Dysautonomia Adventures

This is where I blog about my experiences with Dysautonomia and Autism as a highschool student

[kaleighfratkins]

callout post

my gastrointestinal system:

doesn’t fucking work

[dysautonomiadventures]

This isn't really related to my account, but Rojava, an autonomous region in Northern Syria, has been one of my very intense interests for around two years now, and if you don't know about it, go on and watch this documentary. What's happening there is so important and noteworthy. It's the first socioeconomic revolution in modern history to have women's liberation and feminism joined with anti-capitalism and direct democracy as its core philosophy. We can all take steps now to build up Democratic Confederalism within our own neighborhoods.

Please share this as widely as possible, and spread the news about Rojava to your friends. Not enough people know what Democratic Confederalism is, or how we can begin to implement it in our daily lives. So spread the word, and let's get to it!

[highlights-of-the-lowlife]

One thing nobody teaches you is how politicised being disabled is. Your whole existence being called a waste of resources. Your whole worth being boiled down to whether you can work. If you can, you’re not disabled and get nothing. If you’re not, you’re lazy and deserve nothing.

Accessibility is seen as a burden and us demanding too much like the greedy people they claim us to be. No handouts! No Handouts! We are invisible and subhuman. We are the other. We are portrayed as burdens to society for simply wanting to exist in the world as they do.

The ability to live week to week is constantly in jeopardy. Lost jobs from sick days. Rising costs of medical care and accommodations. Your government assistance becomes a talking point and a target. People rallying for you to starve instead of paying any taxes to your care. One day your means to live just disappears without fanfare or your input. ‘Austerity measures’ being levied on us for being ‘leeches’. They might not kill us directly but they don’t care about leaving us to die.

Right to die advocates fighting valiantly for euthanasia but doing nothing about disability rights. Nothing about accommodations. Nothing about accessibility. Nothing about subsidies or in home care. They’d rather give us the ability to die than allow us to live. Because we are tragedies.

Burdens.

[quadriparesis-deactivated201908]

idk if i’ve said this before but I really want to see a show on hgtv where they remodel people’s houses to make them accessible. making a house wheelchair-friendly. making a house accessible to people with small stature. building awesome sensory rooms for autistic kids. building physical therapy rooms for people who are early in their rehab or who have conditions that require ongoing physical therapy at home. building roll under sinks, roll in showers, opening up walls, lowering counter tops. accessible backyards. fuck

[dothepropaganda]

wow, what a gorgeous month to remember autism isn’t a disease and there’s no “cure for autism” and there shouldn’t have to be one just because allistic people can’t get the hell over themselves and realise other people experience the world differently and have different needs and require different accommodations. terrific.

[autistickeely]

When you’re getting along with someone but then they say something ableist…

[autisticvoices-deactivated20181]

TRUUUUUUUUU

[holding-you-down]

My joints can’t even hold themselves together what makes you think I can hold my life together

[autspoon]

shoes are basically a mobility aid for abled people, isn’t it?

like you all would struggle to walk outside without em, it’d be painful and really inconvenient… but some you all could in theory do it too?

but it’s just so messy and painful that you don’t.. so your mobility is affected by whether or not you wear shoes..

and tbh, i wish we all would just look at other stuff the same way too.. like, many CAN do so and so.. it’d just be slow, painful, and inconvenient..

and with disabled people you don’t get asked “why are you unnecessarily straining your body?” but an abled person would get told “be careful, you might step on something sharp”.

you all’s easily pierced skin, is basically like my fragile joints and bones.. they can easily get hurt and leave you in pain… but you all feel more justified in defending that than you feel i should be justified, and it’s literally only difference is that abled is the norm, so therefore shoes are too.

like we can easily imagine a world where some humans are like hobbits in lotr, with really rough feet where they don’t need shoes.. and to them, our fragile little feet that can’t bear walking over gravel, would be viewed as a disability, wouldn’t it?

[autspoon]

shoes are basically a mobility aid for abled people, isn’t it?

like you all would struggle to walk outside without em, it’d be painful and really inconvenient… but some you all could in theory do it too?

but it’s just so messy and painful that you don’t.. so your mobility is affected by whether or not you wear shoes..

and tbh, i wish we all would just look at other stuff the same way too.. like, many CAN do so and so.. it’d just be slow, painful, and inconvenient..

and with disabled people you don’t get asked “why are you unnecessarily straining your body?” but an abled person would get told “be careful, you might step on something sharp”.

you all’s easily pierced skin, is basically like my fragile joints and bones.. they can easily get hurt and leave you in pain… but you all feel more justified in defending that than you feel i should be justified, and it’s literally only difference is that abled is the norm, so therefore shoes are too.

like we can easily imagine a world where some humans are like hobbits in lotr, with really rough feet where they don’t need shoes.. and to them, our fragile little feet that can’t bear walking over gravel, would be viewed as a disability, wouldn’t it?

[autistics-speak]

The genuine scientific search for an ‘autism cure’ (not the bs ‘overdose on vitamins’ pseudoscience scams, real research conducted in a scientific manner) is eugenicist in nature.

They’re trying to identify the genes that make us autistic so we can be identified as foetuses and a mass eugenics campaign can be staged against us – like what’s happening with Down’s Syndrome right now, where pregnant people are told abortion is the only real option, pressured out of continuing the pregnancy, and not offered any information or resources on how to raise a disabled child. The vast majority of wanted, viable foetuses with the markers for Down’s are now being aborted thanks to mass eugenics campaigns by medical establishments around the world.

Autism Speaks wants expand these eugenics campaigns to autistic foetuses as well, because they think the world would be better if people like us were never born at all.

That’s horrifying in its implications for how a society so eager to eliminate us treats those of us who are still here. (And it contextualizes the fact that the most popular ‘therapies’ for autistic children are abusive in nature and prioritize submission and conformity over safety or mental health.) It also means that even if a cure were actually achieved, that ‘cure’ would never exist for us as individuals.

In a society whose Top Autism Priority is to eliminate future generations of autistic people, the autistic people who exist now are being left in the dust. Children are being forced into abusive and sometimes incredibly violent ABA therapy to seem less ‘weird’ instead of being given positive communication tools, strategies to minimize suffering, or information about our own neurotype. Autistic adults are either over-institutionalized and denied the most basic autonomy or offered zero support and left to struggle and fail in a society not built to accommodate our needs.

Hiring discrimination runs rampant, doctors are not taught to understand the way autistic people physically experience pain and illness differently (and process medication differently), and autistic people of colour are being killed by police officers who think ‘odd’ body language is a good excuse for murder.

Meanwhile, organizations like Autism Speaks are being given millions to make sure future generations of autistic people never exist. So much of the suffering involved with being autistic is just the struggle of existing in a society that doesn’t support us – how much better could it be, how much of the trauma of existing as an autistic person could be avoided, if those millions went toward empowering us to choose the lives we want to lead?

[autisticdisney]

With it being World Autism Day and hell month kicking off, this is important. This blog is pretty light usually but we WILL be posting some info and some anti-A$ memes during the month.

[bpdzoldyck-deactivated20181014]

Don’t call me “high functioning”

Let me tell you something about autism

I know an autistic person who

Can usually make eye contact for short periods

Can usually understand body language

Can usually understand sarcasm

Rarely goes nonverbal

Rarely has meltdowns or shutdowns

Does not stim “loudly” around other people

This person does not look autistic, they can hold conversations and pass as neurotypical. They seem to be “high functioning”.

I also know an autistic person who

Often cannot go to the store alone

Often cannot tolerate being touched

Often forgets to do things like shower and eat

Often cannot hear people speaking to him when other people are talking

Often cannot change tasks/start a new task without intervention even for important things like switching from browsing Tumblr to getting food

Often gets disoriented by sensory overload in stores, schools, workplaces, restaurants and even just walking down the street

Often cannot maintain focus long enough to watch anything but simple cartoons or read anything but simple comics

This person will likely never function independently, complete college or have a job. They will likely always require support from family, friends or partners. They seem to be “low functioning”

Guess what?

They’re both me.

The point is that no matter how high functioning an autistic person appears in conversation with you, you’re only seeing part of the picture. I without fail am always told I must be “high functioning” when I say I’m autistic because all people are looking at are my social skills (and I received intervention when young that taught me many of the social skills I was lacking) but the reality is autism involves much more than that and by many other standards I am “low functioning”. Those just happen to be the aspects of it that are invisible to the people who don’t help to care for me.

Regardless of how valid you believe functioning labels to be it’s inappropriate to apply them to an autistic person without their permission, especially if you don’t know them well. Autism is not that simple and many of the things that affect a persons ability to function aren’t easy to see.

[autisticdisney]

Scar on Masking and Seeming Autistic

Image: Scar laying on a rock holding a paw to his temple and grimacing as if he has a headache. This is the “I’m surrounded by idiots” moment in the movie.

Large text: “You don’t SEEM autistic”

Small text: that is because 1) you have a very limited narrow understanding of what autism is and 2) I spend so much energy on masking in my day to day life that I lose track of who I am in an effort to fit in to avoid social punishment.“

[potsiespoons]

[Description under the cut.] 

I know we’re already halfway through the month so I’m late to the party (per the norm), BUT in my defense this comic has like a million details and a ton of characters and wheelchairs are really hard to draw. 🙈

To all of you in the LGBTQ+ community with a chronic illness and/or disability, always remember that we need to hear your voices, too! You have unique stories and perspectives to share with the world, and they are valuable.

Keep reading

[marauders4evr]

Flashing Lights Warning For The Incredibles 2

Hey everyone, I just got back from an early screening of The Incredibles 2 and it was, well, incredible, but just so you all know, the main villain uses a flashing hypnosis screen throughout the entire film that’s deliberately meant to disorient you but could possibly do more damage, especially to people who are prone to seizures or other health problems.

There’s an especially dangerous moment about halfway through the film where one of the characters is in a room where all four walls have these flashing lights and for a solid minute or so, the screen just flashes intercut with fast-paced action scenes. As a heads up, this scene happens when a character breaks into an apartment. 

I’m honestly surprised they didn’t think of the actual damage they could cause (I mean they were clearly hoping to create some damage; the cinematography was very clearly set to disorient the viewer and put them in the characters’ shoes, I guess they just didn’t think it through?). 

Please be careful!

[torque-witch]

Spoonie Tarot Deck

I’m putting it out here in the universe so we actually do it, but @tarot-cards-and-tea and I are in the process of making a spoonie/disabled tarot deck!

It will take a long time considering work and life, but I’m hoping to sketch one or two cards a month. It will most likely be in the style of Rider Waite so that the imagery makes sense to most diviners - but are there any ways we can make it more accessible and inclusive? Maybe key words on the cards? Imagery that would help you understand specific cards better? 

What do you want to see in a deck so that you are represented? This includes mental illness, physical disability, chronic illness, etc..

Do you like the Rider Waite style? Would you prefer something more abstract?

Send me an ask or leave some feedback on this post!

[toadistic]

some neurotypical: Truly, we will never comprehend the dark dangers of the autistic mind…

my dark and dangerous autistic mind: I wish soap tasted as good as it looks.

[dickensign]

But there was one scenario in which the Autistic people left a positive first impression: when people read a transcript of their words instead of seeing and hearing the Autistic people saying those words, observers rated them as more likable and more intelligent. In fact, in the scenario where observers just read the written words of Autistic and non-autistic people, they rated both groups the same. For non-autistic people, the written transcripts were their lowest-rated mode of communication, although only by a small amount. For Autistic people, the written transcripts were their highest-rated mode of communication by a very significant margin. Written communication is the great social equalizer. Remember this if you start to fear your Autistic child is spending too much time interacting with others online and not enough time interacting with others face-to-face.  Online communication is a valid accommodation for the social disability that comes with being Autistic.  We need online interaction and this meta-study demonstrates exactly why that is the case.

Autism and the Burden of Social Reciprocity | Sparrow R. Jones unstrangemind.com

(via dickensign)

http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2017/02/autism-and-burden-of-social-reciprocity.html

(via tser)