Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

If you missed Part 1 on What IS an Autistic Meltdown, you can watch it HERE.

Question for my Autistic readers: Do you have, or have you ever had, a meltdown? If so, how would you describe them to other people? Also, what would you like people to know about them?

The NeuroDivergent Rebel’s blog is a member-supported publication, and I can’t keep it going without monetary support. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Want to keep access the new paid subscribers ONLY LIVE videos (coming next week) but low on funds?

I’ve got a special discount for my readers who are struggling financially. This one is on the honors system, please take the discount only if you need it.

You can also claim this discount if you sign up for a group subscription.

What IS an Autistic meltdown?

When an Autistic person has a meltdown, it is an involuntary nervous system response to compounding environmental or internal stressors.

Meltdowns are a state of extreme overwhelm that can make it hard to think, move, or communicate clearly (assuming we normally have easy access to communication). They are neurological events (like panic attacks or seizures).

Remember, meltdowns are not a choice. They are a neurological “overflow,” like a circuit breaker tripping to protect our systems from frying.

Sometimes, from the outside, it may feel like an Autistic person is having a big reaction to something small... In reality, when we finally meltdown, whatever triggers our overload may seem small to an onlooker, but it’s often just the final drop in the bucket (a bucket that has been filling for many days, or sometimes weeks or even months).

You can watch part 2 of this video, What Does an Autistic Meltdown Feel Like HERE.

You can read a written version of this post HERE.

There are many ways you can support this blog that don’t cost money. Sharing is also a great way you can help support my work, if monetary support is not an option for you. It means the world to me.

Join me for my next live video in the app.

Lyric Rivera is an educator and author of multiple books, including the best selling business ethics book, Workplace Neurodiversity Rising, Neurodivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal, a collaborator on the U.S. Version of the Autism, Identity and Me children’s workbooks and helper guide by Rebecca Duffus, and co-author with Rebecca Duffus on the upcoming Autism, Identity, and me Workbook for adults releasing on November 13, 2026 (pre-orders open NOW)!

ATTENTION WRITERS & CREATIVES: If you’re an artist, just trying to get started, or wanting to grow your existing audience, Substack could be a good way for you to do so (for free). You can start writing or creating and sharing videos (live or pre-recorded) today. Use the button below to create your own Substack now.

The Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is Made Possible thanks to … Focused Space!

What is Focused Space?

Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).

More info:

I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:

Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.

Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.

Not sure if Focused Space is for you?

* You can start with a free 14-day trial.

* And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.

Hope to see you over there!

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video!

If you missed Part 1 on Autism, Neurodivergence, Disability, and Autonomy, you can watch it HERE.

Question for my Neurodivergent readers & other people with disabilities: Have you ever experienced pushback from people who spoke over you and claimed they knew what was best for you when you were trying to express or advocate for your needs? How did that experience of having your autonomy ignored impact your life and make you feel?

The NeuroDivergent Rebel’s blog is a member-supported publication, and I can’t keep it going without monetary support. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Want to keep access the new paid subscribers ONLY LIVE videos (coming next week) but low on funds?

I’ve got a special discount for my readers who are struggling financially. This one is on the honors system, please take the discount only if you need it.

You can also claim this discount if you sign up for a group subscription.

So... what is autonomy?

Autonomy means being in the driver’s seat of our own lives (instead of having other people make choices about what they think we need in life to thrive).

Continuing the car metaphor:

Having autonomy does not mean doing everything by ourselves. Rather, it means we get to decide where we are going in life, what help or supports we need, what route we would like to take, and when, where, or how we decide to ‘pull over‘ to rest from our ‘travels‘.

Other people might help us ‘read the map‘, do maintenance on our ‘vehicles‘, or come along for ‘the ride‘, but with autonomy, we take control, ‘grasping the steering wheel of our own lives‘.

When we have autonomy, we get to say “yes,” “no,” “faster,” “slower,” or decide when it is time to change course (or ask for support).

Autonomy lets us save our energy for what matters to us.

When other people constantly decide our schedules, what we eat, how we dress, or how we do our work, we can be forced to waste huge amounts of mental and physical energy just fighting against things that don’t fit us.

This (having our autonomy denied) can extend further to things like our names, pronouns, and our assigned roles in society. It can show up in workplaces, with bosses that micromanage us, and in medical environments, where we’re denied healthcare or pushed into care against our will (forced institutionalization).

Forcing people with a uterus to give birth against their will is an example of a person’s bodily autonomy being violated by the denial of access to healthcare.

When we grow older, we often gain more autonomy, unless that autonomy is stripped away from us by people who hold power over us. Yet, as children, we often struggle to have autonomy over our lives.

You can catch Part 2 - A Deeper Dive into the topic of Autism and Autonomy HERE.

Join me for my next live video in the app.

There are many ways you can support this blog that don’t cost money. Sharing is also a great way you can help support my work, if monetary support is not an option for you. It means the world to me.

Lyric Rivera is an educator and author of multiple books, including the best selling business ethics book, Workplace Neurodiversity Rising, Neurodivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal, a collaborator on the U.S. Version of the Autism, Identity and Me children’s workbooks and helper guide by Rebecca Duffus, and co-author with Rebecca Duffus on the upcoming Autism, Identity, and me Workbook for adults releasing on November 13, 2026 (pre-orders open NOW)!

ATTENTION WRITERS & CREATIVES: If you’re an artist, just trying to get started, or wanting to grow your existing audience, Substack could be a good way for you to do so (for free). You can start writing or creating and sharing videos (live or pre-recorded) today. Use the button below to create your own Substack now.

The Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is Made Possible thanks to … Focused Space!

What is Focused Space?

Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).

More info:

I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:

Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.

Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.

Not sure if Focused Space is for you?

* You can start with a free 14-day trial.

* And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.

Hope to see you over there!

Thank you to everyone for tuning into this week’s PAID SUBSCRIBER ONLY live video!

#AskingAutistics and other Neurodivergent People: Did you ever feel like you were broken or inherently flawed? What impact did that have on your life?

For most of my life, I believed, falsely, that I was inherently flawed and unworthy of compassion, kindness, and respect (…

#AskingAutistics: Have you ever experienced Autistic burnout? If so, what was it like for you? Were you ever able to recover from it, and if so, how long did it take?

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts, including notifications about future live videos, and to support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Want to keep access the new paid subscribers ONLY LIVE videos (coming next week) but low on funds?

I’ve got a special discount for my readers who are struggling financially. This one is on the honors system, please take the discount only if you need it.

You can also claim this discount if you sign up for a group subscription.

What is Autistic burnout?

Autistic burnout is a state of total mental and physical exhaustion that can happen when Autistic people are repeatedly pushed past our limits too often and for too long.

When we are burned out, we can experience what is sometimes called “Autistic regression,” where we lose skills we normally have, or they can become much more difficult for us (like communicating, self-care tasks such as cooking meals, hair and body care like bathing, or other basic daily tasks we’re normally able to do when at our best).

Once in burnout, we are in survival mode, and it can feel like our brains have completely or partially shut down (like a phone in low-power mode, with limited features).

Because of this drain, we may end up doing the bare minimum for survival.

We may stop socializing or having the energy to engage in the activities we normally would have enjoyed (the activities that give our life meaning and actually help recharge us in normal situations).

What causes Autistic burnout?

For many of us, the main cause of Autistic burnout is living with a constant, heavy load of stress, because the world and its systems often ignore or clash with the needs of Autistic people, combined with pressure to assimilate into that world (that doesn’t support our needs).

These mismatches include masking (hiding Autistic traits to stay safe and do our best to blend in with the non-autistic people around us, because the world can be cruel and dangerous for us if we don’t), dealing with sensory overload (our brains being flooded and then shutting down or shorting out because of overwhelming sensory stimuli such as bright lights, loud noises, smells, etc. or a lack of those sensory stimuli if we’re under-stimulated).

Many of us are also facing frequent social confusion, rejection, and isolation. All of this takes a toll.

Change can be especially hard on Autistic people.

Big life changes, like moving or losing a job or loved one, can also trigger burnout, because these big changes often come with new expectations and can disrupt the routines and structures we depend on to moderate and maintain our energy levels.

Basically, burnout happens when our daily lives demand more energy than our brains and bodies have to give, and we don’t get enough time to properly recover.

Any human can become burned out, but Autistic burnout is different because of the triggers and the fact that the very world we live in, and its structures, by design, are not meeting our needs and are putting extra pressure on us. This means many of us have our lives set up like a precariously balanced house of cards, and any one change can send the whole thing crashing down (on ground that is shaking, making it hard for us to build ourselves back up).

You can watch the Paid Subscriber LIVE replay via the button below:

Lyric Rivera is an educator and author of multiple books, including the best selling business ethics book, Workplace Neurodiversity Rising, Neurodivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal, a collaborator on the U.S. Version of the Autism, Identity and Me children’s workbooks and helper guide by Rebecca Duffus, and co-author with Rebecca Duffus on the upcoming Autism, Identity, and me Workbook for adults releasing on November 13, 2026 (pre-orders open NOW)!

Join me for my next live video in the app.

The Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is Made Possible thanks to … Focused Space!

What is Focused Space?

Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).

More info:

I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:

Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.

Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.

Not sure if Focused Space is for you?

* You can start with a free 14-day trial.

* And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.

Hope to see you over there!

Thank you to everyone for tuning into this week’s PAID SUBSCRIBER ONLY live video!

Today I talk about 10 things I have learned about sensory processing over the last 10 years, and what I wish I'd known about my sensory needs growing up.

#AskingAutistics & other sensory-sensitive people: What is something you wish the rest of the world understood about sen…

I can’t speak for all Autistic people as to why so many of us choose to self-exit and end the game of life early. However, in my case, a big part of why things got so desperate was tied to having significant sensory differences that, unsupported, led me to having multiple physical health issues (that I’d been gaslit about for most of my life).

In my case, the deterioration of my physical health (that was directly related to my unmet sensory needs) came first. Then, after years of not understanding why my health was declining, when things started to feel hopeless, my mental health started crumbling.

This is my story.

#AskingAutistics & other sensory-sensitive people: What is something you wish the rest of the world understood about sensory processing differences?

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts, including notifications about future live videos, and to support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Want to keep access the new paid subscribers ONLY LIVE videos (coming next week) but low on funds?

I’ve got a special discount for my readers who are struggling financially. This one is on the honors system, please take the discount only if you need it.

You can also claim this discount if you sign up for a group subscription.

Join me for my next live video in the app.

Thanks for reading NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is Made Possible thanks to … Focused Space!

What is Focused Space?

Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).

More info:

I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:

Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.

Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.

Not sure if Focused Space is for you?

* You can start with a free 14-day trial.

* And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.

Hope to see you over there!

Thank you to everyone for tuning into this week’s PAID SUBSCRIBER ONLY live video!

This week I answer:

What is Neurodivergent Masking?

Why do Neurodivergent people mask?

What harms can come from masking?

What is emotional safety/why does it matter?

And more…

What is the one thing you wish the rest of the world understood about masking?

There is a lot of talk in Neurodivergent spaces about how much relief late-identified Neurodivergent people find when they finally learn the truth about themselves. However, there’s not as much discussion on the pain and grief late identification can bring.

As unidentified Neurodivergents, our efforts were often ignored, and many of us were punished and scorned for our differences (rather than supported).

Many of us were pressured to keep up, figure it out, and we may have been shamed and reprimanded for struggling, without understanding why things our peers seemed to do effortlessly felt so hard, or even impossible for us.

Today, I am talking openly about some of the more difficult and intense emotions that can come with learning you are Neurodivergent in adulthood.

Neurodivergent people: Did you have any difficult emotions around learning about your own Neurodivergence?

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts, including notifications about future live videos, and to support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Want to keep access the new paid subscribers ONLY LIVE videos (coming next week) but low on funds?

I’ve got a special discount for my readers who are struggling financially. This one is on the honors system, please take the discount only if you need it.

You can also claim this discount if you sign up for a group subscription.

Join me for my next live video in the app.

Thanks for reading NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is Made Possible thanks to … Focused Space!

What is Focused Space?

Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).

More info:

I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:

Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.

Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.

Not sure if Focused Space is for you?

* You can start with a free 14-day trial.

* And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.

Hope to see you over there!

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

What are some examples of NeuroDivergence and why does it matter to ALL of us?

I talk about the importance of having an organizational culture that is flexible and creates emotional safety for all employees, and how emotional safety is a critical piece (because when employees don’t have it, not only are they less likely to speak up about what they need to be successful, but they also can be less willing to share when they have bold, creative, and out of the box ideas).

Also, we talk about some different policies and accommodations that can be applied through Universal Design, why effective Neuro-Inclusion initiatives DON’T start with the hiring process and recruiting initiatives, and so much more in today’s free educational video.

WANT MORE?

Disability Weekly: Fixing the System, Not the Person

I was able to continue this conversation on Neuro-Inclusive Workplaces later today on Disability Weekly (on LinkedIn). If you would like to check that out, you can find the replay from that LIVE broadcast via the link below.

https://www.linkedin.com/events/7482880912427515904/?viewAsMember=true

The conversation was also streamed on YouTube:

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts, including notifications about future live videos, and to support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Want to keep access the new paid subscribers ONLY LIVE videos (coming next week) but low on funds?

I’ve got a special discount for my readers who are struggling financially. This one is on the honors system, please take the discount only if you need it.

You can also claim this discount if you sign up for a group subscription.

Today I also shared some exciting news:

Starting next week, I will be doing weekly live videos, with one hour of totally free educational content, followed by a second hour that is exclusively for our paid members.

There will be many educational live videos in the coming months, so please feel free to share in the comments if there is anything you would like to learn about.

Thank you to everyone who tuned into this week’s live video!

Join me for my next live video in the app.

Two eBooks for the price of one!

As I mentioned on the LIVE today, through the end of this month, both of my self-published books (Workplace Neurodiversity Rising and Neurodivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal) are available half price as part of the semi-annual Smashwords eBook sale.

The sale, which lasts the entire month of July, is a great time to get either book (or both of our self-published books) for half price (when you use the code SSW50 at checkout).

You can find both of my on-sale books at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LyricRivera

Autism, Identity and Me: A Practical Workbook to Empower Adults Pre-sales Open NOW

I also mentioned that pre-sales are now open for the Autism, Identity and Me Adult Workbook.

This empowering workbook has been designed to help Autistic adults, whether newly diagnosed or self-identifying, to develop a positive understanding of their unique Autistic identity.

More info and a list of stores currently offering pre-orders can be found on my website.

Thanks for reading NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is Made Possible thanks to … Focused Space!

What is Focused Space?

Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).

More info:

I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:

Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.

Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.

Not sure if Focused Space is for you?

* You can start with a free 14-day trial.

* And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.

Hope to see you over there!

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Places you can connect with Chloe:

Website: www.chloeitoward.com

Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

Get Chloe Ito Ward’s wonderful books:

All The Ways We Learn

A celebration of learning and accommodations in the classroom, All the Ways we Learn honors the many brilliant and beautiful ways kids take in the world, helping them feel seen, supported, and loved.

Author: Chloe Ito WardIllustrator: Yaroslava ApollonovaPublisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop

Chopsticks Are

This meaningful and joy-filled picture book celebrates how chopsticks are used by people all over the world. Learn about how chopsticks are used in different cultures and countries, and join in the celebration of this multifaceted utensil.​​​

Author: Chloe Ito WardIllustrator: Lynn ScurfieldPublisher: Chronicle Books

Made For More

MADE FOR MORE is a joyful exploration of immigration and nontraditional beauty. This picture book addresses colorism in the Asian community and encourages kids to embrace the skin they’re in, freckles, moles, scars, and all!

Author: Chloe Ito WardIllustrator: Gael AbaryPublisher: Allida/HarperCollins

Love Grows Here

After a racist encounter, an Asian American girl decides to fight hate by spreading love.

Author: Chloe Ito WardIllustrator: Violet KimPublisher: Albert Whitman

Join me for my next live video in the app.

Thanks for reading NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

As a reminder, I am going to be taking a partial hiatus though the month of October, and don’t plan to do other live broadcasts during this time (unless we end up somewhere with exceptional internet).

I will still be writing a during this time, and will monitor news, but with lesser frequency.

I do plan to still do written posts on Substack during my break, because less internet connectivity is required (compared to broadcasting).

Currently, we’re planning to make a full return at the beginning of November.

Thanks for reading NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.

As promised my shirts and books are below.

You can get my Fall shirt at:

https://www.bonfire.com/neurorebel-rebel-refusing-assimilation-shirt3/

All of my other shirts are on FourthWall:

https://neurodivergent-rebel-shop.fourthwall.com

Get my books:

You can get Workplace NeuroDiversity Rising via the link below:

https://books2read.com/neurodiversity-rising/

You can also get a PDF of Workplace NeuroDiversity Rising directly from me on my FourthWall shop.

https://neurodivergent-rebel-shop.fourthwall.com

Get the Autism, Identity, and Me Workbook and Helper Guides (currently 25% off from the publisher when you buy 3 ore more books):

Autism, Identity and Me - A Practical Workbook to Empower Autistic Children and Young People Aged 10+

https://www.routledge.com/Autism-Identity-and-Me-A-Practical-Workbook-to-Empower-Autistic-Children-and-Young-People-Aged-10/Duffus-Rivera/p/book/9781032832548

Autism, Identity and MeA Professional and Parent Guide to Support a Positive Understanding of Autistic Identity (currently 25% off from the publisher when you buy 3 ore more books):

https://www.routledge.com/Autism-Identity-and-Me-A-Professional-and-Parent-Guide-to-Support-a-Positive-Understanding-of-Autistic-Identity/Duffus-Rivera/p/book/9781032820491

Join me for my next live video in the app.

You can get my Fall shirt at:

https://www.bonfire.com/neurorebel-rebel-refusing-assimilation-shirt3/

Get my books:

You can get Workplace NeuroDiversity Rising via the link below:

https://books2read.com/neurodiversity-rising/

Get the Autism, Identity, and Me Workbook and Helper Guides (currently 20% off from the publisher):

Autism, Identity and Me - A Practical Workbook to Empower Autistic Children and Young People Aged 10+

https://www.routledge.com/Autism-Identity-and-Me-A-Practical-Workbook-to-Empower-Autistic-Children-and-Young-People-Aged-10/Duffus-Rivera/p/book/9781032832548

Autism, Identity and MeA Professional and Parent Guide to Support a Positive Understanding of Autistic Identity

https://www.routledge.com/Autism-Identity-and-Me-A-Professional-and-Parent-Guide-to-Support-a-Positive-Understanding-of-Autistic-Identity/Duffus-Rivera/p/book/9781032820491

Join me for my next live video in the app.

You can get the Fall shirt at https://www.bonfire.com/neurorebel-rebel-refusing-assimilation-shirt3/

You can get Workplace NeuroDiversity Rising via the link below: https://books2read.com/neurodiversity-rising/

Join me for my next live video in the app.

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The documentary that we were shooting today will be out in September… more details to share, when the show airs. :)

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Just a very gentle reminder that the second batch of my new shirts is concluding July 2, 2035.

Get yours at: bonfire.com/neurorebel-2/Please don't worry if you can’t grab one this go around. If I have had readers request them be available longer, I will be releasing another batch.Thank you everyone who grabbed a shirt from me (this design or the first one) and everyone who supports the blog in other ways.Your support makes the continued operation of this blog possible.I am truly grateful!- Lyric

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Just a very gentle reminder that the second batch of my new shirts is concluding July 2, 2035.

Get yours at: bonfire.com/neurorebel-2/Please don't worry if you can’t grab one this go around. If I have had readers request them be available longer, I will be releasing another batch.Thank you everyone who grabbed a shirt from me (this design or the first one) and everyone who supports the blog in other ways.Your support makes the continued operation of this blog possible.I am truly grateful!- Lyric

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Just a very gentle reminder that the first batch of my new shirts is concluding on June 17th (today).

Get yours at: bonfire.com/neurorebel-2/Please don't worry if you can’t grab one this go around. Because I have had readers request them be available longer, I will be releasing another batch.Thank you everyone who grabbed a shirt from me (this design or the first one) and everyone who supports the blog in other ways.Your support makes the continued operation of this blog possible.I am truly grateful!- Lyric

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In today’s video:

* Companies are starting to speak up about how tariffs will impact their prices.

* Why the “Big Beautiful Bill” is a big pile of poo - especially for those already struggling.

* Charges against Mayor Ras Baraka Dropped

* Charges brought, instead, against Congress Woman La Monica McIver

* The phrase “someone just needs to do it” is trending on the internet.

* Elon Musk’s Grok talks white genocide and Holocaust denial propaganda, then when asked about “why” says it was told to spread these ideas.

* It seems like everyone hates Elon Musk, and Trump and Musk may have eventually had a falling out (seeing as Musk is no-longer following Trump around and they’ve stopped posting about each other on social media).

Thanks to everyone who attended live.

The replay of this video had a limited time free replay, then it was be moved to paid subscribers ONLY.

NeuroDivergent Rebel is a Reader Supported publication. I hope you'll join me as a free member, but if you can join as a paid member, my content is made possible thanks to my paid subscriptions (who get access to bonus content) delivered directly to their inbox, Substack app, and web browser as thanks for their support.

If you are in need of a discount, please use the button or link below to get your subscription at a deep discount (because I don't want money to be an obstacle to people):

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Please, kindly refrain from taking this offer if you do not need it.I hope this helps,- Lyric

Thanks to everyone who attended live. The replay of this video is will be open until tomorrow morning, then it will be moved to paid subscribers ONLY.

NeuroDivergent Rebel is a Reader Supported publication. I hope you'll join me as a free member, but if you can join as a paid member, my content is made possible thanks to my paid subscriptions (who get ac…

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This erases ALL of the Autistic People who can do these things (and further dehumanizes and devalues those who cannot).

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There is NO “Autism Epidemic”!!!

According to the most recent report by the CDC, 1 in 36 children have been identified as Autistic.

Before that, they thought we were 1 in 44, and when I found out I was Autistic less than ten years ago, they were saying it was 1 in 59.

To the untrained eye, this may look as if there are “more Autistic People than ever.” However, in reality, Autistic People have always been here.

There aren’t “more Autistic People” on earth all of a sudden; we have more Autistic People BEING IDENTIFIED now (thanks to a few factors – increased awareness, understanding, and screening).

I've also seen people claiming that the increase in Autism prevalence is due to our increased awareness and understanding of Autism, which is partially true.

However, in addition to the expansion in our understanding of Autism and Autistic People, two main factors have contributed to the specific increase in the CDC's numbers:

The first major change that has had a significant impact on Autism numbers over the past fifteen years happened in 2007 when the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended ASD screening for every child (even if parents had no concerns) at both 18- and 24-month pediatric visits.

Before that, in 2006, the Autism prevalence rates were estimated to be 1 in 110. In 2008, as this program started rolling out, the data suggested that one in 88 children is Autistic.

A few years later, in 2010, once the screening practice had become more widespread, the estimate was 1 in 68. That number mainly stayed the same for a few years, coming in only one point higher (at 1 in 69) a few years later in 2012.

Another MAJOR change happened in 2013 when the American Psychiatric Association removed Asperger's Disorder, PDD-NOS, and Classic Autism as diagnostic categories with the release of the DSM-5, merging all three of these designations under the label of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

This change meant new people (those with Asperger's and PPD-NOS) would now qualify under the Autism criteria (instead of receiving a separate diagnosis).

They widened the criteria, so more people qualified as Autistic, and the numbers started rising again.

In 2014, we were 1 in 59. In 2016 (when I was diagnosed and started my blog), we were 1 in 54.

A few years later, in 2018, we were 1 in 44, and now we are 1 in 36 (but if you ask me to guess, it's closer to 1 in 20 - maybe more because the data doesn't count adults and those who aren't identified as kids).

Some families won't allow Autism screenings (due to cultural differences), and some underprivileged kids have less access to medical care and are often left out of screenings.

The more privileged Autistic People are more likely to be seen as Autistic, and those of us who are less privileged will have our Autism seen as other things (like mine was labeled "bad behavior" when I was growing up).

If we are not cis, white men, or come from families who don't have much, we are more likely to slip through the cracks, being diagnosed in adulthood (if we are even diagnosed at all).

Excerpt from a Substack post from January 2024 - Full post:

Transcript for today’s vido:

Lyric: And so I might get into some of the other things I had planned to talk about today. 'cause this has been a really big week, uh, in American fascism news. Um, because we really have kind of tiptoed into the constitutional crisis now that we're openly defying court orders, um, multiple court orders we'll say.

Uh, so, so that is alarming. Um, but because as an Autistic person myself, I feel I am. Uniquely qualified to comment on RFKs propaganda and anti Autistic b******t that he was spreading today and has really been spreading, um, in general because he's always saying some problematic s**t about Autistic people.

Uh, I, I feel like I'll cover that and hopefully others in the internet sphere who aren't Autistic can cover some of those other issues that are going on. Um, because this is kind of my niche here and I haven't talked a lot about autism lately because there have been a lot of things that are quite frankly a bit more pressing with what's going on in the world.

But here we go, because, uh, I see Autistic people becoming more of a, more of a heightened target by the Trump regime. We gotta talk about it. So here we go. And this one might be one I leave up, uh, for everyone to view after the fact. Just so everyone knows, your comments do disappear. After it gets re-uploaded.

So anything you say now will not be shared in the next like re-share version of the video. So it's like gone forever after, after the live ends, just so you know. So that's like a nice little safety feature that I, I think is really good here. Um, so I might leave this one up. We'll see how it goes. Uh, a lot of times these go behind the paywall 'cause I kind of go off on tangents and I just wanna keep myself safe.

Uh, but this one might be a little different. Uh, so RFK went on a rant today talking about this autism epidemic. Um, and you know, first of all, uh, I wanna talk about there's a problem like with the fact that they use this language epidemic, uh, around Autistic people. Like we are people, right? Um. If you were going around saying there's a, there's a gay epidemic, there's, or there's an epidemic of, of brown people.

Oh, wait, that's what they're doing with immigration, right? Um, you know, like they, they use this word epidemic, like they use these tactics, othering, fear mongering, scare tactics. This is something scary. Be afraid of Autistic people. Be afraid of the autism epidemic. It is a way to dehumanize Autistic people.

You know, we're saying autism is the, is the thing. Autism is the boogeyman. We're going back to this autism warrior parent language that 10 years ago. Before I was diagnosed Autistic was really, really common. This autism is this boogeyman. We got a fight thing and the warrior parents were rising up to battle against autism.

And then Autistic people getting snarky were like, I'm joining the battle of autism on the side of autism. Uh, and and that's where we were 10 years ago. Right? And this language goes right back to that, where it's like, Autistic people are terrible. Y'all shouldn't exist. And we want everyone to, to hate Autistic people.

That that's what this language does, is dehumanization of Autistic people. So if you had any other group of people and you were saying there's an epidemic of these people existing

that is eugenics language. Like we are, we are looking at eugenics here we are talking about anti Autistic eugenics very openly, right? Ugh. It's gonna be a long four years and beyond. So the other thing that RFK said multiple times in this most recent visit about this autism epidemic that does not exist is that there is a more extreme risk for boys to become Autistic.

Four to one compared to girls. So a couple things about that, uh, nobody becomes Autistic, but this is something they keep saying over and over again. These perfectly beautiful, healthy children become Autistic when they are two years old because of some kind of exposure. They've regressed and they become Autistic.

I've always f*****g been Autistic like you are born Autistic and you're Autistic your whole f*****g life, and you die Autistic. That's how the f**k it works. Okay. Excuse my language. I'm just tired of this crap already, right. RFK doesn't think Autistic adults exist. He literally doesn't think Autistic adults exist in the same speech he went on saying proof of this being a new trend is that it's only impacting children.

He literally said, this is only impacting children and that there are no Autistic people his age. I'm gonna guess he is in his seventies. He could be older. I can't really tell. He looks like a burnt piece of bacon to me. I'm sorry. We shouldn't go to personal insults. I just am so annoyed with this guy. He is like there.

There are no Autistic people my age walking around and it's like I have Autistic followers and readers and viewers in my community that are your age. Many of them, but they don't understand Autistic masking and Autistic blending in and camouflaging and that as we age. We pick up coping skills and tools and supports that allow us to blend in so we don't stand out as much.

He says, this epidemic began in 1989. I was born in 1987 and I was Autistic before 1989. I can see it in my baby videos when I'm just an infant the way I like, am just visually stemming with everything around me, uh, I'm sorry. No Autistic kids are born this way.

It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. I,

this guy doesn't know s**t about autism and the fact that he says that boys. Are more likely to become inflected infected with his autism thing than girls are Even more points to the fact that he doesn't understand that there is camouflaging and social pressure for Autistic and neurodivergent people to blend in.

And that that social pressure is exponentially higher for people who are assigned girl at birth and people who are put through feminine social programming. Because if you're labeled a boy, boys will be boys. It's acceptable. So

it's all nonsense and it's all fear mongering and it's all made to make people hate Autistic people. Make people afraid of Autistic people. I. And so he called us epidemic deniers while he's representing, like he's misrepresenting all this data that he obviously doesn't understand, right? So I was born in nineteen eighty seven, two years before this autism epidemic supposedly kicked off.

But you know, I was Autistic back then too. I was Autistic back then, and I'm Autistic now. But you know the difference. I wasn't diagnosed, so I wasn't counted in that number. So that number from 1987 or 1989, I should have been in that number. I was alive then, but I wasn't diagnosed, so I wasn't counted. Do you know how many other Autistic people my age, I'm 38, were not counted in the data from back then.

Because we weren't included in the criteria yet because that criteria has grown wider over the years.

It is just like, like pretending Autistic adults don't exist at all. Um, and then, you know, okay, this is great, like talking about autism awareness month 2025. I didn't see it getting this bad is what I'm a quote. I'm about to read to you because I had to pause and rewind the video a few times to listen to this to be like, am I really freaking hearing what I just heard?

Uh, and I wanted to quote it correctly. So let me read you this quote, because today this is what RFK said about Autistic people and autism. RFK said autism destroys families and. Our nation's greatest resource, our children. So children are a resource. They're not like, uh, humans. They're not, they're not people.

They're a resource to be exploited. Gross. Okay. He continues. He also says, Autistic children are suffering, and kids like that will never pay taxes. Why did I pay my taxes yesterday? I didn't know I didn't have to pay my taxes. Are you f*****g kidding me? We don't have to pay taxes because we're Autistic.

Why the f**k didn't I get that memo? I've been paying my taxes the past 30 something years. What? Well, not 30 something. I haven't had a job since I was, you know, but since I started working, I've been paying my taxes and apparently we don't have to pay our taxes. What? Okay. Sorry. Went on a tangent. That just, I was just like, what?

Damn. Uh, he also said, we'll never hold a job. Well, f**k, I've, I've held multiple jobs, different kinds of jobs. Um, this is kind of like a job, a little bit like a job. I don't know. Uh, he also said, uh, we, we, we'll never play baseball. He is right. I can't play baseball. I do not have the hand-eye coordination for that.

Sorry. Not my thing. So maybe he is a little right on that for some of us. Not, not for me. I can't play baseball. He's right. He got me. He got me. Okay. You got me? Let's try another one. Write a poem. Oh, no, no. I've written many poems, so that, that's another one. You're getting wrong, buddy. We've Autistic people.

I know a lot of Autistic poets. Hi, any Autistic poets out there? RF RFK says, you don't exist. You will never write a poem if you're Autistic. Um, you won't go out on a date. Oh my God. Somebody tell me and my Autistic spouse that we shouldn't be going on dates because Autistic people don't go on dates. Uh, many of us will never use a toilet unassisted.

Okay. You know, everybody has different levels with toileting and things. This is just one that they always bring up and it's really horrible because there are a lot of different disabilities that can cause people to have toileting problems or problems just with interoception. I think that's the right one.

Um, the, the sense of like what your bodily needs are. And it's like, I, I get this a little bit, like I don't pee in my pants or anything, but I like, don't realize I have to pee until it's like the very last minute and I'm like, oh, shoot, now I gotta run to pee and it's an emergency and like if I don't find a bathroom, it's gonna be a problem.

Um, and some of us will have these kinds of issues our whole life and for some of us it can be even worse. Right. But we don't need to stigmatize people who have bathroom problems. Okay. Like, that's like a whole separate thing that might. Occur with some Autistic people, especially those who have additional co-occurring disabilities in addition to being Autistic, like might have some kind of other difficulty or motor control issue that makes complex muscle movements.

Uh, such as like getting dressed and physically doing a lot of these things nearly difficult to impossible, like that is a possibility, but that's a co-occurring condition that is common in Autistic people that not all Autistic people have. We are on a spectrum, for example, clay Marzo, the Autistic surfer, um, has hand eye coordination that you and I probably can't comprehend.

Meanwhile, I'm over here walking into walls and doors, but I can roller skate, take my skates off, and I don't know where my feet are. I don't know how that works, but it's just a thing. Uh, so we're not gonna do any of these things, uh, and. He also said, we need to recognize we are doing this to our children and we need to put it into it.

So he's also in the same sentence, bringing back, blaming and shaming the parents for causing their children's autism, but in a whole new way. So it's your fault your child's Autistic now, but because you let them be exposed to something that, that's the new narrative and they are desperate to find people that can research, find research.

That'll back this all up. So we'll see where we go from here. But it's a grim day to be an Autistic person. Um, and you know, they just keep saying over and over again that environmental toxins must be causing this. And it's really alarming that he keeps saying this because okay, he's saying it must be caused by environmental toxins.

At the same time, he's saying, we will know the cause in this many months by September. So he's saying it's caused by this. We don't know the cause. It's caused by this. We will know the cause. It's caused by this we, so which is it RFK? Is it caused by environmental toxins or do you not know the cause yet?

And you will find the cause out by September? Can somebody just put me up on a stage to debate this motherfucker? I would love to tear him apart. I'm hungry for it. I don't usually like debates, but this f****r would be so easy to tear down. I'm just like listening to this like guy talk and I'm just like screaming to myself in the room.

The dogs are like, what the hell is your problem in incompetence? Nonsense. Just propaganda. They'd never like coward, would never debate me on August.

All right, so. Lemme just talk a little bit about something that I've shared previously about the data. Uh, I'm gonna do a little bit of like reading it off just because I wanna get this correct. Uh, and then I'm gonna look in the comments section. Um, so let's talk about why there's no autism epidemic really quickly.

Uh, so according to this most recent report from the CDC, which was now a couple years ago, uh, one in 36 children are identified as Autistic. Okay? Before that, it was one in 44. And when I found out I was Autistic less than 10 years ago, about eight years ago, they were saying it was one in 59. Okay? So to the untrained eye, this might look like there are more Autistic people than ever.

However, in reality, Autistic people, we've always been here. Remember I said it's one in 36, now it's one in 59 back then. But all of those groupings of data I wasn't included in. I wasn't diagnosed as a child and I'm an adult and they're only talking about childhood diagnosis right now. So a lot of us are left out of this data.

There aren't more Autistic people on the earth. All of a sudden we have more Autistic people being identified now, thanks to multiple factors. There's a crease in, there's increased awareness and understanding, and there's increased better screening. Um, and you know, it's not only due to increased awareness and understanding of autism, there's a lot of it that's due to that, but.

Something else people don't talk about enough. And I think if you don't mention this, you are really missing out on something that's really important, uh, is that we've had changes to our criteria. So more people now fit within the diagnostic criteria. So for example, the first major change, uh, that had a significant impact on autism numbers, uh, over the past 15 years, happened in 2007.

So what happened in 2007, we had the American Academy of Pediatrics start to recommend autism screenings for every child, even if parents had no concern at 18 and 24 months. So in 2007, I was already outta high school and I'm 38. So people my age and older, like we were basically adults when they started doing these screenings more widely.

So that's one thing that's gonna be a lot more identification. 'cause now they're combing through ti uh, through people with a fine tooth cone, whether you expect their Autistic or not. They're screening kids for autism. Autism. So that's a big deal in 2007. Okay, but wait, there's more. Okay. So before that, um, in 2006, the autism prevalence rates were estimated to be like one in 110, right?

Uh, and then in 2008, this, um, program that they, they put out, started to roll out and the data changed pretty quickly. And so in 2008 we had one in 88. Okay. Because we're, we're identifying more. Um, and so then we had something else happen in 2010. After the screening process has been like more widespread?

Uh, we had 1 68. Okay. So we, we do see a roll up in the numbers, but we are actually actively looking for Autistic people now. We weren't actively looking before, so of course if you're actively looking when you weren't previously actively looking, you're gonna find more because you're looking for it. If you're not looking for it, you're not gonna find it.

It's really fricking simple. It's not that complicated. Right. So there was another big change, and then we don't talk about this enough. 2013. Okay. 2013. It's been over 20 years now, right? No, 10 years. Sorry. Math is not my thing. Dates and numbers. Not, not my thing. Word, word story, my thing. Math. No, I'm not.

The math Autistic do not fit that stereotype. I'm not the accountant. You know, definitely not. Um, so what happened in 2013 is the American Psych Psychiatric Association words, uh, removed the Asperger's Disorder diagnosis from the DSM. They also removed P-P-D-N-O-S and classic autism as diagnostic criteria and merged all of these labels into one diagnostic category of autism spectrum, right?

So all of that is in the autism spectrum. Now, all of that, multiple different things that would've been separate previously are now all considered autism. So in 2013, we massively widened the bucket. We made it so much bigger, like things that wouldn't have technically been autism before are now autism.

And that's because they realized that a lot of these, um, diagnostic labels that they were giving weren't particularly helpful. The differentiations, for example, um, because, you know, just because like the Asperger's kids, a lot of times they said that they were the ones that were hyperverbal and they had, um, you know, intellectual giftedness a lot of the times.

Uh, but they also saw that these kids struggled significantly in adulthood a lot of times. And because they were given this other label, it was actually hurting them because people would say, oh, you just have Asperger's, you must not really need support. Uh, and so it really di diminished a lot of their struggles having this label.

Um, and then some of the other conditions got smooshed in as well. So like the criteria got so much bigger. So once again. Of course now there are more Autistic people again, because the criteria changed because our diagnostic labeling is really limited and has to constantly evolve. So that's another really, really big factor.

Uh, so that was 2013. Uh, and so like then soon after we had 2014 new numbers came out, right? And the numbers is one in 59. And then in 2016 when I was diagnosed and I started this blog, uh, it was, what was it, one in 54. Okay. So like that's where we see these numbers going up. Uh, 2018, it was one in 44 and now we're at one in 36.

But I secretly suspect it's probably like closer to one in 20. And that's based on no scientific anything whatsoever other than like just my observation of people in the general population and my assumptions that. Autistic adults aren't included in this data. And so the data they give is only Autistic children.

Um, and it doesn't retroactively include Autistic adults that were excluded from the data. And so, like my number includes all Autistic people, adults and children, and isn't pretending that Autistic adults don't exist because their study data only looks at children. Because their solution for being Autistic as a child is to put Autistic children in early interventions.

And some of those programs can be helpful. Um, you know, I, I asked once in a video that got someone really, I think intentionally misinterpreted and I said. If they're asking you to intervene in your Autistic child, ask what they're wanting to intervene in, like intervening in what, right. Uh, are they intervening in their natural Autistic development?

Are they trying to intervene and prevent them from being Autistic and presenting in an Autistic way? Um, you know, those things aren't helpful. Like, you know, intervening in other ca cases and other situations might be helpful. But if you're trying to stop an Autistic person from being Autistic, that's not a realistic or helpful intervention and you're setting them up for failure, right?

Um, but when we had this fear mongering and these scares in the past, and this idea that Autistic adults don't exist, it makes it seem like Autistic people are either gonna grow out of their autism or we're gonna be cured of it, and somehow we won't be Autistic anymore. And that's a really dangerous, slippery slope because that leads to.

Situations, which some of you might not remember, but I do because it was still happening when I was recently diagnosed eight years ago, where we had parents literally putting and injecting and giving their children bleach to drink because they thought autism was some kind of parasite that was inside their kids and bleach was gonna flush it out.

And they're posting pictures of their children's like intestines. They're like falling apart. Like, I can see it.

I need a break. That's a problem with being a visual thinker. Those vivid visual memories. Um, like this thing, this MMMR, MMS, what is it? That bleach solution thing? The bleach cult, the bleachers, like they were. They were risen up because people thought autism was something that could be cured and thought you could grow out of autism.

The entire a BA Autistic conversion therapy industry is grown around this idea that you can train the autism out of an Autistic kid, and as an Autistic, multiply neurodivergent person who had behaviorism used on them growing up to try and extinguish their Autistic and neurodivergent traits, I can tell you that it did not work, and it really hindered me throughout my life.

Created a lot of trauma and problems in me that I am still trying to unfuck my mind from, and it wasn't helpful to me. I needed to be supported. I needed to be seen as a person and not a problem. But this fear mongering, this anti Autistic language, this is not the answer.

So that's like the problem with this epidemic language. We're we're dehumanizing Autistic people. Let, let me get in the comments real quick. Let who, it was a rant. I just has so many feelings. Oh my gosh. So many comments. Wow. Think of your patience as I, uh, ranted and raved angrily about that. MF uh, s**t happens in changes.

That's for sure. What, what's RFK lying about now? Everything. Same s**t. Different day, really. Um, but now he's in a position of power while we can do it. Uh, and Andrew Wakefield's stuff like the president and RFK have been spreading. Yeah. And so he's like RFK said, um. Something about how we're gonna give you permission to research autism no matter what you find.

And nobody can take your license away. Which is like, totally like, 'cause Wakefield lost his license because he was discredited and they're like, basically like, here, junk science, if you can prove what we want you to prove don't matter. You're, you're in the clear basically is what this is. Oh, that's good.

Shy.

Oh, absolutely. I'm Audi DHD, late diagnosed woman in my thirties. This is the plan to remove the diversity and the mindset naturally are outside the lines of world. Yeah, exactly. We're the ones that question s**t we're un governable. Exactly. I'm surprised he didn't blame DEI. Yeah, I don't, he's he is a different kind of bigot.

He's a different, he's a, he's a eugenicist. He's he is, he is a little bit different than the standard Nazi. Nazi light, I don't know. Uh, autism because of DEI, right? God no. We can't live like this for four years. And they keep talking about like they, Steve Bannon or whatever was like, I got five different ways to keep Trump in a third term and I think five of them are gonna work.

So Trump will be re inaugurated in January 20, 29, 29. I'm like, f**k you. Uh, if he lives that long, he is the world's oldest president. He could have a stroke at any minute. You never know. One can hope, I'm not even a praying person. Um, but you know, I might start, um, same people who push that vaccines cause autism.

Yeah. He's literally, yeah, that's the worm talking in his brain. Yeah. I'm 67. Always been Autistic. Yeah. 1990. Uh, exactly. A lot of therapy and my own. Practicing what I learned being bipolar. Yeah. I have three Autistic kids. Their grandma still talks about them growing up and I'm sorry. That's sad. And it's because of people like RFK perpetuating this kind of b******t.

Uh, I just realized I have A-D-H-D-A year ago. I'm 40. It was such a relief to know I wasn't alone and that I'm masking was happening and empowering and now I'm scared to be myself. Yeah. I hate that. This is what we're coming to it. It shouldn't be like, so isn't the kinder world where we can all be authentically ourselves that I was hoping we'd create.

Uh, autism is not covid, so people need to be educated on the nuances of autism. Yeah. There's a functional autism and severe autism. Um, so here's the thing, um, about that, that a lot of people don't understand is it's not as simple as like there's one type of autism and another type of autism. Uh, a lot of Autistic people that are.

More impacted, don't only have an autism diagnosis. And so like the autism on its own isn't necessarily what's gonna make someone's life to where, you know, they might need full-time support. Uh, usually it's, it's like a plus autism situation. So like, you know, someone's autism and then they've got also comorbid intellectual disability, right?

Um, or Autistic plus severe seizure disorder, right? That could require around the clock care, autism plus cerebral palsy or you know, something, um, else which is a motor control condition. Autism and all of those things because you can be all of those things together. An Autistic person who is Autistic is gonna struggle, most likely less than Autistic person who has co-occurring disabilities.

Uh. Because just like thinking about neurodivergence as a whole, like when we have neurodiversity and neurodivergence, uh, for example, a lot of neurodivergent people, like we're not just neurodivergent in one way. We have multiple layers and neuro types on top of being neurodivergent. So I'm Autistic, I'm also a DHD, and I've also got other neuro types and brain types I don't talk about and share publicly, especially not now with what's going on in the world, but it's just nobody's business.

I know because it helps me understand myself better, but I don't need the rest of the world to know those things. Uh, knowing I'm Autistic because that's hard for me to hide helps because it helps me explain why I am the way I am, because people notice I am unique, I guess. I'm trying to think of a better way to describe myself.

Instead of saying Brave will notice I'm a fricking weirdo. No, it's like I'm not a weirdo. I'm a proud weirdo though. Like I use that term affectionately, but some people don't like it. But, um, you know what I mean? Um. Where was I going with this? Oh, that's what I was gonna say. Uh, so like those of us who have more neurotypes, more layers and more co-occurring disabilities on top of what's going on, like we're, we're diverging further from like this world that has been built to cater towards the average.

And so if we have more disabilities, more neuro types, more layers of marginalization, we're gonna be struggling a lot more. And so Autistic people that have other disabilities on top of being Autistic or even other marginalizations on top of being Autistic, are gonna have harder lives. Uh, and that, that's kind of the nuance a lot of people don't understand is it's like, it's not this high to low functioning spectrum.

It's not like a linear line. It's more like some people might have sensory issues that completely prevent them from engaging in the world or doing things unsupported. And sensory issues can, includes motor control, right? If you cannot physically like control your hands enough to feed yourself. Or to put clothes on or to go to the bathroom on your own, like you are gonna need an aid.

And motor control is a sensory issue. So if you have a severe motor control issue, that's going to impact every area of your life, right? But not all Autistic people have that difference. Um, or, you know, if you're an Autistic person and maybe you don't have that, but then you also have an intellectual disability that's gonna h hinder your life in different ways.

Um, and so like we've, we've all gotta be more aware that autism doesn't look like one thing. But what a lot of times they talk about with RFK is talking about autism. He is only talking about Autistic people who are struggling the most, uh, who don't have all of their needs met, or who are autism plus, plus plus, plus plus autism, plus a lot of different things going on, and not just Autistic, right?

And ignoring the rest of us. And it doesn't really, um, you know, help that we're ignoring that there is this nuance there. Uh, and then the other thing that I think is kind of a problem is like the assumption that like there's high functioning Autistic people or Autistic people. Um, because some of those Autistic people, like myself included, it's like our ability to function really is something that can fluctuate throughout our lifetimes.

Um, when I was burnt out and I wasn't doing well, my ability to do anything was in the toilet. And I was really physically and mentally unwell. Like I couldn't go into an office without having sensory overload and like throwing up and like almost passing out and I couldn't like. B in a Walmart. Like, I couldn't go into a store.

Like, I would like get that, like I had to run out of their feeling and I would have to run out of the store, or I would start having seizures. Like that's not functional, right? I was not functioning. Um, but the diagnostic label doesn't take into consideration that I might have those moments where I completely cannot support myself and I need help, right?

And so now, like I have to be really careful with myself because if I fall to that point of not being able to function because I am not properly supported and don't have my needs met because I'm expected to function, because I'm labeled as functioning, there's no help for me. There's no disability services, there's no support, there's no anything.

Like if I can't work, nobody's gonna pay my bills for me, like I am. Everyone just thinks you should be able to function. You're so high functioning. Like I even had a job where I tried to like ask for like some basic accommodations. Nothing that would've even cost the company any more money. Just like letting me sit in a different place or go back to working from home.

'cause that's what they hired me to do. And they were like, we can't give you special treatment. You must be so high functioning anyway. Like you couldn't work here if you weren't high functioning. So you must not really need your accommodations

so you can't f*****g win. Right.

Giving me imposter syndrome and supporting family members of mine argue that I'm just lazy and weird and depressed. But in 1984 here, yeah, I see boys will be boys. I see Uhhuh. That's just for a lot of diseases. Yeah. And autism isn't a disease. That's the other thing they keep talking about. It's a disease.

It's a disease. It's like this infection, like it's something really bad and scary. It's not. It's not. You don't have to be afraid of Autistic people we're kind of cool. I. Autistic people are really awesome if you get to know us and stop apologizing us. I don't know why that's a song like alcohol is. Yeah.

Someone should go back and add data of people diagnosed now to the data. That would be really cool to see. I'm not a data kind of an Autistic person. Like I can understand data, but like crunching the numbers, like that's not my thingy. So if somebody wants to make the data, I can read the data and understand it, but like putting it together is not my deal.

Um, but I'd love to see that. I don't even know how we get all that data. Right. Like data of people diagnosed now to the data from all those years they were alive. No, it makes perfect sense. I don't know if other people get what you're saying, but I get what you're saying and I I'd love to know that.

Yeah. Wait, what? What? What?

So, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Uh, he is talking about our community, like we are zombies. Yeah. I was terrified every minute that he spoke, because the last time people spoke about a group this way in such an open way from a position of this much power. I know we're going with this. Uh, those people were tortured and killed in mass.

Yeah. I don't think it's an accident. He's denying the existence of Autistic adults. If people don't believe we are real, then in the minds of bigots we won't notice. Or they, they won't then wait. Then in the minds of bigots, the world won't notice or care if we are taken away or killed. Yeah. What the hell?

Yeah. What the hells, I'm not a poet, but I am a writer and I also a mom and I have a husband. Yeah. I can hit, I can't throw and I can run from the ball. Nice. Yeah. RF K's painting a broad brush on Autistic people says the men that thought aids came from poppies. Are you serious? I hadn't heard that one yet, but I guess it doesn't surprise me.

I can't remember. More than two dance steps. Yeah, I can't dance. I can wiggle my butt randomly and not attractively either. But I love to dance too. It's like I can sing, not well, but I, I, it'll torture everyone near me, but I'll still do it as you know, if you watch this long enough. 'cause it just happens.

That's why I'm lyric, because I never stop singing. Everything's a song lyric. Everything. Everything.

Here's the top doc in this country. I don't think he's a doctor though, isn't he? Not even a doctor. I don't even understand what his deal, but to my understanding, he's not particularly qualified. He doesn't know s**t about autism. F**k that guy. Um, all my anxiety and depression were definitely a result of chronic trauma from undiagnosed autism same Z and my C-P-T-S-D.

Hmm. He should be bragging about he Yeah.

Does not need to label it all, but advanced sciences are, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. No epidemic because it's not catching. Exactly. Epidemic would have to be contagious. Autism is not contagious. Oh my God. I just sneezed on you. I'm so sorry. I'm gonna give you my autism. Autism flying through the air. It's an autism epidemic. I've just infected the whole room. Wow. Autism powers.

You are welcome. You are welcome. You're gonna love it. I promise. It's awesome. You how ridiculous y'all sound. Oh my gosh. Not y'all, but like the MAGA people. Like, ugh, you don't even make sense. Uh, and kids are still missed in those evaluations. At 18 months, my daughter wasn't diagnosed until five. She was evaluated as a baby.

My youngest is likely also hasn't been identified yet at age three and a half. Yeah, of course his ratings go up. Certain things. He says, let's drive those ratings down as much as we can. That's what I think. Now they, now they think they discovered it. They are looking for obvious causes. Oh, words today, thyroid disorders.

Tonsillitis at one point. What? Oh. Yeah, this is Wiener dog. Would you like to see my wiener dog?

Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bleach. Yeah. The, the bleachers was terrible. Mm-hmm. Uh, conversion therapy. What? Yeah. A BA Autistic conversion therapy. This is something I don't talk about as much because it like gets me in trouble. People get real mad when you talk about a BA, uh, it's a controversial topic. Um, and I just share from my personal experience as an Autistic person, bad behaviorism used on me and the trauma it caused because it really fucked me up.

Um, but I don't really talk about it anymore. I've got an archive of everything. 'cause I think I've said everything that can possibly be said about neurodivergent conversion therapy. If you just search, uh, neurodivergent conversion therapy on my substack, you can find a long list of posts. Um, yeah, because I think it's gonna be a lot more relevant between months.

It's tied to Christian nationalism. Lova who admitted to a BA, also made gay conversion therapy. His model student ended up committing. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Lova Lova worked on the Feminine Boy Project. The Feminine Boy Project is the Gay Conversion Therapy Project. Right. A BA, uh, he worked, Lobo worked with George Rutgers on the Feminine Boy Project.

Do we know who George Rutgers is? George Rus is Buddy Buddy with Jo James Dobson. Dobson is the focus on the family guy. Uh, Rutgers and Dobson are Christian nationalists. A BA has ties to Christian nationalism and you know, they are using the same methods to indoctrinate children in the church. It's all the same.

You can read it on, I, I've shared it before and it's in, it's in the archive blog post on a quote from Focus on the Family, talking about indoctrinating children. Now you have to get them when they're young and they're impressionable and it's easy to mold their minds. Basically. You have to get them while they're young and they're vulnerable and you can program them while they're young for forever.

It's really scary and sad, uh, but that's what they say about Autistic people. That's what they say about indoctrinating them into the church. That's what they say about queer kids. They say the same s**t. Same s**t. Different group of marginalized people. Would you like to see my old little man? You getting so old.

Old. You sleepy old. So cute. Just your little dose of cute, right?

Yeah. RFK is a bigot. That's putting it lightly. I saw Bannon on Bill Maher saying that about Trump for sure, being president third term, but Bill Maher read the. Constitutional law on two term limit, then handed it to him and he wouldn't agree to the interpretation. Bill took back his copy of the Constitution.

Yeah. They don't care about the constitution. They're trying to get around it as much as possible. They wanna burn the Constitution. It's an obstacle to them. It's, it's, uh, you know, they don't like the Constitution. Uh, I was always Autistic, but because I went through many traumatic experiences with zero supports since I was not allowed to an assessment until I was in my early thirties, I developed C-P-T-S-D, but my, by my early twenties, and have flares of C-P-T-S-D symptoms in times of high stress and triggering situations.

Uh, stimuli is, yeah. Uhhuh. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Same. And it's like, I think I could live with just being Autistic, but it's all the f*****g trauma. I've learned to avoid my sensory issues, right? Like I can, I can create a sensory environment for myself. I can regulate myself to where I can handle sensory stuff on occasion.

Like if I have exposure to a trigger, if I'm well rested and I'm well regulated and I've been taking care of myself, I can handle little bits of sensory exposure. Now, I could never handle before when I was maxed out all the time because I didn't understand my sensory needs. But I can't do the same with the trauma triggers and like getting triggered in a trauma, trauma way.

Like, like that's like a whole different like journey I'm having to go through to like get to the root of all of my traumas. Um, I would love to be an Autistic person who's not traumatized, but I don't even know if we, in the society we live in now, know what an Autistic person who's not traumatized even f*****g looks like.

Honestly, like the definition of autism in our medical books is literally only describing Autistic people who are struggling or in distress. Which makes it sound like an Autistic person can only be struggling and in distress, and there's no alternative to being struggling and in distress. And if we're not struggling and in distress, we somehow aren't Autistic.

That's b******t.

Really. My Autistic daughter lives in Tokyo. The services she received boggles this American mind. No stigma. Just support. I f*****g, wow, I didn't know that. That's awesome. Always love to hear what other countries are doing. Some countries are really behind, so it's cool to hear someone's doing it right. Uh, autism means thinking, processing, and then communicating differently.

Isn't a virus, a parasite, a brain worm? Brain or an infection? I can't believe we still have to explain this. Yeah, we shouldn't be, and we're gonna have to explain it a lot more because they wanna go back to making, they're convinced It's like caused by some like pollution, like. Of some sort. That's what they wanna convince everybody.

And whether it's true or not, they're gonna like manufacture studies to make it sound like it is. That's, that's my assumption to start collecting data on currently diagnosed adults. Since we don't exist. We don't exist. Does that mean we don't have to pay taxes? Damn. Shouldn't have paid those taxes yesterday.

I'm broke. Y'all f*****g paying your taxes. F*****g Elon doesn't pay his taxes. Why the f**k do I gotta do my taxes a******s? Uh,

smart.

Yeah. Autism is disability. Non disease. Uh, exactly. And there's a difference. And there's nothing wrong with having a disability either. And that's a thing people like don't understand too. Uh.

There's smart people, Autistic, some Autistic people that have learning disabilities and that need help. And also, I wanna say there's different kinds of being smart. Like there's, there's like book smarts and then there's like other kinds of smarts that aren't tested on IQ tests, you know, and that's kind of the problem, um, with like intellectualism, like what about Autistic people, uh, who have Autistic syndrome and can paint these like really amazing like paintings and do art?

Like that's a different kind of smart that we don't quantify, right? Like, I don't like the idea of smart and gifted, and maybe that's because I was a gifted child and I was put into gifted programming and I was also in remediable and special education programming, and then I was also mainstream programming and none of it was really right for me.

Um, and being labeled as gifted as a kid didn't help me. In fact, it really hurt me that I was labeled gifted because since I had this label of gifted, I. Anytime I struggle with something instead of being supported when I struggled, the fact that I was gifted was used as some kind of like, gotcha. Like, you're being lazy, you're gifted, you're too good for this.

You, you should know better because you're gifted. You're too smart for this. Stop being lazy if you'd only just apply yourself. I don't know why my teachers like are all a Californian Valley person now. You know? I but it, that's, that was my life because I was labeled a gifted kid. Um, and it just put all these really ridiculous, unfair expectations on me, uh, and just took people's compassion away from me when I needed help.

And it like caused people to react to me with like scorn and annoyance and disappointment when I couldn't meet their expectations to be this well-rounded, uh, genius, they thought I would need it to be because I could, and all because I was gifted in one fricking area. I wasn't gifted in many things. I was just gifted in reading.

Somehow they thought that was gonna translate to math and science and like his, all this other s**t and it didn't. And so I was exceptionally gifted in reading. And so they were like, you read at a college level in first grade, you should be able to do everything at a college level in first grade. And it's like, that's not how this f*****g works.

And so it sucked to be me.

It's all relative. You know, we've got different skills, like spiky skills. A lot of Autistic people are like really good at that one thing, one or two things. And then like if I'm bad at something, I f*****g suck. I am great at something or I f*****g suck at it. Very little in between. That's me. I'm not well-rounded.

Um, and it's been used against me my whole life and it sucks.

When my kids were diagnosed, I was like, oh no, I don't know any Autistic people. Followed by the realization that tons of family members, including myself, would likely be diagnosed. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Exactly. And that's the other thing. Okay. I'm looking at people in my family both still living my, my and my ancestors here before I, I, you know, my generations previous and I can definitely see how some that I knew and even previous generations were likely Autistic and even some alive now that don't even wanna believe it for themselves are definitely Autistic.

And I'm like, Uhhuh, you're just like me, but whatever. So, yeah. Our previous generations were also Autistic. They just weren't identified.

I think I already answered the Christian nationalism ties thing, um, since you put that in there. But if not, uh, you can search it on my Substack, because I'm pretty sure there's a free post about it. Look up Ivar Lova. Look up George ERs, R-E-K-K-E-R-S. Look up James Dobson. Look up the Feminine Boy project.

Look up the founding father of a BA and look up focus on the family. And, uh, f**k, what's Dobson's other organization. I can't think of it right now. Anyway, those are all, you can, all those names tied together, buddy, buddy, buddy.

Uh, I was given an IQ test at 11 to test for intellectual disability after the results were diagnosed with laziness and being a same, yeah, I'm not gonna say what my, my score was, um, on the IQ test, but it was. Higher than they expected it to be. We'll just say that. Um, and it was used against me after that.

They're like, look, you're so smart. Like, you're just lazy. Like, look, you got a really hard, you, you've got a high score. You're lazy, you're lazy, you're lazy. See, it's proof, you're lazy. So it was like they were trying to use the IQ test to put me into, uh, special ed. And then they gave me all of these tests, like IQ tests, reading comprehension tests, like a maths test.

Like they gave me like all of these tests, like to just see, I don't know. I guess it's like all the tests they could do because the teachers would, my, my guardians would not sign off on tests for learning disabilities. So they did every other test they could get away with testing me for. That wasn't a test for learning disabilities.

So that's what the school did. Um, and so. They didn't test me for learning disabilities, even though they wanted to because it was forbidden for them to do. And they tested me on all of the subjects and including my reading and the iq and like all of those tests came back really high. And they were like, well, no.

Well the ones they could test, like, uh, reading and like iq and I think math was pretty good too, just 'cause I, I knew how to like outsmart a test 'cause a lot of 'em were multiple choice anyway. Um, that's a whole different thing, like the pattern of test taking and elimination. And if you gimme a bubble, multiple choice test, I'm gonna get a 90 something on it if I know even a little bit of the data.

Uh, that's like my Autistic skill. Uh, and so all these standardized tests I did really well on. Um, which didn't necessarily mean I understood the information in the standardized tests either. I just was really good at taking standardized tests and outsmarting the tests even if I didn't know the information.

Does that make sense to anyone? Does anyone relate to that? Farmers against thumper, eh, that's cute.

RFKs degrees are in history and literature. Are you serious in law? He also has experience in Qualifi. What the f**k? What the actual f**k? Wow. Okay. It's just really the history thing. It's just like I don't understand how anyone who like knows anything about history is not like, oh f**k, oh f**k. Oh f**k.

Oh f**k. Oh f**k right now. Like unless this is what they want to happen. So like even I'm like, oh, history. Really? Ew. That's concerning. If you like know about history and you're like cheering this on Yazi Gross. There are multiple intelligences. Exactly. I was like, I'm really, like, I have certain feelings about intelligence also.

'cause people call me names and insult my intelligence constantly 'cause of things I do. It's like I'm either too, too smart or too dumb depending on what I'm doing and who is observing me. And that's b******t. Uh, yeah. The world is a vampire.

He got his credentials from Trump University. Ha ha. That's funny. Uh, not true but hilarious. Um, I can always do well on multiple choice tests. Yeah, same. It's, it's just my thing. Oh s**t. I need to check my calendar. I have a meeting at some point today. Uh, I actually do have a call. Okay. It's got some time from now.

Uh, okay, cool. I was like, I just like didn't know. I was like, what time did I be in my calls? Make sure I'm not late. Um. My goodness, everyone, this isn't, ugh, this is how I wanted to spend my year. Isn't this, isn't it? I'm tired of this already. Like we're only a few months in. I'm f*****g tired. I don't wanna do this for four more years or a year, more years, or six months or,

and honestly, it needs, like, we, we've gotta put a stop to something soon now before it keeps getting worse. Um, as an Autistic person who can actually debate RFK, um, Autistic people are gonna start being targeted in different ways. We were targeted in Nazi Germany, and we will be targeted again. Black and brown people are already being targeted right now.

Immigrants are being targeted. People who are dissenting, um, voices are being targeted. Peop, American citizens are being harassed at the border when they're returning treated like criminals. Um, it, it's, we're going in a bad direction.

Yeah. And we, we, we, we've got our midterms is next year. Yeah. I don't think we have time to get to midterms that, that's the problem. Like, people keep saying midterms are next year, and I'm just like, y'all think we got, you think we can wait till midterms? I, I don't think we, I don't, I don't think we can wait till midterms.

Um, you hear that dog snoring really loudly. A pit bull is like snoring on the floor underneath my feet. It's kind of funny. Sounds like an old man snoring. It's a pit bull. Um, but you know, we've got.

Our president is openly defying. Court orders, multiple court orders. Now, as of yesterday or as of this week, um, we have people being grabbed by unifor, people who have their faces covered, who aren't identifying themselves off the streets, being disappeared, kidnapped, people are being kidnapped off the streets, no due process and sent kidnapped to foreign gulags concentration camps.

What, like, I saw a quote that was talking about, um, like what's the difference between a prison and a concentration camp and the, the difference is the concentration camp is operating outside the law. Since our president is disobeying court orders operating outside of the law to send people to these camps, that would mean that we are sending people to concentration camps.

Sea Cot is known to be the place where nobody leaves. And it is more than, I think, double if I'm getting that number correctly, past its occupancy. And they keep taking more and more people in and nobody leaves there. They keep taking, they're, they're way past occupancy. Nobody leaves and they keep taking more and more people and they wanna send more.

I'll let you do the math yourself.

It's not good. So, you know, I, I don't think waiting till midterms is, is, is an option we have, right? Because this is happening as far as we know to, you know, green card holders and, um, immigrants. But because people are being sent without any due process. There's no way to know who's being sent. There's no way to know if anyone who's being sent has any kind of criminal record or history has ever committed any kind of crime in the past, because until you've gone to court and you're presumed innocent until proven guilty.

So these are presumed innocent people have not been proven guilty sent to concentration camp without due process. And for all we know they're innocent. For all we know they could be citizens. 'cause we don't know who these people that were sent are. We, we, we don't know if the people sent were criminals or citizens or legal residents or had a right to be here.

We're dangerous or not dangerous if we don't have due process. For all we know, there are already American citizens sitting in Sea Cot right now because there has been no due process from people sent. And so that, you know, we've, and now we've got the president talking about sending Homegrowns, gonna send the Homegrowns next, talking about he wants to send American citizens to Sea Cot and other facilities.

He wants to find a way to deport American citizens if there's a legal way. He says, but we know it's pretty clear. There's no legal way. Uh, but they're saying like, can we unnaturally people maybe like they're, they're talking ways and a lot of people are theorizing that they will probably start with the prison system and people who are in prison for violent crimes and, and, and people in the prison system, that's probably who they'll start with.

Uh, mostly because people outside of prison systems are less likely to be empathetic for those crowds and will be like, yeah, send them. Like, which is really f*****g horrible because, um. Disproportionately marginalized, poor black and brown neurodivergent people are the ones who are, people with mental health conditions are the ones who are gonna be in prison, right?

So, you know that that is an attack on neurodivergent people, on marginalized people on. You know, he's also said like the ones that have something wrong with them, like saying, you know, so are they gonna start deporting people who have mental health problems? Because, because people have mental problems, we're gonna deport them and instead of getting them the care that they need, now remember they've been talking about Trump derangement syndrome, and he said, these deranged individuals, he said they're deranged, right?

So he's talking about deporting people who are deranged. But Trump derangement syndrome is. Speaking out against Trump and not going along with Trumpism. That's being deranged according to Trump. So does he want to deport people who are deranged? By Trump's definition, deranged is not agreeing with him.

It's a slippery slope.

Just my Autistic, as I notice patterns, right? So words that are used over and over again stand out at me. So like whenever I see that they're using the same word a lot, and a lot of them are using the same words for different things, I'm just like, there's that word again. There's that word again. There's that word again.

There's that word again. And so it's easy for me to start seeing where things are connected. Nope. Nope, nope.

Yeah, we need to put pressure on really impeaching Trump and getting him outta office. Like that's really what needs to happen. They need to get his ass out now yesterday, really thank you for the live stream today. Still feeling from news over the last two days and processing alone is hard. I don't see the regime allowing elections if we don't have an impeachment trial started.

Multiple contempt of court orders issued to the White House by the federal judges whose orders they are defying or sanctions threatened from the UN and ICC before 2025 events. Yeah. Yeah.

It's hard and it's like we're not alone. Like there are others out there that get it, but like it's, it's even harder if you're surrounded by people that don't. And the, the news the last few days has been really fricking heavy. Right. Um, yeah. And so people are gonna march on Saturday. Um, I'm getting a tooth pulled at the end of the week, so I don't know how I'm gonna be on Saturday.

I did get my camera batteries so I can go down there without my mobile device on me and not be tracked. Um, and so I've got my DSLR ready to go and got a bunch of batteries gonna charge up now. Um, but depends on this and which protest I go to. 'cause there's a few different options. There's different, you know, places I could go.

Um, I rent a car so I'm all incognito and I'm not in my own vehicle. Like I got a plan. Um, but also I do feel a little uneasy just 'cause I am, it's starting to feel more dangerous for dissenting voices. Um, the first white passing journalist or social media person grabbed, I'm going to be like. Very alarmed because I don't think it's, if it's, it's not if, but when, it's when that happens, right.

Every, yeah, I agree. Every last person sent there without due process needs to be brought back. And it's like they're being sent to these inhumane conditions too. You've got no rights there. You don't get visitors once you're there, you don't get to see your lawyer, um, you don't get to see the outside air.

I don't think ever again, like there's like no windows. It's, it's horrific. And if you've seen the people, like, they're just like stacked in there. It's like a fricking, like, like a, like a factory farm with a bunch of animals crammed into close to each other. It's really gross. There's an election in Canada, April 28th.

Ooh. Carney has elbows up international connections. It's an excellent economist. He stood up to Trump and will continue to do so After he is elected, there will be positive changes in the us. I don't know a lot about Canadian politics, but I am so proud of Canada right now because it seems like, uh, you are all very united against Trump and his trumpery.

No tooth pulled. If possible, it would cost you more with an implant later. Okay, everyone has said this after, like to me, when I've told them I'm getting a tooth pulled, I can't afford the alternative. I have had a hole for like, maybe almost a year now that I've been filling myself with Den Tech, and it's at the point where something needs to happen.

It's causing me pain and it needs to come out or get crowned, and I don't have the $3,500 to get a crown. I do have the 300, I've, I've saved up the 320 something dollars to get it pulled, and so I'm gonna get it pulled. They're just gonna take it out and pull it because that's all I can afford to do with it.

And it f*****g hurts. Uh, they can't fill it in because it's already like, it's this back tooth and like the tooth in front of it's already had a root canal. There's this whole thing. Um, but like, I trust my dentist. He's a medical, um, professional who I really do trust. He understands that I literally can't afford to do anything else with it.

Um, I I actually, it wouldn't be a bad thing if my teeth move and see like, are you a dentist? Let me ask, like, you're giving me all this dental advice. Are you actually a dentist? Because like if you, you know, it kind, it kind of, it kind of matters. Um, this is the, yeah.

Ridiculous. Yeah. But, uh, here's the thing. Uh, I have a small mouth that's actually overcrowded and so these are all crammed together and it's this back tooth back here. And so it actually would be beneficial for me if I had more space in my mouth. So it actually really depends on your mouth. And I don't think you know enough about my personal dental situation to be giving me this advice in a safe way.

Like you're giving me medical advice on the internet without like viewing my x-rays and knowing what's happening in my mouth. Like that's really dangerous. And also like, okay, so you're telling me, oh, don't do this medical procedure. You've been waiting like maybe a year to have. And it's like that, like the hole has gotten so deep, but it's like almost to the part where it could be like dangerous, like for me to get like an infection or something.

Like it needs to go, it needs to go also because I don't know, like in the next six months if I'm gonna be like on the room or like on the run or something and then like not be able to get this taken care of because, you know, fascism is coming. Like, I need this tooth gone before fascism gets worse. Like, uh, no.

And it's like, I, I promise I have really discussed it in, in depth with my dentist. Um, and I, I, I actually had more teeth than I needed in my mouth when I was younger and like, there's like a whole thing. Um, but I think we'll be fine. Uh, I've got so much overcrowding, I'm really not worried about it. Uh, I appreciate your concern.

Like I know you're coming from a good place, uh, but it's really not advisable to like give someone like health advice over the internet when you really don't know everything about, uh, their health, you know? Um. And also it's like you're like, Hey, have this procedure that costs three grand. It's like, hey, I don't have three grand.

Uh, dental insurance isn't something we get in America that is reasonable. Like I have dental insurance, it's still gonna not covered. Like, it's, it's crap, you know? Um, it's, yeah. Hopefully you won't be on the run. Yeah. I seriously hope so too, but you never know. Do you worry about David as well in this time?

I worry about both of us. You know, I think I worry more than David. David's like a less worrying kind of a person. Um, yeah, but I mean, like always I worry more about David with law enforcement, you know, because anytime David and I have any kind of interaction with law enforcement, it is. Always been very f*****g obvious how much different I am treated.

Little cute, sweet and non-threatening. Me and David, who is not much bigger than me, but a masculine presenting dark skinned person is treated so much differently than I am. Right. And like it's just crap because like David and I both come from families that have been in Texas since before Texas was even part of the United States.

Right. And like we also have family or the dog drinking water. I can't, um, oh my gosh. Like, you know, it's just like the borders have crossed a lot of us. Like if you've been in Texas for generations and generations and generations before Texas was Texas or before Texas was even Mexico, like the borders just seem really fricking pointless.

Like, so it's just kind of ridiculous. But then again, like I know I've seen a lot of reports out of the Navajo Nation that like indigenous peoples are being detained and stinking ice agents aren't taking CBID cards as id, which is just like, if an indigenous American is not an American and f**k the rest of you.

I'm sorry, that's crap. But, uh, just being a dark skinned person is more dangerous right now. Especially like a Spanish origin, like Spanish speaking, um, central American, like brown. Like that seems to be like the main target right now. Um, but also like Palestinians and people from that side of the world.

Um, I could be wrong, but that's just kind of what I think. So it's scary, you know.

Yeah. Alright everyone. Um, it's getting hot and I can't have air conditioner. Will I do this because in an rv an air conditioner is really loud and so you won't be able to hear me if the ACS on and like I am sweating so much right now, so I'm gonna shut this down. Let it like process. I need to cut a little piece.

There's something I said I didn't mean to say. I'm not gonna say what. Um, I need to see if I can cut that out and if I can cut that one thing I said out that one thing I said that I didn't mean to say. I will put this up as an indefinite public rewatch if I can cut that one piece out. If, if not, it's gonna have to go behind a paywall.

Um, so I'm hoping I can cut it out. I don't know if Substack has a tool or not. Um. But yeah, it's probably gonna take a while for this video to like process. It usually takes at least an hour and then I can publish it. I've got a call I've gotta get ready for. Um, thanks for coming to my rant today.

Everyone. If you're going to the protest this weekend, please stay safe. Um, there are some different resources to know your rights, like look at the red cards. If, uh, if you're like a, a, a migrant, an immigrant, or your legal status is question, I would recommend sit this one out. Don't be, don't march. Don't march if you don't feel safe.

But we need as many bodies in the, in the streets as possible. Um, especially if we see this, uh, like thing happen that everyone's scared might happen on April 20th, the day after. And also, don't get violent. Like don't, don't be violent. Don't get violent. Don't, you know, keep it peaceful when you're out protesting.

They are. I. Begging for us to get violence so that they can like say, look, we need martial law. Don't give them the fricking excuse to do it. Okay. Uh, and just be aware because historically, throughout time of this country, they have always had infiltrators that they send into our peaceful movements to make it look like we are doing violent bad things when we're not.

And so just be aware those people might be around trying to make us look bad and to be on the lookout for those kinds of people this weekend, because just got a funny feeling, man. I, I just hope everything goes really well. Um, we, we've gotta stop this. We can't let this keep going because the longer it keeps going in this direction, like the harder it's gonna be to like correct it and just send it back in a more constructive like positive direction.

Like a safer direction. Like we're going into like dangerous and dangerous. Territories. So like, we need to course correct before there's way too much for us to do. Um, you know, no, take care. All as a, I stand in solidarity with you all. Thank you. Uh, protect yourselves and everybody except, uh, everybody.

Even from the violent MAGA cult. Yeah. Yeah. We'll, stay safe. Um, you know, we, uh, like, like, it's like people need to remember this isn't the left versus right issue. You know, this is a us versus the ultra greedy billionaire oligarchy, right? That's what we need to remember. It's not us first, it's, it's us.

Like the people. The people versus the oligarchy, the people. There's a lot more of us than there are of them, and that's something we need to remember. Like we are powerful and they get their power from us. If we no longer believe their money has value all their money, which is what gives them their power, power is gone and they have no value and they have no power, right?

Like, if we no longer participate in their systems or buy their products or work for them, they lose their power because they get their power from us. They get their power because we give them their power and we allow them to have their power. And a lot of us don't realize it, and they don't want us to realize that they don't have power without us.

So just something to think about as we go into this weekend and everything going on. Uh, stay safe out there everyone. Thank you so much. We'll see you next week. Bye.

Liberation Day was last week…

Is everyone feeling liberated after liberation day last week????

My answer - No!

Why not?

Could it be the tariffs?

Or the crashing global economy?

Or the immigrants being detained and deported without due process?

Is that they stared floating the idea of “deporting citizens” yesterday?

For me, it’s all of the above and MORE!

What’…

Thank you All for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

This REPLAY is for paid members only. Thank you for your support.

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substa…

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Thanks for reading NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Thank you to everyone for tuning into my live video!

NeuroDivergent Rebel’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Join me for my next live video in the app.

We’re still raising funds to fix the differential on our RV.

Let's have a casual, one to one, conversation!

There's a lot we can talk about in an hour and this is your time to talk about whatever's on your mind.

Ask me questions, info dump about your interests, brainstorm a project you're working on, get feedback on something.

Let's schedule a session together.

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Because I have only a few spaces open I do expect they will go fast. (Last time they were gone within just a few days.) However, due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback I received after the first five sessions, I plan to do this again in the future whenever I have openings in my calendar (if the sessions continue to go well).

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