aware of autism” so they can sell you something. They want to sell you services and therapies and things, because if they scare you, that autism is horrible, they can prey on that fear. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/04/06/i-am-autistic-dont-like-autism-awareness-month/

I wanted to talk about Autistic Pride, as I talk about each and every year. I talk about it every year, because it is so important for Autistic People to be able to feel pride in ourselves, especially when society, often, tells us that we are defective, broken, and that our ways of doing things: interacting with, engaging with, and experiencing the world, are wrong; and that we should strive to cover up the NeuroDivergent parts of ourselves. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/03/30/autistic-pride-is-not-just-about-the-good-parts-of-being-neurodivergent/

Part one of this series, was talking about the need for NeuroDivergent People to be able to live an authentic NeuroDivergent lifestyle. This week it is part two talking about ethical treatment of Autistic and NeuroDivergent humans, not medical treatment. We’re talking about the treatment we receive from society. Part two, diving in deeper, I want to talk about the need from society to accept us, and allow us to be ourselves and live openly and authentically; because, the reality is, though we need what I talked about in part one of this series, it’s not always safe for us to be open. It can make us vulnerable, to have people realize that our minds work differently. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/03/23/treating-autistic-neurodivergent-people-equitably-pt-2-society-must-change/

I want to talk to you a bit today about treatment for Autistic and NeuroDivergent people… and when I say “treatment”, I want to be very clear, I am not talking about medical treatment. I’m talking about kind, and fair, just treatment of NeuroDivergent People. As I said, this is not medical treatment. This is how we need to be treated by society and those around us, and what we need in order to live successful, fulfilled, happy, and authentic NeuroDivergent lives. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/03/16/treating-autistic-neurodivergent-people-equitably-pt-1-the-need-for-a-neurodivergent-lifestyle/

I knew, at the age of four or five, that I wasn’t a girl, but I couldn’t articulate what I knew, and the world told me I was a girl, and I had to get used to that somehow. I also knew, around the same time, that I was not like other kids, but not knowing I was NeuroDivergent, also meant not having the language to describe that experience either, and falsely believing that I was an inferior, lazy, NeuroTypical child, and then, eventually, a inferior lazy NeuroTypical adult. I held myself to those NeuroTypical standards, even to my own detriment. I forced myself to fit into their boxes, at the expense of my own mental and physical health. I held myself to CIS heteronormative standards, often feeling like I was living a lie and pretending to be someone I wasn’t, for the comfort of other people. I hit for safety, to blend in, and not make waves. I hid to avoid being the target of bullying and harassment, though bullies still managed to find me. That’s what happens when you grow up in a violent, hostile place, where you don’t feel you’re safe, and you are forced into the peripheries of society. Being invisible was safer and preferable to standing out, so I did my best to be invisible, and it almost killed me. Eventually, I got to a point where I couldn’t do it anymore. I came to a place where I could no longer maintain the complex social mask that had protected me for most of my life, and when it all fell apart, I found myself in a place of crisis and was diagnosed Autistic at 29. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/03/09/queer-trans-neurodivergent-autistic-the-human-need-for-authenticity/

Over the past five years, there have been many videos breaking down different questions and parts of my Autistic experience, sharing some of your experiences, and talking about what it’s like to be an Autistic person, but every now and then I still get the question…. “Well, that’s great Lyric, but what is autism, exactly?” It’s a question I dodge a lot of the times, if I’m honest, and that is because autism is something that’s very hard to quantify because… it is a lot of different things to a lot of people, depending on the lens through what you are viewing. For example, autism, when you ask the medical community is very different than if you ask an Autistic Person what autism is… or a parent of a newly diagnosed Autistic child. Depending on who you ask, you’re going to get very different responses, and even asking and looking at Autistic Person to Autistic Person, what autism is within those contexts, and for each and every Autistic Individual, also, can be very different. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/03/02/what-is-autism-to-me-one-autistic-person%ef%bf%bc/

Every human being, NeuroDivergent or NeuroTypical, has a unique sensory profile that can vary significantly from person to person, even from Autistic person to Autistic person. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/02/25/empowering-people-with-sensory-processing-differences-by-creating-sensory-friendly-spaces/

Hey humans Lyric here, and there’s something that really bothers me with how even I talk about autism and the NeuroDivergent experience…. and that is how we always seem to use NeuroTypical people as the baseline for human existence. If you are at all curious and want to learn more, please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/02/23/humanity-is-a-spectrum-and-neurotypical-is-not-the-default%ef%bf%bc/

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/02/16/autism-age-inappropriate-interests-my-autistic-experience/

Unfortunately, sometimes as Autistic People, when people find out we are Autistic, it can cause us to be infantilized by people around us. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/02/09/autism-infantilization-my-experience-with-autistic-infantilization/

The missing generation is Autistic/NeuroDivergent adults, typically growing up in the 1980s or earlier, who were not discovered to be NeuroDivergent as children (because of diagnostic limitations of the time). Autism was not even in the DSM until 1980. So prior to 1980, Autistic People weren’t even listed in the diagnostic manual. That generation, and generations prior grew up when understanding was very limited, leaving generations of Autistic People undiscovered, or missed. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/02/02/where-are-the-missing-generation-of-autistic-neurodivergent-adults/

Makeup is just one of many reasons non-autistic people have told me that I couldn’t possibly be Autistic and I’m going to share a few of the other reasons, things I have heard. I’d love for you to share with us things that you have heard as well. Please drop a comment. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/01/26/the-damage-of-dismissing-autistic-people-when-we-ask-for-help/

Like with many things, being Autistic means that I don’t fit into the box. I make my own box. I am the square peg that can’t be put through the round hole without damaging the peg and my experience of gender is no different. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/01/19/escaping-the-autism-closet-a-neuroqueer-journey/

I have been dealing with a lot of change in my life recently, and as an Autistic Person, some of us can find change to be difficult; and I am one of those Autistic People who struggles a lot with change. So if you would like to know more about my experience with this, please stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/01/19/autism-change-why-change-is-hard-for-me-as-an-autistic-person/

A stereotype is a widely held, but fixed and oversimplified image or idea, of a particular type of person or thing. This week I’m going to be talking more about how stereotypes impact Autistic and NeuroDivergent People. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/01/12/autism-stereotypes-and-the-damage-they-do-to-autistic-people/

Today I’m going to be talking about sensory processing, and the impact that that has on my stomach; because I don’t think a lot of people have spoken about this, and I want to know if anyone else is noticing what I am noticing. Unfortunately, stomach problems are something that a lot of Autistic People will deal with. I know because I am an Autistic Person who has dealt with stomach issues off and on throughout my entire life. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/12/29/autistic-sensory-issues-the-relationship-between-autism-digestive-problems/

“I’m experiencing severe burnout, trying to find a way to change out of a career that doesn’t make me happy in the least. Working has become almost impossible. I’m in technology and feel the pressure to stay because it pays well, and the skills I have honed for many years are focused in this field. I love the idea of working for myself, but I don’t even know how to transition into that, when I’m so tired at the end of my workday. I also can’t just quit and move back to my parents. I don’t have that kind of support. I’m wondering if you could talk about that in future videos or blog posts: navigating careers as an Autistic adult, transitioning into a healthier work environment and starting in a new field. I know there are no easy or straightforward answers to these questions, but at this point, anything helps.” This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2022/01/05/choosing-changing-careers-when-you-are-neurodivergent-an-autistic-perspective/

From personal experience, I can say that I used to use alcohol because I had social anxiety, and had all of these mandatory work networking happy hours and events, where there was always free alcohol; and alcohol made the anxiety numb, and let me tolerate being in these situations that, if I was listening to my gut, and my self, and how I really felt, I would have chosen not to go to anyway. I was putting a bandaid on things. One or two drinks, and I noticed that the sensory experience, if it is a bit overwhelming, can sometimes become a bit less intense for me, and it is easier for me to go with the flow a little bit, as my inhibitions go down, but it doesn’t take as much alcohol, as it takes other people, to get me tipsy. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/12/22/autism-and-alcohol-my-autistic-experience-with-drinking/

It’s rarely JUST Autism… I am Autistic and I also have ADHD. There are some mental health issues I have, some diagnosed, some not. I have diagnosed anxiety disorder, in addition to being Autistic. I have a diagnosis of IBS. I have migraines and seizures in addition to being Autistic. I have insomnia in addition to being Autistic. There’s just many things that Autistic People can have going on in addition to being Autistic. I am also hyperlexic, in addition to being Autistic. I am not just Autistic. I am Autistic and I have more going on in my life, which, I mean, it’s the case with NeuroTypical People. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/12/15/im-autistic-plus-co-occurrence-multiple-neurodivergence-why-its-rarely-just-autism/

One of the things that I share with organizational leaders, and members of different companies I work with, is the fact that NeuroDivergent pace, often can look different than NeuroTypical pace, and NeuroDivergent workers can have, what I like to call “variable energy reserves” and may need to adjust our schedules accordingly. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/12/08/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace-asking-autistic-neurodivergent-people-to-keep-a-neurotypical-pace/

Well, for me, that is when some kind of sensory input light, sound, touch, smell, a sensation on my skin, et cetera, and so forth, becomes so overwhelming to me that I either shut down, meltdown, or run away from it; because I am basically sent into almost a panic or, just this need to stop, or get away from and escape something that is currently agitating me, within the environment around me. Some of my common triggers for sensory overload would be bright, fluorescent, lighting, certain smells, certain sounds, just really get to me. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/12/01/im-autistic-this-is-what-i-wish-people-understood-about-sensory-processing-sensory-overload/

My assignment had been “woman” & it was expected that I would grow into such. This realization hurt. I didn’t want to “become woman” – I wasn’t a girl. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/11/17/sharing-my-trans-origin-story-for-transgender-awareness-week%ef%bf%bc/

NeuroDivergent masking is when a NeuroDivergent Person, a person who is brain may be Autistic, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, OCD, et cetera. Is masking or hiding that NeuroDivergence, in order to blend in and appear more NeuroTypical. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/11/17/autistic-and-neurodivergent-masking-help-i-dont-know-how-to-unmask%ef%bf%bc/

If you would like to know a little bit more about my personal experience with school, and why education, the way it was for me, was a very traumatic experience – please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/11/24/autism-neurodivergent-trauma-in-public-education-my-autistic-experience/

Lyric here, and today, I want to talk about what happens during an autism assessment, and I’m just going to be sharing what happened during my autism assessment, because obviously I’ve only been through one of those. If you would like to know what that was like, please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/11/10/late-autistic-discovery-what-happened-during-my-autism-assessment/

Hey humans, Lyric here, and this week I’m going to be talking about why autism numbers have been going up over the past several years, and why there IS NO Autism Epidemic and this, actually, is a good thing. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/11/03/why-are-autism-diagnostic-numbers-increasing/

This day, to day. This week, I am going to be talking about why some people do not see themselves in the diagnostic criteria for autism and other different forms of NeuroDiversity and things that are in that diagnostic manual. NeuroDivergent People aren’t in control of our own narrative & the diagnostic manuals are one way the NeuroTypicals control the narratives around NeuroDivergent People. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/10/27/why-autistic-and-neurodivergent-people-may-not-see-themselves-in-the-autism-diagnostic-criteria/

Some NeuroDivergent people learn to hide those struggles and those differences, in order to appear more NeuroTypical... This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/10/20/how-neurodivergent-masking-and-burnout-can-become-a-perpetual-cycle/

All right. I did a post on Facebook recently, talking about how I used to be a dog trainer and how I used to really, really love behaviorism, believe it or not. I am a reformed behaviorist. I no longer use behaviorism on animals, and now my focus is entirely on teaching the animals around me to communicate with me, and that I am a safe person and how to get their needs met. So has been quite a change, and you wanted to hear more about that. So those of you that asked for this video, or if you’re curious now… please stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/10/13/why-i-left-behaviorism-behind-quit-dog-training/

Stimming is short for self-stimulating behaviors. – SELF-STIMULATING??? What? It’s not what you may be thinking. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/09/17/international-day-of-the-stim-what-is-stimming/

Hey humans Lyric here, and this week, I’m going to talk about what it’s like to have meltdowns as an Autistic Person. I’ve talked about what meltdowns are in the past in a very teacher- teachery kind of way. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/10/06/autism-meltdowns-what-are-autistic-meltdowns-like/

This week we’re going to talk about my Autistic experience with emotional regulation, and what my emotional experience is like as an Autistic Person. So if you have any interest in this whatsoever, Please stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/09/22/autistic-emotional-responses-autism-emotions/

This week, I’m going to be sharing something I know a bit about personally, and that is being Autistic, and having the tendency to obsess over things, and not be able to let things go. This can be a bad thing, however, we don’t talk about how this can also be a good thing, so I’m going to talk this week about how being obsessive is, neither a good or a bad thing, it’s just simply part of my, personal, Autistic Experience. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/09/15/autism-obsessive-behavior-why-i-cant-always-let-things-go-as-an-autistic-person/

This week, we’re going to be talking about sensory avoiding and why, if there is a sense that is causing you pain or sensation that’s causing you pain, avoiding it is a perfectly natural response for an Autistic Person, and often a good choice. So let’s dive in. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/09/08/autism-sensory-aversion-autistic-sensory-processing-avoidance/

As we dive in and talk about sensory seeking it’s first important to point out that this is going to be around all of the senses. So we’ve got the sense of touch, the sense of sound, hearing, sight, smell, taste, feeling your body in motion in space, and your sense of balance. These are all senses that are affected by sensory processing. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/09/01/autism-sensory-seeking-why-do-autistic-people-sensory-seek/

Alrighty. Hey, Humans, Lyric here, the NeuroDivergent Rebel. I didn’t know I was Autistic for the first 29 years of my life. I’ve always been Autistic, it was just a late discovery. This week, I’m going to give you a list of things I didn’t know were related to being Autistic when I was growing up. Quickly, before I dive into this list, I would like to say that this is my own personal list, and that means these things are not going to be true for each and every single Autistic Person. These are true for me. Each and every Autistic Person is an individual, and we are all very different and unique, and have vastly different experiences. You may relate to some of the things on my list if you are Autistic. You may also not relate to some of the things on my list, because we’re all unique individuals This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/08/25/things-i-didnt-realize-were-related-to-being-autistic-before-i-was-diagnosed-with-autism/

The answer to this question is going to be “yes” or “no”, depending widely on your own individual circumstances in your life. For me, it was worthwhile to go ahead and get the autism diagnosis, but that is because of my specific circumstances, which I will share with you. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/08/18/is-an-adult-autism-or-adhd-diagnosis-worth-it/

In part one of this video we talked, talked about is my feather here, Autistic sensory issues, masking, and even chronic pain, and how these,, invisible differences can impact Autistic People, and you may not even know that Autistic People are struggling with these things. Today we’re going to talk more about cognitive processing differences, learning style differences, some of the emotional differences, and how, we process social situations, how some of those differences can impact Autistic People, and how we engage with the world – invisible differences, and invisible things that can cause Autistic People to struggle. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/08/11/autistic-neurodivergent-peoples-invisible-struggles-pt-2-communication-emotional-differences/

Hey Humans, Lyric here, and this week, I’m going to talk about something that people often forget, online, when they see Autistic People sharing their experiences… That many of the struggles Autistic People have are, in fact, invisible because they have to do with how we process information and interact with the world. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/08/04/autistic-and-neurodivergent-peoples-struggles-are-invisible-pt-1-masking-sensory-issues/

This week I’m going to share some personal insight as to why, as an Autistic Person, I often, sometimes, frequently, find people to be overwhelming. If you want to know why I find people overwhelming, please stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/07/28/im-autistic-and-this-is-why-i-find-people-overwhelming/

Hey humans Lyric here, NeuroDivergent Rebel, and this week, we’re going to talk about why the education system isn’t always ideal, and can even be traumatic, for many Autistic or NeuroDivergent People. If you would like to know more about my thoughts on this particular topic, please do stay tuned. Whew. Education is a big one. It’s a big topic.  It’s something that is painful for many NeuroDivergent People, Autistic People. That is because the school systems are designed and tailored to teach one style of learner and one type of teaching.  Those of us who learn, and experience, and process information differently are often treated as if we are problems, when we fail to fit into the neuro-typical education system. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/07/21/academic-privilege-is-the-public-education-system-destroying-neurodivergent-people/

Polyamorous relationships and polyamorous people are two different things. Just like being in a Queer relationship and being a Queer Person or two different things.  A Polyamorous person “is someone who can date, commit to, and/or love more than one person.”  Polyamory/Polyamorous Relationships “involves being in multiple relationships with multiple people and building connections, feelings, and commitments with more than one person.” This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/07/19/is-polyamory-a-choice-polyamorous-people-and-polyamorous-relationships/

Even though going topless is allowed for anyone in Austin, the person with breasts cannot draw attention to themselves, or they may risk other charges, such as public lewdness or disorderly conduct. If an arresting officer decides an individual was intentionally "lewd or obscene" or if there are minors around, a topless individual with breasts may face serious felony charges and could potentially be registered as a sex offender. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/07/16/of-breasts-chests-criminalization-sexualization-nipple-politics/

NonBinary is an umbrella term for MANY identifies of people who don’t identify as the binary male of female. This includes gender fluid people (like me), people who don’t identify with any gender, people who identify with multiple genders, etc. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/07/14/nonbinary-101-for-international-nonbinary-day/

Hey Humans , Lyric here. You may know me as the Neurodivergent Rebel and this week we’re going to talk about, one of the worst things, for me, about anxiety, is that it is a major killer of creativity, and for creative people, sometimes that means our ability to work. If you would like to know more about this particular topic, please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/07/14/the-dangers-of-assuming-all-autistic-people-have-anxiety-how-anxiety-messes-with-my-life/

Hey Humans Lyric Holmans here, NeuroDivergent Rebel, and this week comes a question I see frequently online: Is Autism a disability? If you would like to know my thoughts, please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/07/07/is-autism-a-disability-neurodiversity-and-the-social-model-of-disability/

Lyric Homans  here. I’m the NeuroDivergent Rebel, and this week we’re going to talk about boundaries and consent with Autistic People, and why it is so important that we do explain boundaries and healthy relationships to Autistic people, instead of assuming that we will never have these things, or are uncapable of understanding these concepts. If you would like to know more. Please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/30/why-we-need-to-teach-boundaries-consent-to-autistic-people/

One of my biggest struggles, as an Autistic Person with Sensory Processing Differences, is often the modern indoor sensory environment (especially places where many humans tend to gather under one roof). Before I knew I was Autistic, I would find myself in these places, feeling extremely agitated and overwhelmed but not realizing this feeling was sensory overload, and my flight/fight response being triggered. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/24/the-miracle-of-assistive-technology-for-auditory-processing-problems-in-public/

Polyamorous people are able to have multiple relationships with multiple people at once. This extends beyond casual one-night stands, swinging, or flings (though there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what you’re into as long as you don’t hurt people and have partners that are okay with that). This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/23/neurodivergent-polyamory-autistic-nonconformity-in-my-relationships/

Today I managed to brush my teeth, with my electric toothbrush, for about ten seconds. Now many of you are likely thinking to yourselves at this point that ten seconds is not nearly enough time to brush one’s mouth thoroughly, and I will admit that I would have loved to brush longer, but today ten seconds was a victory. I’m Autistic. A big part of that is altered sensory processing that can make sensations most people ignore entirely overwhelming. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/23/toothbrush-sensory-nightmare-autism-toothbrushing/

June 18th is Autistic Pride Day, within Queer Pride Month. These are independent events. This is not a pride only for Queer Autistic People -just for the record, because that question has been asked of me before. What is Autistic Pride Day and why is this a thing? Well, if you would like to know more, please do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/18/june-18th-is-autistic-pride-day-what-is-autistic-pride-day-and-why-we-need-pride-for-autistic-people/

How might one know that they themselves are nonbinary?  I’m going to share my perspective and hopefully this can be helpful to you. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/16/how-do-i-know-if-i-am-nonbinary-my-enby-gender-journey/

Human sexual orientation is a spectrum, like Autism NeuroDiverseity, sexuality is a spectrum. Just like gender and many of the other things we will be discussing here this month. I remember the first thing I was ever attracted to and I say thing because it was not a person. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/09/pride-month-im-pansexual-my-neurodivergent-journey-with-sexual-orientation/

Being Autistic is not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, it sucks sometimes, especially because of society systems & the world being stacked against us. Let’s talk about why some of us share the good parts of being Autistic: This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/05/neurodiversity-disability-flexing-the-systems-instead-of-blaming-people-for-being-unable-to-fit-in/

With the world constantly pressuring you to be someone else, it can be difficult to shine brightly and authentically, especially if we feel there will be consequences in doing so, or if passing for NeuroTypical has been frequently rewarded throughout your life. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/04/the-need-to-self-identify-as-neurodivergent/

First, what is Autistic Burnout? It’s a mental, physical, and emotional state that many Autistic People battle with, because of expectations to keep pace in the NeuroTypical world. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/03/my-recent-autistic-burnout-breaking-the-cycle-of-overwork/

Engaging in one’s passions can be a wonderful way for NeuroDivergent Humans to recharge their worn out batteries. I’ve also found that engaging in regular movement and (stimmy) sensory flow activities (many of which were by hobbies for years long before ever learning that I was NeuroDivergent) have been amazing in helping me to regulate. I’m convinced that me stopping these activities when I entered corporate America, years ago (because I had no time or energy at the end of the day) had a negative impact on my mental and physical health. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/01/night-time-led-hoop-stim-dance-flow/

Hey, humans, NeuroRebel here, and June is pride month, so this month the content is going to be a little bit different on my channel. I’m going to be talking a little bit more about Queer LGBTQIA issues this month, instead of just Autism and NeuroDiversity issues this month. I hope that we’ll be okay with most of you viewers, considering that there is a very large overlap between being Autistic and LGBTQIA. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/02/autistic-neurodivergent-and-lgbtqia-is-there-a-connection/

We didn’t go out. We didn’t travel. We were paying for our own prison… until one day we decided to make a jump and sell the house we could no longer afford (and most of our possessions) to buy this RV. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/06/01/our-wildnfree-neurodivergent-full-time-rv-living-adventure/

There are a lot of reasons someone might decide they want to change their name. I’ve recently changed my name and if you only follow me on YouTube and you’re not connected with me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, this might be new information to you because I preschedule these videos in advance and a lot of these have been set up since April or March before I announced my name change. I’m Lyric, and we’re going to dive in and talk about why I changed my name and why some other people may decide that their birth name is not what’s best for them. So, if you want to know more, please stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/26/i-changed-my-name-why-people-change-their-names/

A lot of the methods in ABA have been deemed to be too cruel to use on animals for years, but are still being used on human children. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/20/too-cruel-for-dogs-but-okay-for-kids-behaviorism-gone-wrong/

Unfortunately, there are often a lot of people who I see claiming to be allies of autistic people in the autistic community. However, I don’t see these allies doing what we need or what I would need real allies to do for me as an autistic person. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/19/ally-to-the-autistic-community/

Authenticity is defined by Dictionary . com as “not false or copied, genuine, or real.” As a Queer, multiply NeuroDivergent human, I have spent enough time living in closets and suppressing myself to know that the keys to my own personal happiness have been found in learning to live authentically and freely as an Autistic and NeuroDivergent and Queer adults. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/12/the-need-for-autistic-and-neurodivergent-authenticity/

NeuroRebel here, and this week I have a reader requested topic. You ask, what is your favorite thing about being Autistic? Thank you so much for this one. This is going to be fun. You’ve just asked me, an Autistic Person, to share about some of my favorite things. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/05/autism-positivity-my-favorite-things-about-being-autistic/

The only way people outside of a minority group will learn about the issues a minority faces is to make them care about the members of the minority group - and see us as complete humans, not broken, deviant, or lesser humans. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/05/who-is-the-neurodivergent-rebel-and-why-do-they-write/

Wait times will vary greatly depending on if you live in a country with public health care or not. In America, private healthcare means costs are high, but waits are short. In the UK, services are available, but waitlists can be YEARS long. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/03/advice-for-anyone-looking-to-get-an-autism-diagnosis/

ABA forces, autistic people to communicate, socialize, regulate, and move in ways that are unnatural and sometimes even uncomfortable in order to ease the lives of people around them or make them more attractive to their peers. ABA teaches Autistic People that their own needs are less important than pleasing and making people around them comfortable. Making us overly compliant, leaving us more vulnerable to manipulation and abuse. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/05/02/aba-is-abuse-yes-all-aba/

Hey humans, NeuroRebel here and this week, I am going to speak from the heart when I share with you why, in April, it's important for us to remember that Autistic people are not broken. So please stay tuned. Hi everyone, there are a lot of new people here over the past few months. I I'm really grateful, and also blown away, by all of the new people that have been joining across the various platforms. Thank you so much for joining me. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/04/28/autism-deficits-autistic-people-arent-broken-neurotypicals/

Awareness can be a good first step to fixing a problem (like the problems including Autistic & NeuroDivergent people in NeuroTypical society). You see something’s broken (like many of our society’s systems are) and you may even take note of some the problems you have become AWARE of within the faulty system. You are now aware BUT awareness only goes so far. Being AWARE of something is not the same as taking action. Awareness is very limited, in that it doesn’t move further, into taking actions as to what’s needed to truly include, empower, and accept Autistic people. In the past Autism Awareness campaigns, in general, have been especially problematic, because they have a history of proving fear and stigma, around NeuroDivergence. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/04/21/moving-beyond-awareness-working-toward-autistic-acceptance-empowerment-inclusion/

Hi humans, NeuroRebel here and this month we are continuing talking about autism topics for April. Although, we talk about autism topics all year long on this channel, because one month is really not enough. Autistic people exist 365 days of the year. And this week we're talking about why it is important for Autistic people to be able to have a sense of Autistic pride. If you're at all interested, please, do stay tuned. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/04/14/why-autistic-pride-and-empowerment-are-important/

Hey everyone, NeuroRebel here. And you may know already that April is a month where a lot of people are going to be talking about autism, some of them may not even be Autistic. This month as we jump into April, I just wanted to start by sharing, from an Autistic perspective, why you should not light up blue  to honor and respect Autistic people. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/04/07/why-you-should-not-light-up-blue-to-raise-awareness-of-autism-autistic-people/

Hey everyone, NeuroRebel here, and as an adult, I had a very large shift in the way I think, and interact and experience with the world. If you're a little bit curious about what this shift was, please, stay tuned. When I found out that I was Autistic, at the age of 29, fairly late in life. When I would tell people this newly discovered information, often they would have a range of reactions, from not knowing how to respond, to disbelief. The reaction of one of my childhood, best friends growing up... "oh, okay, everything makes sense now!" In my experience coming out, Autistic has been a lot like coming out Queer. What I mean by this is you have to come out over and over and over again. It is an endless process with each and every new person you meet. If you choose to disclose that information.  This episode is also available as a blog post: https://neurodivergentrebel.com/2021/03/31/rethinking-the-way-we-describe-autistic-people-from-problems-to-possibilities/