#autistic resources

[psychresources]

Resources: Masterlist (Autism)

(Autism Resources on Wordpress)

A list of hundreds of resources for autistic people and allies.

[robotalien]

do you have any stim recommendations for someone whi has problems with biting/keratosis pilaris picking problems? :3

Yes. I am also somebody who lives with these problems, therefore I feel that these websites are my best recommendations:

Picky Pads:

☽ (popping) ★ (picking, easy) ☽ (picking, easy and hard) ★ (picking, hard) ☽ (pulling)

Pop Its:

★ (3D) ☽ (spinners) ★ (boards)

! All can easily be found in (most) physical stores but if you do not have access to them, Amazon is going to be one of the cheapest options, many other stores overcharge or resell. Shop wisely.

Squishies:

☽ (DIY, you can also use a sock!) ★ (DIY) ☽ (tabas) ★ (vacuum sealed, hard) ☽ (needoh — buy these from the website, people resell and overcharge!) ★ (liquid)

Chewies:

★ (tough levels — from hard to soft) ☽ (vibrating) ★ (necklaces, bracelets — tough levels from hard to soft)

! Sucking on hard candy, chewing gum, and eating gummy candy can also help a lot.

OTHER WEBSITES:

☽ (stress balls, magnets, squishies, fidgets) ★ (pain stims from soft to hard)

[autistic-af]

Autistic Masking: Recovery

What is autistic masking?

Put simply, autistic masking is a survival technique whereby we suppress our true autistic selves in order to pass as neurotypical.

Learning social cues from tv, movies, books etc.

Taking on personality traits of those they perceive as socially successful (ie, the most popular person in school, a wise movie or book character etc)

Watching social interactions to create scripts for future personal interactions

Forcing eye contact

Practicing body language, facial expressions, and vocal tone

Forcing facial expressions and vocal tone during conversation

Practicing "looking relaxed" and social mirroring

Suppressing stims

Pushing through sensory discomfort in order to fit in

Okay...so is this bad for autistics?

Masking is very damaging to autistics. The longer we do it, the harder it becomes too learn to unmask.

Side effects of masking:

Loss of self - as we don't develop our own personalities at priority, we can end up feeling like aliens and alone

Burnout - masking uses up all our mental energy, and as we get older this leads to burnout. Burnout is one of the top reasons for late diagnosis in adults

Increased shutdowns or meltdowns

Depression

Anxiety

Increased risk of suicidal ideations

How do I stop masking?

Firstly, understand that this is a very long and difficult process, and the damages from masking can be lifelong. On top of it, masking can be habit forming and sometimes impossible to avoid.

These are tips only, and they may not help everyone. Life circumstances, other neurodivergences etc can also impact our ability to unmask and recover.

Tips to help unmasking:

Practice stimming in public. This may feel fake at first, but the point of this is to unlearn your fear of public stimming. You can finger tap, rock or sway, nod in time with music, whisper a vocal stim etc.

Stim freely at home to regulate and learn what stims you like best.

Let your body language be your body language. Let your arms hang limp, or sit in that weird but comfortable position.

Practice letting your vocal tone and facial expressions fall. This isn't possible in all situations, and unlearning this is difficult, especially since this is encouraged since childhood. Vocal tone and facial expressions become most difficult as we get tired, so learning to save energy for more important things is a step in recovery

Ask yourself: "do I actually enjoy this activity?" Question things you've been doing, even if it's been for years.

Would you be happier no longer doing this activity?

Ask yourself: "what do I genuinely enjoy doing? What have I been avoiding to please others?" This one can be frightening, as you may face a very loud "I don't know". And that is okay. This is recovery.

Try things out. Always been interested in building with LEGOs but feared ridicule? Try a small set. Watch some YouTube videos on a topic to see if you enjoy it. Borrow some library books. Explore.

Say no more often. As you relearn yourself, you'll also relearn your energy levels.

Stay in contact with the actually autistic community. You're going to have many many questions, and fellow neurodivergents will be integral.

Sadly, you may lose friends. I wish this wasn't true, but ableism will rear its ugly head.

This can take years to unlearn. Patience and self-care is vital.

Automatic masking is going to happen. Be sure to stim and regulate afterwards. The main point of all this is to discover as much energy as possible so that when you must mask, it's nowhere near as damaging as before.

[moonlit-oh-shit]

I made this list for a discord server I’m in, but figured I’d post it here as well. This is a list of YouTubers in the neurodivergent, disabled, or chronically ill community. Feel free to add more in reposts, these are just the ones I have personally found.

Neurodivergent Youtube Creators:

Hayley Honeyman (ADHD and Autism)

Kaelynn Partlow (Autism)

Morgan Foley (Autism)

theo (ADHD and Autism)

Olivia Lutfallah (ADHD)

Life Actuator (ADHD)

Zara Beth (Autism)

Wanderlust & AuDHD

Reberrabon_bon (Autism)

ADHD Love

Disabled/Chronic Illness YouTube Creators:

Jemma Bella (POTS and Long Covid)

Lily G | Inked.Bunnyx (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Co+)

Zara Beth (Tourette’s, FND)

Becky (POTS)

April Lockhart (missing one of her lower arms)

Eliza Rain (wheelchair user)

Jon Urquhart (CODA, ASL)

The Signing D (Parter to a deaf person, ASL)

Unsightly Opinions (Blind)

Rylie Shaw (Narcolepsy)

Menagerie (ASL, HOH)

Cassidy Huff (Dwarfism, Blind, Deaf)

Matthew and Paul (Blind, also lgbtq!)

Para Tara (Paraplegic, spinal cord injury)

Mary Comeau (T1 Diabetic)

[a-queer-seminarian]

so ya wanna know about autism: masterpost

I give this google doc link out to individuals a lot, and realized it might be useful for a lot of people if i shared it more widely. It’s a masterpost of a whole bunch of Autistic Stuff -- here’s the link to the actual doc, but i’ll also post it all here on tumblr (under a readmore after the table of contents).

(edit: if the hyperlinks aren’t working for you, here’s the google doc url that you can copy and paste into an internet browser to access everything: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16BqhRv4IlZ6KcElGAEZOx8sFYwRs4W1jF-ddY_XKYnE/edit?usp=sharing )

Please spread it around (including sharing the google doc link outside of tumblr wherever you want). Feel free to comment with more resources, tumblr posts, articles, etc. that you find helpful! And if any links are broken, let me know.

It can be a major challenge for adult autistic folks to find content for us and by us, because so much “official” content is 1) ableist and harmful and 2) geared towards parents of autistic children. So I’ve compiled just about every resource I’ve got that discusses autism by and for #actuallyautistic folks.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

- ORGANIZATIONS AND SELF ADVOCATES

- DEFINING AND DESCRIBING AUTISM

misc.

Metaphors and images for autism

Disability models

Issues with Functioning Labels, ideas of “Mild” - “Severe” autism

- AUTISM AND INTERSECTIONALITY

misc.

Autism among women

Autism and race

Autism and LGBTQ

- STUFF ON SELF DIAGNOSIS

misc.

Is it ADHD or Autism??

Tests / checklists

- STUFF ON PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS

- AUTISTIC PRIDE / CULTURE AND HISTORY!

misc.

Autism / disability history and culture

The Neurodiversity Movement

Person first vs. identity first language

Cureism

- AUSTITIC TRAITS (BEYOND THE ONES COMMONLY DISCUSSED!)

Misc. - samefoods, lists, needing to know what to expect, etc.

Stimming

Communication stuff - misc. - Verbal/nonverbal - Infodumping - echolalia - Prosopagnosia - Aphasia - Eye contact

Special interests / hyperfixations

Auditory Processing Disorder

Sensory issues / Sensory Processing Disorder

Meltdowns and Shutdowns and Burnout

Executive function

Emotion stuff

- MASKING / PASSING / SCRIPTING

- WHY AUTISM SPEAKS AND ABA ARE SO BAD

- MISCELLANEOUS

Suicide

Allyship / for allistics - For parents of autistic persons

More non-speaking autistic self-advocates

misc.

_________________

SOME ORGANIZATIONS AND SELF ADVOCATES

ASAN!!

The Autistic Woman and Nonbinary Network

Amethyst Schaber’s “Ask and Autistic” YouTube full of videos on various autistic stuff

Lydia X.Z. Brown / Autistic Hoya 

Dr. Nick Walker

Mrs. Kerima Çevik

“Non-Speaking Autistic Speaking” - Amy Sequnzia’s blog

“The thinking person’s guide to autism”

The How-To Wiki for autism is actually really helpful! 

Ollibean blog .

DEFINING AND DESCRIBING AUTISM

Video: “What is autism?”

“About autism”

“What being autistic means to me”

Myths about autism .

Metaphors and images for autism - “Autism is a sundae bar” - “Autism is purple” - “Understanding the spectrum” comic - Another visual on the idea of a spectrum - And another visual on the spectrum - not an on-off switch .

Disability models - Understanding disability models - Video: models of disability discourse .

Functioning Labels, “Mild” or “Severe” autism - Article on functioning labels - “What’s wrong with functioning labels? A masterpost” - Another article on problems with functioning labels - “I don’t experience my autism mildly; you experience my autism mildly” - A non-speaking autistic who is labeled non-functioning discusses labels - “Most people would consider me low-functioning, but I hate that word” - Tweets from actual autistics on functioning labels - How the same person may be labeled low or high functioning at different times - “Mental Age Theory hurts people with disabilities” .

AUTISM AND INTERSECTIONALITY

Article on autism in communities of color + in the LGBTQ community

Autism, intersectionality, and STEM college outcomes

Articles on intersectionality on The Art of Autism .

Autism among women - A reminder about talking about differences in autism in “females” - “I thought I was lazy: the invisible struggle for autistic women” - “The women who don’t know they’re autistic” - “The gas-lighting of women and girls on the autism spectrum” .

Autism and race - “Being Autistic, Black, and Femme” - “Black and Autistic: Is there room at the advocacy table?” - “Autistic, Gifted, and Black” - “I, too, am Racialized” - Autistic Hoya on being Chinese & a transracial adoptee - Video: “Growing up BLACK in a neurotypical legal system” - The Autism Wars: Mrs. Kerima Çevik’s blog .

Autism and LGBTQ - “Autism and gender variance - is there a cause for the correlation?” - “The intersection of autism and gender” - Issues being transmasc and autistic - “Gendervague: At the intersection of Autistic and trans experiences” - “I’m an autistic lesbian and no, I don’t wish I were ‘normal’” .

STUFF ON SELF DIAGNOSIS:

A self-diagnosis masterpost!

Autistic self-dx is valid

“Reasons why self-dx is good from the pov of a professional” 

Some reasons why autism may go undiagnosed 

“Five reasons I am self identified as autistic”

“Beware of gatekeeping”

A masterpost of “resources for women who believe they might be autistic”

A therapist who’s never met an incorrect self-dx-er .

Is it ADHD or Autism?? - Links to information on the intersections between autism and ADHD - A list of things that are more ADHD, things that are more autism, and things that are both - Science: decoding the overlap between ADHD and autism - The concept of neurodivergent “cousins” .

Various tests / checklists: - ASD Checklist - List of inclusive autistic traits - Book: I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults .

STUFF ON PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS:

Privilege in being able to get a diagnosis

Pros and cons of getting one

Someone answers the question “Was it worth it for you to get diagnosed as an adult?”

Professional diagnosis can get some people deported :/

This person’s journey from self-dx to pro-dx .

AUTISTIC PRIDE / CULTURE AND HISTORY!

The wiki how-to on accepting your autism

The wiki how-to on autistic strengths 

“7 Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture”

“I’m autistic and proud of it”

“You are not a burden” 

“What is self advocacy?” .

Autism / disability history and culture - Video: “Is autism a disability?” - A google drive “disability library” full of amazing content - A tumblr tag full of posts with autistic history - Book - Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking includes essays that explore the history of autism and of autistic self-advocacy - Book - Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity .

The Neurodiversity movement - The neurodiversity paradigm - Video: basic terms and definitions - Video: what is neurodiversity? - Liberating ourselves from the pathology paradigm .

Person first vs. identity first language (“person with autism” vs. “autistic person”) - ASAN on identity first language - Why it matters - Video: Autism ACTUALLY Speaking - Science: a study on what labels actual autistic persons prefer - An image showing the difference between person first and identity first language .

Cureism & seeking causes of autism - Video: “Autism and the disability community: the politics of neurodiversity, causation, and cure” - Video: Self advocacy in a culture of cure - An analogy against cureism - It’s okay that some autistics do want a cure - Quotes on Truth Is by Julia Bascom about not needing a cure - Cureism is eugenics - “If a cure is found, no one will force you to take it” .

AUTISTIC TRAITS (BEYOND THE ONES COMMONLY DISCUSSED!)

“Thinking about patterns of opposite extremes among autistic people” (e.g. how we tend to be sensory avoidant or sensory seeking, extremely gender conforming or extremely gender nonconforming, hyper-empathetic or hypo-empathetic)

An essay on inclusive autistic traits

This tumblr is dedicated to answering people asking about whether various things are autistic traits!

This person lists the reasons they think (know) they’re autistic; the list includes a lot of traits that often aren’t talked about 

“Some autism things” .

“What are samefoods?” - “Why do autistic people tend to samefood?”

It’s okay if you don’t like certain things / avoid certain things because of your autism

Wanting/needing to know how long something will last, what to expect .

Stimming! - Video: what is stimming? - Video on self-injurious stims - Video: autobiographical look at stimming and its role - More than a coping mechanism - A masterpost of examples of various types of stimming - Video on vocal / verbal stimming - Examples of vocal stimming as communication - A tumblr blog with a tag full of examples of body stims .

Communication stuff - Trouble with volume modulation; repetition; inconsistent talking habits - Autistic idiolects - Autistic dialect? - Autistics communicate differently amongst each other! . - Verbal/nonverbal - - Selective mutism - - Semiverbal communication - - Different amounts of access to speech - - A person on being non-verbal and using AAC - - People who are nonverbal still deserve to be listened to .

Infodumping - What is infodumping?

Echolalia - “Autism and Echolalia: what you need to know” - What is echolalia? - A tumblr blog’s tag featuring examples of echolalia

Aphasia and autism

Prosopagnosia (Face blindness) - Science: a study confirming that some 67% of autistic persons have some degree of facial recognition difficulties - Science: a study offering theories for why this is!

Video: Autistics and eye contact - Science: Researchers explore why autistic people avoid eye contact

Tendency to overexplain .

Special interests / hyperfixations - Some info on hyperfixations - Video on special interests - Emphasizing the intensity of these things - “What’s so special about a special interest?” - “Why we love what we love and why it should matter to you” - Not every autistic person knows everything there is to know about their special interest - “Interest hopping” - Dividing our life into “eras” of special interests .

Auditory Processing Disorder - Examples of APD - “You might struggle with auditory processing if…” .

Sensory Processing Disorder - Video: What is sensory processing disorder? - Video: a virtual experience of what it’s like to be at a party as someone with SPD - A post about some of the weird sensory stuff that many autistics experience (such as feeling nauseated when your real issue is a headache) - Many sensory issues aren’t just annoying, but physically painful - Difficulty in explaining autistic hypersensitivities - Auditory sensory musings - Trying to describe sensory overload - Not noticing when we’re hungry - Weird tolerance for big pain, intolerance for small pain - Science: “Unseen Agony: Dismantling Autism’s house of pain” - Tumblr blog with a tag of other posts about sensory issues .

Meltdowns and Shutdowns and burnout: - Meltdowns vs. shutdowns - Video: “What are autistic meltdowns?” - Video: “What are autistic shutdowns?” - A description of meltdowns - Signs of a shutdown in autistic people - How to support someone having a shutdown - Science: “Autistic shutdown alters brain function” - How to avoid meltdowns - “Dealing with meltdowns” - “The protective gift of meltdowns” - Video on autistic burnout - Article on burnout - Science: Autistic burnout described by a researcher - An article on autistic regression (burnout) - “Help! I seem to be getting more autistic” - talks about how things like burnout, aging, new environment, being around other autistics, and more can cause this .

Executive function - Video: “What is executive functioning?” - A chart describing the different aspects of executive function - “Executive functioning problems - a frustrating aspect of being autistic” - Autistic inertia .

Emotion stuff (including empathy) - Our emotional regulation is different - Article: (some) people with autism can read emotions, feel empathy - Video on misconceptions around autism and empathy - “Double standards: The irony of empathy and autism” - Science on the “double empathy problem” involving relationships between autistics and non-autistics - Not a bad person for not having empathy - More musings on autism and empathy - “Autistic grief is not like neurotypical grief” .

Alexithymia: - Science: Overlap between autism and alexithymia - Video: what is alexithymia? - “I don’t know how I feel”

MASKING / PASSING 

Video on passing

An infographic on autistic masking

Another video on masking / “hiding” in a neurotypical world

We are not obligated to mask or “act less autistic”

When you mask less and get told “you’ve been acting more autistic”

Getting called high-functioning because you mask/pass well

Scripting: - Video: what is scripting? 

WHY AUTISM SPEAKS AND ABA ARE SO BAD

A guide to identifying good autism organizations (and how they can improve!)

Autism Speaks:

Some facts and statistics 

An AS masterpost

Another AS masterpost

Video: What’s wrong with AS?

Video: a non-speaking autistic’s response to discussions between Autism Speaks and GRASP

“Enough with the puzzle pieces”

“I resign my roles at Autism Speaks”

“Responding to Autism Speaks” .

ABA:

Video: what’s ABA? 

“Studies find thin evidence for early autism therapies” 

Masterpost of why ABA is harmful

More on how ABA is abusive even if a kid “seems to like it”

An autistic describes ABA’s “quiet hands” method

And another post on how ABA is harmful

Trauma and autism

Alternatives to ABA

MISCELLANEOUS 

Suicide - Video: Speaking to suicidal autistics - Science linking autism and increased suicidality - Video: “diagnosis saved my life” .

Allyship / for allistics - Video: How to be an ally - Resources for supporting autistics during Autism Acceptance month and year-round! - Autistic accessibility needs - “How to be a friend to autistic people” - 15 things you never say to an autistic person - What to say / not to say to an autistic adult - Video: what shouldn’t I say to autistic people? - Video: Things not to say to an autistic person - Video: “Isn’t everyone a bit autistic?” - Don’t talk about “mental age” - “To those who tell autistic persons ‘everyone experiences that’” - Why it’s not helpful to say “well I don’t think of you as disabled / as autistic” - How to support a loved one who’s gone temporarily nonverbal - How to support someone having a shutdown - Help reduce meltdowns in a loved one - Don’t restrain an autistic person having a meltdown - Understanding why autistics seem “so picky” - Making communication easier for your autistic friend - Avoiding ableism against AAC users - How to protect your autistic employees from ‘no script found’ situations” .

For parents of autistic persons - “Don’t Mourn for Us” - “You don’t ‘lose a child to autism’” - Advice from autistic adults on treating your autistic children with respect - A masterpost of advice for “autism parents” - It’s okay if your kid doesn’t hug you or say “I love you” - “They keep publishing these violent articles” - “When you’re autistic, abuse is considered love” - You don’t have to tell everyone who comes across you and your kid in public that your kid is autistic / you don’t have to constantly apologize for your kid! - Your kid isn’t bad / uncooperative just because they have certain differences - Don’t tell autistic adults we are “nothing like your child” - A tag full of more tumblr posts about / for “autism parents”

More non-speaking autistic self-advocates - Video: “In My Language” by Mel Baggs - Mel Baggs: “Don’t ever assume autism researchers know what they’re doing” - Lysik’an: “You don’t speak for low-functioning autistics” - Film: Deej

Autistics and the idea of “getting out of your comfort zone”

Autistics accommodate allistics far more than the other way around 

It is icky when autistic persons are only valued when we’re “productive” 

Parents who are themselves autistic

Autism as genetic? - Science: “Autism Genetics, Explained”

Science: links to some studies on autism and gastro-intestinal issues, autism and caffeine, autism and sleep, autism and stimming, autism and queerness, autistic strengths, and more

[awetistic-things]

hello :)

i was wondering if you had any good resources or advice for how to figuring out if im autistic?

ive done research on my own but i wanted to see if you have any advice or anything

hi!

these are some of the articles i used when i just started researching about autism. i suggest looking up more sources and articles, but i do believe this is a good area to start :)

social interaction: https://www.autismtalkclub.com/what-is-social-interaction-in-autism

masking: https://www.healthline.com/health/autism/autism-masking#who-masks

stimming: https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-stimming-in-autism-260034

meltdowns: https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-an-autistic-meltdown-260154

special interests: https://www.theautismgroup.org.uk/whats-so-special-about-special-interests/?cn-reloaded=1

feel free to dm me!

[organized-chaotic-disaster]

Hey I’ve been thinking about this for a while, does anyone know of any apps that are good as communication aids, particularly for autism?

If I’m really overwhelmed I tend to freeze and my mind goes blank, kind of like a computer going “nope” if it’s overheating or something, and in those moments I find it really hard to communicate, so I’ve been thinking it’d be useful to have something to communicate with during those moments

Thing is, I don’t want something physical, because it’d be just another thing I need to carry around, and I’d worry about losing it, but I always have my phone on me anyway, so having it on there would be really helpful

I’ve seen a few apps for children, but that’s not really what I’m looking for 😅

If worse comes to worse I’ll figure out alternatives but I wanted to know if there was something out there I wasn’t aware of!!

[autisticrecipes]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ruby tandoh (@ruby.tandoh)

[ID: link to Ruby Tandoh's Instagram post about her cookbook 'Cook As You Are', with an illustration from the book showing a brown-skinned person with a walking stick cooking on the hob, with various foodstuffs on the countertop around them)

Ruby Tandoh (of Great British Bake Off fame) has written a cookbook which has several features for accessibility, including:

- breaking things down into manageable steps

- lots of substitutions (for making a recipe low-prep, vegan/vegetarian, or in case you haven't got particular ingredients in the house) and how these will affect the dish

- a dedicated low-prep section for if you're low on time or energy, especially if you're disabled or chronically ill

- a reference chart to guide you to recipes that suit your needs

- an easy-read version if you struggle with reading, attention or complex instructions

- an ebook version optimised for screen readers, with alt text image descriptions so you can still benefit from the beautiful illustrations (they're probably a lot better than my ID above!)

- speaking of illustrations, the book is also beautifully illustrated, rather than being accompanied by professional-look photos, so that users aren't intimidated/disappointed about their home-cooked food not matching up to the glossy professional food photography of most cookbooks (personally I can actually find photos quite useful in knowing what the recipe is supposed to look like, but I still think it's a good feature)

This isn't an ad lol but I think it could be really useful for people following this blog because it does a lot of the stuff I set out to do with this blog (and some more besides). Ruby's post goes into more detail about these accessibility features and more, if you follow the Instagram link.

Also, here's the link for various purchase options (it comes out on 7th October in the UK and Autumn 2022 in the US, there's also an option for worldwide shipping) if you like the sound of it and don't want to go searching on Instagram or Google to find it:

@rubytandoh | Linktree

Cook As You Are (out Oct 7th in the UK; US date TBA!)