I guess I see it differently because I was nonverbal as a young child and I still managed to accomplish more than most of my neurotypical peers. I also know plenty of nonverbal people (both ASD and deaf) who lead perfectly ordinary adult lives.

One great thing about the internet is that it has facilitated communication and socialization for a lot of nonverbal people. You don’t have to talk to “talk” to people here. I honestly think that the internet plays a similar role in autistic culture as sign language in deaf culture.

Exactly! That’s why I always try to note that I’m an autistic parent, not just that I have an autistic child. I grew up without a diagnosis, because I was a girl and people thought it was just “shyness” keeping me from speaking before the age of six. I was very, very good at test taking, so I aced school. Back then,…

You’re clearly on to something. Pretty much my whole family is autistic/neurodivergent, and we’re definitely cat people. SCIENCE!

Yes. As an autistic mom to an autistic kid, I think it would help tremendously for people to stop thinking of autism as a disease. It’s not. It’s a neurological difference, and one that can in fact be an advantage for certain kinds of work and lifestyles. Even if we could figure out what “causes” autism, that doesn’t…

This makes perfect sense. Pretty much everyone in my family is autistic and we definitely don't go to church. SCIENCE!

Here’s the thing, though. Autism ISN’T cancer. It’s not a disease. It’s a neurological difference.

I’m an autistic mom to an autistic kid. I really wish neurodiversity were more widely embraced. Maybe, just maybe, at some glorious point in a not-too-future time, we’ll spend less money on trying to figure out WHY people are autistic and more money actually helping autistic people live in a world that is not built…

Exactly this. I wish the RON PAUL! supporters had ended up in Trump’s camp, but Bernie was the one campaigning on legalized pot. I don't think the most violent Bernie supporters are even Democrats. If they were, they'd be less cool with burning our shit to the ground. I think most Sanders supporters are reasonable…

Dude, Wendell Pierce is a black man who got arrested in an altercation where the two parties told different versions of who provoked the fight. The police said they took picture of BOTH party’s injuries, and yet he was the only one arrested. They made sure to point out later that they didn’t know he was famous.

Last night on Twitter, I got called “retarded” by a Bernie supporter when I questioned his assertion that “Blacks below the Mason-Dixon Line shouldn’t be allowed to vote.” When I objected to his use of the word “retarded,” he doubled down. When I suggests that racism and ableism might not be the best way to encourage…

I can see by your other replies that you are not interested in facts, just in promoting your anti-Clinton agenda. I doubt you have ANY military connection, so your assessment of DADT means nothing to me. My father was a high-ranking officer during the Clinton years, so I trust my own judgment - AND the documented…

I think we need at least 11 more Benghazi panels.

AND anyone fired for being gay pre-DADT got a Dishonorable Discharge, which pretty much killed their chances of, at minimum, any kind of government/security work for the rest of their lives. Post-DADT, if you did get canned for your sexual preference, at least you got an Honorable Discharge and could translate your…

DADT *reduced* the number of people who “lost their jobs” for being gay. The number of discharges went down every year of DADT. It also meant that the people who were discharged received Honorable Discharges. Before DADT, anyone SUSPECTED of being gay would be given a Dishonorable Discharge.

#AbleismExists

I come from a family where we all have unusual names, and my husband has an extremely common name (like, I probably know at least 50 people with his first name). So we wanted something that wouldn’t be way out there, but also wouldn’t require him to use his last name/initial to distinguish himself from half his…

Also, grey and green are MUCH easier to hand down/pass along than anything too overtly gendered.

I almost always go for green, grey, earth tones - even when I know what sex the baby is supposed to be. First of all, it’s ridiculous to push gender stereotypes on infants. Secondly, if the items are overly gendered, it might make them less appealing as hand-me-downs (I’m talking about items that say things like…

Ugh. I’ve resisted responding to these posts, but nothing you’ve said has any merit. Hillary may have been indelicate in dealing with Bill’s accusers, but it’s also true that none of them were ever able to present a credible account of his “abuse.” Broaddick’s claims have been repeatedly investigated - including a…