Ellie Sage (she/they)

You. Physically. Can. Work.

A person can go from no symptoms at all to being profoundly debilitated all in one day.

Some have baseline symptoms so low and flares so high, that things can go from 1 to 10 very quickly.

“This isn’t normal but I don’t know what it could be.”

Happy disability pride month to Mad people

Happy disability pride month to people whose disability was caused or worsened by psychiatric meds

Happy disability pride month to people who caused or worsened their own disabilities

Happy disability pride month to people who self-harm

Happy disability pride month to people with eating disorders

Happy disability pride month to people who use substances

Happy disability pride month to people with self-injuries stims

Happy disability pride month to people with trichotillomania, dermatillomania, and other body focused repetitive behaviours

Happy disability pride month to people with self imposed factitious disorder/munchausen syndrome

Happy disability pride month to people with BIID

People with it expect negative outcomes which causes the fear and response.

Further adding on - I have autism and GAD. I absolutely experience anxiety for the same reasons that an allistic person would.

Mental health disorders can make someone make someone neurodivergent.

Also it’s kind of an insane to assume that allistic people are all in the head whereas autistic people are experiencing something “real.”

All types of anxiety are real, can present physically, can be the result of the person’s environment, etc and this comes off a bit ableist.

“But they’re not contributing to society!”

on the other hand...

I think a lot of autistic people shit on CBT because they either end up with a professional that isn't properly trained nor do they tailor the sessions to the autistic individual, or the autistic individual isn't in the right therapy to begin with.

Most of the time, I think that the autistic person just isn't in the right therapy to begin with.

That doesn't make CBT a bad therapy for autistic people. CBT can actually be beneficial to autistics, if it's what the autistic needs, and if the sessions are tailored to them.

A lot of times, I end up hearing about how the autistic person ended up in CBT trying to get help for the RRBs side of autism. They want to help their executive dysfunction. They want to get better at self care. They want to be able to do tasks more effectively. They want to go out into the world more often than they currently do. So many different reasons.

You know what therapy can help with that? Occupational therapy.

Occupational therapy is very commonly talked about for children with autism. CBT is not commonly talked about for children with autism. Why? Because OT is there to help them with their skills. To help them learn new skills, to learn coping strategies, to learn how to better manage current abilities, etc..

Another thing I commonly hear many autistic adults talk about, is wanting help with developing their social skills. You know what therapy can help with that? Speech therapy.

The therapies most commonly talked about for autistic children are very likely, in fact, the therapies that may be most helpful to you.

It doesn’t matter what age you are, if a therapy benefits you, then it benefits you. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

CBT exists to give coping skills and tends to be the foundational therapy imo.

There are so many to explore and try. ACT, DBT, EMDR, Art.

and it genuinely can take a while to even find a therapist to trust and feel comfortable with enough to make progress.