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Welcome to Tiny Spectrum Island
Hello my brothers, sisters and siblings on the spectrum, you can call meTour Guide. I am a 17 year old autistic girl from Jamaica. Welcome to my tiny island. This was made to be a refuge for those of us who are on the autism spectrum to interact with one another. This is also meant…
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Coping When Things are Out of Place
Photo by Jess Bailey Designs Well, democracy rule dictates that I must do this. Hi again, Islandersand once again Happy Autism Acceptance Month! As a lot of you mayknow and/or experience, autistic people have a hard time navigatingsociety. This is because society is unpredictable and when strugglingwith the things we can’t control, we tend to…
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Sensory Issues, Meltdowns and Shutdowns: What, Why and What to do
Hi Islanders, sorry I’ve gone a bit radio silent in the past month but I’mback with another one. To all the autists out there, have you ever feltreally overwhelmed by your surroundings, so much so that you feelyour body freeze up a bit and you can do nothing but rock back andforth or play with…
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Emergency Call to IOAI
Photo by Markus Spiske (Phone rings)Programme: You’ve reached the International Organization of AutisticIndividuals. State the pass code. Agent: “Whatever my special interest is” Programme: Individual identified. Hello 7663, state your business Agent 7663: I need to make an emergency call directly to the CEO. Programme: Please wait a few minutes. (Agent 7663, frantically paces around…
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Autism and Christmas: the Struggles and the Delights
Photo by Addy Mae on Unsplash Merry Christmas Islanders! That’s right, you get an extra post thismonth, a Christmas gift for you all! So, yeah it’s Christmas, a time of joy,cheer and stress. For people like us, it’s the same thing, it may just be alittle bit different. I’m saying we may find different things we finddelightful, fun,…
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So….. Let’s Talk about the Puzzle Piece
Hello again, Islanders. How are you all? Come, take a seat, grab asnack and a drink and get comfortable because this might get rough.(Deep breath) Okay, please note I am not saying this as an attack onany of you. I know you have good intentions, this is just something thathas been bugging me lately. So,…
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Masking a.k.a Survival Mode
Hello again, Islanders. I’m back again with another topic to discuss. Let’sstart with a rhetorical question, shall we? To any of my nuerodivergentIslanders, has anyone ever told you that you’re “too normal” to beautistic or that you act “high functioning”. Like I said in a previous post,you may just be good at (drum roll for…
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Special Interests
Hi again Islanders, sorry it’s been so long. So, special interests, whatare they? These are certain topics that an autistic person may focus on,intensely. This is to the point where it might look like an obsession to aneurotypical person, in some cases, it causes concern amongst friendsand loved ones. But I’m here to tell you…
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“You Don’t Look Autistic”
Hey again, fellow Islanders. Tell me, how many of the autists amongyou have been faced with this comment, from anyone. Was it a friend?A teacher? A classmate? A romantic partner? A boss? Your own family?This comment has been echoed again and again throughout a lot of ourlives. Do you recognize it? No? It comes in…
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We’re not Little Angels!
Hello Islanders, to all the autistic reading this I’d like to ask you onequestion. Have people ever seen you as and/or referred to you as anangel before? Alright . Did it feel flattering whenever they did? If it did,answer me this, how did it feel if and when they started holding you toan unrealistically high…
Tiny Spectrum Island 