Autism Gets an Update: A National Autism Strategy for Canadians

• By: Annie Kent, MA Mental Health Systemic Advocate and Educator/Writer
• April 12th, 2024
• access to support, actually autistic, advocacy, autism in canada, comorbidities, diagnosis, diversity, healthcare, inequities in services, national autism strategy, Spring 2024 Issue
• 65    0

Note: While there are many areas of inequity, this article will focus on diagnosis and support services as seen by the Autistic writer living in Ontario, Canada. Autism in Canada One in 66 Canadians is autistic. Collectively, we face numerous challenges to accessing services and supports,...

Nurturing Comfort: Sensory Processing Through an Autistic Lens

• By: Annie Kent, MA Mental Health Systemic Advocate, Educator, and Freelance Writer
• January 10th, 2024
• actually autistic, dysregulation, hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity, sensory issues, sensory-processing differences, Winter 2024 Issue
• 557    0

What grates on your nerves? The slurping sound made by an open-mouthed eater or by someone smacking gum and popping bubbles? What about ticking clocks? Or the coworker who repeatedly clicks their pen, ad nauseam? Why do such noises bother autistic people? Maybe it’s because stimuli and sensory...

Teamwork: Building A Successful Neurodivergent-Neurotypical Marriage

• By: Annie Kent, MA Mental Health Systemic Advocate, Educator and Freelance Writer
• October 2nd, 2023
• actually autistic, cognitive differences, collaboration, communication, cooperation, Fall 2023 Issue, marriage, misunderstandings, neurodiversity, relationships, sensory sensitivities, trust
• 813    0

As I sit down to write this, my husband and I just celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. We met through a mutual friend - an ex-boyfriend of mine. Joseph and I had gone our separate ways a few months before I received a phone call from “Caper” (his chosen “call sign”). I was surprised by...

Autism and the Law: When Trouble Comes Our Way

• By: Annie Kent, MA Mental Health Systemic Advocate, Educator and Freelance Writer
• July 5th, 2023
• aggression, cognitive behavioral, criminal justice system, crisis situations, de-escalation, first responder training, law enforcement, mental health, misinterpretation, Summer 2023 Issue, the law
• 1590    1

“I may have the advantage of race and gender. I may be able to stave off a meltdown for a short period. I may try my hardest to comply and be non-threatening, but I’m only ever one misunderstanding or nervous officer away from death. And it may be, in any given encounter, that there’s nothing...

I Was Finally Diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism, Now What?

• By: Annie Kent, MA Mental Health Systemic Advocate/Educator, and Recently Diagnosed “Aspie”
• April 9th, 2023
• actually autistic, adult diagnosis, diagnosis, gender differences, girls and women, incorrect diagnoses, self-diagnosis, social isolation, soft skills, Spring 2023 Issue, stigma
• 3337    0

I suspected I was on the Autism Spectrum for over 20 years before I finally received a diagnosis. Like many people with high-functioning autism, my autism went unnoticed because I was intelligent enough to succeed in school and my autistic traits were not seen as neurodivergent, but as learning...

Autism Advocacy: Inclusion, Empowerment, and Human Rights

• By: Annie Kent, MA Mental Health Systemic Advocate and Educator/Writer
• January 2nd, 2023
• actually autistic, advocacy, diversity, empowerment, exclusion, human rights, identity, inclusion, language, Winter 2023 Issue
• 2181    0

“Autism isn’t this strange alien thing, it’s just a different way of thinking and experiencing the world. Some of us will find ourselves more or less compatible with modern living than others, we will all have different needs…but autism is not terrifying or awful, nor is it marvellous and...