Spectrumy

@spectrumy.bsky.social

1519 Followers 225 Following

AuDHD. CPTSD. Grumbler. Mum & spouse. Dog friend. She/her.

If your neurodivergent child is dysregulated, try running a bath or shower for them. If I am dysregulated, I try and force myself to take a shower. I never feel like I have the energy to, but the water provides a kind of reset and afterwards I am gently restored and rebalanced. The same thing is true for my children, although they prefer a bath. If my children request a bath, it is often an ask for help re-regulating. And if I can, I run it. I run a bath or take a shower at any time of day, regardless of normal schedule. Many times in this house over the years, water has prevented a meltdown. All three of us have different sensory profiles, yet water somehow is effective for all three.
Picture of a small white poodle on a lead, this is Charlie.
Picture is a close up of Charlie dog, with his head on my knee.
Picture is a selfie of me in a jumper, wearing makeup and showing off my new haircut/colour.
Charlie dog, who is small and white, with short hair. He is standing with a pink unicorn toy in front of him.
Pic is our Charlie dog, who is small and white and 15 years old
Picture is a drawing of a mother and son, watching a cat video on TV and having a cuddle. Underneath is the word "co-regulating".
Picture is our white fluffy Charlie dog, sitting in his dog bed, under the Christmas tree.
I don't think of being autistic as having a "condition" or "disorder". I do think of it as having a disability, and I also do think of it as a very normal "way of being". I think it's very normal to be disabled. Around 24% of the UK population is disabled (probably higher, due to the numbers of people with undiagnosed disabilities). I do think of autism as having "co-occurring conditions". You don't really get autism on it's own typically. But, I don't think of being autistic itself as having a condition. This is because you need some kind of treatment for a condition or disorder and you don't need any treatment for being autistic (although you can very much do for the conditions that go with it; ie I take ADHD meds for ADHD). As an autistic person I need to be loved and accepted as myself, and not placed in needlessly disabling environments. This is why it makes sense as a disability to me, because so much of the world *is* needlessly disabling to me. The way I need to live my life to meet my needs is much more particular and hard to achieve than for a non autistic person. And that is a disability. Does this resonate with you, and if not, how do you think of autism?