One of the aspects of being Autistic that most readily identifies us to others is just how unusual and socially transgressive we can be.

Engagement is the polar opposite of overwhelmed, self-doubting passivity.

You’ll notice that every single one of these supposed social skills targets how the Autistic person treats someone else, or how they make someone else feel—there is no consideration of how the Autistic person feels, or the skills they might need to advocate for themself.

human diversity does not need a “cure.” All we need is the space to be ourselves, and the recognition that we are part of what makes humanity so dynamic, fascinating, and lovable.

Identify conflicting perspectives. Your needs might not be compatible with another person’s. That does not mean your needs should be erased. Conflict is sometimes necessary when two people’s perspectives are hard to reconcile.

“Stay at the party,” he says. “Let those feelings linger inside you, but don’t leave…You need to demonstrate to your brain that nervousness is just a passing feeling. It’s not an emergency, and it’s not an identity.”

First, we need help making friends who truly respect us.

Several Autistic people that I spoke to for this book shared with me that the only period in their lives when they’d ever been able to thrive was the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were comfortably at home, freed from any expectation that they might socialize or work, and receiving federal aid money that covered their bills, with a lit

Since we process new information in a more effortful, detailed way than non-Autistic people do and