In recent years, there has been a growing movement within the autistic community to retire the puzzle piece as a symbol for autism advocacy. Instead, advocates have proposed alternative symbols like the infinity symbol, which represents the infinite diversity and complexity of the autistic community.

Autistic children face unique challenges in the classroom, but with the right support from educators and parents, they can thrive and reach their full potential. In this blog post, I’ll share some tips for supporting autistic children in the classroom.

Recently I saw a tiktok featuring an autistic woman asking the 15% of working autistics (studies show only 15-30% of autistic adults are able to hold any kind of employment) how they did it. How were they able to manage their autism in such a way that allowed them to work? The overwhelming response was, “We don’t.” Person after person responded saying they are barely holding it together. I myself am constantly feeling like I am on the edge of burnout and often find myself asking how long can I keep this up?

As many people in the autistic community know, sensory overload is a common experience for those on the spectrum. Sensory overload can be described as an overwhelming experience where sensory information is processed by the brain in a way that is difficult to handle. This can be caused by a variety of different sensory stimuli, such as sounds, lights, smells, textures, and more.

Inclusive spaces strive to create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone, including people with different support needs. However, accommodating conflicting support needs can be challenging. What happens when one person's need conflicts with another person's need? How can we create a space that supports everyone?

I recently saw a TikTok video of an autistic person mocking the notion that autism is a disability, they were addressing a lot of autistic traits that allistic people and neurotypical people view as being a deficit, but that autistic people see as our strengths, and I was conflicted about the messaging of the video. I responded saying “Yes to not viewing everything autistics do differently as a deficit, no to the further stigmatization of disability in the autistic community. Autism is a disability, and that’s okay.”

A while ago on TikTok a joke popped up in the autism community. The joke was we all started referring to ourselves as “Neurospicy” or as having “spicy autism” I didn’t get it at first, until I realized it was in response to how some people refer to autistics with lower support needs as having “mild autism” and so the neuro spice meter was invented. Because, at the end of the day, saying mild or severe autism is the same as applying functional labels.