I don’t have a plan for this place on the web. Every other year, I buy a domain for this place because it’s on sale and/or I hate the lack of theme options.

So for now, it’s still a personal blog like it’s been for at least a decade. I don’t think the archives are available yet. That was supposed to be the next thing I do, but I’m behind on life. I will start this weekend with making the archives visible.

*Here is a version of the archives. Don’t really like it. I’m changing this theme in a few weeks. Like the color, but it’s not functional enough for me.

I’m browsing a book on therapy and autism (Psychological Therapies for Adults with Autism) since I can’t get my hands on the book, I really want that’s about doctors giving autistic people the wrong medicine. Doctors had to write a book and say, “Stop treating autistic people like they aren’t autistic!” Brilliant.

Here are some quotes I found interesting:

I think therapists should know what affects people with autism daily and how they feel. Also, it would be good for therapists to
approach us knowing that we are different than others; that we might struggle sometimes, and, at these times, we need to be
approached gently. Another important thing is for therapists to give us concrete and tangible steps to follow.

People would be surprised how rare this is. Some therapists would read this and do it for one session and then they are back to the ‘normal way.’

At this time in my life, I don’t need to be approached gently as far in how a therapist says things, but don’t expect me to do what others do. For example, it took me 10 minutes to make a smoothie today. Most people could have done it in 2 minutes. Why do I have to explain this and every single thing if the person knows I’m autistic? Why are you asking me, “why is that?” (Guess you aren’t the expert in the room.) Treating an autistic person as if they aren’t autistic, is the issue.

To work effectively with people with autism, therapists should stop trying to “normalize” or expect us to use conventional neurotypical ways. Something I have noticed recently is that
people with autism are genuine and like genuineness.

Honesty works. But most people aren’t honest. It’s not always intentional or malicious, though. A therapist who says, “You can do anything you put your mind to,” and believes it is not going to work for me. If you say that, what other therapy speak are you saying that’s just BS? Does it look like I’m here for BS? I can name 100 things that no matter what I put my mind to will NEVER happen. Say something authentic or as this person says, “genuine.”

I’m not going to be the president of the US. I’m not going to be a neurosurgeon. Probably have 0% chance of being a NASCAR driver. I’m not going to be {insert famous person} wife. Let’s not waste time on unlikely things and get real.

I think that therapists tend to expect their patients to want to be “normal.” However, many autistic people do not feel any need to
become like allists. We do not see our perceptions of life
as inferior or less valid than those of allists.

It doesn’t take a therapist a long to know that I have no desire to be normal. But this is a big issue, especially if a therapist “sees” a person as normal. I don’t come across as normal, but I’ve had this issue because the therapist thinks the only way to fix you is to be normal.

Sometimes I’m there because I can’t get a social worker and talking, might not makes things worse. Try that on for radical honesty. There’s not much for autistic adults in the United States.

By the way, an “allists” is a person who isn’t autistic, I choose to not use that term because most people don’t know it and I like calling things as I see it. Or as psychology sees it: normal and abnormal.