Many autistic people find accepting compliments and being kind to ourselves difficult, especially if our experience has been that other people lambast us if we dare to exist openly while autistic. Struggling with self-acceptance is a vulnerability we autistics would often prefer to hide. Personally, I used to dismiss any and all compliments. If someone praised me, I would close up emotionally and not express acknowledgment or thanks. It’s only more recently—following some social struggles and a subsequent period of self-reflection—that I can recognize how many of the compliments I receive ..read more

I am cautiously pleased about autistic representation in the current streaming era, in which shows like the excellent Hulu series Dinosaur, co-created by and starring autistic Scottish comedian Ashley Storrie, are balancing out stereotype-laced series like Atypical. Dinosaur features Ashley as Nina, a Glasgow paleontologist (dino scientist) whose life is comfortingly routine-anchored—until her best friend and sister Evie upends everything with a surprise wedding engagement. Storrie talked with TPGA about incorporating her own autistic experiences into the series, why she finds N ..read more

For the majority of its 53 minute runtime, ASD Band: The Movie offers a straightforward, fly on the wall account of a band writing and recording songs while preparing for the first live gig. This might sound like a criticism, or at least faint praise. If the documentary were about another bog standard rock group who has seen this kind of cinematic treatment countless times before, that would probably be my intention. Considering the state of autistic representation in both music and film, though, giving this particular band the classic rock doc treatment is one of the most revolutionary choice ..read more

What does it mean to have a sensory-friendly home life? Our senior editor Shannon Rosa shares her perspective as a parent of young people with pronounced and varied sensory support profiles. She also invited writer, artist, and podcaster Johnny Profane to balance her take with his lived experience as an autistic elder. Here’s what they both have to say about navigating sensory issues at home. Shannon: Though I am a social and sensory odd duck, I am not autistic. I do have neurodivergent children; all of whom are all now bigger than me, all of whom have pronounced sensory accommodation nee ..read more

Sensory Icks: The Tags, the Seams, the Itch—And Everything in Between Have you ever had a clothing tag itch on the back of your neck? Me too. For many neurodivergent people, a tag can feel like a cactus or sandpaper rubbing against their skin. While other items can trigger a similar sensation, tags are the ultimate “sensory icks” factor for me. I can’t believe that most people aren’t irritated by tags! It is estimated that up to 90% of autistic people have sensory processing disorder, so it isn’t surprising that so many different (and often “trivial”) things can make us feel uncomfor ..read more

What is autism, you may ask? When you search on Google, you may find dozens of articles telling you many different things about the neurological difference. Essentially, autism is a neurodevelopmental disability that affects the way speech, coordination, language development, and motor skills are structured in someone’s life. The Latin word for autism is autismus, derived from the Greek word autos which means ‘self.’ But how should educators approach autism, and how can understanding autistic identities help educators better support autistic and non-autistic students? The way autism structures ..read more

Our senior editor Shannon Rosa was recently on autistic podcaster Shawn Sullivan’s show Unheard Voices, to chat about what we do here at Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (TPGA): Our passions for debunking autism misinformation, boosting neurodiversity advocacy, and fighting for disability rights. Shawn was a gracious host, and Shannon had a lot of opinions—all of which are correct. You can listen to the audio, watch the captioned video, or read the transcript below. Content note: This discussion mentions suicidality and self-harm. Sensory Note: Some echoing on Shannon’s audio. Shawn Sullivan ..read more

Investigative Documentary’s hit docu-series Natalia Speaks addresses important issues about parents’ legal over-reach and the rights of the disabled. It also raises the question of what we who are disabled deserve from the stories about us. Note: This review contains spoilers In the docu-series Natalia Speaks, Michael Barnett speaks to his adult son, Jacob, through a closed door, while a videographer lurks at the bottom of a staircase. Many of us in the autistic community will recognize the name Jacob Barnett; he was the subject of Kristine Barnett’s 2012 book The Spark, an account of a mother ..read more

Is it true that AI can diagnose autism? Short answer: No. Slightly longer and probably more accurate answer: Not yet. There’s been some buzz lately about articles with headlines like “AI Can Diagnose Childhood Autism From Eye Photos With ‘100% Accuracy’” and…well, no, it can’t.  I’m going to explain why I believe the research should never have passed peer review. The research is flawed and the reporting is irresponsible. There is potential for AI to eventually learn to diagnose autism, but that’s not what’s happening in this study. What Did The Study Try to Do? The study was trying to tea ..read more

Does the way autistic people play need to be fixed? Not according to a team of researchers at Cambridge University. Many people believe negative stereotypes about autistic play that stem from studying us autists by looking for our “deficits” when compared to non-autistic people. To counter this bias against autistic people and how we play, these researchers decided to examine what autistic play really looks like. They decided to ask autistic people, approaching them from a neurodiversity perspective: That is, starting from the principle that there is nothing wrong or deficient about playing in ..read more