A couple has a fight. That fight sounds a bit like this.  “You said you were going to call the delivery company today,” says Sherry to John. Feeling accused, John […]

Many seem to think autistics are innately built or born for handling COVID-19’s regimen of sheltering in place and social distancing. There is this semi-truthful, semi-tongue-in-check notion that autistics must […]

Personal space is typically defined in terms of physical space. Specifically, the area immediately surrounding a person. The size and permeability of this buffer varies per person - per nonautistic […]

Most autistics find themselves in some kind of relationship with nonautistics, whether by design or by circumstance. Both sides can like, love, laugh, and loathe engaging with a partner whose […]

As a parent, you always hope that the things you teach your child will be meaningful when they are older; that they will look back on their childhood and appreciate […]

Autistics have waited for this moment their entire lives: Prescribed social distancing. The time has finally come! It just took an international pandemic for society to reevaluate the necessity of […]

The hidden curriculum refers to the unarticulated and unacknowledged rules, values, and behaviors people learn just by participating in society. Much has been made of the importance of teaching the […]

Almost weekly, I receive at least one email from an adult who suspects he or she might be autistic. The events that have preceded sending the email, though initially unknown […]

Autistics are talking more and more openly about the masking they engage in to navigate their daily domination by neurotypicals. Neurotypical reactions to the “reveal” of autistic masking fall on […]

If you are not autistic, you know nothing that autistics want and need you to know. This list is supposed to help you, nonautistic. Want more? Search #ActuallyAutistic on Twitter.  […]

I use this document with clients in college to help them examine their needs in the classroom. Additionally, I encourage clients to use this as a personal and practical introduction […]

“A man's mistakes are his portals of discovery.” With this statement, James Joyce presciently captured a now well-accepted self help axiom that positions mistakes as positive, beneficial, and character-building. Mistakes […]

“Often, empathy is absent.” Almost every autistic person alive has contradicted or negated this claim in some way, shape, or form. And, yet, neurotypicals have not fully realized their folly, […]

Grief is the acute and complex pain that accompanies loss. Grief follows the loss of something loved or valued, including a person or relationship, a companion animal or life-long dream, […]

Many women on the spectrum mask during social interactions in order to survive. As the name indicates, masking is a hidden process that must happen internally. If it does not, […]

Back in May 2013, Broken People uploaded a parody PSA titled “Bitchy Resting Face” (BRF) on funnyordie.com. BRF “sufferers” displayed an angry, annoyed, irritated, bothered or contemptuous facial expression when […]

One of the most difficult concepts to properly explain to neurotypicals is how the events of the day — any routine, mundane day — greatly drain and debilitate the autistic. […]

Admit it. You have done it. You have googled a medical symptom (“blotchy red thing near my navel”) and panicked slightly as a rare and highly serious condition (“Staphylococcal scalded […]

Asperger’s Disorder, a lovable, socially awkward and at times misunderstood part of the autism spectrum, died in May 2013 due to complications related to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of […]