Understanding Autism

I just finished reading Naoki Higashida’s book, “The Reason I Jump”, as translated by David Mitchell.  Naoki is both charming and highly direct, and the book is a very short read. He goes into detail about a whole host of autistic behaviours, and why he does them.  The only extra […]

So why do autistics have so many tics, spasms, and seizures? This is complicated, but it has to do with neurotoxins. Neurotoxins are toxins which harm the nerves or nerve functioning somehow. They can be created inside the body (endogenous), or enter the body from outside (exogenous). [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1e0bB2VzeI[/youtube] Endogenous toxins […]

Why do autistics tend to have so many meltdowns? Many people mix meltdowns with tantrums, and try to scold or shame the meltdown away (which in a true meltdown, doesn’t even register until later, when we’ve had a chance to calm down). There’s a very clear difference between meltdowns and […]

In North America, the impacts of things like alcohol tend to be common knowledge, even if we haven’t experienced them ourselves.  We’re aware that getting intoxicated will entail sensory distortions, more emotional expressivity (and sometimes volatility), and the impairment of coordination.  We’re also aware that, once the intoxication is over, […]

One of the scariest things for many parents and caregivers of autistics is how fast we autistics can move, and disappear.  Many autistic children drown every year, because we’re so drawn to the calming influence of the water.  There are swimming techniques taught to toddlers which autistics of any age […]

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. […]