This is a beautiful article from Tiny Buddha by Lori Deschene. The full article is here . I think it ties in with our recent discussions around masking, unmasking, and setting boundaries. And it’s relevant to autistic people as we are often overly sensitive to our own and others’ emotions, even the feelings of animals. And unfortunately, since our reactions are often criticized or unwelcome, we learn to mask and hide or bury our true feelings, so others not only don’t get to see our...

This is a fantastic article by Keiran Rose and Jade Farrington describing the costs to both masking and unmasking. It more closely describes my experience than anything else I’ve ever read about autistic masking. I’ve copied a few paragraphs below in italics, but I recommend the whole article if you have time, it’s quite long. Delving into the Complexities of Autistic Masking & Unmasking Safely They describe how autistic masking is much more than intentionally acting a certain way so people...

Here is a copy of the brief I submitted: Written Submission for Pre-Budget Consultations for Federal Budget 2025    By: True Taylor July 2024 I. Recommendations:   ●     Recommendation 1: That the government includes specific initiatives in the National Autism Strategy (NAS) to find, diagnose, support, and assist older autistic adults and autistic seniors . Recommendation 2: That the recommendations for the National Autism Strategy (NAS) outlined in the brief provided by the Autism Alliance...