Copyright ©2017-Present. Absolutely no content on this site may be reproduced without explicit written permission of the Autistic Octopus. If permission is given to repost a blog entry, a link to the original post MUST be included. Certain sites (ex: The Mighty) will never be granted permission to use my content. If you happen across anything I’ve written on one of those sites, please let me know immediately, and if they’re allowing comments, please comment that the material is stolen.
An actually autistic person blogging about their life and experiences. I identify as autistic. I prefer identity first language. Please respect that.
I also ask that you respect that I am blogging anonymously for my own peace of mind and safety. If you think my site is a good resource, and you want to share it, please do! I am honored. But please don’t include me in lists where you categorize bloggers by known or assumed gender, age, marital and/or parental status, and so forth. (Yes, I know all about that fiasco.) I will be blogging about sensitive topics (I will add trigger/content warnings as I can. If you think I need a trigger/content warning about something, please let me know! It may simply be that I didn’t know it was a trigger for some people.) Topics I cannot discuss if people know who I am. Maybe someday I can share more of my identity with you, but not at this time. Even if I blog about something that might give you a hint as to something like gender, don’t post your assumptions anywhere. If you need to refer to me by something besides Autistic Octopus or The Autistic Octopus, please use gender neutral pronouns: they/their/them.
Not everything I blog about will be specifically related to autism.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value or is out of place on this site.
The Autistic Octopus does not claim to speak for the “autistic community” as a whole (besides, which, there are multiple autistic communities). And before you say it, I am like your child. You wouldn’t expect a neurotypical child to be in the same place, skill set (including life skills), knowledge, job capability, relationships, and so forth, as you would a neurotypical adult. So don’t decide that your autistic child will never succeed in life based on how they are as a child.
We are the real experts in being autistic. Listen to us. Learn from us.
And don’t write your child off.
(And if you’re not that parent, then this isn’t about you, so don’t tell me “not all parents”. Instead, stand up with us against those parents.)
Re: required consent checkbox in contact form — Please see my Privacy Policy for information. Thanks!