The Blog
De-escalation is a Neurodivergent Access Need
This article explores how traditional crisis response systems often fail neurodivergent people by waiting until visible distress occurs, rather than offering proactive, affirming support. It emphasizes that de-escalation should be recognized as a neurodivergent access need, grounded in trauma-informed care and early intervention. The piece calls for a shift toward environments that prioritize regulation, safety, and autonomy to prevent harm before it happens.
How Ableism Sees the Body: The Politics of Neurodivergent Movement and Expression
This article examines how neurodivergent people are routinely judged and pathologized based on their body language, tone, posture, and expression through a neurotypical lens. It explores how societal norms pressure autistic and ADHD individuals to perform "acceptable" versions of themselves, often at the expense of their comfort, authenticity, and well-being. The piece calls for a radical shift away from ableist expectations toward a world that respects neurodivergent embodiment as valid, meaningful, and worthy of inclusion without condition.
Why Neurotypical Empathy Isn’t the Gold Standard
This article challenges the assumption that neurotypical expressions of empathy are inherently superior, highlighting how autistic and neurodivergent people often experience and express empathy in different but equally valid ways. It explores the emotional depth, ethical commitment, and unique communication styles that characterize neurodivergent empathy, while exposing the ableist bias in how empathy is culturally defined and measured. The piece calls for a broader, more inclusive understanding of empathy that honors diverse ways of connecting, caring, and being human.
The Politics of Being ‘Too Much’: Autistic Intensity and Cultural Policing of Passion
Autistic people are often told they are “too much” for expressing passion, emotion, or deep interest, leading to shame and self-suppression. This article challenges the cultural norms that pathologize autistic intensity and reframes it as a powerful and authentic way of engaging with the world. It calls for a shift away from emotional policing toward honoring neurodivergent expression as valid, necessary, and deeply human.
Autistic Rage and the Gendered Gaze: When Our Anger is Called Hysteria
Autistic rage is often misinterpreted as irrational or dangerous due to the combined effects of ableism, misogyny, and transphobia, especially when expressed by autistic women and trans people. In reality, this anger is frequently a clear, informed, and necessary response to systemic injustice, boundary violations, and accumulated harm. The pathologizing of autistic anger serves to silence and discredit marginalized voices, but reclaiming that anger is a powerful act of resistance and self-advocacy.
Neurodivergent Quiet Quitting: How Burnout Shows Up as Boundary (Copy)
Neurodivergent quiet quitting is a self-protective response to chronic burnout, not a sign of laziness or disengagement. Autistic and ADHD professionals often withdraw at work to preserve their mental health after enduring years of masking, overextension, and systemic ableism. This boundary-setting is a form of resistance against exploitative environments and a call for more inclusive, sustainable workplace practices.
When Inclusion Is Just Another Word for Control
This article critiques how many so-called inclusion efforts are actually systems of control that require autistic people to conform to neurotypical norms in order to be accepted. It explores how schools, workplaces, and therapeutic settings often use the language of care while enforcing compliance and masking, rather than creating accessible environments. True inclusion, the article argues, must center autonomy, access, and systemic change, not performance or assimilation.
We Are Not Your Project: Autistic People Deserve Relationships, Not Fixers
This article explores how autistic people are often treated as self-improvement projects by partners, therapists, and family members, rather than being accepted as whole, complex individuals. It critiques the ways in which support becomes conditional on progress or compliance with neurotypical norms, leading to harm, disconnection, and internalized shame. The piece calls for relationships rooted in mutual respect, consent, and radical acceptance—where autistic people are not fixed, but genuinely seen and valued.
Grieving the Years You Lost to Not Knowing You Were Autistic
This article explores the unique grief that many late-diagnosed autistic adults experience as they come to understand how much of their lives were shaped by not knowing their true neurodivergent identity. It reflects on the relationships, opportunities, and self-understanding that were lost or distorted due to years of masking, misdiagnosis, and internalized shame. Through this grief, the article also offers space for healing, self-recognition, and the possibility of reclaiming a more authentic life.
Disordered or Disabled or Neither: Questioning the Pathologizing Language of Diagnosis
This article challenges the deficit-based language used in clinical diagnoses of autism and ADHD, which often frames neurodivergent people as disordered rather than different. It explores the tension between needing a diagnosis for access and support while resisting the harmful impacts of pathologizing frameworks. The piece advocates for affirming, context-aware understandings of neurodivergence that center lived experience, dignity, and agency.
Autistic Intuition Is Real
This article reframes autistic intuition as a valid and embodied form of perception that is often dismissed by neurotypical norms. It explores how autistic people sense patterns, emotions, and inconsistencies with deep accuracy, yet are frequently told their insights are wrong or inappropriate. The piece calls for a cultural shift toward respecting autistic ways of knowing as legitimate, valuable, and worthy of trust.
Inclusion Shouldn’t Hurt: When DEI Work Is Just More Labor for Marginalized People
This article explores how many DEI efforts rely on the unpaid or underpaid labor of neurodivergent and marginalized staff to drive inclusion, placing an unfair emotional and logistical burden on those already navigating inaccessible systems. It highlights how organizations often perform progressiveness without making structural changes, leaving neurodivergent individuals to educate, advocate, and repair harm without real power or support. The article calls for a shift toward shared responsibility, genuine equity, and systemic change that centers value, repair, and accountability over optics.
We’re Not All Tech Bros: Expanding the Public Imagination of Autistic Identity
This article critiques the narrow, stereotypical portrayal of autism as primarily white, male, and tech-oriented, which erases the vast diversity of autistic experiences. It explores how media, clinical frameworks, and workplace initiatives reinforce this limited image, excluding autistic people who do not fit the expected mold. The article calls for a broader, more inclusive understanding of autistic identity that reflects the full spectrum of neurodivergent lives across gender, race, ability, and expression.
Stop Co-opting Neurodiversity to Sell Your Company Culture
This article exposes how companies often misuse the language of neurodiversity as a marketing tool rather than committing to real inclusion and accessibility for neurodivergent people. It critiques surface-level hiring initiatives, ableist workplace structures, and the commodification of neurodivergent traits while ignoring the need for systemic change. True inclusion, the article argues, requires listening to neurodivergent voices, rethinking workplace norms, and building environments where neurodivergent people are supported, respected, and able to lead.
Stop Infantilizing Us: The Deep Harm of Autism’s Childlike Branding
This article critiques the widespread use of infantilizing imagery like puzzle pieces and primary colors in autism-related branding. It explains how such visuals erase autistic adults, reinforce harmful stereotypes, and center neurotypical comfort over autistic dignity. The piece calls for respectful, adult-centered representation created by and for autistic people.
The Neurodivergent Sabbatical: What It Means to Step Away to Save Yourself
This article explores the concept of a neurodivergent sabbatical as a vital act of self-preservation for autistic and ADHD adults facing burnout from masking, overwork, and systemic inaccessibility. It distinguishes the sabbatical from a vacation, describing it as a necessary pause that often arises from collapse rather than choice, allowing space for unmasking, rest, and reconnection with self. The piece challenges productivity culture and calls for a collective reimagining of rest as resistance, care, and a reclaiming of worth outside of output.
Beyond the Diagnosis: Navigating Internalized Pathology After Labels
This article explores the ongoing process neurodivergent adults face after receiving a diagnosis, particularly the challenge of unlearning internalized shame and pathology. While a diagnosis can be validating, it does not erase years of being misunderstood, punished, or framed as broken by systems rooted in deficit-based thinking. True healing begins when neurodivergent people move beyond clinical labels to reclaim their identities, unmask safely, and build affirming narratives rooted in community, authenticity, and self-acceptance.
Neurodivergence and Moral Injury: When the System Forces Us to Betray Ourselves
This article explores how moral injury affects neurodivergent adults who have been pressured to conform to systems that deny their values, needs, and identities. It explains that masking, compliance, and chronic self-betrayal—often required to survive in education, workplaces, and social environments—can lead to deep emotional harm and disconnection from the self. Naming this as moral injury allows for healing through self-compassion, community, and reclaiming alignment with one’s true neurodivergent identity.
The Myth of the Independent Adult: How Interdependence Is Pathologized
This article critiques the Western ideal of the “independent adult,” revealing how it harms neurodivergent people by pathologizing natural support needs and masking the universal reality of interdependence. It explores how expectations of self-sufficiency and productivity fuel shame, burnout, and isolation, especially for late-diagnosed autistic adults. Reclaiming interdependence as a strength allows for more authentic, sustainable, and inclusive ways of living that honor diverse needs and foster true community care.
Microaggressions That Erase Our Neurodivergent Identity
This article offers neurodiversity-affirming scripts to respond to common microaggressions that autistic and otherwise neurodivergent people frequently encounter. Each response is designed to validate identity, challenge harmful assumptions, and reduce the emotional labor often required to defend one’s neurodivergence. The piece emphasizes that no one owes an explanation for their identity and that protecting one’s boundaries and well-being always comes first.