What is your favorite holiday activity? Ours is watching model trains! -SR

#autism #neurodiversity #stimming

[image: video of a seated man, from behind. He is stimming with Mardi Gras beads, and watching miniature freight trains run on multi-level woodland tracks.]

When a beloved animal dies, what is a helpful way to help you or your autistic loved one cope? My son was a huge fan of @calacademy.bsky.social's Claude the Albino Alligator, and our red-eyed friend was always part of his routine for visiting.

More info about Claude: tinyurl.com/RIPclaude #autism

Holiday gatherings can be really hard for autistic kids and adults.

And the reasons why aren’t always obvious.

So please use and share our guide to helping autistics avoid
meltdown triggers. At TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2022/01/auti...

#autism #neurodiversity #autistic #sensory

Please remember: When we remind people that “there is NO evidence linking vaccines to autism” without adding “and fear of autism hurts autistics,” then we’re actually contributing to negative stereotypes about autism & autistic people. At TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2025/03/bust... #VaccinesWork

Just like the infamous clothing tags, there are many “sensory icks” that neurodivergent people experience regularly. Here is Shamiha Patel's own version of a complete checklist, categorised by the different senses:

thinkingautismguide.com/2024/02/30-s...

#autism #sensory #neurodiversity

"Parenting a neurodivergent child while carrying my own trauma means living in constant tension between tenderness and fear, love, and self-protection." Liz Koch, at TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2025/11/unta... #autism #trauma #parenting

"If you’re autistic, and your healthcare provider doesn’t recognize that and/or know what that really means, your provider is more likely to incorrectly interpret your body language and communication style as anxious, insincere, or confrontational." At TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2022/08/auti...

Why functioning labels are hurtful: A “high-functioning” person may be having a bad day & have a hard time with self-care tasks like bathing, cooking, shopping, & dressing. A “low-functioning” person can have a good day, week, or month & do relatively well with the same tasks. Finn Gardiner at TPGA.

Non-autistic parents who rely on mainstream autism resources may have no guidance for viewing their autistic kids positively. They may not see those kids as who they are, but rather as what they aren’t. These will probably not be happy families. But we can help!

tinyurl.com/NopeOnProfoundAutism

Autism pseudoscience grifters "claim to offer wellness, but what their products really do is drain health and well-being from the children who are targets of these 'treatments.'”

@ejwillingham.bsky.social in the new TPGA newsletter. Share and subscribe—if you dare!

tinyurl.com/AutismZombieQuackery

No, ABA therapy is NOT the gold standard for supporting autistic children: “Those studies that report children making long-term gains in functioning are of middling scientific quality, casting doubt on the therapy’s status as an authoritative treatment.”

thinkingautismguide.com/2025/03/when...

"We don’t all make the same faces. Just ask any autistic woman who’s ever had a complete stranger tell her, when she was perfectly relaxed & supremely happy, to "smile.'"

From @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the latest TPGA newsletter. Please read, subscribe, & share!
tinyurl.com/TPGArestingBitchFace

Parents of autistic kids deserve the best autism information, so they can understand and support those autistic kids. And we can help with that. We have so, so much useful info at www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com, and if you don't find what you need there, ask us a question! There, here, on IT, or on FB.

"The way we autistics process is often on hyperdrive. The activities that are like strolling for many allistic people are like sprinting for us. We need rest, more frequently and in greater durations than non-autistic people." @mx-joyner.bsky.social, at TPGA:

tinyurl.com/WeGetTired #neurodiversity

"While it is reasonable for people to debate about exactly what form autism diagnostic criteria should take, 'quirky' has simply never been among those criteria. NO ONE is diagnosed w/autism on the basis of being 'just quirky.'” @epballou.bsky.social at TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2018/05/auti...

We are fed up with endless hand-wringing stories about bogus autism
causes, “epidemics,” & labels.

We want to see more stories boosting how to better support, understand, & educate autistic people.

Repost (or scream loudly even if just inside your head) if you agree.

#autism #neurodiversity

"Fergus Murray’s Growing Up With Monotropism & Weird Pride is a crucial part of the brand-new autistic non-fiction anthology Someone Like Me. @fergus.oolong.co.uk's chapter is part technical primer, part auto-ethnography—& wholly moving." Eli Eggers, at TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2025/10/let-...

Why is it that 'research that’s clearly forbidden as unethical for non-autistic children is somehow allowed when autistic children are the subjects'? Anne Borden King is asking the hard questions, as usual:

childrensrights.substack.com/p/a-brief-hi... #autism #research #neurodiversity