dheadley @dheadley@learningdisability.social

@NomadicNerd @Clouddweller @actuallyautistic My 24 year ASD son is much the same - typing, communication skills, vocabulary and eye contact all good but his handwriting never developed despite physio and other support at school and college. They don't seem to understand that it's a spectrum and one size does not fit all. Glad that your son is doing well.

We are looking to connect with as many Autistic people as possible on Mastodon.

Please RT this message if you are Autistic and wish to connect with other Autists!

Thank you! 😊

@todd Thankfully, Google web.dev is adding three testing modules in their new "Learn Accessibility" course that will feature different testing tools and techniques - automated, manual, and AT. It is a beginner course and cannot cover everything (nor is that the focus), but at least it will expose people to more testing options. Hopefully, in time that will result in fewer people relying on Lighthouse and only Lighthouse. One can dream at least

Hello!

I'm #autistic with #ADHD and #PTSD. Also #depression and #anxiety. Self-diagnosed. And let's throw #perimenopause into the mix. Doing my best to cope.

Wish to get diagnosed but there's no easy way and I just get overwhelmed and frustrated by the options, or the lack thereof.

The number of people who get me irl: 1. 🙃 I'm happily married to him, 17 years and counting. No kids, no pets. Just plants.

I'm a #POC in an #interracial marriage. We're both heathens.

I like #photography, #travel, #crochet, #baking, #houseplants, British crime dramas, and Oxford comma.

Nice to meet you!

#introduction

If you're researching early Connecticut, then check out this list of digitized collections. Each one is open access and free to use.

#VastEarlyAmerica #Histodons #Geneadons

https://www.earlyamericansources.org/connecticut-digital-collections-early-american-sources

Are you Australian and identify as #neurodivergent? Do you see yourself as a supporter of someone who is neurodivergent?
Maybe you are Australian, or maybe you are not.

As long as you meet two of these characteristics, you will be welcome here with open arms.

This instance is home to the strange, weird and kooky.

All personal identity information is held on servers hosted in Sydney Australia

#neurodiversity #actuallyautistic
#actuallyadhd
@actuallyautistic
@actuallyadhd

If you see this toot (yeah this one right here), can you boost it for me? It will help my new server federate with the wider Mastodon network. 🚀 🙏

Thanks to anyone who can do this. It is really appreciated! This server is small but will be hosting several #peace #SocialJustice and #Humanistic groups, so it is for a good cause.

In my new weekly #ActuallyAutistic online discussion and affirmation circles we will be looking at different topics that relate to our community, from unmasking and trauma, to Aut-ADHD relationships and #LongCovid. Join as fits your interest & schedule! https://www.theautisticcoach.com/autism-discussion-affirmation-circles

@actuallyautistic
One week on Mastodon. Never been on any sort of social media before, I know 58 years old and @actuallyautistic who knew? and it's been amazing (I would put loads of emojis and sparkly stuff but I have now idea how)
Thank you to everyone who has read and appreciated what I have tooted. But please be aware that I am still new to all of this and still finding my way, so please continue to be patient as I am learning as fast as I can.

Seasonal Reminder !

The #SalvationArmy is not a #charity. They are an evangelical protestant church that uses donations to oppose #LGBTQ rights.

Give them NOTHING.

NVLD with social deficits is a form of ASD so they presumably failed to exclude us.

Dear #Americans of #Mastodon, you have a wonderful opportunity that is rarely granted to you. For the first time, you're in an online public space that is not American, that is not centered around the US, and as I'm typing this, a place where the majority of users are not Americans. You can open yourselves to the world as you've rarely been able to before.

So please, stop expressing yourselves like the US is the default country here and that most users are Americans. We're not. Love.

For those who are unaware of NVLD ...

NVLD is an acronym for Non Verbal Learning Disability.

To clarify on this confusion name, this mean a Learning Disability that does *not* impact a person's *Verbal* ability.

"characterized by core deficits in visual-spatial processing in the presence of intact verbal ability."

https://neurodifferent.me/@morgainefae/109463006600466291

Earlier this year, Louise Clark's session on breaking into accessibility careers was one of the most highly attended Meetups. She's back! Join us for Breaking into Digital #Accessibility Careers, part 2! https://www.meetup.com/a11ynyc/events/289604947/

#A11y

Our account speculates that approximately 5% (1 in 20) people are Autistic as a *safe* estimate.

We derive this based on the most recent reports that 1 in 44 children in the united states are:

- Diagnosed with ASD
- And Reported to the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network.

Relevant factors in extrapolating this statistic:

- Being Autistic and having a diagnosis of ASD are not the same thing. Only a subset of Autists can access the assessment and even then, only a subset of the Autists meet the criteria for ASD or are accurately diagnosed.

- Children are generally easier to DX as ASD as they have not yet learned to mask

- Mortality rate for Autists is ~3 times higher so Autists skew young

Factoring all this, it is easy to assume that for every child diagnosed with ASD AND reported there can be two children who:

- Are diagnosed and not reported
- Meet the criteria for ASD but are not diagnosed
- Have subclinical Autism.

Then you factor in the high mortality rate to bring it back down when considering the entire population.

We feel it is very safe and logical to assume that if 1/44 children in the United States are diagnosed as ASD and reported by their parents that we can approximate that 1/20 people are Autistic.

- A Note on Perception Bias -

Many Autists will say "But everyone I know is Autistic, it must be much higher!"

Autists due to genetics, shared environments, the double empathy problem, etc. ... are predisposed to interact with other Autists, in disproportionate numbers relative to the general population distribution. We are not saying that these estimates are not accurate, we are saying that a strong perception bias exists when Autists speculate on Autistic population distributions based on anecdotal evidence and personal experiences.

It could very likely be more than 5% of the population, its just the number that we feel confident in supporting based on the available published data.

So much I relate to in this thread.

It helps to remember that "we have to get on with our lives" (which I'm sure we've all heard plenty of times) is an incredibly privileged take.

It comes from someone who doesn't (or thinks they don't) have risk factors that will make them the 1 in 5 who will develop #LongCOVID. Someone who's confident they won't be among the thousands of people in my country (USA) who die from COVID every week. Someone who's confident they can take the time to recover from an illness which will "surely" be mild, and not have their job, housing, and livelihood threatened by that.

But some of us aren't "getting on with our lives," because we simply can't afford not to consider these things. Life has already taught us that we are not invincible, something I'm worried that a lot of unmasked people are going to learn the hard way.

I don't want to become more disabled than I already am. I don't want my children to join the hundreds of thousands of COVID orphans in the US. I want my spouse to be healthy.

And, even setting all that aside, I never lost sight of "your mask protects me, and my mask protects you." #CommunityCare, people. I'm a Fred-Rogers #Christian -- by which I mean that I prioritize being a #Neighbor to others. How can we claim to #LoveOneAnother if we're willing to spread death and disability in our community in order to avoid the slight inconvenience of a mask?

I'm convinced taking #COVID precautions is the right thing. For me, for my family, and for my community. I hope the consequences won't have to get too dire for others to agree, but I'm finding optimism a struggle these days.

#MaskUp #accessibility #Disability #ChronicIllness #LongCOVID #LongCovidKids #PublicHealth #Equity #HealthEquity
@BlackAzizAnansi

Those looking to write their #FamilyHistory in 2023, what do you most need help with, select how to options below or comment with your Other suggestions! #Genealogy​

In the last few months I have developed an interest in why people do #genealogy or #familyhistory. The #psychology aspects of our work are fascinating. For this reason, I started today with “The Psychology of Family History: Exploring our Genealogy” by Susan Moore, Doreen Rosenthal and Rebecca Robinson.

@joshsusser it’s a natural response to the #isolation we feel, being constantly bombarded by the #normative #allistic default. It’s startling and #empowering to discover we aren’t alone, that others (many others, in fact) are experiencing the world in this #different way. This reaction is ironically quite natural. I’ve experienced it each time I’ve #comeout. Finding #community is empowering! #actuallyautistic #lgbtq #bdsm @actuallyautistic

I would find it useful if people could include in their profile where they live and (if applicable) work.

Obviously it's up to each person how much, or how little, information they share.

But even your country would be useful. County/state, town/city - even more so, if you're OK with it.

Maybe a few folks could boost this if they agree.

@actuallyautistic