When you have autism or are neurodivergent, people aren’t as friendly as they could be — Yesterday was five years since I moved from the sensory overload of Los Angeles to a quieter area in Southwest Missouri. I sat in my rocking chair last night and did some thinking. Then a bit of crying. Finally more thinking. …

Taking the time to craft a proper piece seems like a waste of time. — Let me start by saying that I am not putting myself up on any kind of writing pedestal. I’ve written professionally for more than twenty years and since being diagnosed with autism twelve years ago have focused all my efforts on autism, neurodiversity, and mental health. I’m also not dissing…

Sometimes we need to let ourselves reboot, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. — I’ve been absent for quite a while. Not just here but from pretty much anything and everything in my life. It sucks because I have moments where I want to write and work on my autism advocacy work, I just don’t, “feel It.” I know that if I try and…

There is absolutely nothing wrong with us! — This morning I sat at my desk and opened Twitter to see what was happening in the world. Or, as my mom would probably say, “I got on The Twitter.” One of the first things I ran across was a tweet from someone who said, “I really don’t know how…

We aren’t defined by what life hands us, and others need to know that. — destigmatize de·​stig·​ma·​tize | \ (ˌ)dē-ˈstig-mə-ˌtīz \ transitive verb : to remove associations of shame or disgrace from I am so happy to be named the new editor of Destigmatizing and I can’t wait to read your pieces and to help us all work together to end the stigma around our disabilities…

We’re different, not damaged. — Dating in general can be a challenge. Whether it’s swiping right, sending someone a like, or the more traditional ways of meeting someone in the real world, we pick through lots of candidates before we find one we think might possibly be suitable. Dating when you have autism adds a…

Why do people have no respect for animals that assist us? — That’s Tye. He’s my autism service dog. He was found in a garbage bag in a dumpster at six months old and was taken to a rescue that trains the dogs to be service animals for people with autism and veterans with PTSD. I’ve had Tye for almost five years…

We live the autism experience every day. — First things first. The idea of autism as an “experience” came from a comment Richard Lewis made in regards to an article I wrote on autism comorbidities. I said, “Also, I cannot stand the word, “disease,” when it comes to autism developmental disabilities, and mental health issues. …

It’s not the party you may think it is. — co·mor·bid·i·ty [ˌkōmôrˈbidədē] NOUN the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient Let me be clear about one thing right up front. NO ONE just has autism. Those of us on the spectrum deal with a multitude of other things. …