#autism acceptence month

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Never be afraid to be yourself

Spectrum Sloth

[loxli]

It wouldn’t be autism awareness and acceptance month without some Rikus!

[dragons1re]

Trigun is a very autism media to me. The twins themselves are full of amazing metaphors for autism!!

The plants wings are a physical metaphor for autism! To me Rem’s and other humans fear of seeing Vash’s overtly autistic traits is shown in their reactions to his wings. We see Knives isn’t afraid of showing off his plant powers ever. The twins have a very cool dichotomy about masking-Vash was favored because he masked, while Knives never cared to.

When Vash and Knives see Tesla Rem goes to comfort Vash first. This seems to be slightly on favoritism, but also because she’s shocked that Vash is having a large emotional reaction. I think the fandom sees Vash as hyper-emotinal and Knives as hypo-emotional, but to me it’s switched.

Knives does not hide his emotions. And absolutely does not hide his outbursts! He has meltdowns all the time and is not ashamed of his autistic traits(Edit* this comment is in reference to Knives using his plant powers with no restraint, compared to Vash who almost never used his powers. I agree that Knives isn’t exactly a bastion of positivity about his autism, and hates his lack of control, that being said he isn’t ashamed of the traits themselves, just his lack of control over himself). He doesn’t care about being unsettling or being accepted by humans/neurotypical society. (Even more interesting to consider that all of the Gung-Ho Guns are disabled/neurodiverse in some way). Knives allows his emotions to control him, where Vash is guided by his obligations. He does what he wants, based on his wants. And what he wants is to be with the only other autistic person he knows-his brother. He also desperately wants his brother to be free from his internalized ableism and the pain of masking.

Vash on the otherhand spends all his time masking and denying his autistic traits so he can fit in with “normal“ humans. He also again, in contrast to Knives, acts based on how his mother told him to behave. He hates acting out/standing out. He still operates on Rem’s instructions to be “normal“ and unnoticeable. He does occasionally show strong emotions but they’re not his positive emotions. To be these are less examples of Vash being over emotional, but instead are examples of outbursts. The overflow of negative emotions reminds me of my meltdowns! As well most of the emotions we do see Vash show are also parts of his masking. They are deeply constructed displays of emotion. All set to Vash‘s derived sense of what’s normal. It’s what he thinks positive emotions look like. His mask is baked into everything he does. And only one person sees through it-Wolfwood!!

Wolfwood is also set apart by the narrative. He has been modified. In my view this is the story portraying that Wolfwood is also neurodivergent in some way. He is capable of seeing through Vash‘s mask, and from Vash‘s reaction is the first one to call him out on it. He also goes from being afraid of Vash‘s autistic traits-his wings-to supporting him. His last words are him encouraging Vash to express his emotions genuinely(to not worry about his “unsettling“ autism smile).

Trigun as a media deals to deeply with disability and autism(if someone remind me I’ll make another little essay thing about Meryl and Milly‘s autism). I hope this is coherent!!

Anyways! Happy Autism Month!!

[autistpride]

Autism Acceptance

Prompt 10: Restaurant AU

Wordcount: 600

@wolfstarmicrofic

“Sirius, could you get table three for me?” Marlene asked Sirius, “I need a smoke break.” 

“Ya sure of course,” Sirius called back before walking over to the table in question and pulling out his notepad and pen. “What can I get for you?” 

“I’m sorry we need a little more time,” a red haired girl said.

Sirius glanced between the two people sitting at the small table and nodded before turning on his heel. Sirius watched from across the dining floor as the red haired teen whispered to the mousy brown haired boy that Sirius assumed was her boyfriend as they looked nothing alike. She seemed worried or anxious Sirius couldn’t tell. The boy seemed to be stressed and upset despite not having even ordered their meals yet. 

Sirius walked back over after a few minutes, “is there anything I can help you with?” He asked.

“No no I’m sorry but we still aren’t ready yet,” She said apologetically.

Sirius looked over at the boy who sat with his head in his hands. 

“Hey, do you need some help?” Sirius asked and the boy didn’t respond.

“You don't have his usual on the menu anymore. He gets it every time. When he tried to order it earlier, the other worker said it wasn’t on the menu. So we’re just trying to find something else.” 

“Ah, I see.” Sirius said softly before noticing the rainbow infinity pin. Sirius knelt down near the teen boy. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“That’s Remus and I’m Lily,” the red haired girl spoke before Remus had a chance to talk. 

“Thank you Lily,” Sirius said sincerely before asking Remus, “What was your usual?”

Remus glanced over at Sirius, his bottom lip trapped between his teeth. After a minute he responded quietly, “California chicken sandwich.

Sirius grinned, “One California chicken sandwich with chips coming right up.”

Remus’ jaw dropped in surprise, “really?”

“Ya really. Anything special I should make sure to tell the cook?” Sirius asked.

Remus worried his lip again and shook his head no. He didn’t want to push his luck.

“Come on Remus. I can tell you want to say something. What is it?” Sirius asked, leaning down. “You can even whisper it to me like it’s a secret.” 

Remus knocked his fists together a few times and then whispered, “I like when they have a smile.”

Sirius's face scrunched up in thought and then nodded. “On it.”

Twenty minutes later Sirius brought out the plates of food. Sirius was glad James was working as the cook that day. He was always willing to make special orders when Sirius asked. 

Sirius set Lily’s food down in front of her and then Remus’ down in front of him. 

Remus looked up at Sirius with widened golden eyes and Sirius winked and said, “I hope you enjoy your meals”. Remus gently pried the top bun off the sandwich and made a very excited squeak. 

Sirius had placed the pickles to be two eyes. He made the eyebrows, pupils, and nose from mustard and the mouth from ketchup. He carefully arranged the lettuce around the top as if it was hair and the avocado around the bottom as if it was shoulders. 

“Woah,” Lily exclaimed from across the table.

When Remus looked up Sirius had vanished. 

The person bringing them their check was their original wait staff and Remus frowned in disappointment. 

“I hope you both had a lovely date,” she said.

“Oh! We’re not together!” Lily said laughing. 

“I’m quite gay,” Remus said, “no offence Lils”

Marlene passed Remus something.

She gave him Sirius’ number.

[existennialmemes]

Sorry, I wish I could be

✨ Normal ✨

about this, but my only settings are:

Intense

Bizarre

Timed Dry

Frightened, Feral Cat

[itsaspectrumcomic]

Every month is autism month for me!

[ID: A comic titled "April is Autism Acceptance Month!"

The narrator, a light skinned person with brown hair, says "You might see some places "lighting it up blue" or sharing puzzle piece imagery this month, but a lot of autistic people prefer to avoid that due to its association with Autism Speaks." Within the speech bubble is a blue puzzle piece with a red cross next to it. The narrator continues, "Autism Speaks sees autism as a disease that needs to be cured and eradicated, which it isn't. So to avoid that, we generally prefer RED instead!" The words "red instead" are shown on the narrator's shirt.

The narrator continues, "or the golden infinity symbol: (it's gold because au is the symbol for gold in the periodic table." There are illustrations of a gold infinity symbol and the periodic table symbol for gold, made to say "autism", next to the text.

Text continues "Not every autistic person celebrates autism acceptance month which is fine! It's optional :)

At the bottom, the narrator wears a red shirt with the gold infinity symbol on it and says "whether you celebrate or not, I hope you have a lovely month." End ID]

Thank you @teatual for the description!

[thatkinkyautistic]

Autism acceptance includes accepting all autistic manners of communication.

That means supporting autistic people who talk in a "very childish" way. (I do this a lot irl)

Autistic people who do "TV talking" (this means talking like a character from your favorite media,basically talking in quotes and copying their speech patterns,as far as I know)

Autistic people who use echolia.

Autistic people who are very awkward/quirky when they communicate.

Autistic people who are overly technical,or have very sophisticated and articulate speech.

Autistic people who mumble.

Autistic people who talk really fast.

Autistic people who can't control their tone of voice/inflection.

Autistic people who talk in a monotone voice.

Autistic people who use different kind of sounds,or body language to communicate.

Autistic people who talk slowly and draw out their syllables.

Autistic people who use a lot of sentance fillers.

Autistic people who use Aac devices,communication cards,etc etc.

Edit: acceptance of nonverbal autistics is also necessary. Nonverbal people deserve love,respect,acceptance,accommodation and support.

[fallenstarcat]

sometimes i feel like people forget autism is a disability. and that’s not a bad thing! i’m all for disability acceptance, im proud of my disabilities. but i feel like we forget autism can hurt.

it hurts that i have to put more time and energy into socializing than others.

it hurts when i need to move so bad, usually cause im overwhelmed by either my surroundings or emotions, that i thrash and hurt myself.

it hurts that i cant be in places that are too loud or too bright, which on bad days can be as simple as a small, quiet noise or dim lights.

it hurts that i struggle to tell when im hungry, thirsty, tired, etc. so i can’t properly take care of myself. it doesn’t help my insomnia and i get very nauseas and get UTIs.

i 100% believe in autism acceptance. i don’t want a cure. but i also want us the acknowledge that it can hurt. it doesn’t mean my entire life will hurt, but some parts will. and i want a community where we can see both sides, see the hurt, and celebrate it anyway.

[thetisming]

every month is autism month if youre autistic

[macmanx]

FYI

Learn more:

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

autism awareness & autism acceptance not either or. not mutually exclusive. can coexist. need coexist.

“there enough awareness for autism already 🙄 we need acceptance”

ok. you aware of high support needs autism? aware what that even means? not “need reminder take meds need remind take shower” “high” support needs autism, but “need full physical help do bADLs lack danger awareness may accidentally hurt self or even kill self without support” high support needs autism? not just higher support needs people who can be independently online do advocacy, but those who need help from others even be online, or those who cannot be online at. all.?

aware of nonverbal nonspeaking people? not just nonverbal nonspeaking people who can write grammatically correct cannot tell apart base on writing. not just nonverbal nonspeaking people who can be online who can advocate online.

aware of nonverbal nonspeaking people who cannot communicate in way that easily understood, either for now, or ever? aware of nonverbal nonspeaking people without functional communication, aware of how without functional communication, how that drastically limit communication, even though behaviors are valid communication? aware of nonverbal nonspeaking people who may never use AAC fluently even with best support?

aware of technically verbal but very limited verbal autistics who may only able say wants & needs but not other things and certainly not online advocacy, “despite being verbal”?

aware of just how much our life depends on caregiver/carer/PCA/etc? aware how vulnerable that make us? aware of abuse from caregivers? aware of caregiver burnout from lack of support for caregivers, & how that impact our care we receive? have you even heard of term respite care? aware of those of us who cannot separate ourselves from caregiver? aware of those of us who cannot participate in autism community without caregiver?

aware of visibly autistic people? aware how we not automatically believed? aware how we often bear blunt of violence because we most easily identified target because we visible? aware visible =/= get support, aware that many those diagnosed severe who now adult so no longer qualify for services under 21 year old, languish in hospitals because nowhere to go? aware how long life saving necessary waitlists are? aware that even to this day parents have to fight school fight day service fight government fight insurance for them give their nonverbal nonspeaking child AAC & be properly taught how use it? actually, are you aware of how properly teach AAC to nonverbal nonspeaking, developmentally delayed child who may or may not have intellectual disability?

actually, aware of autistics with (correctly diagnosed) intellectual disability & how they make up big amount of autistic? aware of institutional systemic & legal impact of mental [r word] right & the human rights abuse justified using r word right? wait, you aware that r word come from old term for intellectual disability, that, actually, still in many laws because no one bothered updating, right? aware of what severe profound ID look like? and aware they real and they still human deserve education deserve life deserve care, yes?

aware of early diagnosis 20 30 or even 10 years ago, not same as now, even less resources & knowledge about autism now? aware that while gender race class 1000% impacted diagnoses, a lot of early diagnosed people early diagnosed because… they die without support unlocked by diagnosis, right? but also, aware that in old times, early diagnosis often did mean doom, not because autism bad or anything, but because severe lack of support & diagnosis can literally bar you from so many things including basic education?

aware that for many people in special education, which impact specific group of autistic people, they not get degree when graduate high school, they just get certificate, which limit their educational & employment opportunities & others?

aware of life saving importance and necessity of masking for autistic of color especially Black autistic people, despite stress inducing traumatic? aware that live in broken system be victim of hate crime & police brutality just as traumatic often even more traumatic than masking? aware that many Black & other parents of color forced to teach their child masking because of this?

are you aware of most marginalized autistic people? aware of leadership of most impacted?

aware you can and need to care about autistic experiences & form of autism you not experience? aware that you can and need to do that without try twist your experience into our experience into our words our community?

aware that advocacy goes beyond about you?

aware that you can’t speak for all autistic? aware that you shouldn’t speak for all autistic?

are you aware of when you need to stop talking & listen & amplify others? aware of when and how to decenter self?

aware that even this long post, barely scratch surface? still so much to say?

[better worded version of original post]

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Seriously I have a love/hate relationship with showers…

Funny ADHD ASD Memes

[chelledoggo]

i almost forgot

♾ happy Autism Acceptance Month ♾ 🖕and fuck Autism Speaks🖕

[idrewagiraffe]

i made this with my own blood sweat and tears

[fizzyvitals]

Greetings, happy April which means happy autism awareness & acceptance month.

As we state every year, Autism Speaks isn’t the “autism advocacy” support group you think it is. Autism Speaks is full of ableism (and 🧩). Autism Speaks is primarily focused on autistic CHILDREN, they refuse to acknowledge that autistic children turn into autistic adults. So please, don’t go buying that AS (BS) merch at Walmart.

What’s wrong with 🧩?

Puzzle pieces say that there is something wrong with autistic people, therefore “there is a missing piece” or that we need a cure for our autism.

What can I use instead of 🧩?

The infinity symbol. ♾️ After all, the infinity symbol signifies unity.

What organizations can I support instead of Autism Speaks?

There’s organizations like Autistic Women & Non-binary Network (AWN) and Yellow Ladybugs who both support autistic women & gender diverse individuals.

And as always, we need acceptance AND awareness, not one or the other. Let’s also acknowledge the whole spectrum of autism, not just bits and pieces.

This is just a short piece I wanted to write up. Let’s also acknowledge that April is also for sexual assault awareness and deaf history.

Ciao,

Azhtynn E. Myllo 🏳️‍🌈

[existennialmemes]

Reminders for Autistic "Awareness" Month

Beware the Autistics. We live among you. We look like you. We could be your friends, your family, your neighbors, your coworkers. We could even be you.

The Average Autistic is 18 feet tall, has purple skin, and has 2 watt lasers for eyes, however many of us may mask our appearance with Occult Rituals

The Big Light is Bad!! Turn off The Big Light!!! Except for when it's Good. Turn on the Big Light!!

We are not Moths. I don't know who told you that but they're lying.