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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 24

Happy to clarify! Ty. The lecture is scientific. The idea that historical occupations may have led to the natural selection for autistic traits is my opinion. I like speculating that fiber arts predates Homo sapiens. Can’t prove it though.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 24

Wow! Beautifully & powerfully said. Audio only podcasts are usually a barrier for me, but I could fully follow what Yeshes said. I’ve read the research article. It’s a good summary.

Not scientific, but I *know* that my brain was made for weaving. I’m no savant, but it is profoundly satisfying

Yeshes.Online 📎🌻🖖♾️ @handle.invalid · Sep 24

Catch up on the science about #autism folks, not only were we in the genome WAYYYYYYYYYYY back, we might actually BE the reason you got to develop that amazing brain at all.

Yes, really.

Go on, explore and learn. We were always here to help, you see. Literally.

autism.org/the-ancient-...

🧵

The Ancient Roots of Autism Susceptibility Genes

Researcher Emily Casanova, PhD, provides updates on her emerging research findings on genes and susceptibility to autism.

autism.org

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

He has been in my thoughts of late. His book shone a bright light on the lived experiences of us older autistics. We are few in number. Suicide, poverty & chronic illness has taken so many of us. Why isn’t anyone else wanting to gather our history? Why doesn’t our collective wisdom matter?

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

Some balm for our world-weary souls…. 🐢💜

Rhiannon Giddens @rhiannongiddens.bsky.social · Sep 22

A true honor to perform “American Tune” with #PaulSimon and the incredibly talented students at Juilliard. As I said in the article, I remember first looking at the lyrics of “American Tune” and going “Oh, my God — did you write this yesterday?”

Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

I’ve been campaigning to convince my therapist that he should put aside Asimov & read Hitchhikers instead.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

Thank you. I really needed to hear that. I moved from where my peer support work was well known to a place where there is no space or support for people like me. I naively believed I could be a change agent anywhere if only I pushed hard enough. My job now is letting go & accepting.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

If asked to share, I absolutely will. Where I live now, feels overrun by ABA. No autistic community can thrive in the face of that. Autistic knowledge is not seen as valuable. Professionals take up all the space. :(

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

Totally valid. I am puzzled by younger generations’ belief of all emotions must be put online. Can’t see how that leads to healing & coping. Feels like an echo chamber. But I am old- I didn’t grow up with computers/ the Internet. Easy for me to take breaks. Guessing it is much harder for others.

Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

This article really speaks to me and people like me,helps me to stay calm and purposeful.

Thinking Person's Guide to Autism @thinkingautism.com · Sep 22

“Don’t give in to the hopelessness of it all. That’s what they want. Progress is inevitable even when it feels out of reach, or like it is slipping away.” From autistic autism researcher @drmbothapsych.bsky.social, at TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2025/09/cher... #autism #neurodiversity #autistic

Cherishing Compassion While Autistic and Marginalized

T.C. Waisman, Monique Botha, and Wenn Lawson—three deeply compassionate autistic experts—on navigating the world while autistic.

thinkingautismguide.com

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

That researcher from 2008, he was one of those dad-of-autistic-person professors, without any medical background, jumping headfirst into autism research b/c of the sweet, sweet cash....also claimed that cannabis could cure autism.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

The "Tylenol causes autism" bs goes back to 2008. It was just as ridiculous back then. It felt like every other week, there was an announcement about what caused autism, along with what would "cure" it. I remember Broadstreet (Wakefield crony) saying tunafish sandwiches caused autism...

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 22

Being that I am older, trans+autistic, I was approached several years back by a cis femme social worker who ran a trans+autistic support group for teens as a possible speaker. What topics did I want to talk about? I said, "How to deal with thoughts about death". Never heard from her again.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 19

While Cabaret and the Sound of Music are 2 of my favorite musicals, I’m not liking these reality show versions so much.

Sophie Labelle @assignedmale.bsky.social · Sep 19

Stay safe. Sources and documents in the replies.

Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 19

You are so welcome! I got this at the fair, which was unreasonable for to me to attempt (though I was well-prepared). I rented a scooter at an unreasonable price, but it allowed me to relax and enjoy the day. I gently remind myself that Unreasonable is different than irrational.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 18

Update. Therapist firmly says “No, we will not be doing that!” to exposure therapy. He’s going to help me switch to a different prescriber. I know it will be a while. Worth the wait. Much reading to do about mast cells.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

Gave myself an early birthday present. As most of my access needs fall outside of the narrow ableist definition of reasonable accommodation, ok, fine. I shall simply declare myself unreasonable and keep going.. 🐢 🌈💜♾️♿️ #disability

White Tshirt with airbrushed art created by an artist at the fair. flying turtle swimming among pink clouds and blue sky with the word “unreasonable” above

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

You don’t have to wait for his research to learn about the vagus nerve works…. There’s a TEDx talk given by Jessica Maguire. TLDR: Give yourself permission to play.

How play can heal your nervous system | Jessica Maguire BHSci, MPhysio | TEDxByronBayWomen

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

youtu.be

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

Today it’s called Floortime. I was 6 years older than my nonspeaking little brother. I was in a caregiving role from age 7-17. professionals for nonspeaking children then didn’t exist. My brother’s sensory diet grew way bigger than mine. He wanted to run, explore, climb, drive…

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

Still waiting for the NT medical researchers to catch up to autistic folk wisdom. Back before ABA brainwashed everybody, families understood that autistic kids needed to play and connect w/ their imaginations. Many of us are gestalt language processors. Play is where we learn to navigate sensory

Thinking Person's Guide to Autism @thinkingautism.com · Sep 13

Abrams: We have to consider sensory heterogeneity. Neurodivergent sensory heterogeneity (variation in experiences) is really huge. But we don't know why this sensory variation occurs, esp. with ND hyper- or hyposensitivity. #neurodiversity #SNS25

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

My friend Sue, an autistic occupational therapist, was teaching this in the early years of Autreat. She also educated many grateful autistic adults in the Phx area. I was one. She planned to write a book after she retired, but then her husband became ill.

Thinking Person's Guide to Autism @thinkingautism.com · Sep 13

Next at #SNS25: Sensory Differences in Neurodivergent Individuals (featuring at least one autistic clinical psychologist, Dr. Megan Anna Neff, so that's cool)

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

2 wks ago, I asked my new psych prescriber for a very small amt of a low dose benzo to help me w/ anxiety, caregiver burnout, sensory processing & MCAS. I had to *promise* her I would work on exposure therapy w/ my therapist. I thought, “Wtf! Is your BFF ABA? Stop drinking the damn KoolAid”

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

Before that awful scary day, I was *sure* I’d done enough work. I was so wrong. I keep thinking of the SNL election night sketches. I moved to a blue state, but it’s not enough. I think about how strong BIPOC kids have to be dealing w/ that hate every day…. I resolve to be braver.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 17

I came out 13 yrs ago. I went down to the AZ senate to give testimony on the anti trans bathroom bill. I’d been in the same room in the past as an autism parent & everyone was welcomed. This time, they called us monsters, said we were a danger to children. I was 1 cough away from being arrested.

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Turtle @turtle4life.bsky.social · Sep 16

We fell short of Sinclair's vision because we collectively didn't do enough to promote the growth of local autistic communities. Imagine how much better off we'd be in a world where Sinclair and Mel Baggs and other ND pioneers were financially supported for their groundbreaking advocacy work.

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Reposted by Turtle

Xtra @xtramagazine.com · Sep 11

"Any connection they can draw between us and this act of violence will be used to strip more of our rights, or threaten us more in our homes, our schools and our communities," writes @melwoods.me, on how trans people have been roped into the narrative around Charlie Kirk's death

Trans people didn’t ask to get pulled into any of this | Xtra Magazine

Charlie Kirk’s murder is the latest event in which trans people have suddenly, inexplicably, become main characters

xtramagazine.com

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