Quotes And Quotes
Quotes: Outdated Sources, But Still Good Parts to quote
Page 14:
“In 1981, Lorna Wing, a British psychiatrist, introduced the name Asperger's syndrome after taking interest in Asperger's research.”
Page 16
“Many autistic people are very good at hiding their autistic traits in public. People often don't see their real struggles or their meltdowns.”
Page 19
“When making choices, neurotypical people can be very sensitive about how a question or choice is presented or framed. Most people prefer an outcome that is presented in a positive light as opposed to a negative light, even if the two choices are identical.”
“Associative thinkers see relations and connections everywhere and tend not to categorize things. When I hear or read a certain word, I suddenly see a lot of “pictures” in my mind that have something to do with that word. This happens in quite an unstructured and even chaotic way. It's a complicated spiderweb of memories, pictures, and thoughts.”
“When I want to create something or solve a problem in my apartment and I go into a hardware store to find resources, I never ask for help.”
Page 21
"Mathematical/musical thinkers are pattern thinkers. They think in patterns and they notice patterns in numbers and music. They are often great composers, computer programmers, or chess players."
Page 22
“Verbal thinkers tend to be very good at learning languages and are interested in words and literature. They often have an extensive knowledge and memory of movies, history, or geography, and they enjoy making lists about facts in alphabetical order.”
Page 27
“The sad fact is that many autistic adults do not have a job or have never worked for pay. Many autistic people do volunteer work while living on disability payments because they encounter too many issues at a workplace. Even though volunteer work also comes with responsibilities, there's less pressure regarding expectations and deadlines.”
Page 28
“While many autistic people face great challenges as children, things become even harder once they reach adulthood. Suddenly, society expects you to be “an adult” and behave and function as such. It is such a shame that exactly at the point in their lives when they need it the most, the support they receive from organizations and resources often stops. Because I was diagnosed at 21, I never received any support as a child. After I received my diagnosis, my mother tried to find all kinds of resources, but she soon realized that I was too old for much of anything.”
Page 29
“Ableism is discrimination against people with disabilities. It is the harboring of beliefs that devalue and limit the potential of people with physical, intellectual, or mental disorders and disabilities. For instance, people might believe that autistic people will never be an asset to society, and that they need to be “fixed” or “cured”.”
“You have to be the bravest person in the world to go out every day, being yourself when no one likes who you are.”
― Matthew Dicks, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
“Your abilities lie in the places people usually overlook, so you’ve been convinced you don’t have any at all. But you’re smart, and you’re capable, and if people struggle to see that, it’s their problem, not yours.”
― Talia Hibbert, Act Your Age, Eve Brown
“I'm getting so sick of talking. It's like holding the wrong kind of magnets together: I can try and try, but it takes brute force, and the second I relax, the magnets simply slide past each other.”
― Corinne Duyvis, On the Edge of Gone
“People always get like this, sooner or later. They start pushing and pushing, and I don't get what they're pushing me toward, or they promise me something, then do the opposite, and I no longer know what to do. Either way, someone gets hurt. Most of the time, it's me.”
― Corinne Duyvis, On the Edge of Gone
“I'm not making sense, and I'm so tired of having to make sense. I've even more tired of talking about how OK or not OK I am. I'm not. I've failed. That's it. People should stop going on about it.”
― Corinne Duyvis, On the Edge of Gone
“I don't think you're even hearing me."
Her laugh turns into a sob.
I'm listening. I just don't know what to say, or how. Words crawl in the back of my mind but won't take enough shape to reach my tongue.”
― Corinne Duyvis, On the Edge of Gone
Page 38
“The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is an organization run by and for autistic people. Their slogan is “Nothing About Us Without Us.” They advocate for the rights of autistic people so that their voices are heard”
Page 42
“Adults on the autism spectrum often encounter a lot of misunderstandings during conversations because we don't always understand what people mean. This is not just because of the words, a huge part of communication is nonverbal.”
Page 44
“When most people talk, they vary their pitch, tempo, volume, or intonation, depending on what they are saying. This is called prosody.”
Page 54
"being able to have a conversation, which is a lot more challenging for me than anybody will ever be aware of, doesn’t mean I don’t have other major struggles"
Page 74
"One of the most common issues autistic students have with homework is exhaustion. When I came home after a day of school, I was so tired."
Page 91
“Many autistic people are very passionate about what they do. Especially when they find a job that lies within their special interest, they will have a lot of stamina and determination to succeed.”
Page 92
“Many atistic people have a highly developed ability to recognize patterns. This makes us very good at recognizing changes and spotting deviations in data and information”
Page 111
“Most, if not all, people on the autism spectrum use masking when they go out in public. When I’m in public or around others, they get to experience the very best of me as I tend to hide my autistic traits.”
Various Authors
“There is a sense that a particular neurodivergence does not make people inherently disabled, but they feel disabled because of the generally overstimulating environments of dominant neurotypical culture and settings.” ― Jenara Nerenberg, Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You
“When barriers to functioning make completing care tasks difficult, a person can experience an immense amount of shame. “How can I be failing at something so simple?” they think to themselves. The critical internal dialogue quickly forms a vicious cycle, paralyzing the person even further. They are unlikely to reach out for help with these tasks due to intense fear of judgment and rejection. As shame and isolation increase, mental health plummets. Self-loathing sets in and motivation vanishes. Sadly, this is often compounded by” ― K.C. Davis, How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing
“The human need to be visible is countered by the need to be invisible to avoid further abuse, and the need for intimacy and the dread of abuse, all pose insoluble dichotomies which promote further withdrawal from human contact, which reinforces the sense of dehumanisation.” ― Christiane Sanderson, Introduction to Counselling Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma
“While we can all accept that bullying and abuse betray a lack or loss of respect for other human beings, there is a deeper issue: the devaluing of human life; and that in turn indicates a lack or loss of respect for the Giver of human life and dignity, God Himself. The message a bully sends is a mockery of God's handiwork, a lie that slanders God's nature and negates His love for us.” ― Frank E. Peretti, The Wounded Spirit
Quotes I discovered in 2024:
"Imagine my shock as a neurodivergent teen when I first realized that using large vocabulary and eloquent speech doesn't make you less likely to be misinterpreted, rather it adds an entirely new layer of misinterpretation I had never even realized existed in the form of people thinking you're being snobbish or condescending when you're just trying to be specific"
“English, strictly speaking, is not my first language by the way. I haven't yet discovered what my first language is so for the time being I use English words in order to say things. I expect I will always have to do it that way; regrettably I don't think my first language can be written down at all. I'm not sure it can be made external you see. I think it has to stay where it is; simmering in the elastic gloom betwixt my flickering organs.” ― Claire-Louise Bennett