Autism Chrysalis

Category: Autism Acceptance

Yong person in a tie dye shirt, flexing their arms.

An Alternative to Labels

Labels and diagnoses have their use, but they also have some significant downsides. What if there were an alternative?

Boy in a school cafeteria, sitting in a line of other kids, looking at the sandwich he is eating.

On Trying to be Normal

I tried for so long to be normal. And it drove me nuts and burned me out multiple times. It’s not only an unreachable goal, bit it turns out it’s not really the goal that I thought it was, after all.

Child sitting under a grey blanket tent with fairy lights on it. They are wearing a cardboard cut-out of an astronaut helmet.

On the Joy of Learning

I hear a lot of questions from parents and professionals on how to motivate autistic children. But motivation itself isn’t the issue.

Close-up on a hand touching a tablet, with a bunch of letters floating off of it.

On Non-Speaking Autism, Part 2

Non-speaking autism is often misunderstood as an intellectual disability. I think something very different is going on.

Close-up on a child spinning in a teacup amusement park ride.

What’s stimming really about?

Stimming is a bit different from other challenging behaviors because it’s both a result of stress and a strategy to calm down. It is one of the effective strategies we develop naturally.