Five Simple Tips on Reducing Holiday Meltdowns for Autistics

• When choosing holiday decorations stay away from stimulating colors such as reds, oranges, and yellows. When everything else in the world is stimulating and overwhelming you will want to be able to go home to a sensory-friendly safe zone. Blues, deep purples, creams, greys, dusty pinks, and other soothing colors are good choices to help reduce stimulation for Autistics during the holiday season.

• In the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven chose red and green for Freddy Krueger’s sweater because he had read in Scientific American that red and green are difficult for humans to perceive at the same time. This is due to green being a calming color and red being a stimulating color. Wes Craven used this to his advantage by dressing Mr. Krueger in his signature red and green sweater in order to induce discomfort in audiences so it enhanced the perception of anxiety and fear when Freddy Kreuger was on screen. You may be asking what the heck does that have to do with the holiday season, right? Well, the two colors that are associated with winter holidays the most are red and green. When we are exposed to these colors, whether or not it is in a horror movie, we still have a difficult time processing green, a calming color, and red, a stimulating color, at the same time and it increases our anxiety and discomfort during the holiday season. To help diminish the anxiety associated with the holidays ban red and green combinations from your holiday decorations at home. This also goes for other stimulating/calming color combinations such as red and blue, yellow and blue, orange and green, yellow and green, and other similar conflicting color combinations. Mix relaxing colors with each other such as grey and dusty blue or choose monochromatic decorations in a calming color.

• Skip the metallics! We all love tinsel and glitter. We love the mirrors under candles and the sparkling table runners. Unfortunately, our nervous systems think otherwise. Shiny metallic decorations can increase stimulation, as do mirror ornaments, and other reflective decorations. The sensory experience they provide and the light they reflect can be disorienting and lead to overstimulation and rumbling. We may not even realize that may be the culprit of our stressed-out mood. Try skipping the shiny stuff in your holiday home decorating and you may see your anxiety go down.

• Be super picky about the lights you choose to use on your tree or windows! Forget about the super bright LED’s. No Autistic needs bright blue/white light keeping them up all winter long. That defeats the purpose of winter! Instead, stay with lights that complement your calmer decoration colors. Once again you will want to stay away from contrasting colors so if you have a green tree shy away from red lights. However, oddly, red lights in and of themselves are not stimulating. It’s actually quite the opposite. Red lights won’t stimulate the brain at night and disrupt sleep patterns. Red lights are a good choice for around windows where light may shine into a bedroom window possibly keeping people awake. Good colors for trees are golden, clear, blue, and green lights all the same color or even intermixed with purple, orb style lights that give the tree more of a glow are also a good choice. Multicolor lights can add to increased stimulation when mixed with the colors of other ornaments and it may be wise to avoid them. Also, consider forgoing chasing or dancing lights.

• Don’t stress about decorating your entire house. The point of decorating is for you to celebrate as you see appropriate. If all you want is a tree with clear lights then by all means just have a tree with clear lights! If all you desire to put up for the holidays is a wreath on your front door and nothing more then go for it! The point is to lessen your meltdown potential during the holiday season by making it a sensory-friendly haven for you. It’s all up to you and what your unique Autistic nervous system can handle.

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Au-ccam’s Razor

Yes!

Rise in Autism rates. Autism Epidemic. Autism Boom. Spike in Autism. No matter how you phrase it the question is the same. We have many theories but no one seems to agree. However, sometimes the answer is so simple and obvious it’s mind boggling and so I step forward to posit an answer to the question, “What is causing the increasing rates of Autism?” I put forth that the internet is a major factor that answers why we have been seeing an increase in Autism Rates over the last 20 years. 

Since the beginning the internet has connected people. After all, that is what it was made to do! It went from simple information exchange to the leviathan it is today. Social media connects nearly everyone on the planet including Autistics and Autistics connect via the web just like everyone else and just like everyone else Autistics have found it to be a boon to their community. One that didn’t exist in pre-internet times. One we are protective of and cherish.

Before January 1, 1983, the birth of the internet, and the subsequent invention of social media Autistic people depended on the same modes of communication that everyone else did. The spoken or written word and anyone can correctly guess how that went for us! As the dawn of the internet communication revolution progressed little by little Autistics, like the rest of humanity, have become connected via the internet. 

Autistic people now have a tool, the internet, of juggernaut proportions and it has led to the increase in Autism rates. The use of the internet by Autistic people gave the Autistic community a way to simply meet. Something that was more difficult to do in pre-internet days. 

One way the world wide web has fostered our growth is recognition. We see others like us now and we connect. We realize we are Autistic too and seek out a diagnosis. One must also take into account that parents and families will see Autistic tendencies in children and each other and pursue an Autism diagnosis for their loved ones. This is all thanks to the internet where before we may not have known others like us existed at all. Internet access has increased recognition and therefore DX’s of Autism have gone up.

A stimulating aspect of the Autism boom, is that the internet has fostered, to be blunt… sex and reproduction. Prior to the mainstream internet we were either not aware of each other, or were under watchful eye.  Both can cause issues with meeting and having sex. Now we have a way to connect and don’t fool yourself. Autistics even use hook up apps such as Tinder. These meetings have led to romances, interludes, and marriages. Just as it’s helped non Autistic communities improve their sex lives. 

Another way the internet has affected Autistic mating is observation and comfort. We can now get to know people prior to meeting. We can process and analyse, as we do, potential sexual partners. This increases comfort when finally meeting and the subsequent relationship that follows. Not all internet friends turn out to be intimate partners but it’s safe to say they the internet has quelled some of the anxiety that comes with seeking a sexual partner. As a result, birth rates between Autistics have gone up. We are seeing more Autistic people because Autistic people are having Autistic babies.

As mentioned before the internet has helped form an Autistic community. Now we aren’t afraid to go out and seek a DX or even come out self DX’d, when we realize that we are Autistic! We know there is no shame in our community and we are protective of our own. Instead of hiding in the shadows and masking a life that is not true to us we can go forth and say “I think I’m Autistic” or “I’m Autistic” and I need a diagnosis. Autists aren’t alone anymore and people feel better about seeking a diagnosis because of the community the internet has allowed to form. We have a cushion to land on when we get that final word that we are Autistic. It has emboldened people!

It seems overly simplistic when you think about it. However Occam’s Razor says the simplest answer is the best one. The internet gives us a platform in which recognition of each other, reproduction and romance, community, and comfort has increased the rates of Autism in the world. Do you know what? It’s a good thing!

Hints Autism Gives Us

We have all heard of the dreaded meltdown. I’ve written about my own meltdowns and how I view them. Those moments of terror in which we become a force of nature while our nervous system purges all of it’s stored anxiety. For some of us, we have triggers where the anxiety is instantaneous. For others, we have a tipping point in which the anxiety has reached its threshold and the sensory overload meltdown runs its course. However, what if you diverge from your normal pattern of meltdowns?

Usually, my meltdowns are completely sensory-related and I will reach a tipping point, as mentioned above, and out it, all comes out. I have no control over it. (Meltdowns are involuntary for those of you who don’t know.) On a normal meltdown day, I may throw things, say things I don’t mean, punch a wall, hit my head, stomp my feet, and then it’s over. I recover, usually in the shower, and then sleep for hours as my body adjusts to the neurological reset it just experienced. I get up later and get on with my life. However, what do you do when your meltdowns for no apparent reason takes a turn for the worse? A potentially fatal turn?

In the late spring/summer of 2019, my meltdowns did just that. They became a threat to my life. I had hit my head and had so many concussions that landed me in the ER that my insurance company called to make sure I wasn’t being abused. No, I told them, I‘m just Autistic. My meltdowns increased in frequency and intensity. I went from having an inconvenient meltdown once every 6 months or so to having them once a month or shorter intervals. I have a scar on my left wrist where they had to go in and reattach ligaments that were injured during a meltdown. I won’t go into details of the rest because they may be triggering for some. Needless to say, I was actively fearful for my life. I reclused and avoided all stress. Friends that didn’t understand the symptoms of Autism were dismissed because I was too high strung to properly educate them. What was going on with me?

At first, we thought it was my recent weight loss that was throwing off my balance but when it calm down as expected; I recalled that I had read in several blogs, articles, scholarly papers, and more, that an autistic person may have an increase in meltdowns if there is an internal illness that went untreated. Cysts, impacted teeth, IBS, pituitary tumors are just a few to mention. This isn’t only in non-verbal Autistics either! This can happen in Autistics that are considered low support needs as well. When I read this I realized that my nervous system may not actually be trying to kill me but instead, it’s alerting me to something serious, I became an Autie with a mission.

I made appointments with my Neurologist, Primary Care Physician, Psychiatrist, Gynecologist, Audiologist, and all the other specialists I could think of! I have had more MRI’s, CT scans, and X-rays this year than I have had in my life! Not to mention the EEG and the plethora of blood work. I didn’t have any latent STD’s, my pituitary tumor was well under control. I saw something in an old overlooked test result from years back that implied I may have low immunoglobulin’s so I insisted my doctor look into that as well. My routine yearly checkups came around and I put off my mammogram because I had been so overwhelmed with the number of medical demands I had put myself through trying to find answers. I just couldn’t do it because I might risk a meltdown. I rescheduled it for December. A couple of months out.

The prior year, 2019, I felt a lump, thickening, something was wrong in my right breast. After some testing, I was told it was just dense breast tissue so putting off my mammogram seemed a pretty low-risk decision. I went to my mammogram in December and 4 days before Christmas I was told I had two irregular masses in my right breast. The timeline fits perfectly. By the time you feel breast cancer, it’s been in your body for 2-5 years. I can do the math and if my body detected it in 2018 before I did it would have begun to cause major meltdowns in order to warn me. However, I didn’t know how to interpret my meltdowns as a warning of impending medical trouble.

Last week I went in for a biopsy and it was confirmed that I have invasive breast cancer. Even since my mammogram in December of 2020, it has grown. Soon I will be meeting with an Oncologist to discuss surgical options. While I’m terrified I’m also thankful. Hopefully, with treatment and healing, my meltdowns will subside and I can live peacefully again!

Meltdowns aren’t always sensory-based, for me, they are rarely emotional so when I was confronted with meltdowns that seemingly had no explanation it was terrifying. I’m glad I have found the answer within as to why my meltdowns were so out of control and I hope beyond hope that this may be an insight for someone like me going through the same thing.

Sex Stims!! (Just not too loud!)

Recently it’s been debated in the Autistic community, possibly due to one of my Tweets, on whether or not sex is a valid form of Self Stimulatory Behavior aka Stimming. (Spoiler Alert: It is!)

While the concept was met with mostly positive feedback there are some that do not see it that way and for those who do not see sexual activity as a stim, I feel it would be helpful to break it down for you so you are more apt to understand sex stims even if you don’t adopt the concept yourself. Keep in mind that Autism is a spectrum of differences that we may or may not share with other neurodiverse people. One person’s stim may be another person’s sensory overload and that is okay too! No one has to be the same. It’s a rule!

Before I continue I wanted to speak up for the neurodivergent that rely on sex stims to be able to function. Mainly the female among us. I have a hypersexual sex drive that is stimulation based and, as a result, I have been slut shamed for much of my life and, regardless of whether or not I was monogamous and faithful, I’ve had a bad reputation. I’m tired of this! We need more understanding and compassion for those of us that respond in a sexual way to carry out their stims. I’m not a slut or someone out of control. I’m not even particularly promiscuous. I like sex. A. Lot. I prefer long term trustworthy partners like a spouse or, in the past, a long term friend. However, that all has always been overshadowed, simply, by my liking sex. This is an attempt to bring levity to a situation that desperately needs it.

To start with I think we will answer what is a Stim? The word Stim is “Autistic Slang” for Self Stimulatory Behavior. It is very common for Autistic and Neurodiverse people to stim. You have most likely seen Autistics or other neurodivergent persons tap, rock, spin, snap their fingers, flap their hands, and other repetitive movements. These are the most common and more obvious of SSB’s but there are a plethora of other stims too!

There are also auditory stims (stims that you hear) such as words and how they make you feel when you say them (a good example is when swearing makes your stubbed toe hurt less) or humming. Grunting, clearing your throat, and shouting are also vocal stims. Some auditory stims are repetitive like striking a certain piano key over and over and some are whimsical for example enjoying wind chimes as they dance in the air currents. ASMR could even be considered an auditory stim!

There are tactile stims. For example, my husband likes satiny cloth that feels slick and silky when rubbed together. Petting your cat or dog, running your hand over a brick wall (I did this as a kid) are all tactile stims. I like how the hot water feels on the tips of my fingers in the shower. Walking on the grass, playing with fidget toys, sitting on your hands (also me) are all, yes, you guessed it! Stims! We have proprioceptive (where you are in space and in relation to other objects, body position, and movement), vestibular (sense of balance), Gustatory (taste), Olfactory (smell) self-stimulatory behaviors.

So we know what stims are but why do we do them? It’s all in your head, literally! Autistics stim in order to produce the neurotransmitters they need to function. (Non-Autistics stim to just not as much as we do.) Proprioceptive stims will improve your sense of where your limbs are. Some Autistics have a service animal to help them stim, such as Drea in Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, by having her service dog apply pressure to her body. Running or pacing can burn off extra energy and anxiety while flapping your hands can achieve the endorphins you need to be happy and in the moment. Feel good stims, like satin pillowcases, are there to help relax. Happy textures, warmth, water, they are all sensory-stimulating interactions that will boost the feel-good chemicals in your brain and help you get through life. My husband will squeeze me tightly when I’m being overwhelmed. It helps by calming my nervous system. My asking him to apply pressure, while assisted, is still me seeking the stimulation of a squeeze much like Drea and her dog, but my hubs isn’t a dog, he’s a human.

Breaking down the term Self Stimulatory Behavior is the key to deciphering what SSB’s may include.

The word self is pretty self-explanatory (weak attempt at a pun intended) so on we move to the word stimulation. (Yes, you can giggle at the following paragraph. I did!)

“(transitive) physiology to excite (a nerve, organ, etc) with a stimulus”

A few of the definitions I found for stimulation and stimulatory are:

“(transitive) physiology to excite (a nerve, organ, etc) with a stimulus”, “The condition of being stimulated. The application of a stimulus to a responsive structure, such as a nerve or muscle, regardless of whether the strength of the stimulus is sufficient to produce excitation”.

Then there is the word Behavior which I’m assuming we all know what it means but just in case I’m going to say it may be defined as an “observable activity in a human or animal, the aggregate of responses to internal and external stimuli”, “a stereotyped, species specific activity, as a courtship dance or startle reflex”, “Often behaviors or behavior pattern.”

Oh! What just happened! We are talking about the senses, and the stimulation of organs, getting excited, and application of a stimulus to a responsive structure! All of these apply very well to SSB’s, and all of them sound very satisfying. Matter of fact masturbation is known and recognized as a stim, is it just me, or is it getting a little hot in here!

The act of sex stims provides a very intense sensory-stimulating experience. It engages the entire body. The proprioceptive repetition of thrusting. The vestibular input of heavy breathing and vocal exclamation of delight. Sex also comes in an array of tactile input (take that however you want to, no judgment) that increases the neurotransmitters in your brain.

During sex stims, important neurotransmitters are produced, that boost the functionality of the brain and nervous system. Dopamine is known for making us feel good, it’s in charge of movement, propelling your personality up and out. Dopamine also is in charge of motivation and focus.

Sex is also a fantastic source of oxytocin, another neurotransmitter that important for us to stimulate, yet, it’s difficult to do on our own. Cuddling, sex, hugging, nursing, and childbirth can stimulate oxytocin. The hormone facilitates trust, bonding with a romantic partner (as well as bonding with a newborn after a mother gives birth). Social behavior and anxiety are also linked to oxytocin. Studies show that sex also stimulates prolactin, noradrenaline, serotonin, and endorphins (endogenous opioids), all of what a brain needs.

The Autistic Nervous System is deficient in many neurotransmitters. Dopamine, Serotonin, Norepinephrine, Oxytocin, are only a few neurotransmitters that come to mind that have been indicated as being contributing factors to how the Autistic mind functions.

Not a brain just a cool pic!

Sex is the one Self Stimulatory Behavior that not only stimulates the brain in its entirety and neurology all at once but the cervical stimulation that comes (okay the pun is totally intended here) with deep penetration can calm down the vagus nerve and help reduce anxiety.

Last, but far, far, from least, is that when it comes to sexual behaviors, in Autism, we have hyposexuality, hypersexuality, and paraphilia’s (such as BDSM) just like we do in the majority of the population. In psychology, however, they hesitate to diagnose these as sexual disorders even when it fits the description. This leads me to believe that sex, even when occurring in excess, thankfully, is seen as they should be seen. These are Self Stimulatory Behaviors, aka sex stims, that have been stigmatized as deviant behavior when they shouldn’t be. If it is consensual and everyone understands the meaning and purpose of the act, then we need to accept sex as a stim. To add stigma to something that is enabling Autistics to function better is not the way to go.

Sex stims! Safe stims!

Instead, may I suggest education on safer sex practices, instruction on sexual health, teaching consent and legal age limits, point them in the right direction towards age-appropriate information on sexuality. Most importantly we need to teach Autistics about telling people when they are violated. We need to teach people about replacement stims (age-appropriate instruction on “personal massagers” is good) and alternative sexual stims to, well, sex!

Personal massagers, in case you needed to know.

The fact is, we are sexual beings just like any other human, and many of us find sexual interaction to be a fantastic stim. Regardless if it’s an interactive (with someone) stim or not doesn’t matter. It’s a stim that brings focus, balance, and a slew of other health benefits. Sex is a stim.

Note: I did have all the links for references for this however I had them on a micro SD I was forced to reformat. Please, forgive me for not having all the pertinent information on hand. It was not intentional. In addition, I am not interested in anything sexual, so don’t message.

How My IQ Proves I’m Utterly Inept

I hear and read comments on IQ all over the internet that range from prideful (I have an IQ of 150!) to the defensive (You just think your smarter me.) to very disrespectful (You’re just stupid!) to blunt logical truth (You know your IQ doesn’t make you better, right?). The comments go on and on and things can get pretty tense between those with differing opinions. As someone with a higher IQ I want to set the record straight with this humorous anecdote on how completely unintelligent I can be but first a little background!

I am a late DX Autistic woman who was given an IQ test during my assessment. They do this to rule out intellectual disability that may be mimicking Autism. I was okay with that as it makes logical sense to rule things out that may be a differential diagnosis. During my ASD evaluation, I discovered that IQ is on a spectrum as well! My IQ at the time was 113-122 giving me a median IQ “score” of 118. 

It was explained to me that IQ can change in a person from circumstance to circumstance and it’s completely subjective. Since I had taken the IQ test during the Christmas Season (major stress), recently melted down from sensory overstimulation that the Holiday Season brings, and didn’t sleep the night before I possibly could improve the score if I were in a more optimal situation. (I have not attempted to do this and don’t intend to do this just for ego-boosting reasons if I am given one again for DX purposes, so be it!) However, I was also told that if I were put in a more stressful situation then I may score much lower. From that I know for a fact that IQ is never static.  

Now, in the recent past, my whole house (dogs, husband, and myself) had Norovirus. During this time in order to keep hydrated, I had gotten a bottle of Gatorade. When I was finished with the Gatorade I refilled the bottle with Mio and water and drank it. Refilled it and put it in the refrigerator to chill. I was being a responsible patient and doing what I needed to do, no problem, right? Wrong. 

I forgot about that water because my ADHD causes me to forget about everything and went on about my Autistic existence. A few weeks later I’m throwing up more than a puppy with motion sickness on a roller coaster. I ended up at Urgent Care on an IV and sent home with a pocket full of anti-nausea meds so I stopped throwing up. It was very worrisome as I had been fighting a UTI in the previous month. 

I got home and popped into a chat room to let some online friends know how I was and it dawned on me as I was talking to a medical professional in the group. I had drunk the water in the fridge on a particularly hot day after I had run out of ice. It was chilled and I didn’t think anything of it and I drank it mainly because I wasn’t thinking. I cringed! It was far, far from an intelligent thing to do but it made perfect sense as I was the only one to be reinfected in the house! 

I, of high average to superior intelligence, had given myself the worst case of vomiting to the point of dehydration with the full knowledge that the bottle of water was contaminated. I felt completely helpless and surprised I could even keep myself alive but I had simply forgotten because while my IQ may be impressive my section scores revealed more. 

My first section, Verbal Comprehension, was 114-125 which is Superior. I accredit my desire to communicate effectively on my high vocabulary and knowledge of what words mean. The second score I received was on Perceptual Reasoning was 104-117 which is High Average which probably is common in those that have a high pattern recognition in Autism. Now the bump in the road that took those two amazing scores down was my Working Memory which came in at a towering 83-96. This was the kink in the hose, the wrench in the machine, my Achilles Tendon. My working memory was Low Average. I take twice as long to learn something than my peer group.

My ADHD prevented me from getting a higher score and that was in a quiet office with no distractions. If I had taken the IQ test at a food court in a busy mall my scores could be drastically lower simply because of the overstimulation that would undoubtedly occur. My answers may be sound and intelligent but my response time and inability to ignore the surrounding noises due to Sensory Processing Disorder would make me seem like there wasn’t anyone home. Not to mention my ability to get the information out in an order way would be negatively affected.

Remember, that ditzy blonde that you make fun of could be a brainiac that can shame you under the table when it comes to “intelligence” and it’s only her ADHD that gets in the way. If you put her and you in a different environment you could easily be calling her boss. However, there may be a guy that doesn’t have much education or knowledge but his memory and ability to retain information on one topic could easily lead to the same outcome. That brilliant composer may be at a 10th grade reading level. You never know!

In a nutshell, IQ means little in the bigger picture, as long as you treat everyone with dignity and respect you are succeeding more than you will ever realize! It’s a hard thing to admit that I didn’t live up to my IQ but it needs to be said so people know the truth about what makes people intelligent and what doesn’t, like my attention span and memory! 

Till Death Do Us Part

Photo by Josh Willink on Pexels.com

Today, I am compelled to the keyboard with a heavy heart. We once again have “mercy killing in the name of love”. A mother, to use the term loosely, killed her son because she was stressed and overwhelmed by his Autism. In the past years, there have been increased news reports of parents killing their Autistic children. Why?

Now I’m not one to simply say it’s just an increase in occurrence, just like I’m not one to believe that “compassion murders” haven’t happened before now. They always have happened but the reported frequency has been increasing in recent years. I would like to say this is because we have more awareness of this insidious behavior but the responses that have always been the same from the ableist, typical, non-disability crowd have proved otherwise. That is overwhelming compassion for the murder(s) because they had it hard as a parent or caregiver. Nevermind the fact that the disabled person is the victim of abled egoism and homicide! Oh, think of the horror to perish at the hands of the only person you trust on the planet! The general public romanticizes unsolicited mercy killings, but at what cost?

In a very tongue in cheek way, I am going to say it’s my Autistic Empathy that reasons that when a person engages in consenting acts of sex with the intent to reproduce, the lack of concern if they are to conceive offspring because they feel that they are ready to be parents or even just accepting you are pregnant and choose to keep the pregnancy, you enter a covenant with the child/ren that you have conceived (or adopted in some cases). It’s an eternal agreement with nature and whatever higher power you may believe in, whether moral, ethical, the universe, or religion, that you help that child thrive. In times where the child is born disabled, it’s a covenant that we all should honor until we leave this Earth.

We have an entire section of society that frowns on terminating viable pregnancies even if there is a disability found prior to birth, however, this pro-life outrage is often absent in the wake of a mercy killing. If one is not for terminating a pregnancy on the basis that it is still a human why are we okay with killing a postnatal 10-year-old with a disability? The answer is simple and can be explained with the boiled frog metaphor.

A “Cliff Note Explanation” for those who did not click the link! There is a myth, or fable if you prefer, that if you put a frog into a pot of hot water then that frog will jump, fight, and try to flee for its life but you put a frog in a pot of frog friendly tempered water and gradually heat it up the frog will allow itself to be cooked to death.

This is exactly what is happening with society in regard to mercy killings! We relate and feel bad for the first one we heard that made national news, often it’s a romantic expose on a husband that killed his wife “out of love” and not being able “to see her suffer”. The next one, well, it’s not as bad as the first or it may be worse than the first, either way, you reason, they were under stress as well and people act out of character under stress. You understand how someone would kill an adult child that was afflicted such as theirs was. The disabled adult is in a better place now. Soon, we learn of another carer snapping under duress and murdering a loved one, a child, and we feel for them, relate, empathize. You reason that the other two were acceptable and so this is as well. You can see yourself in their position and your heart aches for them, that they had to make that decision.

Years, go by and we keep hearing of these heart wrenching decisions. All of the abled society deems it necessary that these are acceptable murders that should be forgiven. You’re consider yourself pro-life and against abortion and assisted suicide but thoughts turn to the disabled in your own family. The last time you attended a March for *Insert Hypocritical Cause Here* or convention your Autistic child made it impossible to be there. They were clearly in extreme distress and you just “can’t watch them suffer anymore”. Instead of doing what is rational and logical in the name of love which is adapting to them being in your life by adjusting your lifestyle to enable them to thrive, your mind turns to murder for mercy. You’re a martyr in your plight and God and society would understand! You focus on your perception of quality life, you don’t consider that this person, this human that loves you and trusts you to cherish them and help them live may not even perceive themselves as in need of death to escape. All they know is that when you enter the room their heart soars. 

I will end this entry there because without saying the people that have allowed themselves to be peer pressured into seeing the murder of the disabled as acceptable are incorrigible monsters. We may have a disability but at least we aren’t morally inept.

Until Death Do Us Part may we all join hands and enable each and every human to survive regardless of life circumstances.

My Coming into Autism Story

They are sorely short on Autism pics so you get this!

Like all Autistics, I have never fit in. Ever. I can fake it pretty well but something is missing that prevents me from bonding with others. A few hangouts or dates and they usually bail leaving me in the wake of “What the hell did I do this time?” I knew it wasn’t me as I always intended the best for everyone, I tried so hard to click. It never worked with females (the term was chosen because it doesn’t denote solely those assigned female at birth) but I was better at being friends with males. Which, as a married woman, complicates things. So I just remain lonely and for the most part friendless.

I have separate Medical/Psych records that note my lack of eye contact, reduced facial expression, and several other Autistic tells that no one was able to hear. If Autism Speaks why then did no one hear it for 37 or so years. Simply it’s due to people not wanting to hear it. I even walked 2 miles to the ER to try to get help for what I assumed was PTSD and was told that I was the problem. I have some strong words for that but I’ll not mention them. I tried to tell them that I was about to have an episode in which I would not be able to prevent myself from hitting my head. Still. Nothing. 

In 2017 I joined forces with my Husband and his Nephew who was itching to start an online Church. We were sick of the crap that was getting pumped out into the World after Trump was crowned King and we decided to fight the good fight. I was chosen as the face because, well, I’m attractive compared to them I guess. About 4 sermons into the formation of said Congregation I started to have a huge, monumentally huge, panic attack. I had one person watching at the time and I knew who it was. I was prepared. I was safe. Medicated for Anxiety. By all means, I was not in a position to have a panic attack from PTSD. This isn’t my Modus Operandi. I felt sheer dread, I was rumbling and about to Meltdown. The next weekend I couldn’t even turn on the computer. I was experiencing a Shutdown, a term I wouldn’t be familiar with for some time. Something was up that was far beyond anything that could be Therapized out of me and I was certain I knew what was going on. I had realized that I had had Meltdowns before.

That week I told my Therapist what had been going on and asked her something I had suspected since 2010. My nephew is Autistic and I think I’m Autistic as well, what do you think? 

Her reply was, “I have noticed some things but if you are you can’t be very Autistic. Just a little bit, if anything. Do you know Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory?” 

Me, “Of course that’s my favorite show! I’m not as social as him though. I don’t even have as many friends as he does.” 

Therapist, “Exactly, he wouldn’t be either if he was Autistic in real life. He’d never be married or have that many friends.” 

My awesomeness, “Do you know who could assess me?!” 

Therapist, “No”.

I left with Sheldon wouldn’t be as functional and neither would you but she agreed that I should be assessed.

The search for someone to diagnose me was in my hands because it’s incredibly difficult to find someone that will do an adult Dx and I hate talking on the phone, so, naturally! They make it as hard as possible for those whose parents didn’t bother to look into why their kid was weird! The lack of consideration and respect for me as an Autistic was front and center. Thankfully my IQ is high so I was able to find someone in an efficient timeframe. (Anyway, that is what a Psych would tell me.) 

I found a place that would take my insurance and assessed adults. It was a Godsend having the entire bill covered through our insurance and I feel so blessed because of that. Seriously, that never happens! But my state passed a law that increased the accessibility of Autism services to those who needed them. So I made an appointment. 

(Please note that if I had not been awarded SSI and been put on Medicaid I would not have been able to afford the 850.00 bill for the assessment even with my husband’s insurance. I’m not privileged, I’m disabled.)

It was in the middle of the Christmas season in 2017 that my first half of a 4-hour assessment was scheduled. When we got there I spilled my coffee and felt horrible.

She looked at me and said “Most of the time when someone your age comes in looking for an Autism diagnosis it’s because they have a family member that was diagnosed and/or they have done extensive research themselves and already know that they are Autistic. Tell me why you suspect you are Autistic.” 

I let it all out. I walk on my toes! The notes in several medical files that say I can’t make eye contact. The times I have tried again and again to make friends. My laughing at (it was really with but I didn’t know she wasn’t laughing) a friend in pain. I didn’t know she was in pain. To me, it sounded like she was doubled over in laughter. I still cringe over this!

Fun Fact: In the middle of my assessment my Doctor looked at my husband and said that she thinks he needs to be assessed next. A year later he received his Autism Dx!

I relayed to my assessing Psych how I would misread faces. To me, someone suppressing laughter and someone being angry, at times, can look the same. There’s the embarrassment when people walk away mid-sentence or conversation because I took too long to process the information and produce an answer. I was insanely quiet. Always assumed to be shy. (Once you get to know me though you can’t get me to shut up!) The one that took it though was that I didn’t speak until I was four. Four! Again, I ask, how was this missed!

After the first session, I was exhausted. It was Christmas and Christmas is hard on me when it comes to overstimulation. I melted down that night because of the 2 hours of assessment and all the Christmas cheer that was forced onto my nervous system in Walmart. I almost canceled the whole thing out of doubt but I went back for my second session anyway. 

I wanted to hide, the coffee stain was still there, I obsessed about it. This time she ran me through a battery of puzzles, simple math equations, memory exercises, and other tests. I found out that if I don’t have to think about the mathematical formulations that I can make an educated guess and guess the solution accurately. I have incredible lingual abilities which were probably learned out of the desperate need to communicate effectively. (It didn’t work. Being more proficient with words just makes people think I’m a snob and know it all. I’m not. I just want to connect.) I was able to logically deduce people’s state of mind even though I can’t intuitively pick up on things. (Ex: Crossed arms means someone is guarded, mad, or cold and I can analyze and extrapolate information from clues. Not always correctly.)

When I came back for the results she told me Autism was exactly what was going on! Oh! I was so happy but I didn’t show it because I don’t show my empathy outwardly as much as Neurotypicals even though I have plenty of empathy for people. I have a great IQ, which is what the second session was about. She explained that the IQ test was simply to rule out any other conditions that may give the appearance of Autism such as an intellectual disability, which I did not have, I was quite intelligent. I am a bit slower at learning but I also retain more information and in the long run can learn things better and more accurately than others therefore can carry out a job more completely and satisfactorily in comparison to my NT peers. (Even if it’s annoyingly accurate because I have problems deviating from what I’m taught and what I’m used to.)

In the end, I was given a Level 1 Autism diagnosis which used to be called Asperger’s. It gave me answers upon answers. Look no one wants to hit their head it’s messed up but I had a reason as to why I hit my head. Why is this?

It was because I was Autistic. I am okay with that.

Autism Meltdown Harm Reduction Technique #1

Hi, I’m BeautiDivergent and I’m a 40 year old Autistic Woman. Let me tell you that being on the Autism Spectrum comes with plenty of quirky cravings and habits. To no ones surprise many of these come out during the Neurological Phenomena commonly referred to as a “Meltdown”. Here I am sharing a trick I taught myself when I’m in the middle of a Neurological Event and feel the overwhelming instinct (because that is what it is) to throw things. This works for just about any age group.

These are just regular Wool Dryer Balls that you can pick up at almost any store. The original purpose of these balls are to be tossed into the dryer to fluff clothing in place of dryer sheets. They are soft and as you will see they won’t do any damage to this canvas map that I have hanging in my kitchen. (Please, do keep in mind I am a 5’2″ woman and probably don’t have the same arm muscle as a 6’5″ man. I may not damage the canvas but someone bigger might. There’s your disclaimer.)

While these may not do damage to this canvas they may cause a vase or a shelf to knock over and break so making an area for them to be thrown at or an area to be thrown in is a wise choice. Remember during a “Autistic Event” (Meltdown) Safety should be the primary focus. It’s best to be prepared and have “Meltdown” friendly areas in the home for when they do appear. These however are one of the best replacement activities when my system craves the input to throw something that I have found that work for me.