Awareness isn’t one-size-fits-all. When we only make room for the mental health conditions that feel familiar or easy to explain, we leave a lot of people behind. Quietly struggling. Certain that what’s happening to them is too weird, too embarrassing, or too shameful to say out loud.
Mother’s Day is often painted as a soft, glowing day with breakfast in bed, handmade cards, smiling photos, and gratitude wrapped in pastel colors. But for many moms, especially those navigating anxiety, the day can feel like something entirely different.
The teen years are a delicate balance of self-exploration, managing expectations, and establishing your independent identity. Being neurodivergent in a neurotypical world adds a layer of complexity—it may feel like everyone got an instruction manual but you! Plus, the societal pressures of being raised as a girl are often contradictory, dismissive of your experiences, and result in your mental health needs being missed. If you are finding it hard to navigate all these pressures and big changes, this book is for you!
Autistic joy can be described as an all-encompassing excitement and feeling of joy that Autistic folks experience. This can sometimes feel like tingling sensations all over the body, an increase in energy and engagement, being flooded with warmth, feeling completely consumed by the emotion, and the need to move and stim to release the intense feeling. It is important to note that this can be an overwhelming or intense experience for some.
April is known as “Autism Awareness Month” or “Autism Acceptance Month” depending on who you ask. I wanted to take the opportunity to say a few words about the difference between awareness and acceptance when it comes to disability justice.
If you struggle with a body-focused repetitive behavior like skin picking or hair pulling, you’ve probably tried a lot of things to stop. Maybe some of them worked for a little while, but nothing really stuck. Nothing got you to a place where you could consistently manage the behavior. So you start to wonder, “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just get this under control?”
