• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Geek Club Books

Autism Education, Awareness, Acceptance, Advocacy

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
    • Autism Storytelling for Hope and Change
    • Speaking
    • Creative Team & Educational Specialists
    • Advisory Board
    • Our Benefactors
    • Press
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • All Articles and Interviews
    • Articles By Author
  • Families
    • Welcome Autism Families!
    • Autism Resources Bundle!
    • Freebies
    • Mighty League Autism Moms
  • Educators
    • Welcome Educators!
    • Autism EDU
    • Bluebee TeeVee, Autism Information Station
    • School Visits
  • Comics
    • Autism Comics Overview
    • Autism in Real Life Comic
    • Autism Spectrum Comic
    • End Awareness Comic
    • Understanding Autism Comic
    • Mighty League 1: Autistic Hero Comic
    • Mighty League 2: Autistic Hero Comic Book
  • Resources
    • How to Find Resources
    • Asking Autistics
    • Autistic Self-care
    • Amazon Autism Book Shop
    • What is Autism?
    • Books By Autistic Authors
    • What is Autism Awareness?
    • Autism Glossary
    • Autism Myths
    • Autistic or Person with Autism?
    • Speech and Language
    • Autism Business Ideas
  • Zoom Magazine
    • Issue 13: Family
    • Issue 14: Trailblazers
    • Issue 15: Powerful Women
    • Issue 16: Travel
    • Issue 17: Health
  • Take Action
    • How to Advocate for Autism
      • #Activate4Autism
      • Activator Heroes
    • Make a Difference
  • Contact
  • Donate

Autimism: Autism Teaches

April 12, 2014 By Jodi Murphy Leave a Comment

TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedInRedditWhatsApp

Shayla Hearn_Autism Teaches

By Shayla Hearn

Transitions, even simple ones like going downstairs, can be a real challenge. It is possible to get completely stuck in a moment, especially when your brain’s signals are crossed. It’s like a traffic jam of information. It might require making repetitive clicking noises with your tongue. Or flopping around on the floor until someone can help you calm your body with a big bear hug. Your brain tells you that there are strong needs that HAVE to be met to go from point A to B. You cannot go downstairs unless you have the sit-and-spin to go around and around on because spinning calms you down. Random things in the room, like a thermometer, become the object of intense scrutiny.

Your brain decides, on its own, that it will not help you process the steps to leave the room until you have gone through the list of other ideas firing off left and right inside. And all of this is confusing. Frustrating. Incomprehensible to your 4 year-old mind. The capacity to explain it is beyond your language ability. You react in the only way you know how, even when you realize it could upset someone. You kick. And scream. And cry. And try furiously to wipe the tears from your face because the sensation of wetness is overwhelming and just makes things worse.

But it is ok. Mom and dad are here. We are not mad. We may not always understand exactly what it is like for you but we will meet you where you are. We will help you. You are not alone. We believe in you. We know you are capable of finding your way. Our supply of love and hugs is endless. We hear you when you say you need a spinning top to watch spin around and around. We love you.

And we are proud of you. Because you DID make it downstairs. You worked through this. You did not give up. You may be different, but you are not less.

Photo credit: Shayla Hearn

If you liked this post you may also like:

  • Autism Parenting “Clean Our Village”
  • She is Finley
TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedInRedditWhatsApp

Filed Under: Autimisms, My Shaynanigans, Penfriend Project Autism Columns Tagged With: Autism Society, Shayla Hearn

About Jodi Murphy

Jodi Murphy is the founder of Geek Club Books, a registered nonprofit committed to creating a world where autistic individuals are fully accepted, valued and have a voice. Her priority is bringing autistic individuals creative and leadership opportunities that are meaningful, empowering and support their advocacy. She works with a creative autistic team to produce pop culture-based autism awareness education that is innovative, engaging, positive and opens hearts and minds to a new way of thinking about autism. Sign up for Geek Club Books mailing list for free apps, resource guides, curriculum, audio stories and more: https://geekclubbooks.com/autism-bundle.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Join Our Neurodiverse Community:

Read Our Current Issue:

Search

Latest

  • #AskingAutistics: When Did You Realize You See the World Differently?
  • A Year That Forced Me to Be More Patient and Flexible
  • This Year I’ll No Longer Apologize for Taking Up Space
  • #AskingAutistics: What Caused Your Autistic Burnout?
  • Why I’m the Caregiver I Never Had Growing Up

Topics

  • 501c3 Mission (8)
  • Anxiety (8)
  • App & Product Reviews (12)
  • Autimisms (29)
  • Autism Acceptance (13)
  • Autism at Work (9)
  • Autism Entrepreneurs (17)
  • Autism Resources (6)
  • Blog Haps (535)
  • Buzz (6)
  • Classroom (15)
  • Curious Interviews (116)
  • Day in the Life (9)
  • Dorktales (4)
  • Impactful Blogs (9)
  • Labels (4)
  • Love (5)
  • Mighty League (31)
  • Neurodiversity (2)
  • Our Personal Autism Journey (28)
  • Penfriend Project Autism Columns (216)
    • Adriana's Awesome Autistic Book Lists (1)
    • Aspierations (16)
    • Autism Insider (76)
    • Autistic Speaks (27)
    • Being Brave (25)
    • Chloe Rothschild (3)
    • Fidgets and Fries (2)
    • Happy Aspie (9)
    • My Shaynanigans (8)
    • Neurodivergent Rebel (20)
    • Positively Autistic (17)
    • Proud Autistic Living (6)
    • Tud Sense (5)
  • Pop Culture (8)
  • Safety (8)
  • Self-Care (7)
  • Self-Esteem (3)
  • Self-Improvement (10)
  • Sensory Needs (9)
  • Social Skills (4)
  • Speech and Language (6)
  • Tell Us Your Story (29)
  • Zoom Autism (55)

Footer

Support Our Work

Partners

#ReadYourWorld Advisor
 

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 Geek Club Books

To improve your experience on our site we may use cookies. Find out more.