Pardon My French Students,

pardon my French students,

but if yall see me talking on a non-verbal day/week/month/whatever

mind your beeswax

hello students <:

i wanted to try the 30 days of autism acceptance, so ill be combining all the first four days on this post, sorry for the long one! just as a reminder, autism speaks is a hate group, light it up blue and puzzle pieces are hate symbols, there is no "cure for autism", and (well-researched) self-dx is 100% valid <:

1 April: The typical introduction question! Tell us something about yourself. If you can't think of anything, try these: What do you enjoy to do in your free time? What music or series/show do you like? Are you happy with your current living situation/the people you live with? What's one of your favourite foods?

my name is elio, and in conjunction with autism i also have adhd and dyscalculia. im a gay trans guy in a committed relationship of 4 and a half years (so far). my favorite movie is gone with the wind, and my favourite food is toasted naan bread with goat cheese, pears, almonds, and honey on top <:

2 April: When were you diagnosed and when did you know that you're autistic? If you're self-diagnosed, when did you first suspect that you're autistic and when were you sure?

i don't have a formal paper diagnosis just because it was a very expensive and arduous road for me, and i was worried about workplace and medical discrimination since my dream job is in academia and im trans. i first suspected i was autistic around 14 or 15, and after talking to several autistic people, taking a lot of online screenings, and asking my sister (who has a degree in psychology), i was certain at the age of 17ish.

3 April: How good or bad is your memory for things people say? For example verbal instructions. If you're deaf: Can you lip read? Do you think your autism influences your ability to lip read?

its honestly atrocious. i have to repeat back the instructions multiple times, if i remember them at all. i definitely prefer to write things down or read them to retain information. are there any conversations going on around hyperlexia right now?

4 April: Were/are you in special education? Regular school? Home schooled? A private school? Did it change over time? Did/do you like it?

i went to poor public schools my whole life except for preschool, which was a free private program held in a nearby church basement (welcome to the south, i suppose). i was put in a lot of advanced programs for ela, but was very nearly held back because of math. by the end of high school i had taken 6 AP classes in english and history subjects and the AP Capstone program. i didn't mind school all that much, i was always a teachers favourite student because i was quiet and friendly and generous, etc. etc., but i never had friends after 4th grade until my senior year of high school.

a revalation today

i watched forrest gump for the first time ever today (post-ww2 is not my thing so i haven't seen many movies set in that era) and as a lover of southern culture and southern gothic settings, its a great movie, but as an autistic person i can't help but feel a little /icky/ about how they decide to go about autism-coding forrest, without outright saying that he is in fact autistic (see tags for a cool autism fact)

as questionable as this box sounds i can't wait until this is my like, real life big boy job <:

Next video about how museum work can be very dangerous and guess what I found at work today 🙃

ramblings of a lunch break

i currently work at a local grocery store (cos college isn't cheap smh) and i had this super pretty cowboy come through my line today, his boots looked so nice oml and i wanna be him when i grow up lmao

my kid brother showed me a 1899 short film called "Stealing a Dinner" if any of yall are curious to go watch it (warnings for fake gun, police reference, and sort of animal abuse)

An archivist found a long forgotten 8mm film reel in an old metal box, marked "Philippines 1942". Thinking it was lost WWII footage, he sent it in to be restored/digitized. When he got the footage back, he found puppies instead (via)