Advocate for Inclusion and Neurodiversity

Autism Acceptance 2020 Poem This month we celebrate Autism Acceptance This annual occasion never turns into one of obsolescence But is one we await with renewed expectance What does this really mean in essence Awareness is already omnipresent What we need so dearly is acceptance Kindness, love and affection All too often we autistics find others keeping a distance Or denying us into that their social circle an admittance Because they don’t understand our difference Must our interaction with the world be met with so much resistance Causing this to accumulate within us a sense of sadness and resentment? Everyone has differing personalities and needs, we are no exception Exercise some patience, compassion and forbearance That we may reciprocate likewise, instead of in vengeance Pardon a bit of awkwardness when into social events we make an entrance Like a party or a wedding reception We are sincere in showing our support through our attendance ...

https://youtu.be/kT0eqy-_s7A Materials manufactured from a factory go through standard Quality checks (QCs) to discriminate between the good quality ones and the bad, the "pass" and "fail" ones. But humans are not factory produced homogeneous products. Humans are more DIVERSE than we imagine. Yet we are all put through similar tests to discriminate between the "pass" and "fail", the "normal" and the "inferior", where "normal" parameters are set by what is the majority, the average, and the rest are somehow deemed inferior. In the context of the Neurodivergent (including but not limited to autistics, ADHD, Dsylexia, and those labelled to have Learning Disabilities ), we are, by the "standards of normal" (whatever that may be), deemed inferior to others, just because we behave differently, think differently, socialise differently (or have trouble socialising or don't socialise). Those who lack a...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvvrme5WIwA This video (link above) from a real life story and perspective of an autistic lady of the RICHNESS   which  NEURODIVERSITY can bring to the world, and the acceptance & embracing of the autism part of every autistic.  We have a lot to bring to the world due to our unique experiences which are perhaps unique to the (Neuro)divergent. Some of the great inventions which has moved our society/world forward by autistic brains. To me, the pivotal milestone for this woman is captured starting from 07:50 part of the video. She talk about her discovery of Asperger's Syndrome .  This reminded me of myself - diagnosed late in life (so was she), then able to look back at my life with a different view, from a different lens, with a clearer vision ,  to be able to make sense of my experiences (be it the good, the bad or the ugly, the rich and the poor, the usual and the unique, the ordinary and the o...

A mother shared her story about her son's sensory issues and talent in music. I believe her experience is eye-opening for all of us and teaches us many lessons, including but not limited to: 1) Practical Strategies to Cope With Sensory - each have their own ways. For this mother, one of the ways is reducing the frequency of attending events with heavy sensory stimuli (e.g. weddings etc.), and to be prepared to have to take her son out of the venue to a quieter place when he gets overloaded. 2) Accepting your "New Kind of Normal", and even Embracing It. And Finding Your own Happiness  In this mother and son example: No birthday parties. Limited weddings. Dad and Mum not attending weddings together but separately so that one parent can take care of the child at home without the exposure to sensory overload. Doesn't sound like a so-called "typical life", yet as she say " Accept it". Two powerful words! This is her different kind of normal, in the sen...

I participated in an autism focused bowling game yesterday where participants were mostly autistic, kindly sponsored by a corporate company.  As I enjoyed the experience of going through the experience and observed what was going on, I realised bowling (like other sports) can teach us life lessons. I will, as best as I can, contextualize  these lessons to life of autistics LESSON 1: DON'T QUIT WHEN THINGS DON'T START OUT WELL Some of us who are not experienced bowlers (like myself) might find that within the first few throws, the bowling ball often goes into the gutters. It is a discouraging start . In life, like in bowling, don't quit when things don't start out well at the initial stage . There are bound to be hiccups at the start but press on, tweak your approach if necessary, get help from others, and hopefully things will get better. The bowling scores did get better as we continued to bowl and tweak our approaches in how we throw the ball We Autistics can learn ...

The beneficiaries of my company's CSR event today included autism schools. I volunteered with the team of volunteers who played the role of hosts __________________ THE EXPERIENCE (MORNING) In the morning, my sub-team hosted an autism-focused school which integrates mainstream academic curriculum together with life readiness skills in their school programme. I told the teachers I am autistic too. It was an enriching experience to relate to like-minded students whom I see so much of myself in them and able to connect with within the first 5 minutes of conversing.  More importantly, by the way they communicate, and express themselves, I saw so much potential in them to be the next generation of autistic leaders to further our cause for our autism community. Before they left the event, I told some of the school teachers these: When I see these students, I see hope I hope they can build/groom this next generation of leaders to build our future - the future ...