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So I have finally processed my thoughts and feelings on"Inside Our Autistic Minds" by Chris Packham
12 Thoughts I had......
1. First of all, I am so here for the narrative on Autistics being Autistic-led and Autistic focussed. We need more of this - so much more. This is the only way the world will truly learn about the Autistic experience....from Autistics
2. I related to a lot of Flo's experiences of masking and seeming to be a certain person in public but being unmasked at home
3. Chris saying, when observing Flo in an overwhelmed state, "your heads on fire but outside it looks like nothing is happening " felt so validating to me because I get this.
4. The fact that Flo is a stand up comedian was not surprising to me and her rationale and reasons are things I have heard from other Autistic people (I personally would die trying to be funny on stage, but man do I love Autisitc humour)
5. I love the representation of AAC from Murray, he was stunning in his words. A person who doesn't speak still has plenty to say and Murray had so much to say. This is why unrestricted access to AAC is so essential and honouring all forms of communication is so important
6. The mental health statistics were unsurprising but also deeply upsetting. This is not inevitable and changes in the social and cultural environment are badly needed to prevent this
7. I'm glad to see a Person of Colour will be in next week's episode as the narrative on Autism is often far too white centric. Intersectional identities are part of the Autistic (and human experience)
8. On that note, I would love to see representation of different sexualities and gender identities as we know these experiences overlap for a lot of Autistic people
9. While I felt it was a great representation of the diversity of Autistic people,I would have liked to have seen Autistic strength, talent and joy featured more. Its real and we experience it!!
10. I know this is a small section of people and their experiences and I loved seeing and hearing their stories
11. I think we, as a society, need to move towards a rights based approach and understand that this is part of the diversity of human experiences. We matter. We are important. We are valuable
12. I cried several times. I knew I would