Autistic Empowerment

“Why are other kids so mean?”

Other children can be mean when they don’t understand you, and not enough has been done to help them really get it, so they take things wrong and make assumptions.

They don’t always give you a chance, even though you know they’d love your ideas if they listened long enough.

You may think they’re cool, but they just don’t get you.

“Stop telling me what to do and say!”

High school is hard when it feels like everyone wants you to be someone else. You’re trying hard to figure out who you are and who you want to be, but there’s all this noise from teachers, parents, therapists, and classmates.

You know what you like, but you keep getting told that’s not what the other kids like (and you don’t care).

Your voice doesn’t seem to matter, making all the anxiety even worse. Everyone’s trying to help, but it usually just makes things harder.

You want to use your voice.

That desire to protect never stops.

Perhaps you’re a parent… worried about your child who has difficulty making friends or thriving at school.

They might always seem to prefer being alone or contrastingly feel perpetually excluded.

It may be hard for them to sit still long enough to tolerate a classic school environment, putting you on a never-ending hunt for the best learning atmosphere: public, Montessori, home school, or private.

Instructors may misunderstand your child’s messages, reading concrete or direct communication as disrespectful or challenging. The corrections and misassumptions may cause your child to feel sad, anxious, or frustrated, and that impact takes a toll on you. You just want to support and keep them safe from intolerance.

Teachers and principals might say they don’t belong in their schools because they need too much support or fight you on appropriate accommodations dismissing your child’s expressed needs as “behavior problems.” It feels like a battle to get the support, basic respect, and inclusivity to which you know they’re entitled.

And if you’re like too many parents of an autistic child, you’re probably familiar with the stares of others, even therapists, who see nothing BUT that diagnosis. They speak to you about them as though they were invisible when they’re right in the room, trying so hard to connect and be acknowledged.

You want someone to SEE your child. You know your child can communicate for themselves if only someone LISTENED to them instead of stealing and reframing their words.

You’re navigating a world made for Neurotypicals.

Whether you’re autistic or an ADHD’r, whether you identify as AuDHD (autism + ADHD) or are self-diagnosed, navigating a neurotypical world is stressful, anxiety-provoking, and feels like too much all the time.

Unfortunately, our world gives minimal support to what it perceives as neurodivergent needs – supports that would assist all individuals with higher support needs: those identifying as anxious, depressed, highly sensitive, autistic, ADHD, twice exceptional, or those who’ve experienced trauma.

You know it’s important to find your authentic voice and accept and love yourself as you are, but embracing and celebrating yourself can be hard through the fog of doubt, anxiety, and overwhelm.

You’ve come to the right place.

As neurodivergent therapists who are also parents to a couple of incredible autistic tweens, we understand parents’ varied concerns: school, friendships, therapies, misunderstood behaviors, and the future.

We believe empowering, embracing, and advocating for neurodivergent individuals is the only path available. We know that neurodivergent individuals deserve all that neurotypical individuals receive in a way that works for them specifically.

We don’t believe in reward and punishment systems that attempt to “normalize” your child because they are already everything they were meant to be. We’ve seen the results of those programs, and the harm they do always outweighs the short-term “benefits.”

Besides… who the heck defines “normal” or made “common” the desired means of being?