.Being.Us

In this blog post, I will respond to each point in the Autistic Self Advocacy Network 's (ASAN's) "About Autism" resource ( https://autisticadvocacy.org/about-asan/about-autism/ ). I will be responding to describe how autism affects me, personally. Every autistic person is different. Thinking of autism as a sliding scale from high-functioning to low-functioning is not accurate. Each autistic person experiences the differences in processing that come with autism at varying intensities for each category of difference (sensory, communication, structure and routine, etc.). Life and daily circumstances can also change the intensity with which these differences are felt. First, ASAN gives some facts about autism: "Autism is a neurological variation that occurs in about one percent of the population and is classified as a developmental disability. Although it may be more common than previously thought, it is not a new condition and exists in all parts of the world, ...

What Every Autistic Girl Wishes Her Parents Knew is a collection of essays edited by Emily Paige Ballou, Kristina Thomas, and Sharon daVanport. The tone of the essays is conversational, and they're directed at parents whose daughters have been diagnosed with autism. Nearly all, if not all, of the essays are written by actually autistic individuals. Reading it as an autistic individual, I found it an uplifting and edifying read, but I also found some parts of it a little triggering. The book is divided into the following sections: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, Early Memories, Childhood and Education, Gender Identity and Sexuality, Acceptance and Adaptation, Finding Community, Conclusion, Afterword, Contributors, and Notes. Most sections contain several essays. The Preface explains that parents often understand their autistic children more after talking to actually autistic people than after talking to many experts and that this book offers a diverse collection of autistic p...