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Okay so since this is getting some notice again I want y'all wonderful autistic people to know that ASAN is taking applications for their ACI (Autistic Campus Inclusion) program until Feb. 23!! It's for people who are or want to be autistic self-advocates in secondary education (grad school is good too). I learned so many fantastic skills and got a ton of incredible opportunities (I met JUDY HEUMANN and LOBBIED ON FREAKING CAPITAL HILL) And the best part for me was being part of a fully-inclusive (yes I mean that*) autistic space. I'm almost always in some state of dissociation and I was fully present for the whole week. It was absolutely amazing and I want everyone to know about it. If you're even a little bit interested please, please go check it out!!!!
https://autisticadvocacy.org/projects/education/aci/
*I can promise financial, physical, emotional accessibility etc. They encourage people of color and AAC users to apply, just as an example. Most of the people I met were LGBTQ+. I have really weird triggers and when I was suddenly no longer able to handle my dorm situation they made sure I was okay and found me a a new place. I had never had my needs respected like that before and it was life-changing. Please please apply.
Message me or tag me somehow if anyone needs to talk or wants more info on the post or autistic rights and advocacy in general. We're here and we're amazing. Much love and happy stimming 🌱
Punishment for stimming is BAD.
I don’t care if my blog’s not popular, if this post reaches one person it’ll be one more person helped. I just had a college class in abnormal psychology where the professor taught us that punishment is a workable and useful therapy to “treat” autistic symptoms such as head-banging, biting etc. What he neglected to tell the class is that those behaviors are forms of self-stimulation (aka stimming) which is necessary for most people with autism to regulate their sensory systems. Specifically the above destructive behaviors are forms of overload stimming, in which the person will turn to types of self-stimulation that blocks out whatever is causing them distress in their environment. For example, head-banging and biting cause pain and so the body is forced to process that instead of what’s outside, temporarily interfering with their perception of the world to give them a reprieve. To clarify: this behavior isn’t good, it’s dangerous. The solution is to replace the overload stims with healthier ones, let them remove themself from the situation, and give them coping mechanisms and plans so that next time they don’t have to get to overload levels of upset.
The solution is NOT to punish them for overload stimming. They are not exhibiting bad behavior, they are trying desperately to do what their body needs them to do. If you punish them and they stop overload stimming in response, it’s not successful learning: it’s abuse. They are not stopping because they ‘see the error in their ways,’ they are stopping because they are afraid of what you will do to them. All punishment works like that, but it is called for when the person does something wrong, not when they are working to do what their body needs because there is nothing wrong with that.
By the way, this is true for non-destructive types of stimming as well. Preventing any kind of stimming is abuse because it prevents people with autism’s bodies from working as they should. Instead stimming needs to be accommodated and respected or, if it absolutely must be stopped, immediately replaced with an equally effective option.
To recap: punishment is designed to stop bad behavior. Stimming is not bad behavior because it is an action that people with autism need to do to regulate their sensory systems. It is abuse to punish someone without cause. Therefore it is abuse to punish someone for stimming. Instead find non-destructive stims and solutions that solve the problem without the damaging consequences.
*p.s. if someone is overload stimming they’re already really upset. don’t make it worse. it’s common sense and so easy to do if you care about that person.*