1 WEEK TILL THE ELECTION. VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!!
Hey guys! Welcome back to my blog. Writing is seriously one of my favorite things in the world, and I'm sooooooo happy that I decided to make this blog. This weeks autism topic is about autism in girls. What I'm writing isn't just about myself, but in general. Autism in girls can be very complicated, so let's get into it! When I was younger, I always wondered why I was one of the only girls, or the only girl in my resource room classes. As I got older, more and more girls were appearing in my resource classes. This is because girls are so good at hiding their autism. Most of us don't get diagnosed until they're teens since it’s harder to fit in with “social norms” the older you get. Especially if you have autism! Unlike me, I was diagnosed at three years old! I'm so grateful that I was diagnosed at an early age so I could get the help I needed ASAP. If I didn't get that help, I wouldn't be where I am today. Who knows if I'd be writing this blog?! Girls with autism are really good at fooling the world by masking. Masking is basically pretending to be a completely different person so you can fit in. (If you're still confused, I'll be writing specifically about masking in three weeks. So don't worry, I got you). This works so much that we actually form friendships, and a stereotype of autism is lack of social skills, and because lots of girls on the spectrum don't fit this stereotype, it's so hard to tell whether a girl has autism or not. We make masking seem easy, but it's actually really hard. Yes, there are parts of my "public" personality I show that are real, but there are lots I don't share with the world incase I'll get judged. This is part of why a lot of girls on the spectrum struggle with anxiety, depression, and strong emotions. These mental health issues can cause doctors to misdiagnose since these are shared symptoms of autism. The symptoms of autism in boys are usually the same, but they're overlooked in girls a lot of the time, because of how normal we present ourselves. Girls show less symptoms of autism than boys do, since we are such good actresses because of masking! Luckily my parents were educated enough on autism to tell that something about my development wasn't right so I was lucky to get a diagnosis at a young age. The earlier the better! Since I'm a girl with autism, and I experience this first hand, I wrote almost all of this post by myself with little help from doing research, which I don't usually do, but this topic is a breeze for me! I'm still attaching articles so you can learn more about autism in girls if you'd like to, and the stuff I didn’t cover. Thanks for tuning in for another post. It means the world to me. I’m not posting next week due to the election, so I’ll see you all in two weeks! Email- [email protected] Instagram- @embracingmysuperpower Gonna start posting this at the bottom of my posts Ps- I finally figured out how to add links in my posts so you can click on them instead of having to copy and paste. Yesssss I’m so excited https://sparkforautism.org/discover_article/are-girls-with-autism-hiding-in-plain-sight/ https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/signs-of-autism-in-girls/ https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325574#why-doctors-might-miss-it
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Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog! My not autism related posts for the next three weeks will be about my experience in middle school. I've been requested to do my experience in my other school years, so people I met in high school can get to know me from what I was like back then. For today's part, I will be writing about my 6th grade year. I'm not posting on election day, so in three weeks I'll be posting about 7th grade, and in five weeks I'll be posting about 8th grade. I don't want to put them all in one post so I can really go into detail about each year, and not bore you with a post that's so long about all three years combined. So here we go... I hope you enjoy!
As you know, middle school is a challenging time for most people. Everyone is starting to go through puberty, and you realize that some people in your grade are flat out assholes. However, I did have a lot of fun in middle school, 6th grade was a different story. Overall, I enjoyed my 6th grade year when I was living it, but now that I look back, it was one of my worst school years, and I cringe at so many moments. I was so nervous going into middle school. I thought the teachers would be really mean, and it'd be like the movies, but most of the teachers I had in 6th grade were very nice! (and 7th and 8th grade too, but this is about 6th grade). I guess you can say I kissed my teachers asses in 6th grade. I wanted so bad for my teachers to like me, and in the beginning of the year, I made them bracelets, and a paper of positive words that describe them. I'm sure they appreciated the thoughtful, handmade gifts, but I look back and cringe so bad because my peers probably thought I was a huge ass-kisser. I was definitely an outcast in 6th grade. I didn't dress, and act normally for my age. Instead of wearing leggings, I wore sweatpants with sparkles on them. I didn't really care about my appearance as most middle schoolers do. I would also use my good memory as a talent in my history class, which really creeped people out, so both of those things obviously made me an easy target for bullying. People who were friends with me then are probably thinking “when did Kailey get bullied?!” For the most part, I kept the bullying a secret from my friends, and even my family at times too. A girl who sat with me in one of my classes bullied me for pretty much the whole year, and my teacher refused to move my seat because dealing with bullying is “apart of life”. Because of this, I do believe that she had a big part in what happened, since she could've been a mature adult and done something about it, but she chose not to. Even my parents, and caseload teacher got involved, and she still wouldn't move my seat! Although, I dealt with that situation, most of the bullying happened on social media. I joined Instagram in January 2013 because that's what my peers were doing and it was the "new cool" for people our age. I started requesting to follow people in my grade, and a lot of people blocked me right away, and that is usually a sign that they don't like you, and I didn't realize how many people didn't like me until I got an Instagram. Truthfully, I thought I had so many friends. Eventually, I joined another app called ask.fm. This app was so popular when I was in middle school, but now no one uses it anymore. Ask.fm is a website where you can ask people anonymous questions. People would say to me "you're so weird", "why are you so challenged", etc. I remember spending a lot of time in the counselors office because I would be so hurt from the bullying I was receiving. I even wanted to switch schools at one point. But it did not change how I acted and dressed. It eventually did, but we'll get there in 7th grade. Some things I liked about 6th grade were the field trips we went on. At the end of the year, we got to go to Skate World which was a lot of fun. We also went to the pool because we won spirit week. That was the first time 6th grade has won in years, so go us!!! It’s been almost 8 years since that has all happened but that pretty much goes to show that words can make a lasting impact on you, whether it's good or bad. So please always be kind, and I'll see you next week for an autism related post! Please take the survey in the post below!!! Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog again!!! This will be my first and probably last time I'll be posting twice a week. This topic is something that I can't push back any further because of how important it is to me. I wasn't really educated much on this topic when I made my blog schedule, so I originally had it towards the bottom, but now that I'm more aware of it, I think this is something that should be talked about ASAP!!!
This post will be about ableism. Ableism is something that happens on a daily basis. Everyone I know has engaged in ableism behaviors unintentionally. Including autism "professionals" (professionals in quotations because we are the true professionals). This is why I want to talk about it, so the less it'll happen. As I'm writing this, I'm learning just as much as you when you're reading this. Because of that, this post may be a little longer than the others, so let's get started! "Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require 'fixing' and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as 'less than' and includes harmful stereotype, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities". What does ableism look like? Here are some examples.... - Separating students with disabilities and students without disabilities. - Controlling people with disabilities. - Segregating people with disabilities into institutions. - Failing to incorporate accessibility for people with physical disabilities into building plans. - Buildings without braille incorporated on their signs, elevator buttons, etc. -Assuming people with disabilities need or want to be 'fixed'. (Autism Speaks is a great example of this, since there mission is to find a cure for autism) -The mass murder of people with disabilities in Nazi Germany. (I had no idea this happened. Disgusting fuckers). Those are some of many examples of ableism. But ableism can occur on a daily basis. You may not even know you're being an ableist by engaging in some of these behaviors. Here are some examples of minor ableism.... -Choosing an inaccessible place for an event, therefore making it harder for someone with a disability to attend. (If you know for sure someone with a physical disability is coming to an event you plan, please make sure that you find a venue that accommodates them. Even if it's just one person, you have to accommodate all of your guests, or else you are engaging in ableism). -Framing disabilities as either tragic or inspirational in news stories, movies, books, etc. (I don't see why or how framing disabilities as "inspirational" is considered a bad thing, as I like to inspire people, but ok). -Talking to a person with a disability like they're a child. (If you do this, please shut up). -Assuming people have to have a noticeable disability in order to have a disability. -Not listening to what we have to say about autism or whatever our disability is. We are the true experts. Not the professionals. -Not hiring or not attempting to hire people with autism to present at autism related conferences. *Hint hint* . A huge part of ableism is contributing to the isolation of people with disabilities. It encourages students without disabilities to see friendships with their peers with disabilities as helper/helpee relationships, rather than mutual friendship. OMG SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!!!!! I've witnessed so many of my peers treating their "friends" with disabilities like they're little kids. (Friends in quotations because you wouldn't treat one of your friends that way if you were a good friend). Some of my former "peers" treated me like I was a little kid, so I dropped them from my life. Luckily, this doesn't happen to me very often, but when it does, I don't tolerate it. Even after all this research, I still don't understand why ableism has this meaning. Shouldn't it be called "disableism" since it's referring to people with disabilities? But as a society, we need to not engage in ableism. We must see disabilities as a natural part of human experience, rather than being a burden. Please check out the links below if you'd like to learn more about ableism. Thanks for reading everyone! https://theconversation.com/think-disability-is-a-tragedy-we-pity-you-82047 https://www.accessliving.org/newsroom/blog/ableism-101/ Hey everyone! Welcome back to my blog! Before I begin, I'd like to give a shoutout to a girl named Paige Layle. Paige got famous on Tik Tok for talking about autism in girls, and other autism related things. She is a great voice for us. I got some of my information on this post from her Tik Tok. Go check her out @paigelayle!
When I posted my survey for week 8, I didn't get as many responses as I was hoping for, but I did get enough responses to tell me that most of you want to see more autism related posts. Although, a couple of you said you'd rather see non autism related posts. So I will still be posting both, but since most of you said you want to see more autism related posts, I may surprise you sometimes and do two weeks of autism posts in a row. I will still be writing about non-autism related stuff because I like sharing those stories, and I want to accommodate everybody. I also want to space out my autism related posts so I won't run out of autism related things to talk about so soon. I will also be posting another survey next week for my 4 month check in. I do these every 2 months :) Last week I wrote about Autism Speaks, and this week I'm making this post specifically about the autism puzzle piece. If you felt upset by my Autism Speaks post, I want to prepare you that this one will upset you as well. Possibly more than last week. The autism puzzle piece was originally used by the National Autism Society (NAS) in the United Kingdom in 1963, which featured a kid crying inside a puzzle piece. They used the puzzle piece because they believe that autism is a "puzzling condition" that can only be found in kids. NEWSFLASH- autism is in adults too!! It doesn't go away!! As time went on, Autism Speaks adopted the puzzle piece and made it light blue to resemble autism in boys since autism is a "boys disease". Autism Speaks then went on to use the puzzle piece for their campaign which eventually led up to the puzzle piece being used as the symbol for autism. But as you now know, Autism Speaks campaigns are problematic, and negative to individuals with autism. Historically, autism awareness campaigns are based on organizations to promote awareness of diseases, and illnesses such as cancer. This has encouraged organizations to believe that autism is a tragic, and terrible disease, which is very offensive to lots of people with autism and their allies. In 2006, Autism Speaks ran lots of advertisements on TV, and made a short film about autism which featured lots of parents with kids who have autism. One of the parents mentioning the urge to kill herself and her daughter by jumping off a bridge. She mentioned these desires while her daughter was present. People with autism continue to be horrified that it was socially acceptable for people to talk about killing people with autism while they were listening. Because of this, lots of people with autism consider the puzzle piece as a reminder of an organization that spent years portraying autism as a tragic disease. People with autism use the puzzle piece to represent the negatives about autism. Another issue is the puzzle piece represents autism being puzzling or a mystery, which are terms used to refer to autism in the past. For people with autism, this is problematic, since we do not want to be viewed as relating to a piece of a puzzle that can't be worked out. The appropriate symbol to use to represent autism is a rainbow infinity sign since it's connected to the neurodiversity perspective. Now that I know the history of the puzzle piece, I hate when people use this as a symbol for autism. My goal is for people to become educated on the horrors of the puzzle piece, because it is a symbol of discrimination. Thanks for reading, and taking time out of your day to stay educated on autism!! It means soooooooo much to me. If you want to learn more about the autism puzzle piece, and neurodiversity, copy and paste the links below! I will also be attaching the 2006 film. It's very disturbing, but important to watch if you're interested in learning more. https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/autism-no-puzzle-nothing-wrong-with-us/ https://neurodiversitysymposium.wordpress.com/what-is-neurodiversity/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0vCz2KWMM0&feature=youtu.be https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJPcrYcK/ Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog! Before I begin, I’d like to say, thank you so so much for everyone’s support on my post last week about inclusion. That one got extra love then my posts normally do. I’m so grateful. Make sure to always include people!
Most of you are probably shocked about the title of this post, but some of you aren't. I used to be so fond of the Autism Speaks group. I always loved looking at their posts on social media. I loved how there was a group that was so supportive of me and other people with autism.... Up until I found out the hidden truth. April is autism awareness month, so I see a lot of posts about autism, but this year I saw something from my friend saying that Autism Speaks is a hate group. That news was hard to hear because I supported them, and I thought very highly of them. I did some further research into this, and I found out some horrible things. Here we go.... Autism Speaks was founded in 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright. In 2008, they had a video on their website called "Getting the Word Out". In that video, they stated this: "Living with autism can be a very cold and lonely life for a child. Not to mention very challenging for the whole family. One day that child living with autism will grow into an adult with autism". I mean.... No shit, Sherlock! In September 2009, Autism Speaks created a short film called "I am Autism", which insulted people all across the United States once it aired at an annual world focus on autism event. The short film basically makes autism seem like a horror movie. Especially the clip that states "I am autism, I work very quickly. I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined. And if you are happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my self gain". When I saw this video for the first time, it gave me chills up and down my spine. I felt like a huge burden. I felt like I was being stabbed in the back, by an organization that says they stand by me, and have my back. Yes, autism makes your life more difficult at times, but to say that there's no happiness, no hope, and that autism can lead to bankruptcy and broken marriages is absolutely disgusting. This especially hits me hard because my parents are divorced, but I'm also not going to let a stupid video brainwash me into thinking that their divorce was my fault. To sum this short film up, it's basically saying that if you have autism, you're ruining your parents lives, and they’re the true victims of autism. It's so messed up how this organization was supposed to open up more awareness, but instead it's going on a dark path. Vaccines do not cause autism. Autism is genetic. However, there are some people out there who truly believe that their child with autism was vaccine injured. I'm not going to take their beliefs away from them, since it could be true. Lots of anti-vaxers won't vaccinate their kids because of this. But at the end of the day, would you rather your child have autism and live a long life, or have your child die from measles at a young age? You can't control how your child reacts to vaccines. The theory of vaccines causing autism was proven to be false by the doctor himself who stated this, but people can believe whatever they want, as this is a controversial topic. A woman named Karen London, is one of the founders of National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), which was a company absorbed by Autism Speaks that was dedicated to the science on why this all happens, side of autism. London along with another woman named Allison Singer, who was an executive from Autism Speaks created the Autism Science Foundation. (ASF). This goes to show that Autism Speaks hardly does anything when it comes to scientific research, due to the fact that Autism Speaks executives are branching off, and creating other nonprofits because who they work for aren't doing enough scientifically. ASF was founded to show that autism is caused by genetics, and not vaccines. Bob Wright, who is a founder of Autism Speaks, called their resignations "disappointing and sad". That was not the only thing he said. He also stated that "it's possible autism is caused by vaccines". Although he claims he was referring to the time he made all these claims which was years ago once ASF launched. Even in 2016, he's continued to state that there is no official answer to whether vaccines cause autism or not on The Today Show. I have some homework for you guys, post a picture on social media wearing red to represent autism with the hashtag #redinstead. Or you can send this to me privately. If you choose to do so, please don't send it to my parents. People have used my parents to get through to me, which I don't like at all. There are many ways to contact me. I promise I don't bite! The #redinstead movement was started by people who don't like Autism Speaks. I attached an article below so you can learn about this movement! A huge thank you to this video for informing me on more of the horrors of Autism Speaks. If you're interested in hearing about what I didn't cover in this post, I attached the video below. I also attached the full "I am Autism" video. Instead of having you guys wait two weeks, I will be posting another autism related topic next week, specifically about the autism puzzle piece. I'm so so so excited to expose the crap out of terrible autism organizations. After that, we will go back to normal with an every other week routine. Maybe they'll be two autism related posts in a row here and there! ;) ;) ;) I have one more thing to say before I end this post. If you look up the hashtags #boycottautismspeaks and #redinstead on Instagram, you’ll find lots of useful information coming from people with autism themselves. It’s so important that you listen to us!!!! We are the real voice of autism! If someone with autism says a way of representation is bad, don’t argue with them, and listen to them!!!! Come prepared for next week! More disturbing information will be dug up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Va_XXoD5LE&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UgLnWJFGHQ&feature=youtu.be https://www.themomkind.com/redinstead-not-autism-speaks/ |
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