Autistic Pride is

Accepting myself for who I am, both the good and bad parts of being Autistic.

Advocating for myself and others like me.

Being passionate and sharing my knowledge of my special interests with others.

Getting tinted glasses to help with light sensitivity issues.

Going non-verbal and not being afraid to use an AAC device if needed.

Helping others like myself learn to love who they are.

Learning the best coping skills to deal with sensory issues.

Reclaiming stims that were yelled out of you as a kid.

Recommending stim toys to others because you think they would find them useful

Sharing my life experiences with others to help people get a better understanding of Autism.

Showing the world that being Autistic is not some horrible thing.

Speaking in echolalia to get your point across.

Stimming when I need to, whether it be for happy reasons or anxiety reasons.

Using Identity-First language.

Wanting to spread Peace, Love, and Neurodiversity!

Autism Acceptance Month – Day 20 – Reoccurr...

Many Autistics have special interests, which are interests that they absorb themselves in. I am no exception. I have a few that reoccur or rotate throughout the year. My big ones are Pokémon, Harry Potter, and Dolls.  I do have many more, but the list is way too big for me to remember them all at this moment. My bigger ones tend to rotate throughout the year, usually depending on if a new book, movie, or game relating to one of them has come out. Usually I only focus on one special interest at a time. Last fall, the world had a different idea. Both the new Fantastic Beasts movie and the new Pokémon games were released on the same night. I was happy flapping and info dumping so much about both to my husband. Somehow, I did manage to split my time researching both things – when I am focused on any special interest I do tons of research on the subject to either learn about or update myself on it.

The three special interests I listed above are actually lifelong ones for me, to which I have now added Autism research as well. Pokémon has been part of my life for 19 years, Harry Potter about 17 years, and doll collecting… technically since I was a kid, so 20+, however the kind I mainly collect now just hit 10 years. I always come back to these interests, although sometimes I get distracted by others. When I am focused on one of my big ones all I want to do is talk about it and nothing else. It’s very hard to get my attention away from them, though I have gotten better over the years on listening to friends and letting them info dump as well.

I am very happy that my online store allows me to combine all these interests. I sometimes get to make weighted plushies of Pokémon or magical creatures. I also get to make doll clothing to sell. The weighted plush and stim toys fit in with being Autistic and wanting to help others like me.

I love seeing other Autistics get happy flappy about their special interests. And I really love it when I find others who have the same ones as I do, so we can info dump and flap together!