Atypically Normal

23/02/2025

Autism in Black is hosting a free virtual summit for autistic Black boys, men, and their fathers
https://funnel.autisminblack.org/2025-autism-in-black-boys-men-and-fathers-summit March 8th

04/02/2025

First week as an ambulatory wheelchair user. Day one was yesterday. It was nice to get from the parking lot at work to the entrance without being out of breath.
Funny thing, not really, about long COVID is that at the beginning of the school year I could walk that distance without being out of breath. Where for most folk that would build endurance but for me too much effort at some point causes a decline sometimes in areas that don't seem to correlate.
So I'm sharing as a means of working on my own internal ableism. Any friend or student who might need a mobility device Id encourage them. But I have all these thoughts about society and its beliefs about wheelchair users, that I would never apply to anyone other than myself. Like I'm some how cheating at life because actually being able to function I need a mobility device. My rational brain says and knows that is narrative that society has taught me about the disabled and invisible disabilities.

13/11/2024

I work for a public school district. My position as a speech language pathologist is partially funded by the Department of Education. I provide services to children that ensure their civil right to an education. Approximately 15% of special education funds in Michigan come from DOE.

I'm concerned of course about my job, for many reasons. Some of which are the impact of a lack of funding will have on my students. This year one of my schools is one where our are the kids students with the most support needs attend. And the therapy team is amazing, most of us believe in a neurodiversity affirming approach to working with children.

For many reasons most of our students who could benefit from a rich AAC system haven't had access to speech generating devices, sign language, core vocabulary, picture communication ect. And my co-SLP is absolutely brilliant about ensuring access. Special education funding doesn't just go towards salaries but also communication systems, wheelchair mounts , other adaptive equipment that allow students to access an education.

Our school has an amazing therapy room, pool,gymnasium with adaptive PE equipment. What happens when schools have to decide between keeping the lights on and providing wheelchair mounts, switches,or equipment that safely maneuvers students from their chair to the physical therapy table or the toilet?

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07/10/2024

Lucida Sans Unicode 10 is my new go to font. The letter formation works well on screen and print with my dyslexic brain. If you can be in love with a font....

03/09/2024

I had a 3 pound bag of mandarin oranges. I probably ate over half in the last week. All of them were perfect until the ONE before that in the picture.... It was sour and just ick... I didn't eat this one at lunch. It looked suspicious....

And this is why people like processed food. Consistently the same taste...no surprises.

26/08/2024

A friend waiting for her disability to be approved is in need of help to pay her energy bills.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/TKmTmWo8vn3oeFTj/?mibextid=qi2Omg

14/07/2024

14/07/2024

19/06/2024

I’m always here for Autistic pride.

I wrote this about my own neurodivergent friends.
It won’t apply to everyone.

I forgot to add ‘hilarious and brilliant’ on there. Then I ran out of room. Apparently my friends have amazing qualities too numerous to mention.
A fine problem to have, indeed.

Neurodivergent friendships are magic.

What would you add?

Em 🌈

P.s. who’s coming with us to the woods?

15/06/2024

I recently wrote a mini-book on toileting, or potty-training for Autistic clients and loved ones. I am selling it for $3.99 for a short time, so get it now! Look down below in comments. Please get this post out to as many as possible

13/06/2024

How we perceive autism is important, as it changes both the conversation we are having and what we research and investigate.
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autism.
it’s a matter of perspective
We often consider the definition of autism to be a fixed concept, but it actually isn’t. How we understand autism though is more of a subjective concept, its value and interpretation uniquely defined by the stakeholder’s investment and individual experience and knowledge.
But why is how we define autism so important?
How we define autism changes how we understand the autistic person, their motivations, thoughts, experiences and reasoning.
This then impacts on how we relate to the autistic individual and how we teach others to relate to them.
How we define autism also teaches the autistic person how to define and relate to themselves and how they are valued.
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Developmental
A follow-on from the neurodiversity paradigm, the developmental perspective means that the individual is developing the way they were intended to develop.
Under this perspective we focus on supporting the individual to follow their own developmental trajectory rather than predefined developmental pathways (Robertson, 2010; Davis, 2021).
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Biological
The biological perspective is understood within the neurodiversity paradigm, the neurological differences that are part of natural human diversity.
Under this framework autism is seen as a community linked by similarities in sensory processing, communication, thinking styles, and motor coordination (Robertson, 2010; Davis, 2021).
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Medical
Under a diagnostic or medical framework autism is defined as a neurodevelopmental condition whose “sufferers” have deficits in two core areas of development, behavior and communication.
Under this framework we are always trying to “fix” the person so they become more developmentally typical. The individual is always striving for “normal”.

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Individual
Waterhouse et al. (2016) suggest that the diagnosis should be done away with completely, as the diagnostic criteria does not hold up to academic rigor.
Rather than looking through a diagnostic lens, the individual is taken into account holistically. Interventions, supports and funding are based on individual need rather than the diagnostic label.
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Anthropological
In their research primer, Lord et al., (2020) use an anthropological perspective. In this paper autism is considered a social construct, defined only by current trends in social and behavioral expectations.
Under this framework our perspective focuses on understanding the individual themselves, outside of society and culture.

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