Category: Your Autistic Life

  • Janette Bertrand, The Lady Who Listened

    Janette Bertrand, The Lady Who Listened

    Janette Bertrand knew how to listen to those who were cast aside by society. I’m pretty sure she’d be fine with me calling her by her first name. So let me tell you about Janette. She was a big name on TV when I was growing up in Québec. She had one project after another.…

  • Stimming Is Life 004

    Stimming Is Life 004

    A playlist of music that I stim to. This playlist contains some oldies. I suppose the term oldie depends on what age you are, but I expect that for most kids, some of the music is going to fall squarely in the oldies category. If I do have some trivia about a song that I…

  • Sleep Disorders

    I used to be able to sleep just fine, but I lost that ability with age. Sleep disorders are common among autistic people. The fact that I progressively lost the ability to sleep normally is one of the reasons I think that I was starting to lose the ability to mask prior to my cancer,…

  • I Like Repetition

    There are multiple ways in which repetition is a feature of my life. Society tells us that repetition is a bad thing. Then again, society is dominated by neurotypical people. I’m neurodivergent, autistic, and thus my relationship with repetition is more complex than what society tells us. My choice of clothing shows a desire for…

  • Stimming

    I’ve stimmed all my life, but its manifestation has changed over time. As I reflect on earlier episodes in my life, I realize that a lot of the symptoms associated with autism were present in me, but masked. I’ve stimmed way before my cancer weakened my ability to mask, but I did not know what…

  • Why Saying “Everybody Is A Little Autistic” Is Harmful

    I’ll explain why this saying and its siblings are harmful to actually autistic people. I was talking with someone recently, asserting that I was actually autistic. His reply was that we’re all neurodiverse. In other words, my case is not special at all, and I should just shut up. The claim that we’re all neurodiverse…

  • Why I Don’t Seek Formal Diagnosis

    It is likely to end up being pointless in the USA. Once in a while I run into someone who insists that I should get a formal diagnosis. If you live in the USA, this is often a futile, frustrating, and expensive endeavor. It is not worth it if you are unlikely to get accommodations.…

  • Stimming Is Life 003

    Stimming Is Life 003

    More music to stim to. As usual, take what you like, ignore the rest. Note that Spotify does not seem to have The Living Tombstone remix of Epoch by Savlonic. Also, Vital Signs by Tame Impala is not on Spotify. Here is the YouTube playlist: Here is the Spotify one: As usual, comments are welcome.…

  • Social Anxiety

    Social interactions have always been difficult. As a general observation, social interactions have always proved to be a minefield for me. I did my best to step carefully through this minefield, but I did step on some landmines. I thought that was just me being “quirky” but I think now it is my autism. Truth…

  • Stimming Is Life 002

    Stimming Is Life 002

    A playlist for those who like to stim to music. One thing I found that 120 beats per minute (BPM) may be close to my limit when I walk. I may have songs that go above this limit, but if they are too fast, then I just hand-dance and forget about walk-dancing. If you want…