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essay

My disability and the monotropic fire in me

“Are you disabled?” my therapist asked me, during one of our sessions several months ago. Her question came in response to something I said that, in hindsight, sure sounded like I thought I was disabled. The question made me immediately uncomfortable, and I backed away from the label “disabled”, saying something like, “I wouldn’t go […]

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essay

“Gender is a big itchy sweater”: An autistic man’s reflection on the itchiness of masculinity

Content warning: In this essay, I discuss transphobia and ableism. I also write about a serious car accident I was involved in. —//— “There’s been a great pressure to affirm these children as trans… without appropriate exploration,” said David Bell, a psychiatrist from the United Kingdom, in an April 2022 appearance on the BBC. He […]

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review

Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker, an essential toolkit for theorizing neurodiversity

Several months ago I started seriously exploring the possibility that I was autistic, and I found myself struggling to find information about autism that I could relate to. I wanted to know if my struggle with mental and emotional health was similar to other autistic people’s struggles. (I now know the answer is yes.) When […]

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essay

The answer I wish I’d found when I first searched “What is autism?”

Content warning: This post contains a discussion of sexism, racism, and eugenics within autism research and advocacy —//— I’m a weirdo. That’s what everyone says. Sometimes, I don’t know what people mean when they say things, and that can make me feel alone even when there are other people in the room. And all I […]

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essay

Me and my nervous system against the world

Content warning: This post contains a discussion of police brutality  —-//—- I have recently learned that I am autistic. For me, this word – autistic – provides an explanation for a lifetime of confusion about the mismatch between my and others’ perceptions of the world. I am aware, however, that there is profound misunderstanding about […]