What Love is Actually Like ‘On the Spectrum’ Part 2

Our diversity is dizzying. Our approaches to love will be just as diverse.

Why Autistic Masking is Unsustainable (and What to do Instead)

Here’s where the problem comes in – the more you mask, the less energy you have to mask. But the more you mask, the more you are expected to mask. Drop the mask, and you potentially lose vital and important relationships and your survival capacity is diminished in direct ratio to that.

Since masking long term isn’t sustainable, and since expending more energy than you can recuperate on a regular basis will lead to exhaustion and burnout, autistic people who have to mask in order to obtain the basic needs for survival will inevitably crash and burn.

High Functioning vs. Low Functioning: Why Functioning Labels Hurt the Autistic Community

The response I most commonly hear when I disclose to someone that I am autistic is, “Wow, you must be really high functioning. I would never have known if you didn’t tell me.”

There’s a lot to unpack here.