You’re already an ally—join me in being an advocate

I am an autistic adult. I write about autism, my autistic experiences, and the history of this neurocognitive condition as a self-advocate to help share education in the hopes of spreading awareness and acceptance.

Autism is highly stigmatized and parents often grieve when their children receive this diagnosis. I am here to tell you that while your feelings are valid, your child is not any less of a person than who you built them up to be in your mind. They are still full of potential, love, and innocence, and their future has yet to be written.

I do not speak for the autistic community; I am just one voice in the autistic community.

The acronym “LGBT” stood for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transexual. It encompassed a narrow understanding of sexual orientation within the parameters of the binary gender female and male.

As our knowledge of gender identity grows, so too does our knowledge of sexual orientation. The acronym continues to grow into variations like LGBTQIA+. The T now stands for transgender and words like queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual have been added. The acronym has become a hodgepodge of both gender identities and sexual orientations.

However, gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation. I like to say queer to encompass all the sexual orientations. I am queer.

I am trans because the gender I was assigned at birth is not my real gender.

I'm a white ally, advocate, and accomplice. I do not and will never have first-hand experience of racism to share with you. The information I provide on anti-racism is information I'm learning. I prefer to share the voices of people within the BIPOC/BBIA communities because #BlackLivesMatter.

If you're also white, thank you for acknowledging your privilege and joining me in this endeavor.

Parents are uniquely marginalized and it became even more obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic as vaccinations rolled out, allowing adults to return to “normal life” but parents had to continue taking precautions to keep their children safe.

I became a parent in 2018 and you’ll find my random parenting advice here. It’s not unsolicited advice if I put it on the internet and you came to me, right?