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Interview with Author of Uncomfortable Labels, Laura Kate Dale by Yenn Purkis

In this interview, author Laura Kate Dale discusses her new book Uncomfortable Labels with Spectrum Women Pride Page editor and autistic and non-binary advocate Yenn Purkis. The book is an autobiographical account of Laura’s life as a gay autistic trans woman. Why do you think you weren’t diagnosed as autistic sooner? I think for me personally, the issue was two-fold. Firstly, I was the kind of child on the autism spectrum who presented at a young age as very rule following, very detail oriented, and very able to follow set instructions. I wasn’t physically aggressive during meltdowns and was generally perceived as being well behaved for a male assigned child. When you’re a well-behaved kid, people sort of just assume nothing’s wrong. Additionally, when I [...]

What I like by Jenny Snyder

People make autism out to be scary and pitiable. But there are lots of things I LIKE about being autistic. Focus: Focusing on an activity is incredibly energizing. You could say I have a one-track mind. I am good at certain kinds of things because it’s easy to totally commit myself to some drive and I am pretty much single minded. Thoughts are like drugs to me. A few times in my life people have commented, “You think too much,” like my focus was weird, but I love the non-stop inner deliberations. My mind is not a bad place to live. I don’t get bored. Details activize. Patterns galvanize. Repetition inspires. Focus informs the way I walk, what I notice, the shirts I wear on [...]

Seeing the Unseen Premiere Thursday June 6, 2019

By Christine Jenkins, Spectrum Women Magazine international correspondent. I talked recently with Kristín Vilhjálmsdóttir about this new documentary. She is a translator based in Reykjavik, Iceland, and one of the 17 voices in the 90-minute film, Seeing the Unseen. When you consider the whole population of her country is 340,000, about one third of my urban municipality of Ottawa, Seeing the Unseen is a major achievement. It looks at the lives of 17 teen girls and women on the autistic spectrum and is presented by the Icelandic Autistic Society. The narration is based on a large portion of the poem by Kristy Forbes called “We are Proud Autistic Women” which forms a guiding theme. One year in development, the doc’s mission is “to create global [...]

Life Through the Lens of Autism: Condition? What Condition? by Lisa Morgan

I don’t have a condition, do you? I’m an autistic adult and I keep reading about my “condition”, wondering if “they” know something about myself that I’ve missed. I think I’m the expert at knowing me. Now, I read that I have a condition. Honestly, it’s insulting, demeaning, and offensive to me, but to be fair, I’m going to take an objective look at my life to see if I can find this condition “they” are talking about. Ok, so as far as I know, I’m in working condition for the most part. I mean, I am well beyond the life expectancy of an autistic person, so my condition is not at its peak of health and vitality. Still, I am able to get around, [...]

Processing…. Please Wait by Terri Mayne

Them: “Hey, can you get me that thing from on top of that shelf?” Me: “What?” Them: Can you ge–” Me: Oh yeah sure Them: ??? You hear the question, it doesn’t compute right away, you say “What?” as a kind of placeholder whilst you make sense of it, then just as the other person starts to repeat themselves thinking you’ve not heard them properly, you finally process the question and the penny drops and you answer fully, leaving the other person somewhat bewildered as to how you apparently didn’t hear but worked it out anyway. When your brain processes things differently and usually slower than your peers; this is what happens. The last couple of years I have been learning Muay Thai and I [...]

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A Silver Lining… By Lisa Morgan

by Spectrum Women in Featured

Trigger Warning ***This is an article on suicide prevention.*** In honor of September being National Suicide Prevention month, I thought I’d dedicate this column to issues of suicide in the autism community. While I do understand suicide is not a welcome topic, I believe that is one of the reasons it is such a problem. No one wants to talk about it. Although, I believe if we did talk about it more, people wouldn’t feel [...]

A Silver Lining… By Lisa Morgan

How Meditation Has Helped Me by Anlor Davin

First of all, I want to state that I am privileged and my basic survival needs are covered. Nowadays, and for the past ten years or so, I can make ends meet. I am, by the standards of most “civilized countries” (not in all domains…), rather poor. I am disabled, often invisibly, due to my autism. I live with my partner in a one bedroom rented apartment; we do not have a car, and I qualify for many low-income programs, but I am relatively healthy and I have quality health coverage and my health. This in turn means I have relative peace of mind, which is quite important to me and in order for meditation [...]

Seeing the Unseen Premiere Thursday June 6, 2019

VIDEO: NIMH Special Event – A Woman’s Voice: Understanding Autistic Needs

browser does not support iframe Run Time Approx 1 hour 40 minutes Event source page https://iacc.hhs.gov/meetings/autism-events/2019/april23/spectrum-women.shtml The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC) is pleased to invite you to attend our annual special event to recognize National Autism Awareness Month, A Woman’s Voice: Understanding Autistic Needs. We will be hosting a Panel [...]

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THE TOP TEN THINGS PARENTS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GIRLS ON THE SPECTRUM

March 8, 2018

Feature photo: Becca Lory with her mom ©Becca Lory 2018 A Spectrum Women collaboration, edited by Maura Campbell In honour of International Women’s Day, the Spectrum Women writers have compiled a list of things we think it’s particularly important for parents or carers of girls on the autism spectrum to know. 1. Recognise how autism presents differently in girls In adult studies, the 4:1 male/female ratio in autism diagnosis disappears. This means autistic girls are not rare. Persist when they say so. Look for intensity and insistence on sameness. Many of our behaviours are quite typical but we won’t choose to […]

Six Kindnesses for Living by Jennifer Lisi in partnership with Happy Hands Toys

by Spectrum Women in General

The body is a wonderful thing, complete with a glorious system of nerves for experiencing our resplendent world. Most individuals seamlessly navigate their sensory environment. But for myself and other autistics, simple tasks lay at the mercy of sensation. I am forty-one years old trying to make each day of my life matter. I have [...]

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