Welcome to Neurodiversenby
My name is Red. I am a nonbinary autistic adult who also has ADHD and a number of co-morbid chronic illnesses including hEDS, POTS and the Fragile X Premutation.
I write particularly on personal experiences with chronic illness and disability in my other blog, Down With the Sickness. While I will keep writing there, I wanted to start a new blog particularly for my advocacy work related to neurodiversity and gender, where DWTS focuses more on disability and chronic illness.
Some of what is posted here will be intended as educational resources for trans and gender-variant folks and/or autistic, ADHD and other neurodiverse adults to share to educate cishetero and/or neurotypical people around them, including but not limited to parents of neurodiverse or trans/gender-variant children. Frankly, I have ended up writing broadly the same things so often to educate people in that I started saving them to my GDocs! Then I thought I should perhaps put them out there for others to access and use as they see fit.
I am white, so while I will reference things related to racism here sometimes, mostly it will be about amplifying the voices of BIPOC activists, particularly trans and neurodiverse BIPOC people in general.
If you find my work helpful and would like to compensate me for my labour and ongoing advocacy work, you could buy me a coffee here. Thanks!
My Latest Posts
- (no title)One common experience of disability all across the board – relating to everything from learning/intellectual disability to neurodiversity to physical impairment to chronic illness – is the way that “one little thing” can make everything – work performance, school performance, ability to communicate etc – go right off the rails and collapse. This is anContinue reading
- Why “Like Wheelchair User” Comparisons Are HarmfulI frequently see various things floating around social media and other parts of the internet stating that refusing accommodations helpful to neurodivergent or mentally ill, or even “invisibly disabled” people are “no different to denying a ramp to a wheelchair” (perhaps notably, very rarely “wheelchair user), or that criticising neurodivergent people for having various featuresContinue reading “Why “Like Wheelchair User” Comparisons Are Harmful”
- “Reverse Ableism Isn’t A Thing” and Other Common Misunderstandings of Structural DiscriminationRecently I’ve found myself seeing lots of pushback and angry shouting from neurotypical people whenever a space is set up only for neurodivergent people. Whether this is homeschooling families of neurodivergent children looking to create groups where their children can socialise in greater safety and with greater expectation of their needs being met, or neurodivergentContinue reading ““Reverse Ableism Isn’t A Thing” and Other Common Misunderstandings of Structural Discrimination”
- There’s No Such Thing as “Profound Autism”Cross-posted, with some additions, from my other blog, Down With the Sickness. This was actually the post that made me think I needed a separate blog for my writing on neurodiversity and gender. The title of DTWS was chosen some years ago as a bit of a dark joke (yes, autistic people can have aContinue reading “There’s No Such Thing as “Profound Autism””
- Identities, Not LabelsWritten as part of Pride 2021 🏳️🌈 I would like to ask people to talk about “identities” instead of “labels” when talking about descriptions of yourself or others that are self-chosen and proudly-carried. I am thoroughly sick of people talking about “why label yourself”; “I don’t want to label my child” etc when talking aboutContinue reading “Identities, Not Labels”
- ABA Is Abusive – evidence and testimoniesAs an autistic adult, I find myself constantly having to explain to the parents of autistic children why applied behaviour analysis (ABA) and a variety of similar “therapies” using behaviourist techniques are harmful to autistic children – as they are to any children, but autistic kids are the ones for whom it is nonetheless stillContinue reading “ABA Is Abusive – evidence and testimonies”
- Dress For DiversityToday, I read this news story about a German gymnast choosing to perform in a costume offering full-body coverage rather than the traditional gymnast wear for performance, which is not only very tight but actively exposes the entire legs and a fair bit of the pubic area during the performance. When performers have performed inContinue reading “Dress For Diversity”
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