Thinking Person's Guide to Autism
@thinkingautism.com
The greatest autism info you will ever find, from autistic people, professionals, and parents. www.ThinkingAutism.com & buttondown.com/TPGA. Pro-neurodiversity. Even more TPGA community discussions on IG and FB.
Why functioning labels are hurtful: A “high-functioning” person may be having a bad day & have a hard time with self-care tasks like bathing, cooking, shopping, & dressing. A “low-functioning” person can have a good day, week, or month & do relatively well with the same tasks. Finn Gardiner at TPGA.
November 12, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Why functioning labels are hurtful: A “high-functioning” person may be having a bad day & have a hard time with self-care tasks like bathing, cooking, shopping, & dressing. A “low-functioning” person can have a good day, week, or month & do relatively well with the same tasks. Finn Gardiner at TPGA.
FYI we will not be publishing our newsletter this week because we are on vacation. Please enjoy this restaurant kitty in the meantime.
[image: dark gray cat lounging on a restaurant patio in front of blue agaves.]
[image: dark gray cat lounging on a restaurant patio in front of blue agaves.]
November 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
FYI we will not be publishing our newsletter this week because we are on vacation. Please enjoy this restaurant kitty in the meantime.
[image: dark gray cat lounging on a restaurant patio in front of blue agaves.]
[image: dark gray cat lounging on a restaurant patio in front of blue agaves.]
Our main requirement for happiness in new locations: French fries available at all times. (Note: We have scored.)
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
November 9, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Our main requirement for happiness in new locations: French fries available at all times. (Note: We have scored.)
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
Our main requirement for happiness in new locations: French fries available at all times. (Note: We have scored.)
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
November 9, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Our main requirement for happiness in new locations: French fries available at all times. (Note: We have scored.)
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
If you go to different places, what is your #1 requirement?
#Autism #SameFoods #neurodiversity
[image: basket of French fries on a restaurant table.]
Want to help with autism research? The Social Experiences of Loneliness of Autistic Adults (SELA) Project at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute is forming a Community Council of autistic adults (ages 18–35) to help guide a 5-year study on loneliness and social connection. Info in flyer and alt-text.
November 6, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Want to help with autism research? The Social Experiences of Loneliness of Autistic Adults (SELA) Project at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute is forming a Community Council of autistic adults (ages 18–35) to help guide a 5-year study on loneliness and social connection. Info in flyer and alt-text.
Non-autistic parents who rely on mainstream autism resources may have no guidance for viewing their autistic kids positively. They may not see those kids as who they are, but rather as what they aren’t. These will probably not be happy families. But we can help!
tinyurl.com/NopeOnProfoundAutism
tinyurl.com/NopeOnProfoundAutism
October 29, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Non-autistic parents who rely on mainstream autism resources may have no guidance for viewing their autistic kids positively. They may not see those kids as who they are, but rather as what they aren’t. These will probably not be happy families. But we can help!
tinyurl.com/NopeOnProfoundAutism
tinyurl.com/NopeOnProfoundAutism
Autism pseudoscience grifters "claim to offer wellness, but what their products really do is drain health and well-being from the children who are targets of these 'treatments.'”
@ejwillingham.bsky.social in the new TPGA newsletter. Share and subscribe—if you dare!
tinyurl.com/AutismZombieQuackery
@ejwillingham.bsky.social in the new TPGA newsletter. Share and subscribe—if you dare!
tinyurl.com/AutismZombieQuackery
October 27, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Autism pseudoscience grifters "claim to offer wellness, but what their products really do is drain health and well-being from the children who are targets of these 'treatments.'”
@ejwillingham.bsky.social in the new TPGA newsletter. Share and subscribe—if you dare!
tinyurl.com/AutismZombieQuackery
@ejwillingham.bsky.social in the new TPGA newsletter. Share and subscribe—if you dare!
tinyurl.com/AutismZombieQuackery
No, ABA therapy is NOT the gold standard for supporting autistic children: “Those studies that report children making long-term gains in functioning are of middling scientific quality, casting doubt on the therapy’s status as an authoritative treatment.”
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/03/when...
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/03/when...
October 25, 2025 at 5:38 PM
No, ABA therapy is NOT the gold standard for supporting autistic children: “Those studies that report children making long-term gains in functioning are of middling scientific quality, casting doubt on the therapy’s status as an authoritative treatment.”
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/03/when...
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/03/when...
"We don’t all make the same faces. Just ask any autistic woman who’s ever had a complete stranger tell her, when she was perfectly relaxed & supremely happy, to "smile.'"
From @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the latest TPGA newsletter. Please read, subscribe, & share!
tinyurl.com/TPGArestingBitchFace
From @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the latest TPGA newsletter. Please read, subscribe, & share!
tinyurl.com/TPGArestingBitchFace
October 23, 2025 at 10:21 PM
"We don’t all make the same faces. Just ask any autistic woman who’s ever had a complete stranger tell her, when she was perfectly relaxed & supremely happy, to "smile.'"
From @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the latest TPGA newsletter. Please read, subscribe, & share!
tinyurl.com/TPGArestingBitchFace
From @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the latest TPGA newsletter. Please read, subscribe, & share!
tinyurl.com/TPGArestingBitchFace
Parents of autistic kids deserve the best autism information, so they can understand and support those autistic kids. And we can help with that. We have so, so much useful info at www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com, and if you don't find what you need there, ask us a question! There, here, on IT, or on FB.
October 22, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Parents of autistic kids deserve the best autism information, so they can understand and support those autistic kids. And we can help with that. We have so, so much useful info at www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com, and if you don't find what you need there, ask us a question! There, here, on IT, or on FB.
"The way we autistics process is often on hyperdrive. The activities that are like strolling for many allistic people are like sprinting for us. We need rest, more frequently and in greater durations than non-autistic people." @mx-joyner.bsky.social, at TPGA:
tinyurl.com/WeGetTired #neurodiversity
tinyurl.com/WeGetTired #neurodiversity
October 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
"The way we autistics process is often on hyperdrive. The activities that are like strolling for many allistic people are like sprinting for us. We need rest, more frequently and in greater durations than non-autistic people." @mx-joyner.bsky.social, at TPGA:
tinyurl.com/WeGetTired #neurodiversity
tinyurl.com/WeGetTired #neurodiversity
"While it is reasonable for people to debate about exactly what form autism diagnostic criteria should take, 'quirky' has simply never been among those criteria. NO ONE is diagnosed w/autism on the basis of being 'just quirky.'” @epballou.bsky.social at TPGA:
thinkingautismguide.com/2018/05/auti...
thinkingautismguide.com/2018/05/auti...
October 19, 2025 at 5:33 PM
"While it is reasonable for people to debate about exactly what form autism diagnostic criteria should take, 'quirky' has simply never been among those criteria. NO ONE is diagnosed w/autism on the basis of being 'just quirky.'” @epballou.bsky.social at TPGA:
thinkingautismguide.com/2018/05/auti...
thinkingautismguide.com/2018/05/auti...
We are fed up with endless hand-wringing stories about bogus autism
causes, “epidemics,” & labels.
We want to see more stories boosting how to better support, understand, & educate autistic people.
Repost (or scream loudly even if just inside your head) if you agree.
#autism #neurodiversity
causes, “epidemics,” & labels.
We want to see more stories boosting how to better support, understand, & educate autistic people.
Repost (or scream loudly even if just inside your head) if you agree.
#autism #neurodiversity
October 16, 2025 at 7:39 PM
We are fed up with endless hand-wringing stories about bogus autism
causes, “epidemics,” & labels.
We want to see more stories boosting how to better support, understand, & educate autistic people.
Repost (or scream loudly even if just inside your head) if you agree.
#autism #neurodiversity
causes, “epidemics,” & labels.
We want to see more stories boosting how to better support, understand, & educate autistic people.
Repost (or scream loudly even if just inside your head) if you agree.
#autism #neurodiversity
"Fergus Murray’s Growing Up With Monotropism & Weird Pride is a crucial part of the brand-new autistic non-fiction anthology Someone Like Me. @fergus.oolong.co.uk's chapter is part technical primer, part auto-ethnography—& wholly moving." Eli Eggers, at TPGA:
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/10/let-...
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/10/let-...
October 15, 2025 at 11:21 PM
"Fergus Murray’s Growing Up With Monotropism & Weird Pride is a crucial part of the brand-new autistic non-fiction anthology Someone Like Me. @fergus.oolong.co.uk's chapter is part technical primer, part auto-ethnography—& wholly moving." Eli Eggers, at TPGA:
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/10/let-...
thinkingautismguide.com/2025/10/let-...
Why is it that 'research that’s clearly forbidden as unethical for non-autistic children is somehow allowed when autistic children are the subjects'? Anne Borden King is asking the hard questions, as usual:
childrensrights.substack.com/p/a-brief-hi... #autism #research #neurodiversity
childrensrights.substack.com/p/a-brief-hi... #autism #research #neurodiversity
October 14, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Why is it that 'research that’s clearly forbidden as unethical for non-autistic children is somehow allowed when autistic children are the subjects'? Anne Borden King is asking the hard questions, as usual:
childrensrights.substack.com/p/a-brief-hi... #autism #research #neurodiversity
childrensrights.substack.com/p/a-brief-hi... #autism #research #neurodiversity
Enough with the RFK Jr. BS. You know what causes autism? People having autistic kids. Whether those people have obvious autistic traits or not. FFS.
Wear our tee, spread the word, support @autisticadvocacy.org:
www.bonfire.com/reproduction...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
Wear our tee, spread the word, support @autisticadvocacy.org:
www.bonfire.com/reproduction...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
October 12, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Enough with the RFK Jr. BS. You know what causes autism? People having autistic kids. Whether those people have obvious autistic traits or not. FFS.
Wear our tee, spread the word, support @autisticadvocacy.org:
www.bonfire.com/reproduction...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
Wear our tee, spread the word, support @autisticadvocacy.org:
www.bonfire.com/reproduction...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
Autistic people need downtime in order to process, reintegrate, stim, watch favorite videos—however they best decompress.
LET AUTISTIC PEOPLE HAVE THEIR SPACE!
thinkingautismguide.com/2017/04/elev...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
LET AUTISTIC PEOPLE HAVE THEIR SPACE!
thinkingautismguide.com/2017/04/elev...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
October 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Autistic people need downtime in order to process, reintegrate, stim, watch favorite videos—however they best decompress.
LET AUTISTIC PEOPLE HAVE THEIR SPACE!
thinkingautismguide.com/2017/04/elev...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
LET AUTISTIC PEOPLE HAVE THEIR SPACE!
thinkingautismguide.com/2017/04/elev...
#autism #autistic #neurodiversity
A reminder for struggling autistic and disabled folks: “If you’re saying to yourself ‘Why haven’t I done this easy thing?!,’ the thing is probably not actually easy.” from Real Social Skills:
tinyurl.com/HardThingsArentEasy
#autism #disability #neurodiversity
tinyurl.com/HardThingsArentEasy
#autism #disability #neurodiversity
October 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM
A reminder for struggling autistic and disabled folks: “If you’re saying to yourself ‘Why haven’t I done this easy thing?!,’ the thing is probably not actually easy.” from Real Social Skills:
tinyurl.com/HardThingsArentEasy
#autism #disability #neurodiversity
tinyurl.com/HardThingsArentEasy
#autism #disability #neurodiversity
"Just to be clear: A lack of recognition, supports, & accommodations & the presence of co-occurring conditions does not mean that some people have “profound autism.” Autistic people are all autistic. Period." From @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the new TPGA newsletter.
tinyurl.com/TPGAprofoundAutism
tinyurl.com/TPGAprofoundAutism
October 7, 2025 at 11:36 PM
"Just to be clear: A lack of recognition, supports, & accommodations & the presence of co-occurring conditions does not mean that some people have “profound autism.” Autistic people are all autistic. Period." From @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the new TPGA newsletter.
tinyurl.com/TPGAprofoundAutism
tinyurl.com/TPGAprofoundAutism
To reiterate:
Q: Should I be concerned If I have taken acetaminophen at any point during my pregnancy?
A: No.
More info from @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the TPGA newsletter:
tinyURL.com/TPGAacetaminophen
#autism #neurodiversity #acetaminophen #pregnancy
Q: Should I be concerned If I have taken acetaminophen at any point during my pregnancy?
A: No.
More info from @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the TPGA newsletter:
tinyURL.com/TPGAacetaminophen
#autism #neurodiversity #acetaminophen #pregnancy
October 2, 2025 at 5:17 AM
To reiterate:
Q: Should I be concerned If I have taken acetaminophen at any point during my pregnancy?
A: No.
More info from @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the TPGA newsletter:
tinyURL.com/TPGAacetaminophen
#autism #neurodiversity #acetaminophen #pregnancy
Q: Should I be concerned If I have taken acetaminophen at any point during my pregnancy?
A: No.
More info from @ejwillingham.bsky.social in the TPGA newsletter:
tinyURL.com/TPGAacetaminophen
#autism #neurodiversity #acetaminophen #pregnancy
Leucovorin is a treatment for cerebral folate deficiency, not autism—but that matters not to RFK Jr., who is determined to eradicate autistic ppl while also letting his cronies make $$ selling leucovorin supplements. More in our newsletter by @ejwillingham.bsky.social:
buttondown.com/TPGA/archive/
buttondown.com/TPGA/archive/
October 1, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Leucovorin is a treatment for cerebral folate deficiency, not autism—but that matters not to RFK Jr., who is determined to eradicate autistic ppl while also letting his cronies make $$ selling leucovorin supplements. More in our newsletter by @ejwillingham.bsky.social:
buttondown.com/TPGA/archive/
buttondown.com/TPGA/archive/
Autism is not a disease.
You can’t cure autism.
"Some people don’t care what we want. They want a cure for autism, and they spend a lot of time and money looking for it. This is bad for autistic people. People should spend time and money helping us live good lives."
Words by @autisticadvocacy.org.
You can’t cure autism.
"Some people don’t care what we want. They want a cure for autism, and they spend a lot of time and money looking for it. This is bad for autistic people. People should spend time and money helping us live good lives."
Words by @autisticadvocacy.org.
September 30, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Autism is not a disease.
You can’t cure autism.
"Some people don’t care what we want. They want a cure for autism, and they spend a lot of time and money looking for it. This is bad for autistic people. People should spend time and money helping us live good lives."
Words by @autisticadvocacy.org.
You can’t cure autism.
"Some people don’t care what we want. They want a cure for autism, and they spend a lot of time and money looking for it. This is bad for autistic people. People should spend time and money helping us live good lives."
Words by @autisticadvocacy.org.
"To all the teachers, I would like to say—believe in us! Please don’t assess [autistic] potential based entirely on our outward behavior or what we may not be able to say verbally. There is a lot more under the surface than you might initially see" -Sid Ramaswamy, at TPGA:
tinyurl.com/SidRamaswamy
tinyurl.com/SidRamaswamy
September 28, 2025 at 7:52 PM
"To all the teachers, I would like to say—believe in us! Please don’t assess [autistic] potential based entirely on our outward behavior or what we may not be able to say verbally. There is a lot more under the surface than you might initially see" -Sid Ramaswamy, at TPGA:
tinyurl.com/SidRamaswamy
tinyurl.com/SidRamaswamy
The refrigerator mother theory of autism has been around for decades, blaming mothers for being cold and distant and causing autism in their kids.
And yet the most significant factor in having an autistic child is having autistic traits or being autistic yourself.
tinyurl.com/CNNautismInfo #autism
And yet the most significant factor in having an autistic child is having autistic traits or being autistic yourself.
tinyurl.com/CNNautismInfo #autism
September 27, 2025 at 7:40 PM
The refrigerator mother theory of autism has been around for decades, blaming mothers for being cold and distant and causing autism in their kids.
And yet the most significant factor in having an autistic child is having autistic traits or being autistic yourself.
tinyurl.com/CNNautismInfo #autism
And yet the most significant factor in having an autistic child is having autistic traits or being autistic yourself.
tinyurl.com/CNNautismInfo #autism
To our community members in this moment: “You have the right to be happy. Tune out from the world if you are able & tune into your own needs periodically. Stim, dance, dress in your funky outfit, & do what gives you joy.” -TC Waisman, at TPGA:
tinyurl.com/TPGAselfCompassion
#autism #neurodiversity
tinyurl.com/TPGAselfCompassion
#autism #neurodiversity
September 26, 2025 at 3:42 AM
To our community members in this moment: “You have the right to be happy. Tune out from the world if you are able & tune into your own needs periodically. Stim, dance, dress in your funky outfit, & do what gives you joy.” -TC Waisman, at TPGA:
tinyurl.com/TPGAselfCompassion
#autism #neurodiversity
tinyurl.com/TPGAselfCompassion
#autism #neurodiversity