#autgust

An original poem titled "Changling" where each panel is identical except for the last, and contains one stanza. On most panels is a light red fairy sitting with their back to the audience on a leaf. Their wings are the rainbow neurodiversity symbol. The background is layers of grass and greenery with pink flowers, and a water color blue sky. On the last panel the fairy is gone and colorful confetti is left in their wake. Text reads:

Changling

The child my parents wanted has never set foot in their home

I was stollen away

By this magic called Autism

A magic they cannot understand

A magic they do not believe in

🌿

They tell me I am cursed but when I find my home

Amongst the quiet woods, the endless prairie, the solid shore

I am free

And I dance with my magic

I cast spells with my hands

I sing tunes they cannot understand

And I do it over and over and over again

🌿

I am not my parent’s child

My parent’s child never was

I am a fairy

I steal the names they gave their child

And I give myself my own.

Diseased is now Dancer

Cursed is now Enchanted

Burden is now Breaker

Inhuman is now Supernatural

🌿

And you do not get these powers

You do not see the magic

You do not honor the children – now grown – who claimed a space where they were not wanted

🌿

We tread where the child in your mind cannot walk.

We stride the Earth, inevitable – like the sunrise.

We sing where you wanted silence.

We are silent where you wanted empty words.

We fail to fall when our hands our wings

Flapping them until we can steal ourselves away

From the world of allistic misery.

🌿

I am not a broken human being.

I am Nothing that you could ever imagine.

Because your world is small

And you do not believe in Magic.

🌸

Cats: "mew" • Like to make little noises to communicate • come off as aloof but actually just show affection differently • sometimes like touch...sometimes NO • ZOOM

Bats: often sensitive to light • unheard communication • known for flapping (literally called "Bats") • so misunderstood - and feared??? • Needs dark and quiet

Birds (especially corvids and parrots): Sounds Galore! Some even mimic sounds they hear • More flapping • puzzle solvers • some are prone to anxiety when favorite person is gone • unique senses of style

Whales (Dolphins, "whales", porpoises, belugas, narwhals): "EEEEE" • Some are very social, othrs are shy and roam the world humming ethereal tunes in the darkness we cannot comprehend • they do flips and spins just for fun • Sound sensitive. Noise pollution is harmful • Trickster Gods. But also have shown great empathy

1. Selfie! (or portrait, etc)

2. Special Interests

3. Autistic Memes 😂

4. Intersectional Disabilities

5. Pets & Service Animals 🐾

6. Favorite Autistic Animal Mascot

7. Self Diagnosed ⛅

8. Sign Language & Alternative Communication

9. Autigender ⚧

10. Autistic Adults

11. ACTUAL Autism Parents (Autistic Parents) 👥

12. Autistic Kids (4 Autistic Youth to SELF Advocate)

13. Queer Pride 🏳️‍🌈

14. Favorite Autistic Characters (& Headcanons)

~SENSORY WEEK~

15. Light 🔆

16. Sound 🎶

17. Texture 👏

18. Smells 🌼

19. Favorite Foods 🍒

20. Your Stims! 

21. Flapping Pride 🐦

~~~

22. Autistics of Color ✊

23. Nonverbal 2 Hyperverbal

24. Introverts 2 Extroverts

25. Autistic Love ❤

26. Neuropunk Looks 👀

27. VENT 📢 (Ableists get lost.) 

28. Trans Autistics 🏳️‍⚧️

29. Autistic Artists

30. Autistic Writers and Stories 📖

31. Autistic Rebellion 🔥