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The Big Sigh
This is one of those days. I feel it the moment I open my eyes. I instantly loathe that I am awake. I fall into an old habit of calculating how many hours I will have to reasonably be out of my bed before I can crawl back into it without having to feign illness or apologize for not returning a...
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Doin’ It My Autistic Way: Why Being Self-Employed Was the Logical Solution for Me
Ah, the wonderful world of work. It’s a marvel, isn’t it? The way we have all indirectly given up our individual freedoms in hot pursuit of the all mighty dollar. The way we semiconsciously reorder our priorities to accommodate all the time and energy this pursuit demands. The years spent...
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No Labels on My Clothes, No Labels on Me: Why Functioning Labels Need to Be Cut Off and Tossed
Autistic folk spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the torture of labels on our clothes. In a discussion about sensory issues, right after we discuss how much we loathe the grocery store, the hatred of tags on our clothes comes up. It’s amazing how something so small, can invisibly...
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Call Me Autistic: A Soft Correction for Those Still Using Person-First Language
I want to tell you about the woman I am named after, my Great Aunt Betty. I never met Betty, but I got to hear about her whenever I asked where my name came from. Betty was apparently a sassy lady who, like me, despised her full name and went by her nickname, Betty. The “big” family secret...
