Nicole Chung
@nicolechung.bsky.social
41K followers 1.7K following 2.4K posts
author of A LIVING REMEDY (a New York Times Notable Book) and the national bestseller ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW • words in NYT Magazine, Time, Esquire, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Slate &c. • linktr.ee/nicolesjchung
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nicolechung.bsky.social
If you want to understand open adoption, it makes sense to start with birth parents—yet studies of them are few. 2+ yrs ago, I began talking w/ birth mothers to try to understand what living in an open adoption is like for them, and what rights or options they might have if challenges were to arise.
When Adoption Promises Are Broken
Many birth mothers hope to maintain contact with their child. But their agreements with adoptive parents can be fragile.
www.theatlantic.com
Reposted by Nicole Chung
melissagiragrant.com
I wrote about Chicago: "Is this city burning? There is a definite answer to the question. In all these cities, the answer is no. No American city is currently on fire, and if Chicago is a war zone, it’s because it’s being invaded by the president."
Trump Is Waging War on an American City
The real threat to people in Chicago ​(and Los Angeles and Portland) is our maniacal president.
newrepublic.com
Reposted by Nicole Chung
chanda.blacksky.app
Finally got a chance to sit down and read all the way through this powerful piece by @nicolechung.bsky.social about the realities of open adoption. A must read, as are her memoirs.

Also Nicole is one of the editors who worked on #EdgeOfSpaceTime and you should hire her to work on your book.
When Adoption Promises Are Broken
Many birth mothers hope to maintain contact with their child. But their agreements with adoptive parents can be fragile.
www.theatlantic.com
nicolechung.bsky.social
I have not been able to stop thinking about this book since I read (and edited!) it. Chanda is one of the most brilliant people I know + a writer who has continually helped me think about the universe, our place in it, and so many other things in new & necessary ways. Trust me, you want to preorder:
nicolechung.bsky.social
really thankful for @autisticadvocacy.org, which was like. the ONLY helpful resource I found when I was very new to this and looking for education + some kind of guidance
Reposted by Nicole Chung
nicolechung.bsky.social
I’m not autistic, just a parent to an autistic kid w/ fairly significant support needs, but I personally find it very frustrating to see so many people fixated on preventing, reducing, or “curing” autism and neurodiversity instead of talking about inclusion + getting folks whatever support they need
nicolechung.bsky.social
all these years later (she's now 14 1/2), I think some of those things could happen and some might not, and I also know that she's going to be okay.
nicolechung.bsky.social
I'll never forget the developmental ped saying, "She can still go to college and get married and work" etc. She was 3yo, so all that wasn't really my focus? The doctor was trying to tell me she would be "okay," using markers they thought I'd associate w/ "okay." But that was such a narrow definition
nicolechung.bsky.social
you know you're the reason I think about quantum gravity at least once a week now, which is...once more per week than I ever thought about it before I read your amazing book
nicolechung.bsky.social
yes, I did read it, many years ago now when we published an interview with Steve (by an autistic writer) at The Toast! I didn't know Steve well but I was so glad I got to work with him a little on that piece. I know he is missed.
nicolechung.bsky.social
we’ve been through it with our school system, too. Had to hire two educational consultants and a lawyer at one point. I think all the time about people trying to navigate this without resources, or in their second language, or without time off to go to meetings and fight, etc.
nicolechung.bsky.social
this keeps me up some nights, too.
nicolechung.bsky.social
thank you, Chanda ❤️
nicolechung.bsky.social
I’m not making excuses for any parents, but there’s a lack of support & education for parents of autistic kids, too. As soon as you get a dx, if not before, you’re hit w/ medical ableism. You deal w/ more ableism in schools. And you are more vulnerable to fearmongering when you’re scared & isolated.
nicolechung.bsky.social
I mean, look, I too have my feelings about how challenging things can sometimes seem, but I don’t get to make those feelings the burden of my autistic child or autistic people. Also, this administration absolutely does NOT want to support disabled people or their families in any way, shape, or form!
nicolechung.bsky.social
ofc every parent wants their kid to be okay. A big thing for me was realizing that I needed to reconsider/expand my definition of “okay.” And also deal with whatever feelings and fears I had without making those my child’s burden! I can have my experience and my feelings but like, this is her LIFE.
Reposted by Nicole Chung
donmoyn.bsky.social
The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."
nicolechung.bsky.social
thank you for reading and sharing.
nicolechung.bsky.social
also many things about her life and by extension mine are more challenging than they might be otherwise, but many things are great and I’ve never wished her different—that just feels very foreign to me. like, she just is who she is. I don’t want a different kid! I want the world to be better for her
nicolechung.bsky.social
I’m not autistic, just a parent to an autistic kid w/ fairly significant support needs, but I personally find it very frustrating to see so many people fixated on preventing, reducing, or “curing” autism and neurodiversity instead of talking about inclusion + getting folks whatever support they need
nicolechung.bsky.social
no, The X-Files beat you to that one
nicolechung.bsky.social
the pope is obviously neither woke nor Marxist but he *is*…the pope? idk what else to say guys