#30daysofautismacceptance2021

April 1st: Introduce yourself. Talk about who you are as a person. Your age, hobbies, special interests, family, etc. Anything you feel comfortable sharing.

So Im actually and was actually hyperlexic. Words were my playground even though spelling gave me a bit of trouble in the beginning. My reading and writing and comprehensive skills were very very high - but my social skills were very poor. So while I understand and can use sarcasm, if it comes from someone else I have to pause and then I debate the context and try to decide if they were serious or not. Or being sarcastic or not. Sometimes I flat out won't get a joke or take a joke too seriously.

Even when using idioms and metaphors I may know what they mean/represent but that doesn't stop my brain from at least imagining them literally.

i do not like it at all. it always feels so uncomfortable. but it’s sorta a safety mechanism at this point for a lot of people. i have pretty bad anxiety and would never want rot draw any attention to myself, especially in public, so i have to do things like suppress my stims. which sucks.

April 10th: How important is representation to you? Is the representation that is out there generally good or bad? What is your favorite piece of representation? What you like to see more of in autism representation? What would you like to see less of?

Representation is so important to me, seeing characters like me is special. All of my characters are just like me because there is rarely anyone like me. And shows that centre around those peculiarities tends to villainize them, which makes me upset every time. I just want a canonically trans person who isn't evil, specialised or a side character. I want an autistic character who isn't (even though I'm a guy) only a white boy with trains. I want a black character who isn't aggressive and loud 100% of the time. I want black kids from the suburbs who are equally not whitewashed.

My current favourite is Wonder Egg Priority, I know that the darker characters are probably just Asian (I can't be 100% certain they're Japanese despite it being an anime) people with darker tones but they aren't shown as dumb and loud. AI, to me, obvious struggles with leaving her comfort zone and has a lot of the autistic traits I have. THERE'S A TRANS CHARACTER WHO ISNT EVIL: and the characters coping mechanisms with trauma vary. I love it honestly.

I want to see more black adults in autistic representation, I want to see more black girls especially. I want to see autistic people who are on different spectrum areas (everyone always seems to be the same) and I want to see more autistic people who aren’t presented as blunt assholes.

April 11th: What are your thoughts/feelings about masking (a term for when autistic people hide their autistic traits)? Do you mask?

I think many of us mask in some way, because we are expected to fit in with NT people. In fact, it’s fairly common in autistic AFAB people, as far as I’m aware. That doesn’t mean it can’t be exhausting, stressful, or difficult to do, though - from what I’ve heard, it can even contribute to burnout. I personally think it shouldn’t be necessary for autistic people to mask just to be accepted, especially not if it leaves them burnt out.

* It means accepting that I behave in a way that other people (mostly NT’s) may not find “normal” or “socially acceptable.”

* It means accepting my autistic traits and not dismissing them or denying me from being autistic. Let me stim in public, ok?

* Ending the stigma that only males can be autistic or that autism ends at 18. No. Autism is life long. I will be autistic until the day I die.

* Ending the stigma that autism is a negative or a bad thing.

* Having programs and assistance easily and readily available to autistic adults.

* Listening to me and other and other autistic people.

* Do NOT listen to/support Autism Speaks! They don’t have a clue what they’re talking about and don’t care about/listen to autistic voices.

* It’s ok to stim in public. Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed about it. If you’ve gotta stim, you gotta stim! I stim at work and one of my stims is clapping, and it’s quite noticeable.

* You’re not faking being autistic just because you just found out/discovered/got diagnosed at a later age.

* Go #RedInstead during the month of April instead of Light It Up Blue (AS campaign).

* Embrace your autistic self and traits!