Maria Lara,LMFT

08/15/2022

08/15/2022

08/05/2022

Super helpful for more inclusive language

Euler Diversity Diagram
Credit to Embrace Autism for the original design: https://embrace-autism.com/neurotypical-and-neurodivergent/

Euler, or Eulerian (Leonard Euler), is the formation of shapes to explain hierarchies and overlapping definitions.
Unlike Venn diagrams, which show all possible relations between different sets, the Euler diagram only shows relevant relationships.

In this case, the relevant sets on display here are:

Neuronormative - the predominant socially bound neurotype.

Allistic- either neuronormative or neurodivergent, but not Autistic

Neurodivergent - a neurotype that diverges from neuronormative, including Autistic, stroke, dyslexia, c/PTSD, alexithymia, dyslexia, anxiety/mental health differences, synaesthesia, etc.

Autistic - a particular neurotype with common experiences in sensorial, movement, communication, and thinking.

Neurodiversity - Diversity is a property of groups, not of individuals.
That’s intrinsic to the meaning and proper usage of the term diverse. Groups are diverse; individuals diverge.

Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

Northern Autie

For an explanation of how Euler diagrams work, specifically how they differ from Venn diagrams:
https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/venn-diagrams-vs-euler-diagrams/

***r

07/29/2022

⚠️🥵‼️

Periods can cause huge sensory issues for autistics.

Periods can lead to massive feelings of gender dysphoria.

Shout out to autistics who for whatever reason are absolutely debilitated by their periods!

07/28/2022

💞🙋🏾💕

Image is a blue background with bubbles and a pink cartoon narwhal. text reads:
Choosing Therapies for Autistic Kids
Ask Yourself:

What is the desired outcome?
How are those skills being taught?
Bad therapies may use rewards and punishments, teach you to ignore your child's communication and attempts to connect with you. They will prioritize compliance and indistinguishability. These things make children vulnerable to abuse and teach them that conforming to neurotypical ways of being is more important, even when it hurts, than honoring their natural ways of being in this world. These types of therapies have been shown to traumatize and hurt autistic people.

Helpful therapies will assist your child in gaining self advocacy skills, respect their autonomy, aid them in communicating and connecting in the ways that work best for them, help them discover accommodations that work and find ways to navigate an often hostile sensory world. A helpful therapy will empower them to be the best autistic person they can be! A helpful therapy will recognize that autistic children need love, acceptance, understanding and respect. A helpful therapy will understand that autistic kids need downtime too!

A therapy should never be aimed "at autism" because autism cannot and should not be fixed! A therapy should always aim to help build skills and connections, not to fix a person who is not broken.

neurodiversitylibrary.org

07/12/2022

Remember!

*cPTSD

07/04/2022

Just because a relationship is q***r does NOT mean it is inherently "more s*xual" than a straight relationship...if your mind jumps to non-Disney levels of affection when q***r folks are mentioned you might want to reflect on why that is...

https://cooglife.com/2022/02/overs*xualization-of-q***r-people-in-media-is-ruining-perceptions-of-q***r-relationships/

Think of a movie or TV show with a q***r couple. What’s their age difference? Are they respected by their peers? Are they having a lot of s*x? While there’s nothing wrong with q***r people having a lot of s*x, often that’s what media focuses on. When q***r people on screen are over portrayed h...

06/09/2022

"It’s easier to say you “miss d**k” than to admit that as a bis*xual person you are still drawn to cis men despite the harm other cis men have caused you. But as cathartic as it may be to blame p***ses for abuse and desire, these feelings are misguided. They allow cis men to evade responsibility for their actions, blaming innate biology for their harm, and they imply that trans women are not only men, but men to be feared."

https://www.autostraddle.com/this-is-an-essay-about-p***ses/

"I spent years not thinking about my p***s — or, at least, thinking about it as little as possible. After I transitioned, my p***s became the most important part of my body — at least, to other people."

06/02/2022

Valid

Self diagnosis

on Instagram

05/30/2022

Yup

05/08/2022

⚠️ Reminder to all those with difficult parental relationships ⚠️

04/20/2022

⚠️⚠️⚠️

ko-fi.com/cptsdandme

04/17/2022

💡

I believe there is a lack of language around navigating infodumping, and that means we're in this space of wanting to be free to unmask and infodump, but also getting overwhelmed when we are on the receiving end of it. Traditionally the signals for it being too much lean towards the unspoken, which doesn't exactly bode well when you're autistic.

So here are some scripts we can use where we can be honest about our capacity to receive but it's not a personal attack (such as "omg you never shut up"). It can take work to not be offended receiving these boundaries, because often we have so much trauma from being "too much" that stuff like this can set it off. But it is healthy for us to have boundaries and respect other people's boundaries without taking offence. Including this dialogue into your parenting, especially when your kid is trying to tell you a million facts about sharks while you cook dinner, can also be really helpful.

If you have boundary scripts, I'd love to read them in the comments 🧠💜

[Image text:
Boundaries around Infodumping

The standard way

Indirect hints.
Unspoken signals.
Roll eyes.
Look away.
Turn body away.
Give basic responses.
Give no responses.
Complain behind their back.
Avoidance.
Passive aggressive put downs.
Hope they take the hint and stop.
End the friendship.

A different way

"I really love hearing you talk about things you're passionate about but I just don't have the capacity for it right now. Maybe we can talk more about it another day."
"My brain is too full right now and I'm finding it hard to listen to you. Can we just sit and enjoy each others company in quiet for a bit?"
"I love talking about special interests, now I've heard about yours, can I share about mine?
'I'm not being rude but this is too much for my brain right now."]

04/01/2022

Happy trans day of visibility, especially to all our trans siblings who are still in the closet. 🏳️‍⚧️💕🏳️‍⚧️

Reposting this one from last year! Check out this year's TDOV post on my profile 💗

Image description: a pink and blue dinosaur and the same text as the description 💕

Check my stories for some trans shirts and other pride merch!

03/21/2022

🤯

A couple with autism and ADHD shared on TikTok how they made their wedding sensory-inclusive

03/15/2022

Know any trans picture book artists?

Announcing the Transgender Scholarship for Picture Book Storytellers at the Highlights Foundation Two scholarships will be awarded annually, providing full tuition plus up to $300 in travel expenses if needed, for a Transgender person pursuing the craft of picture books. This scholarship was establi...

03/14/2022

Fawning, not just fight or flight.