Friday, May 15, 2015

NotSpeaking Not Silent Acceptance, Love andSelf-care: #AutismPositivity2015



 I am autistic and I work hard to bring change, I fight for acceptance and fight the stigma of autism, I fight to bring reform to autism service dogs, I fight to get the Mason alert in place, I fight to promote acceptance and under standing and I fight for the right for preferred communication method and the right to AAC and providing a communication alternative to autistics as soon as possible,
So what is acceptance?
Acceptance is not giving up, acceptance is a starting point, acceptance is what allows us to make real progress,
Acceptance is what leads quality of life
Acceptance is no longer working against myself but working with my abilities and limits to reach my potential in acceptance I a, no longer working to be normal I am working to be successful with what I have, it is about supporting myself where I need supports and building on my strengths,
Acceptance is so important for the autistic community, when we are accepted our accommodations we need are seen as known, standard and logical, we are viewed as important an valuable. We are t painted as burdens but as autistic people who have our own value.

Right now advocates have to fight to promote acceptance, and it is not the norm this means thousands of autistics live hearing they are burdens, broken and need fixing when they need to hear they are autistic, they may need help and supports but that's ok, they have a right to supports,  in stead of focusing on fixing them and making them normal the focus needs to be on giving us tool that help us communicate and be successful

Acceptance is recognizing communication and communication needs are different for everyone, AAC is seen as a basic right and not a last thing to try but instead an important first step

Over this year I have been working hard to be a good advocate, I advocate for autistic rights, for the Mason alerts and for reform for autism service dogs these can burn me out  on top of this I have lost 3 loved ones this year so selfcare has become critical for me but what self care is changes with acceptance

When people talk about self care, it is often in the context of daily living activities such as teeth brushing, taking medications, showering, eating dressing ect, areas in which I experience many moderate to severe defficates, but self are is so so much more and takes on a larger meaning when you have reached acceptance and maybe  one of the most important things when it comes to acceptance and when it comes to self advocating


For me acceptance and self care means I recognize my limits, it doesn't mean I have  no issues in defficates in self care but rather that I recognize that I need help with my daily care activities and I recognize I do need help,

For me acceptance and self care is about recognizing my limits

Self care and acceptance are not burning myself out trying to be normal,

Self care is doing what Is right for me

It means Giving up one skill that takes so much from even when it is something others prefer,


It is recognizing that what is right for me isn't what others prefer and not everyone will accept or agree with but something I need to do for me

Acceptance and self care is using AAC in favor of speech

It is not being ashamed to be autistic and realizing I'm not broken, ivy brain works different and I need to do what is right for me and not what makes everyone else happy,

Today self-care and advocacy means not writing the perfect blog post but writing a short choppy blog as best I can and working on a better one another day



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