We stan!!!!

Ya’ll don’t have any idea how fucking brave and needed these plot lines were.

This was before Ellen came out.

This was before civil unions.

This was before Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

This was when your ass could be fired, blacklisted, and shunned with no legal protections for even being hinted at being gay.

we have to go to the grocery store. i know that you don’t like it there because [anything they have said before about why it makes them upset] and i don’t either, but we have to do it. we are leaving at x time, so you have until then to [transition from what they were doing before]. when we are there, you need to walk next to me/hold my hand/(maybe give them a task such as counting how many types of fruit they can see in the store, a small activity to do, or a stim toy. keeping them grounded and entertained is good). it will take y amount of time, and then it will be over and we can come back home and you can do z [special interest related activity or other reward that will recharge their nd batteries after a draining experience]

autistic children grow up to be autistic adults. sooner or later they will have to go into a grocery store, maybe on their own, maybe every week, for their whole adult life. acclimatising them to knowing how grocery stores work from a reasonably young age, helping them learn that grocery stores are not scary, and that if they are scary they are at least endurable and that trips there don’t last forever, is going to be far more effective and helpful in the long run than simply teaching children that if they don’t like something they don’t have to do it. coping strategies are far more useful than avoidance for situations that are necessary.

Has he had water and a snack before going in?

“What?”

Has he. Had water. And a snack. Before going in.

“Well no but—“

He’s melting down and overloading because his basic needs aren’t being met but he isn’t recognizing it/doesn’t know how to communicate that. Grocery stores are inherently overwhelming but it’s worse when you’re dehydrated and your blood sugar is low. Those tiny water bottles and an easy snack like a banana while you’re sitting in the parking lot before going in and going over the game plan will help.

“Oh.”

Yeah. Also sunglasses. And headphones if you can. Also have you tried involving him?

“What?”

Hey *insert child’s name here* in this aisle we’re looking for milk, you know the kind we usually have in the fridge, it’s red with a white cap do you see it? Like that.

“No. I havent done that.”

But they will absolutely choose to hug me now of their own volition

Why?

Because I askes first and I respected it if they said no

Also my husband and I hug and they see hugging your loved ones as a positive

But we always ask and if Kiddo said no as a little kid we’d say “okay! How about a high five?” And that was usually enthusiastically agreed with and if they say no now we just say okay

Kiddo asks to hug me now of their own volition because they know it’s an option rather than a requirement

wants to make it a societal norm to pressure kids into joining the military

wants to keep troops in syria

uncritical of israel

refused to investigate the apparent lynching of a black teenager

fired a black police chief for exposing racism in south bend’s police department

...and lied about it

AND backed a 45,000 dollar loan to the racist cops

let a white police officer keep his job after beating and tasing a black teen after breaking into the wrong house + torturing a disabled man

let a cop with a history of violently racist behavior stay on the force-he then shot and killed an elderly black man

just yesterday lied that black arrests and marijuana arrests were lower while he was mayor, when actually , a black person was 4x more likely to be arrested for marijuana than a white person

said ‘all lives matter’

opposes free college

against the green new deal

dismissive towards workers striking for fair wages

against boycotting corporations

‘troubled’ by ending the torture of chelsea manning

against voting rights for prisoners

demolished the homes of south bend residents who couldn’t afford repairs

opposes ‘big structural change’

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

So, I told him, "they're not unconnected- we were talking about going to the carnival, and the carnival is on the same fairgrounds they used to use for the rodeo, and one time at the rodeo my brother spilled sprite on himself and a bee went up his shirt and stung him, and bees die when they sting, but wasps don't, and I was wondering why, so I asked you."

Ramps should be the standard.

Automatic doors should be the standard.

Elevators in multi-story buildings should be the standard.

ASL interpreters at events should be the standard.

Braille menus at restaurants should be the standard.