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Xuebing Du
Mike Driver
hello vonnie
Origami Around
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
NASA
Today's Document
roma★
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Product Placement
Show & Tell
blake kathryn
oozey mess
occasionally subtle
JVL
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★
sheepfilms
seen from T1
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@re-presentingautism
One of the nation’s best-known charities is paying disabled workers as little as 22 cents an hour, thanks to a 75-year-old legal loophole that critics say needs to be closed.
This is just gross. Everyone deserves to be treated with equal respect, and paid for their work. Thankfully, there are activist groups addressing the issue, and you can sign petitions, learn more, and get involved here.
on autistic community
I've been doing fieldwork/research officially for almost 2 full months and have yet to make a post letting people who are following me that I'll be blogging on onautisticcommunity. It's going to be a place for me to reflect on being an autistic researcher, talk about what's on my mind, and keep track of important conversations.
I decided to make a separate blog so that anyone who is interested in my research on community among autistic adults can let me know what they think, participate in the study, or just take look at what I'm blogging and reblogging.
Anytime someone talks about the “real world” when they mean “without technology”, I realize that I’ve spoken to yet another person that I can absolutely not trust at all.
Yep.
I try to use “in person” or “face to face” or “meatspace” or something like that. I’ve hated the phrase “real world” or “real life” for a long while.
Yeah, I try to use “local” or “meatspace” or “face to face”.
Yes, local is also a good alternative if you’re talking about meeting with people you encounter in person often. Doesn’t so much work for long distance friends you see rarely but other terms work for that.
Agreed. The whole "real world" thing suggests that relationships made and maintained online somehow aren't legit. And of course this feeds into the way that people whose social lives are primarily kept online get stigmatized. "The way you're being social is all wrong," "technology is robbing us of our ability to be human," yada yada yada. It's nonsense, of course. For some of us, our best relationships and safest feeling spaces have been made through digital media.
Also, technology (or human created tools) – in one form or another – facilitates all relationships. Even if it's not Internet tech.
Celebrating Christmas alone
If you will be alone on Christmas and want to celebrate, there are several options:
Singing/music:
A lot of churches and other organizations have musical events around Christmas
For instance, in many areas, a group puts on a Handel’s Messiah sing along, where it’s lead by experienced musicians but anyone can participate in the singing
(You can find other musical events by googling “Christmas concert <your area>”)
You can also listen to recorded Christmas music (in fact, this time of year it would be difficult to avoid doing so. But it might be more enjoyable when you’re doing it on purpose and selecting songs you like).
Getting a Christmas tree:
Some people who celebrate Christmas are much happier if they have a Christmas tree than if they don’t
This time of year, there are a lot of places that sell both real and fake ones
If you aren’t up to or don’t want a full-sized tree, you can get a mini-tree or a potted plant pine tree
In some cities, places that sell Christmas trees also sell “Charlie Brown trees” that are a pine branch held up by a small stand. Those have the advantage of smelling the same way that full-sized fresh-cut trees smell (you can also get this effect by using wreathes or garlands)
Putting up decorations:
If you have a space you control, you can put up decorations
Decorations can be complicated and expensive, but they don’t have to be
You can get a string of lights for a few dollars in most retail stores this time of year
Places that sell Christmas trees also usually sell wreathes for far less money. If you have a door you control, you can put a wreath on the door. Or you can put it on your table.
You can also make paper chains, or other paper decorations
Looking at other people’s decorations
A lot of people put up really cool Christmas decorations
There are also often cool public light displays put up by cities
If you search “Christmas lights <your area>”, you’ll likely find information about where particularly awesome decorations are
This is something you can do leading up to Christmas as well as on Christmas itself, and you will not be the only one doing it
Crafting:
A lot of people like to make Christmas crafts
Craft stores, and even some non-craft stores, have a lot of easy Christmas-themed craft kits (and also supplies and ideas for harder projects if you are so inclined)
Some people like to craft ornaments; some people like to craft presents
Watching Christmas specials
Most shows have Christmas specials, and there are zillions of Christmas movies
You might enjoy watching these, both for their own sake and as a way of connecting with other people who are watching those movies this time of year
One pitfall is that a lot of these are about the importance of family
If you don’t have family you can be with or want to be with, it might be really unpleasant to watch sweet Christmas specials
There are also a lot of snarky parodies of Christmas tropes. If Christmas episodes make you sad, you might prefer to watch the Christmas episodes of shows like Futurama or The Simpsons.
Oscar the Grouch sings a song called “I Hate Christmas” that might also be enjoyable. (Video has captions).
Going to a movie:
A lot of movie theaters are open on Christmas
Some of the movies that play on Christmas are Christmas-themed, but a lot aren’t
If you want to get out of the house and do something and be around other people on Christmas, a movie might be a good option.
Fandom:
There are a lot of Christmas stories written in almost every fandom
You might like to read Christmas stories
(Here’s the tag on An Archive of Our Own for Christmas stories. If you go to the sidebar on the right, you can search within results for the fandom you’re interested in)
You also might enjoy writing a story
Or even just a short piece of headcanon about what you think that characters in a story you like do on Christmas.
(Eg: Posting in the tag for your fandom “Minor Character and Other Minor Character liked to play pranks on Christmas as much as the rest of the year. One year they decided to paint the tree blue. That was the year they discovered that nothing gets blue cat pawprints out of the carpet.” Except better, and actually about the characters you care about.)
Food
There is a lot of iconic Christmas food (Wikipedia has a list of traditional Christmas dishes in various countries).
If you are in the US, it might feel more like Christmas if you eat something like candy canes or gingerbread men or fruitcakes or Christmas cookies
Grocery stores sell Christmas food this time of year, and so do a lot of take-out places.
Traditional drinks:
Some people have the tradition of making hot chocolate this time of year
There are lots of powder-based mixes at grocery stores
You can also make more involved hot chocolate by melting chocolate into milk on the stove. There are various recipes for this. (Here’s one with booze).
Some people like to drink hot apple cider. Grocery stores sell mixes for this.
Some people like mulled wine
Eggnog is another traditional drink. It’s sold in cartons near the milk in the grocery store
(All that said: It pays to be careful about how much alcoholic stuff you prepare and err on the side of making small batches. Having a large quantity of something alcoholic and perishable when you’re lonely on a holiday could get really bad really quickly.)
Making Christmas cookies
Making cookies is a tradition that a lot of people enjoy, and it doesn’t require a group
This can be complicated and involved if you like complicated baking (there are any number of complex recipes online)
It can also be simple. There are simple recipes.
Stores also sell pre-made dough that you can cut out and bake
If you don’t want to make cookies (or don’t have an oven), you might enjoy decorating Christmas cookies
You can get pre-made plain sugar cookies in the grocery store.
And there are a variety of kinds of frosting in the baking aisle.
There are tubs of frosting, and there are also tubes of frosting you can use to write words/draw things
Sharing baked goods with your neighbors:
In some areas, on and around Christmas it’s considered socially acceptable to make baked goods and share them with your neighbors
This is generally more acceptable in rural and suburban areas than in cities
I’m not sure how to tell whether you’re in an area where that’s acceptable or not
But if it is, it can be a good way to connect a little
Gingerbread houses:
Most grocery stores and craft stores have gingerbread house kits that are fairly simple.
You can also make a gingerbread house out of milk cartons and graham crackers
Bakeries sometimes also sell pre-made gingerbread houses (these are usually very expensive)
Some cities have gingerbread house competitions or displays. You might like to compete or view the competition
Donating to a food drive:
Food pantries always need food
If you have the resources to donate food or money to a food bank around this time of year, it’s a good way to celebrate the holidays
It’s especially nice if you can donate festive food
And that’s especially true if you can donate holiday food that people who have special diets can eat (eg: sugar-free candy; gluten-free pie). Poverty doesn’t cure special dietary needs, and it sucks to miss out on seasonal treats because you can’t eat any of the donated ones and can’t afford to buy your own
Donating to a toy drive:
There are a lot of toy drives around this time of year
If you have resources to do so, it’s nice to donate toys so that kids can get presents
It’s especially nice to donate interesting toys so that kids can get good presents
Being poor doesn’t mean that kids only want generic dolls; poor kids are also into fandoms and geeky things and everything that anyone else is interested in
(No one wants to be given a boring donated toy and be expected to be grateful for it).
If you can, donate interesting stuff that you would have been happy to receive as a kid
Finding a place to start volunteering:
A lot of lonely people want to volunteer on Christmas
There are generally far more people who want to volunteer than organizations can actually accommodate
If Christmas is making you want to volunteer, it might mean that you want to volunteer when it’s not Christmas too
It might make sense to spend some time on Christmas researching organizations, figuring out where you might like to volunteer, and sending some preliminary emails
Making cards:
You can make Christmas cards around Christmas.
You can also make New Year’s cards on Christmas, and send them out the day after, if you are so inclined
(You can also buy cards. Some people prefer to buy them; some people prefer to make them.)
Writing a Christmas letter:
Some people like to write annual Christmas letters updating people in (or on the periphery of) their life about what they’ve been up to in the past year
This can be individual letters, or also one letter sent to a lot of people
These days, a lot of people do this by email.
If there are people you haven’t heard from in a while but still want to be somewhat in contact with, a Christmas email/letter can be a way to do this.
Snow:
If you’re in an area with snow, you might enjoy making a snowman or sledding
Those things are both fun for a lot of people, and traditionally associated with Christmas
You can also make a fake snowman indoors with fake snow. There are various ways to do this - one set of instructions here.
Buying presents for yourself:
If you will be alone on Christmas and want to get presents, you might be happier if you buy some for yourself
It’s too late for shipping most places, but you can order stuff that you know will show up after Christmas
Some stores have gift wrapping services, which you might use if you want to open a wrapped gift that was wrapped by someone other than you
If you want a surprise, you can buy a grab bag. (You might even be able to do this in a retail store before Christmas).
You can also order something that has a somewhat random element. Eg: you can order a Mystery Squishable from squishable.com and get a random stuffed animal that will probably be awesome.
Hosting gatherings after Christmas:
If you have friends who will be in town for Christmas, they likely won’t be free on Christmas itself
But they might be still in town, and without structured obligations, for a few days after Christmas
If you know that you are going to get together with friends after Christmas, being alone on Christmas might not suck as much
(One way to do this is to plan a New Years’ gathering, but there are also other ways).
Hanging out with people who don’t celebrate Christmas:
Christmas in Christian-dominated cultures is a often very boring day for those who don’t celebrate it
If you have local friends who don’t celebrate Christmas, it might be worth seeing whether they want to hang out on Christmas
tl;dr If you want to celebrate Christmas, there are options for doing so even if you will be alone on Christmas. Scroll up for more concrete suggestions.
Anyone else want to weigh in? What do you like to do on Christmas?
This seems really awesome. :D Funny, informative, and, from what I’ve learned, pretty on the money.
Can this please just be mandatory viewing material for people? This is really basic shit.
(OMG THE DOOR THING. THE DOOR THING.)
The Importance of Neurodivergent Labels, Representation, and Headcanons
I would like to point out that I will be mainly focusing on autism, as that’s what my personal experience deals with. However, there are several different disorders where key symptoms have to do with feeling a lack of identity or little to no sense of self. What I’ve written focuses on that and those of us who were diagnosed late in life.
Read More
This post is wonderful and lovely and makes me happy. I feel these feels too.
Fetishisation of autistic people
What it is: I'm allistic and I only want to date autistic people cause they're so smart and awkwardly cute socially and that's really sexy
What it's not: I'm autistic and identify with this character so I'm going to read them as autistic
This is for those who don’t understand what executive function is. Even I know what it is after reading this and I can relate to this so much, especially in organization, impulse, and self-monitoring!
It doesn’t mention autism, but I know autistic people tend to be poor at executive functioning.
This is a great illustration of how complex executive functioning really is. “Executive functioning” isn’t just one trait, it’s a whole series of things (some of which aren’t even included here!) Executive functioning is more than just stereotypical “forgot my homework” ADHD cliches; it affects everything from prioritizing the steps involved in running errands to the flow and structure of conversation. And most people have more deficits in some areas than in others, so no two people with EF problems will be exactly alike.
Such a great example of EFD.
daenerys isnt autistic, shes awesome
*sneezes autism epidemic on ur dumb allistic opinion* ;)))))
She can’t be both? Does that mean I can’t be both? I’m going to have to send all my “fuck you, I’m autistic and awesome” t-shirts back.
Oh no, wait.
Fuck you, I’m autistic and awesome.
Ditto. Yup.
*sneezes autism epidemic* is probably the best reaction I’ve seen in awhile
Right? High five to op for that image.
[#8. Autistics are all cats in disguise. Every single one of them.]
Too bad Robison repeatedly uses the word "crippling" in an derogatory way. Warning: There's quite a bit of ableism in the comments section.
In Virginia, a tragedy that cries out for remedy.
Tweet #FreeNeli @RuthMarcus @AGMakHerring @GovernorVA to boost the call for justice!
I'm hoping neurowonderful feels better soon and gets loads and loads of much needed rest (in spite of the holidays). However long it take to recover ... I know I'll be excited for the next Ask an Autistic video, whether it's out next February or November!
@ Fellow autistics:
College. Is it possible?
It was fine. You will probably make it academically as long as you are able to do your work without someone telling you to. Go in ready to explain what you need, if anything, in terms of academic accommodations. There is no one else to do it for you. Confidentiality means that no one else usually can. If you do better when you have a quiet home, I would advise you to be careful to go somewhere that will be flexible about your living situation.
Especially if you are leaving home to do this, do your best to get your mental and emotional health as solid as you can if those are issues for you. Everyone has some bad days initially. Be ready to weather them.
Sometimes, disabled children are raised in a more sheltered way. If that describes you and you are on your own for the first time, make sure you understand any loans you accept. People who ask questions about money have reduced rates of ending up with a mortgage-worth of debt for a B.A.
Great advice. I would add that establishing or getting set up with mentorship relationships with faculty, staff, or students who are further along in their school careers can help a lot. Also, if you know that you'll need help with certain subjects, look for private tutors or tutoring centers on campus early on.
Image Description (via boycottautismspeaks) : There are shackles in upper left corner and lower right corner. One side is broken open and there is the hashtag #FreeNeli over the broken part.
The text says:
"Twitter Bomb
Friday: Dec. 19th
Several disability rights organizations are working together to demand justice for Reginald Latson.
In jail four years for waiting for the library to open while being Black and Autistic.
Join the following organizations in Tweeting:
Autism Women’s Network
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
ACAT: Ala Costa Transition Program
AUTCOM - The Autism National Committee
Advocacy Without Borders
Boycott Autism Speaks
Intersected
@NeuroQueer
Ollibean
Parenting Autistic Children with Love & Acceptance
Washington Metro Disabled Students Collective
Diary of a Mom
your self diagnosis is valid. good on u for researching your behavior/symptoms to better understand yourself. you’re just trying to help yourself and find ways to cope w the bad stuff. and i’m proud of u for taking that step<3
right, because doing a bit of research on the Internet is just as valid as the diagnosis of a medical professional alrightyyy. according to my symptoms I have cancer then.
i self diagnosed and now im professionally diagnosed with exactly what i diagnosed myself with.
in other words. i was right. so…..
relevant.
please stop calling autism a mental illness or grouping it w mental illnesses. its a neurodevelopmental disorder. its not an illness.
i literally didn’t know that.
Edit: Ooops, I meant to add this to my drafts so that I could type up a comment before posting.
While the original post sounds about right, I will say that mental illness is something that many autistic people deal with. I, for one, have some OCD-like behaviors and both depression and anxiety.
Also, I'm super interested in the problem of autism classification among lay people. I mean, in the US, autism is in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. And because the DSM catalogues both developmental disorders/disabilities and mental illnesses, many medical practitioners do classify autism as an illness. The disability rights movement has been super important to the push to re-think autism in both popular and medical spheres. And this makes it very, very interesting to think about how that measures up against those autistic people who do not identify as disabled or as people with disabilities.
P.S., It needs to be said. If an autistic person is offended by the suggestion that autism is a mental illness, they might want to examine their prejudice against people with mental illness, because that's pretty shitty.
