Understanding Autism

October 25, 2013

Why Autistics Chew or Suck Constantly, or Won’t Wear Hats

Many autistics chew or suck things constantly, and some of these things aren’t very good for us. Many of us also won’t wear hats, headbands, earmuffs, or anything else that sits too tightly around our heads.  There are some reasons for this. When we’re autistic, we tend to have neither […]
October 18, 2013

Why Won’t Autistics Look, or Pay Attention?

Autistics may seem like they’re not paying attention, or not looking at you, when you want them to know or remember something.  Did you know that the ‘noisiest’ of all the senses is vision? If something is visually distracting you, it is very hard to pay attention to anything else. […]
October 4, 2013

Why do autistics struggle with clean clothes, and haircuts?

Why do autistics wear the same clothes all the time, or not want to get a haircut? Let’s start with clothes. There can be a couple of reasons that an autistic doesn’t like to wear clean clothes. The first reason is that the sensations of clothes on your body can […]
September 27, 2013

Why Do Autistics Have Restricted Diets?

When your roof needs repairs, you’ve got to have both the roofing supplies (nails, tiles, ladders, etc.) and the actual labour and energy.  If you’re missing one of these, or the other, the roof isn’t going to get fixed.  It’s the same with when your body needs repairs.  If you’re […]
September 20, 2013

Autism Behaviours: Why Autistics Have Sleep Problems

If you’ve ever shared  sleeping quarters with an autistic, you may have some idea of what I’m talking about when I say sleep problems:  trouble falling asleep, waking at the slightest disturbance, recurrent and awful nightmares, waking and staying awake for long periods during the “wee hours” for weeks or […]
September 13, 2013

Why Autistics Pace, Jump, and Flap

I have autism.  Through my life, I’ve found that most people, when they understand what is at the root of my symptoms, can shift from antipathy or shunning to empathy and support, in terms of their relationship with me and the other autistics in their lives.  I sincerely hope that […]
September 6, 2013

Why Autistics Organize or Line Things Up

I have autism, and from a happy accident the summer I turned 11, I learned that there were things which could make my quality of life a lot better, and others which could make it a lot worse. My life since then has been shaped around discovering what hurts the […]
August 30, 2013

Why do autistics drone and bang their heads?

I have autism, and from a happy circumstance the summer I turned 11, I learned that there were things which could make my quality of life a lot better, and others which could make it a lot worse. My life since then has been shaped around discovering what hurts the […]
August 23, 2013

Why Do Autistics Tune and Script?

First, I may need to explain what the words tuning and scripting actually mean, when you’re speaking about people who live with autism.  Autistics will sometimes sing the same melody over and over again, for minutes, for hours, sometimes for a whole day.   We don’t just sing all of […]