Reframe these states of being that have been labelled deficiencies or pathologies as human differencesOur friends and allies at Randimals have a saying, What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world.Randimals We agree. Randimals are made up of two different animals… More.
Normal Sucks: Author Jonathan Mooney on How Schools Fail Kids with Learning Differences
I used to tell my students that ideology never announces itself as ideology. It naturalizes itself like the air we breath. It doesn’t acknowledge that it is a way of looking at the word; it proceeds as if it is the only way of looking at the world. At its most effective, it renders itself unassailable: just the way things are. Not an opinion, not the result of centuries of implicit and explicit messaging, not a means of upholding a powerThe 20th Century political scientist Karl Deutsch said, “Power is the ability not to have to learn.”I quote this statement often, because I think it’s one of the most important… More structure. It just is.
the shameShame, she points out, is not the same as guilt. Guilt happens in response to an action or inaction. It is linked to an event, not a person. It can… More is ours
When we successfully reframe public discourse, we change the way the public sees the world. We change what counts as common sense. Because language activates frames, new language is required for new frames. Thinking differently requires speaking differently.
The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate
Challenge the normNormal was created, not discovered, by flawed, eccentric, self-interested, racist, ableist, homophobic, sexist humans. Normal is a statistical fiction, nothing less. Knowing this is the first step toward reclaiming your… More and change the narrative by reframingWhen we successfully reframe public discourse, we change the way the public sees the world. We change what counts as common sense. Because language activates frames, new language is required… More.
We Reframe
We, Stimpunks
We reframe out of the confines of the medical model and pathology paradigm and into the respectfully connected expanse of the biopsychosocial modelThe proposed biopsychosocial model allows us to provide therapeutic intervention (medical model) and recommend structural accommodation (legislative obligation) without pathologization (social model). In other words, we can deal pragmatically with… More and the Neurodiversity paradigm. We reframe from deficit ideologyBriefly, deficit ideology is a worldview that explains and justifies outcome inequalities— standardized test scores or levels of educational attainment, for example—by pointing to supposed deficiencies within disenfranchised individuals and… More to structural ideologyEducators with a structural ideology understand that educational outcome disparities are dominantly the result of structural barriers, the logical if not purposeful outcome of inequitable distributions of opportunity and access… More.
Stimpunk combines “stimming” + “punk” to evoke open and proud stimming, resistance to neurotypicalization, and the DIY culture of punk, disabled, and neurodivergent communities. Instead of hiding our stims, we… More
You think you know me? No, you don't know me Don't fence me in, I wanna be big I wanna be part of everyone and everything No fence around me No, you can't limit me I'm in-between, your set of rules Don't even come close to applying to me Bah! binaries It's all make believe I wanna be part of everyone and everything --Dont' Fence Me In
We reframe to live proudly.
We are marginalizedFor me this space of radical openness is a margin a profound edge. Locating oneself there is difficult yet necessary. It is not a “safe” place. One is always at… More canaries
THINKING PERSON’S GUIDE TO AUTISM: ON HANS ASPERGER, THE NAZIS, AND AUTISM: A CONVERSATION ACROSS NEUROLOGIESAutistic man Freestone Wilson suggested in the 1990s that autistic people are functioning as the “miners’ canaries” of civilisation. When the air in the mine is poisoned we do not… More in a social coalmine and Rawlsian barometers of society’s morality. It is deeply subversive to live proudly despite being living embodiments of our culture’s long standing ethical failings.
Our non-complianceNoncompliance is a social skill.Noncompliance is one of the most important social skills. Noncompliance skills make it possible to say no, even when others want your right to say no to… More is not intended to be rebellious. We simply do not comply with things that harm us. But since a great number of things that harm us are not harmful to most neurotypicals, we are viewed as untamed and in need of straightening up.
Don’t know about you but I, I wanna see this through Wouldn’t it be nice To believe In yourself --I Wanna See This Through by Aubrey Hays
We reframe to be our real selves.
Abuse and silencing is a constant, pervasive theme in the lives of autistic
Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking (p. 8, 125). Autistic Self Advocacy NetworkAutistic ways of being are human neurological variants that can not be understood without the social model of disability.If you are wondering whether you are Autistic, spend time amongst Autistic people, online and offline. If… More people, and for many people it is best expressed by that old, familiar phrase from special educationThe word “special” is used to sugar-coat segregation and societal exclusion – and its continued use in our language, education systems, media etc serves to maintain those increasingly antiquated “special”… More: quiet hands
Abuse and silencing is a constant, pervasive theme in the lives of autistic people, and for many people it is best expressed by that old, familiar phrase from special education:… More!
Loud hands means resisting. Loud Hands means speaking, however we do, anyway—and doing so in a way that can be very obviously Autistic. It means finding ways to talk and think about ourselves on our own terms.
There is room for all of us to playThere is nothing more human than play. Humans were designed to learn in play. In fact, nearly all mammals evolved this way.Play’s Power At our learning space, we provide learners fresh… More our part. And whatever we do, however we do it, we can do it with ‘loud hands’ and ‘loud voices,’ and loud whatever else we need, in whatever way that works for us individually or collectively. Let us be our real autistic selves, loud and proud, and show the world what we truly are.
How did I do on your little test?
Get my brain to reset (Reset)
‘Cause everything you say is static
Do I make a good pet? (Good pet)
Obey the commands or get the back of the hand
‘Cause the world wasn’t built for a brain like mine
Change my mind, change my mind, change my mind
This construct
Was built and can be dismantled
We stand together
We think apart
We reframe to build community.
…the central tension of punk
We accept you, one of us?: punk rock, community, and individualism in an uncertain era, 1974-1985Everything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front.Punk subculture – Wikipedia The First Rule of Punk: Be Yourself Our Second Rule of Punk: Reframe The… More rock: it was built on individualism and an anti-hero ethos, yet expressed itself as a community. The motivation for punk was individualistic artistic expression, but the glue for the subculture was the experience of finding like-minded misfits.
ANI launched its online list, ANI-L, in 1994. Like a specialized ecological niche, ANI-L had acted as an incubator for Autistic culture, accelerating its evolutionShe tells of a radical fringe of scientists who are realizing that natural selection isn’t individual, but mutual—that species only survive if they learn to be in community.Emergent Strategy: Shaping… More. In 1996, a computer programmer in the Netherlands named Martijn Dekker set up a list called Independent Living on the Autism Spectrum, or InLv. People with dyslexiaDyslexia is a genetic, brain-based characteristic that results in difficulty connecting the sounds of spoken language to written words. It can result in errors in reading or spelling as well… More, ADHD
The neurodiversity movement: Autism is a minority group. NeuroTribes excerpt.ADHD or what I prefer to call Kinetic Cognitive Style (KCS) is another good example. (Nick Walker coined this alternative term.) The name ADHD implies that Kinetics like me have… More, dyscalculia, and a myriad of other conditions (christened “cousins” in the early days of ANI) were also welcome to join the list. InLv was another nutrient-rich tide pool that accelerated the evolution of autistic culture. The collective ethos of InLv, said writer and list member Harvey Blume in the New York Times in 1997, was “neurological pluralismANI launched its online list, ANI-L, in 1994. Like a specialized ecological niche, ANI-L had acted as an incubator for Autistic culture, accelerating its evolution. In 1996, a computer programmer… More.” He was the first mainstream journalist to pick up on the significance of online communities
What I have always been hoping to accomplish is the creation of community.Community is magic. Community is power. Community is resistance.Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century https://www.amazon.com/Disability-Visibility-First-Person-Stories-Twenty-First-ebook/dp/B082ZQBL98/ https://www.amazon.com/Disability-Visibility-Adapted-Young-Adults-ebook/dp/B08VFT4R9T/… More for people with neurological differences. “The impact of the Internet on autistics,” Blume predicted, “may one day be compared in magnitude to the spread of sign language among the deaf.”
Autistic people have built many niche communities from the ground up—both out of necessity and because our interests and modes of being are, well, weird
Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity (p. 218)“Weird Pride Flag” by Ferrous and Autistamatic Be proud of what you are.We’re weird, and we’re glad we are.Weird Pride Promo 2021 Autistic Pride is inconceivable without weird pride, and… More.
Disability’s no longer just a diagnosis
Liz Jackson: Designing for InclusivitySelf diagnosis is not just “valid” — it is liberatory. When we define our community ourselves and wrest our right to self-definition back from the systems that painted us as… More; it’s a community.
Autistic kids need access to autistic communities. They need access to autistic mentors. They need to know that the problems they go through are actually common for many of us! They need to know they are not aloneAloneness is a characteristic that many creatives embrace and yearn for. Being alone is anything but lonely. Reading, writing, and creating art all demand a personal space where one can… More. They need to know that they matter and people care about them. They need to see autistic adults out in the world being accommodated and understood and respected. They need to learn how to understand their own alexithymiaAlexithymia (also called emotional blindness) is a condition where you have challenges identifying and describing emotions in the self. Essentially, alexithymia is a difference in emotion processing.The alexithymia & autism guide… More and their own emotionsJustice, equality, fairness, mercy, longsuffering, Work, Passion, knowledge, and above all else, Truth. Those are my primary emotions.Very Grand Emotions: How Autistics and Neurotypicals Experience Emotions Differently » NeuroClastic https://youtu.be/uPRa6G2a48E… More. They need to be able to recognize themselves in others. They need to be able to breathe.
AutisticSciencePerson
In Te Reo Māori the word for Autistic ways of being is Takiwātanga, which means “in their own space and time”. Most Autists are not born into healthy Autistic families. We have to co-create our Autistic families in our own space and time.
A communal definition of Autistic ways of being
We reframe to find our people.
Image Credit: Swamburger
Until one day… you find a whole world of people who understand.
The internet has allowed autistic people- who might be shut in their homes, unable to speak aloud, or unable to travel independently- to mingle with each other, share experiences, and talk about our lives to people who feel the same way.
We were no longer alone.
7 Cool Aspects of Autistic Culture » NeuroClastic
Did you ever feel
Like you don’t quite belong
Just hold on
And go find your people
Find your people
Opening doors has become my calling
Welcome to this house
All Hail Open Doors by Swamburger and Scarlet Monk of Mugs and Pockets
I believe all persons with Autism need the opportunity to become friends with other Autistic people. Without this contact we feel alien to this world. We feel lonely. Feeling like an alien is a slow death. It’s sadness, self-hate, it’s continuously striving to be someone we’re not. It’s waking up each day and functioning in falsehood (French, 1993).
Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking
How can we cultivate spaces where everyone has that soaring sense of inclusion, where we can have difficult and meaningful conversations?
“The Beauty of Spaces Created for and by DisabledThe label “disabled” means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself… More People” by s.e. smith in “Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century“
Because everyone deserves the shelter and embrace of crip space, to find their people and set down roots in a place they can call home.
Are you awake or are you sleeping? Are you afraid? We've been waiting for this meeting We have come here for you, and we're coming in peace Mothership will take you on higher, higher This world you live in is not a place for someone like you Come on, let us take you home It's time to go, you are infected Come as you are, don't be scared of us, you'll be protected (Protected, protected) I guess you are a different kind of human I guess you are a different kind of human Omega hai foleetI believe all persons with Autism need the opportunity to become friends with other Autistic people. Without this contact we feel alien to this world. We feel lonely. Feeling like... More, Omega hai foleet There is a flaw in man-made matters But you are pure, and we have to get you out of here --A Different Kind of Human by AURORA
Don’t be scared; you’re okay. You can come with us, and you’ll be safe.
AURORA on Twitter: “Track number 8: A Different Kind Of Human.”
We reframe to demonstrate agency.
It is also important to recognise that autistic people inevitably change the structures they inhabit in a unique way because they are autistic and despite any neurotypicalThe existence of the word neurotypical makes it possible to have conversations about topics like neurotypical privilege. Neurotypical is a word that allows us to talk about members of the… More attempts to kerb their tendency to do that. If their autistic disposition were not what it is, the neurotypical world would not try to manage and control it. Existing as an autistic person, therefore, is almost a forceful demonstration in agency.
Frontiers | A Critical Realist Approach on Autism: Ontological and Epistemological Implications for Knowledge Production in Autism Research | Psychology
Ordinary tried to fix me I was a threat to a page in history Miss me with the treatment, doo-wop bleaching Straighten my kinky with a new pop Legion --Talent by Swamburger
Welcome to our nutrient-rich tide pool of like-minded misfits, with loud hands.
Reframe with us.
Stimpunks combines “stimming” + “punks” to evoke open and proud stimmingSelf-stimulatory behavior, also known as stimming and self-stimulation, is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, or words, or the repetitive movement of objects Stimming – Wikipedia Autistic adults highlighted the importance of stimming as… More, resistance to neurotypicalization, and the DIYIn the arts, bricolage (French for “DIY” or “do-it-yourself projects”) is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or… More culture of punk, disabled, and neurodivergent
Neurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”NEURODIVERSITY: SOME BASIC TERMS & DEFINITIONS Neurodivergent is quite… More communities. Instead of hiding our stims, we bring them to the front.
Everything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front.
PUNK SUBCULTURE – WIKIPEDIA
The First Rule of Punk: Be Yourself
Our Second Rule of Punk: Reframe
When we reframe, we perceive others such that they too can be themselves.
Autistic ways of being are human neurological variants that can not be understood without the social model of disability.
A communal definition of Autistic ways of being
When we reframe, we stop silencing ourselves and others.
I have loud hands. I must, since I use my hands to communicate. I type what I want to say. But that’s not the only reason why I have loud hands. It is because I finally learned that I cannot be silenced, I will not be silenced.
Loud Hands: I Speak Up With My Fingers
Selling yourself short tames the vision How you're depicted can change the sentence Innocent by Swamburger
If we have learned one thing from the civil rights movement in the U.S., it’s that when others speak for you, you lose.
Ed Roberts
When we reframe, we enable ecologies of care
The activities that constitute care are crucial for human life. We defined care in this way: Care is “a species activity that includes everything that we do to maintain, continue,… More.
Those who are the most sensitive and traumatised
Autistic people – The cultural immune system of human societies – YouTubeIn expanding our definitions of trauma, we must make sure we see trauma as a structural issue, not just an individual one. Scholars now recognize what people from marginalized communities… More and have not lost the ability to extend trustAutists conceptualise the world in terms of trusted relationships with unique people.The beauty of collaboration at human scale The Autistic way of developing trust is based on experienced domain-specific competence…. More constitute an enormously rich and diverse repository of insights and hold many of the keys needed for co-creating ecologies of care.
Reframing purposefully centers the edges.
I center the marginalized and the different. I center edge casesCompassion Isn’t CoddlingPeople often mistake compassion for “being nice,” but it’s not.The point of compassion isn’t to soften bad news or stressful situations with niceties. It’s to come from a… More, because edge cases are stress cases and design is tested at the edges. I center neurodivergent experience in service to all bodyminds
Creed – Stimpunks FoundationBodymind: A term used to challenge the idea the body and mind are experienced separately (Descartes). Written in various ways, Bodymind or Body-mind, this usage foregrounds the understanding that experiences… More.
Because design is tested at the edges, and we are the original life hackers.
People with disabilities are the original life hackers because our motivation is so high. If we don’t hack we often go without.
Liz Jackson: Designing for Inclusivity – 99U
We design from the edges to co-create ecologies of care.
The most important message I got from punk, was the DIY ethos. The DIY ethic. It’s inherently part of surviving.
Don Letts, SHOWstudio: Stussy – Talking Punk with Don Letts and John Ingham
Reframing is self-care and social change.
Punk rock is a living thing.
It’s about turning problems into assets.
Don Letts, Rebel Dread
The long-term well-being and empowerment of Autistics and members of other neurocognitive minority groups hinges upon our ability to create a paradigm shift – a shift from the pathology paradigmWhen it comes to human neurodiversity, the dominant paradigm in the world today is what I refer to as the pathology paradigm. The long-term well-being and empowerment of Autistics and members of… More to the neurodiversity
THROW AWAY THE MASTER’S TOOLS: LIBERATING OURSELVES FROM THE PATHOLOGY PARADIGMNeurodiversity is the diversity of human minds, the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species.NEURODIVERSITY: SOME BASIC TERMS & DEFINITIONS Neurodiversity is a biological fact. It’s not a perspective, an approach, a… More paradigm.
🎶🌈 It Take a Joyful Sound: New Wave, New Phrase, Neurodiversity
It take a joyful sound To make a world go around Come with your heart and soul Come on come and rock your boat
“Punks are outcasts from society. So are the Rastas. So they are bound to defend what we defend,” Marley concluded. Shortly thereafter, they began recording the single Punky Reggae Party, and by naming an underground social phenomenon, helped further it.
Culture Clash: Bob Marley, Joe Strummer and the punky reggae party | Reggae | The Guardian
New wave, new phrase New wave, new craze It take a joyful sound To make a world go around Come with your heart and soul Come on come and rock your boat Because it's a punky reggae party And it's tonight It's a punky reggae party And it's alright Rejected by society (do re mi fa) Treated with impunity (so la te do) Protected by my dignity (do re mi fa) I search for reality (So La te Do) --Punky Reggae Party by Bob Marley & The Wailers
New wave, new phrase
New wave, new craze
Neurodiversity
What Neurodiversity Means to Me
Neurodiversity, to me, means both a fabulous celebration of all kinds of individual minds, and a serious, holistic
Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement: Stories from the FrontlineSystems Thinking Is Not Indigenous Holistic ThinkingIndigenous holistic thinking is not systems thinking because many Indigenous peoples and communities do not separate their world or landscapes into “systems” in the… More acknowledgment of the necessity of diversity in order for society to survive, thrive, and innovate. It means identity, belonging, and community. It means I am not broken, not alone, and neither are my siblings standing with me beneath that huge, multi-colored neurodiversity umbrella: we the autistic, the mad, the weirdly-wired, the queerBeing queer means constantly questioning what’s considered “normal” and why that norm gets privileged over other ways of being. It means criticizing who sets these norms and recognizing the privilege… More, the crippledSome people with disabilities call themselves “crips.” “Crip” used to be a mean word for disabled. It is short for “cripple.” But some disabled people call themselves “crips” on purpose…. More, and the labeled with neurodivergent diagnoses like flowers that glorify our beautiful bodies and minds.
Neurodiversity is one of the most powerful ideas of our generation.
It take a joyful sound. Reframe.
Human cognitive diversity exists for a reason; our differences are the genius – and the conscience – of our species.
A Thousand Rivers
Neurodiversity and Disability JusticeDisability justice (and disability itself) has the potential to fundamentally transform everything we think about quality of life, purpose, work, relationships, belonging.Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century… More, taken together, are indeed celebrations of who we are and how we exist in the world. They are also movements rooted in lived experience, which ask us to understand and engage with the many ways we relate to our bodies and brains, inside our own minds, and in social context.
Autistic Hoya — A blog by Lydia X. Z. Brown: The neurodiversity movements needs its shoes off, and fists up.
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
This here music mash up the nation This here music cause a sensation Tell your mamamama, tell your papapapa Everything's gonna be all right Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it Everything is gonna be alright I said revolution rock Revolution rock Yeah so, get that cheese grater going Against the grains Wearin' me down Pressure increase Everybody! --Revolution Rock by The Clash
Disability justice (and disability itself) has the potential to fundamentally transform everything we think about quality of life, purpose
Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st CenturySelf-determination Theory (SDT) is… — a model, a macro theory, of human motivation. It’s one of several models of human motivation, but it’s one that has been confirmed over and… More, work, relationships, belonging.
Learn more about us and how we reframe for care and build niche communities after some art
The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly,… More and happy flappy stimmy joy.
What happens when you go out on a random day in Austin, TX and invite people to dance with you?
Watch this vid to find out!
Time keeps slipping, I'm left gripping my covers at night. Feeling childish, In her wildest dreams, she would never imagine this life. When you jump you should expect to fall but, It shouldn't stop you, we were all meant to be cut short. I'm awfully scared, but I'm excited too, Don't know about you but I, I wanna see this through. It would be easier not to express, I could hide all my troubles away. Worried and hurried, I try my best but my best is the worst some days. When you jump you should expect to fall but, It shouldn't stop you, we were all meant to be cut short. I'm awfully scared, but I'm excited too, Don't know about you but I, I wanna see this through. Wouldn't it be nice to believe in yourself? Wouldn't it be nice to believe in yourself? Wouldn't it be nice to believe in yourself? Wouldn't it be nice to believe?
I Wanna See This Through by Aubrey Hays
Get Happy Flappy
Enjoy some art, music, and stim dancing on the next page.
