The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a data analysis on December 3, 2021, suggesting 1 in 44 children are categorized as autistic by age eight in the United States. Is the 2.3 percent rate accurate nationally, using current diagnostic instruments? These data present a curious question: Why…
Tag: autism
Podcast Episode 0071, Season 5, Episode 2; 28 September 2021 Parenting and Food Challenges A follower wrote: Do your children eat anything other than chicken nuggets? My autistic child won’t eat fruits, vegetables, or most meats. It’s cereal, chips, and nuggets. Susan and I are fortunate. The girls and I eat mostly healthy foods. Fruits,…
Podcast Episode 0070, Season 5, Episode 1; 15 September 2021 Living on Edge: Life’s Little Disasters Stop with the “Spoon Theory” metaphor. Allow me to choose my own metaphor for my lived experiences as an autistic with other disabilities. In this episode of The Autistic Me, I explain why cycling…
Podcast Episode 0064; Season 04, Episode 28; May 18, 2021 Our daughters and I have had a fair number of neuropsych assessments. The girls both have a list of official diagnostic labels. The three of us have ADHD in common. On her ninth birthday, we began yet another neuro-psychological assessment for Leigh, our eldest…
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an ineffective family of “therapies” with a dark, disturbing origin, which I’ve written about several times. Notice that ABA is not named Applied Behavior Therapy. It’s not what I’d consider therapy and it isn’t really presented to parents and caregivers as therapy. Mental health therapies help…
Autistics struggle because most people have more social skills and extroverts with social skills lead most communities. By the age of six, teachers can accurately predict which students will be successful. That’s true in various nations, on several continents. Research has found, time and again, that the mastery of cultural norms…
“The world isn’t designed for the neurodiverse,” is a claim I read over and over on social media. “It’s made for neurotypicals.” Another variation uses “autistics” and “allistics” instead of neurodiverse and neurotypical, but not every non-autistic (allistic) is neurotypical, so I’m not sure that works as well at conveying…
Getting a job is difficult when you’re autistic. The data aren’t promising: 85 percent of autistic college-graduates lack full-time employment in their desired field. The job interview process works against us in ways it might not work against the physically disabled. Sadly, I’ve noted time and time again, we autistics…
Susan does a lot to help me function, but it’s unreasonable for anyone, especially me, to expect her to read and respond to whatever I am scribbling or typing. Susan is my wife, not my editor or co-author. Yes, we have worked together on the Tameri Guide for Writers, but not…
Podcast Episode 0058; Season 4, Episode 22, March 2, 2021 Catherine (“Cat”) Guimard-Payen provides life coaching to autistic women, but that’s not why I asked her to join us on The Autistic Me Podcast. Catherine is also autistic and the parent of four Neurodiverse children, two with autism and two…