@actuallyautistic
#actuallyautistic
#autistic
#autism

To add another point about the history, for awhile on Twitter some #autistics began to use an alternate tag:

#AllAutistics

This was intended to correct the ambiguities of the #actuallyautistic tag, so that it was more clear that it wasn't about gatekeeping.

@actuallyautistic
#actuallyautistic
#Autistic
#autism
#autist
#autistics

This is written to the #autistic community, as well as to the non-autistics among us. My apologies if this offends, I'm just trying to be informative to anyone and everyone about this topic.

I'm just gonna say to everyone that the "actuallyautistic" tag initially strikes many #autistics as gatekeeping or exclusionary. This happens *all the time*.

There's no way for anyone to know intuitively or by inference that it is actually intended to protect and include *all autistics*, whether self-self-assessed, professionally assessed, and regardless of so-called "levels" of autism.

At first glance, I think most people would interpret the tag, which says the tag users are "actually" autistic, as claiming authenticity and distancing themselves from the self-diagnosed in our community.

This is why this discussion arises so often. It's confusing. I've seen this come up constantly on twitter in years past. And it comes up here on Mastodon, too.

Of course, the history is that the often abusive and misinformed parents of autistic children were aggressively and hostilely invading into online discussions (especially on Twitter) among and between autistics, disagreeing and talking over us, talking down to us, arguing over their insistence of "severity" levels of autism, telling us we weren't autistic, that we're not qualified to discuss autism, that we don't represent autism, that we're frauds, assuming all of us are just pretending to be autistic, that we don't know what it's really like to be autistic, and in various ways and forms invalidating us.

These often were full-on attacks upon our community on Twitter. Some of these "autism parents" or "autism moms" made this a daily affair, acting as if "parent activists" who are out to set the world straight with their presumably "correct" perspective on all things involving autism.

Often their views were shockingly ablest, invalidating, erasing our voices, forcing outdated and ignorant misconceptions upon us.

So the #actuallyautistic tag was created to declare autistic-initiated discussions to be just for autistics (including self-diagnosed). Allistics could ask questions by using the #AskingAutistics tag, or if they entered an #actuallyautistic discussion they were expected to be respectful of autistic viewpoints.

It's actually a good idea to describe this history often, not just for autistics, but for all the well-meaning non-autistics who want to communicate with us.

Because... to repeat, the tag comes off as gatekeeping. It sounds as if intended to gate-keep. Any reasonable person might take it that way. And it is gatekeeping in the sense of giving non-autistics a warning to respect autistic spaces and discussions. But it isn't to keep out self-identified autistics.

@moondog548 @securingdev @briankrebs Dude, haven't you ever heard how literal-minded we #Autistics are? Gimme a break! :D

@robrecht The laws in various countries, and states within those countries, do have a bearing on how we can best advise those new to autism diagnosis (whether self-dx or official dx). Leaving aside immigration, they need to know what - if any - resources are available like counselling, etc. I feel that this is the best way to help fellow #ActuallyAutistic folk, and family members seeking help for newly diagnosed #Autistics & #AuDHDers @Flightlessbird

@DrSafariBoob That's a really insightful observation! It probably explains the trauma many of us #autistics experience, myself included. One thing I will never understand is how humans can be so cruel to one another. No explanation will provide a satisfactory answer for my mind to process.

@writerethink Again I am speculating here but it could also be that many of us on the #spectrum are better at written communication than verbal. I know my written communication skills are superior to that of my verbal skill. I have a hard time finding words that I want to say when I talk. When I write my thoughts are fluid, precise, and lucid. I wonder if other #autistics experience the same or similar.

@bookstodon @bookwyrm
Did you know that if you live in the US, you can ask your #library to order #books? Budget constraints exist, but if we don't ask for our bookstores and public libraries to carry books written by #autistics for autistics, many voices are missing from the digital & physical spaces. Please consider how your requests help diversify what is available publically and keep expanding your requests to include more voices. #actuallyautistic #autism #audhd

Kryptonite for #autistics: people who have their minds set and are very confidently wrong.

Reading that in sum, air raid sirens have sounded for 887 hours in #Kyiv, I couldn't help but wince for any #autistics there.

#War is hell for allistics; when regular life can feel like hell sometimes for we autistics, what is war for us??? 😣

My genuine prayer for any autists is that they are simply not there--that they have been able to leave #Ukraine and Kyiv and some other areas especially.

But we know that men between certain ages, anyway, were forbidden to leave.

-I'm guessing the luck getting a medical exemption for #autism there is about as easy as finding someone competent enough to diagnose autism in adults just about anywhere, in the first place.

Which is to say, big fat freakin' chance. 😢 🪦

There you have it people. It is actually #autistics that form the #transphobia crowd! #please #stfu

It takes someone else's #autistics example for me to realise that my life is a wreck. When #homeless, I had a routine. It helped me survive. Getting this apartment was a massive disruption which destroyed that routine. Worsening EDS problems, COVID, long COVID keep disrupting routine and I am overwhelmed by these and other disruptions. Living in a building with others is disruptive. Everything is a mess. It has me overwhelmed.

#Train #Autistics are best autistics. Off to #Madrid on #Renfe for a radiology appointment and God willing a visit to an excellent #Cat café tomorrow.

#ASD #Austism #Autistics

#MaryRodwell #ufo #Expriencers #Contactees

We need to stick together. Speak up if you are being contacted by NHI.

I submitted a proposal to include the Neurodivergent and Autistic symbols in the default #emoji set of #fediverse software. You can read it here:

“Building a More Inclusive Future: Adding Neurodivergent and Autistic Symbols to Fediverse Default Emojis”

https://codeberg.org/fediverse/fediverse-ideas/issues/20

It was also added in #fedidocs as “Accessibility and Diversity best-practices” by Arnold Schrijver (@-smallcircles@social.coop ). It is available here: https://github.com/gabek/fedidocs/issues/14

Please reshare/boost/retoot, and hopefully we can all work together to achieve this goal.

Have a great day everyone!

[Tags: #Accessibility #Diversity #BestPractices #Inclusion #A11Y #UX #Inclusivity #ADHD #Au #AuDHD #ActuallyAutistic #ActuallyAutistics #Autistics #Neurodivergents #Neurodiversity #Neurodivergent #Autistic #Neurodivergence #Neurodifferent ]

You know how we #Autistics have same/safe foods? My same/safe TV show with zero triggers is old episodes of Time Team.

@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic

That pressure to write for the algorithm shapes the entire ambience of so much I see in social media, twitter especially. It defines the twitter world, including the #autistic world.

What puzzles me is that so many #autistics tend to conform to that structure.

I theorize that perhaps most people, including autistics are peeking in on their phones when they have a brief moment, possibly throughout the day, so the short quips and the cleverly devised "hot takes" deliberately written to generate likes and replies are the product that people want, so that tends to become the world of social media.

But that's not me. I analyze, ponder, think about things, compare things written to my experience, and that leads me down a different path.

Oh man #AirPods Pro (one) are dying case has been on charge to get it to 100% with buds in it for 24h buds are only at 60% charge!

Back in the case they go… I didn’t want to block out the sound of people anyway (I did I really did).

Non #Autistics will never get the sheer peril of situations like this I have spare headphones but they are not noise cancelling. #ActuallyAutistic

I've told so few people about my #autism since finding out I'm #actuallyAutistic. I've not been social at all in the last decade. I don't really have anyone to tell.

So it's always interesting to me to read about how it goes with other #autistics when they share this with people.

I did tell my brother. I brought it up 4 times. He said absolutely nothing at all, falling silent each time. I didn't know what to do, being autistic I tend to becomes quiet when I don't understand why a person reacts in ways that baffle me. I could have asked him why he didn't respond.

Another person I told probably got me fired from my job.

I told one doctor, an audiologist, that I was autistic and she looked at me with a horrified expression. I still, to this day, don't understand why she reacted that way.

There was one total stranger I told. She was amazing. But aside from that, it hasn't gone well.

I told my schoolmates in a masters program I was in I was ADHD. This was 23 years ago. It spread through the school to all of my classmates and teachers.

Most of them treated me, after that, as if I was intellectually impaired, even though I'd had a reputation of being one of the smartest in the room, with certain people who knew me.

So I don't tend to share this with others. I don't trust them.

What's your experience with sharing that you're autistic?

@actuallyautistic
@actuallyadhd
@adhd

And now this?! Now we can’t feed our children baby food without being scared it will make them autistic?! This is trash and fear mongering bullish!t. Stop scaring people, autistic people will always exist and autism is not a disease. Yall can die mad about it. So ridiculous. #autism #autist #autistic #autistics #AutisticKids #autisticadult #disabled #neurodivergent #Neurotype #neurotypical #nd #nt #sendhelp #Funny #lol

@Chiggles @AutisticAdam @actuallyautistic

A key point here is it is not at all intended to exclude self-diagnosed #autistics. Those who are self-identified, self-assessed, are welcome to use the tag.