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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne

@autisticphd.com
386 followers 10 following 121 posts

Researcher, Stats Nerd, Social Science Educator and Teaching Consultant Dedicated to Accessibility and Leaving No One Behind 🔗AutisticPhD.com

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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 06/09/2026
Who needs the autistic joy of miniature toys? Please help me sort out who to give these to, since I no longer have an office but I do have love for tiny things and wish to share the joy. autisticphd.com/theblog/tiny...
Miniature Toy Collection Giveaway showing a spread off tiny toys such as corn hole, Lite-Brite, mini tabletop tennis, and ten others.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 25/08/2026
College can be hard for everyone at this point in our world. Autistic students have the current mess to sort out along with everybody else, plus some bonus struggles. Yay! (/sarcasm) I wanted to wish everyone a good academic year, for real. AND share some tips. autisticphd.com/theblog/auti...
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College and the Hidden Curriculum: Some Extra Struggles for Autistic Students - Autistic PhD
Happy first days of school! As we head back, here are three things that CAN make school harder for autistic student, AND how you can try to lessen the barriers!
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 20/07/2026
Big Personal News of 2026 ~ There's a LOT more to this life update on the website (please read if you're interested in details) but we are moving to Midcoast Maine! 🤗 autisticphd.com/theblog/we-a...
Collage of Google Maps images showing our route from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, to Midcoast Maine. It's basically route 90-E until around Albany/western Mass
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 12/07/2026
Correction: Illustrated by Ken Daley (not Daly, sorry)
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 27/06/2026
Crip Time IS ALSO an explanation for late. Deadlines often do NOT account for time to put leg braces on, assemble a wheelchair, wait for accesssible transportation, prepare to do a thing. Students have set travel time between classes, assuming what it takes. Crip Time factors in the rest of it.
Most people might think of Crip Time as a reference to us always being late.

But I think of Crip Time as an acknowledgement of our finitude, and of the sacredness of time.

For me this is about finding that time in the day with the least pain and the most potential for activity. And what I choose to DO in that sacred CRIP TIME reflects my values.

But crip time is SO much more than an excuse for us being late.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 18/05/2026
Oooh is "you look familiar" a flirting thing? 😯 Them: you look familiar Me: I don't even get that. I have prosopagnosia, or face blindness. I don't even look familiar to myself, so Them: Me: why are you leaving? You don't have to run. I'm not chasing. Them: 🏃‍♂️💨 Me: 🤷
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Reposted by Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne
Bloomsbury Books US @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Thank you @autisticphd.com for your thoughtful review of HOW DO YOU SPELL BELONG by @fidgetsandfries.bsky.social! "It gives children a gorgeously illustrated...story through which to understand...that belonging is something that we do, as the collective." Full review: autisticphd.com/theblog/how-...
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BOOK REVIEW: 'How Do You Spell Belong?' by Tiffany Hammond - Autistic PhD
"How Do You Spell Belong?" by Tiffany Hammond, Illustrated by Ken Daly. Answer: Y-E-S
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 14/05/2026
"How Do You Spell Belong?" by Tiffany Hammond, illustrated by Ken Daly is forthcoming from Bloomsbury. I had the opportunity to review this text and look forward to this book being on the shelves of every classroom and library. autisticphd.com/theblog/how-...
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BOOK REVIEW: 'How Do You Spell Belong?' by Tiffany Hammond - Autistic PhD
"How Do You Spell Belong?" by Tiffany Hammond, Illustrated by Ken Daly. Answer: Y-E-S
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 13/05/2026
This has become a popular crisis that people reach out to me about. I've even recently consulted w/ the mental health provider of an autistic faculty person going through the wringer. I wish I could say when this might ease up. For now, I'm rooting for you, each of you, for real. I know it's hard.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 13/05/2026
#NewArticle Autistic faculty, Ever get feedback like "Not collegial" or "communication issues" or "not a team player" or whatever? These can be career-altering AND hard to know whether the concern is about your actual work for real, or a misunderstanding. More: autisticphd.com/theblog/supp...
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Autistic Faculty Tenure Review: Navigating Promotion, Renewal, and Evaluation in General
Autistic faculty at pre-tenure and tenure review need to clarify feedback, request reasonable accommodations, and protect their rights
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 01/04/2026
🏳️ Friendly April Fools Day reminder: Life is hard enough without extra lies from people we trust. If deceiving people feels cute, maybe take those bullying urges to your therapist instead of making someone else's day worse ✌️ Each of us can make someone's day better. Let's do that part, yeah? 🫶
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 19/03/2026
Me: Dogs were barking all night so I couldn't sleep. Morgan the Dog: ✋"Not all dogs!" Me: 🤔 obviously (This post is not about dogs.)
Morgan the Dog (left) and Erika sit outside under a clear blue sky.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 25/01/2026
I made up an SVG file and I want to share it for free. I wrote some licensing language on the download page here. Basically this is my original graphic and you are free to use it for personal noncommercial purposes. autisticphd.com/theblog/free...
Block letters in two rows read: ICE OUT and FUERA ICE. The cutout inside the letter "O" is in the shape of Minnesota.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 08/01/2026
Minneapolis. I am here. To everyone, everywhere on the right side of history: I wish you so much peace in body, mind, and spirit. TY for what you do. I know you're weary. For disabled folks like me, I know you're weary too. Thank you for staying. (h/t Mychal Threets) Solidarity always, friends.
Selfie of me (Erika) sitting on my night-time back steps a minute ago, wearing a hoodie and beanie, with a tired expression
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 24/12/2025
Yes I know that everything is unhinged right now. I find joy and comfort in these lights. I welcome your sharing. Also, there are many different celebrations at this time that also involve light. Please apply the idea to your life as you wish. Wishing each of you some moments of peace and love.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 24/12/2025
I fricken love xmas lights. For ME, they now stay up all year. I'm #disabled and #autistic, and I choose to hold on to this source of comfort and joy? How about YOU (if you celebrate)? #AuDHD #SensoryRegulation #AutisticCoping #MerryChristmas #HappyHolidays autisticphd.com/theblog/sens...
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Autistic Coping Tidings of Comfort and Joy - Autistic PhD
Christmas lights all year? For me: absolutely!
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 24/12/2025
Yes I know that everything is unhinged right now. I find joy and comfort in these lights. I welcome your sharing. Also, there are many different celebrations at this time that also involve light. Please apply the idea to your life as you wish. Wishing each of you some moments of peace and love.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 17/12/2025
Cheers ✌️😊 Solidarity
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 15/12/2025
#NewArticle Have you ever asked someone a question and they assumed you were, well, doing something else? Rachael the Beloved wrote this up in order to share HER experience, and a very specific learning she did at some point. #AutisticFamily #AuDHD #AutisticLife autisticphd.com/theblog/auti...
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Autistic Communication: When Questions Are Heard as Criticism in Relationships - Autistic PhD
A non-autistic spouse explains how assuming motive can cause conflict, and how asking clarifying questions can prevent it.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 07/12/2025
Feeling grateful for my family. I can't hold my phone long enough to type out why, but I'm a very fortunate person. Last night we decorated our always-up-not-always-decorated Christmas tree 🎄😁💕 #DisabledLife #AutisticLife #AuDHD
Selfie of me (Erika) appearing content, sitting in a living room. Behind me, Rachael the Beloved stands with a crutch decorating our always-up-not-always-decorated Christmas treeRachael the Beloved and Morgan the Dog decorate our Christmas tree. The tree is next to a fireplace in a comfy, informal living room. Morgan the Dog sits next to our decorated Christmas tree, similar to how 70s kids were posed next to the same. Morgan the Dog, a good boy when he feels like it, poses for pics in front of the Christmas tree.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 02/12/2025
#NewArticle Can I keep track of my own meds? No. Also yes. Here is MY OWN ADHD Meds Tracking Life Hack: (1) Before takings meds, take pic of pills in hand (or on table surface). That’s the whole strategy. What's yours? #ADHDLife #ADHDBrain #AuDHD autisticphd.com/theblog/adhd...
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The ADHD Med Tracking Trick I Rely On - Autistic PhD
Can I keep track of my own meds? No. Also yes.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 29/11/2025
#NewArticle Do vaccines cause #autism? What do the smart people say? "Do your research!" (See more in the article) But also no. Vaccines don't cause autism. Stay healthy. autisticphd.com/theblog/do-v... #AuDHD #Autistic
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Is it possible that vaccines cause autism?
Do vaccines cause autism? What do the smart people say?
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 20/11/2025
🤦 Wish I spelled "Irish Jig" right in the OP
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 20/11/2025
ICYMI, they updated the CDC website today to do "Vaccines do not cause autism, asterisk" and to say that they do. Letting a non-healthcare, non-scientist, conspiracy theorist cause this level of harm to the planet (as anti-vax momentum increases) is hard to watch. #Autistic #Autism #AuDHD
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 20/11/2025
Sincerely, one autistic social scientist who hates this shitshow NOT for their own sake, but for the kids growing up *right now* whose ability to draw conclusions is being so mightily sidetracked by the shitshow.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 20/11/2025
See also: FFS, man. Calling things "scientific" while ignoring scientific findings serves nobody. And by diluting the foundational understandings of what the scientific method consists of, you are, truly, doing the most to harm the free thinking public.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 20/11/2025
Doing an Irish Gig Does Not Cause Autism* *Scientific studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant dancing contributes to the development of autism. The rise in prevalence since the 1980s correlates with the rise in music videos for kids. We are launching studies into this matter. #AuDHD
An infant is dancing in public. Text overlay is pointing out sarcastically where the autism enters under the baby's foot. Autistic PhD.com branding below.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 11/11/2025
As an autistic veteran, experiences of violence (even in “well-meaning” gestures) can be especially intense. As an active member of Veterans For Peace, if you want to "thank me for my service" please work for peace. Period. If interested, continue reading at: autisticphd.com/theblog/armi...
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Armistice Day and the true cost of war: Reflections from an Autistic Veteran for Peace - Autistic PhD
Cognitive reappraisal may help some autistic folks with emotional regulation in a world shaped by war.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 10/11/2025
Insulting a dangerous person with a medical diagnosis/disabilty term conveys that the danger IS the disabilty. It's not. The danger is the dangerous person. Until you stop reproducing stigma about disabled people in your battles, you're just making life even harder for disabled people.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 10/11/2025
When you use disability terms to insult people, including when you use more childish adjacent ones like "crazy," you perpetuate harm to marginalized communities who've got nothing to do with whatever mess you've got going on.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 10/11/2025
⚠️ Someone you don't agree with is NOT blind or crazy or demented for being unaware or dangerous. Blind people are not unaware and people with progressive memory impairment are not inherently dangerous. Disabled folks are weary enough without your extra #Ableism thanks ✌️ #CripLife #DisabledLife
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 29/10/2025
I tend to not like the "superpower" framing personally, but if it works for you? Then I love that for you.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 29/10/2025
I thought we could talk about something else for a minute (if interested) - What are YOUR thoughts about #ADHD, #Autism, or the dear #AuDHD combination of them both being a "superpower"? #Autistic #ADHDLife autisticphd.com/theblog/are-...
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Are Autistic Traits Superpowers or Weaknesses? - Autistic PhD
In my opinion, wrapped in grace, they are usually both.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 25/10/2025
I may have Squirrel Beef 🤷 And what?!
How it started: Erika smiles next to a decorated pumpkin with no squirrel bites in it. Photo 2 of 3: Erika looks with suspicion, while next to a decorated pumpkin with a small squirrel bite in it. How is going: Autistic-Erika smiles while next to a decorated pumpkin with a slightly bigger squirrel bite in it.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 18/10/2025
Autistic people can cope with disinformation by (1) seeking informational social support, which can help confirm reality, and (2) relying on personal sensory grounding, a return to what you know to be true from your own senses.Disinformation can cause sensory overload for autistic people. The process begins with the emotional impact of broken trust due to propaganda. This leads to questioning of perceptions and epistemic mistrust.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 18/10/2025
#NewArticle LOTS of disinformation in the coming days and beyond. Everything is already so hard. For autistic people, disinformation can be especially stressful. Read more at: autisticphd.com/theblog/disi... #AuDHD #AutisticLife #AutismSupport #Neurodivergent
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Disinformation and epistemic trust for autistic people: WTF and How to Cope
Disinformation leads to sensory overload. Why? How? Send Help?
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 14/10/2025
✌️😊
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 14/10/2025
🤗 Hey!
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 02/10/2025
I wrote this with love to my own students in 2023 🫶 #AutisticLife #AuDHD #AutisticStudent #AutisticPhD #Neurodivergent #AutisticProfessor autisticphd.com/theblog/dear...
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Autistic PhD - Dear Students, Grades are points on a rubric, nothing more
Autistic Professor reflects on grades, capacity, accessibility, and the game of it all.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 22/09/2025
👋 😐 Autistic social scientist here, sharing my writeup that gets into the weeds a bit on some of the rhetoric that puts #autistic lives at risk. It's long, lots of subheadings. Scroll THOSE to get to topics of interest. Be safe, friends. You're not alone in this mess. #AuDHD #AutisticLife #AutRes
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 17/08/2025
What is #RejectionSensitiveDysphoria or #EmotionalDysregulation and what's it really like for folks with #ADHD or #Autism? It ain't fun. More here - autisticphd.com/theblog/what... #Autistic #AuDHD
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What is Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria? RSD Autism ADHD - Autistic PhD
Emotional Dysregulation, or a predisposition to expect, sense and then emotionally react bigtime to rejection
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 14/08/2025
#Autistic Rachael the Beloved and I LOVE being at the beach. Those who know us know that it's sacred ground to us both. Here we are at the lakeshore of Gichigami, or Lake Superior, our first year after moving away from the ocean 10 years ago. What do YOU look for in such a place as this?
Photo of two hands, palms up, coming from two people holding small rocks. One hand has about twelve, similar and mostly gray, flat rocks. The other hand has about 50 little rocks, of a wide variety of colors, textures, and shapes.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 09/08/2025
💔 I'm a Veteran for Peace who enlisted in 1994 when #DADT was so new the homosexuality question was still on my enlistment form AND asked by the MEPS anyway. I'm a queer, nonbinary, disabled vet grieving SO many losses. This isn't The Worst Thing, but it's an injustice in an infinite line of them.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 05/08/2025
♿️ 4 of 4: Overall, I find that the Minnesota Zoo is pretty accessible. In addition to the mostly flat walkways, they're pretty good about having braille signage and lots of staff and/or volunteers are around to help with whatever too.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 05/08/2025
♿️ 3 of 4: But other than that, there are mostly flat surfaces, lots of benches, and they previously told me that my DIY accessibility scooter would be allowed in the zoo. It wasn't charged, or today I would NOT have earned a high score on "steps" but I'm grateful that I CAN go back with the scooter.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 05/08/2025
♿️ 2 of 4: As an #autistic patron, my MAIN stressor at the Minnesota Zoo is the Entitled Parents cohort (not all parents). They will push their stroller right into a person who does not give way to them, EVEN when THEY are walking on the wrong side of the walkway, and WE are where we belong.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 05/08/2025
♿️ 1 of 4: The Minnesota Zoo is a fairly disability-friendly place to go. I use earplugs for hyperacusis (many sounds cause pain, a new-ish thing for me). But reducing sounds for hyperacusis also benefits autistic-me by reducing auditory sensory information that can sometimes overwhelm me anyway.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 05/08/2025
😍 We went to the zoo and I walked the most steps that I've walked in a year (confirmed truth). Watching the prairie dogs is my favorite and feeding the goats is Rachael's. We both love the llamas 🤗 #Accessibility details in comments #DisabledLife #AutisticLife #Grateful
Rachael (right) and Erika posing with a llama who is lying in the shade. Both people are wearing N95 masks and leaning in together.Collage of two similar photos of a pair of prairie dogs upright eating blades of grass.Rachael is feeding two very attentive goats from her hands.A dark haired goat is showing his joy at receiving food by flashing a big smile.
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 19/07/2025
✊ Disabled people don't owe anyone a performance of their pain, and our joys and freedoms are #DisabilityRights period. See also: #DisabilityJustice #DisabledLife #Ableism #DisabilityPrideMonth #InvisibleDisability #DisabilityPride
🔴 You know, someone else got some attention at a #Coldplay concert, last month in Vegas. Celine Dion was there with her sons and she playfully danced, and said she had the time of her life. 💕 I love that for her!

🟠 Except no. Skim any comment section on that story, and you'll find the folks doing the most to say that she must be faking her stiff-person syndrome.

🟡 Comedian Drew Lynch got his big break joking about his stutter on TV. He's funny, I'm a fan.  He's done years of speech therapy and so sometimes now his stutter is barely there at all. WhenEVER that happens, people accuse him of faking it all along.🟢 FFS. When Simone Biles said she had the twisties (which is a real thing) and so she didn't do the Olympics? Yeah, folks accused her of faking all that.

🔵 We can keep going. Selma Blair publicly shared that she has MS. And sometimes she uses a cane or needs help walking. Sometimes she doesn't. It's all good except folks are in her business when she's having a good day, there to accuse her of faking or exaggerating her support needs.

🟣 Folks with a disability do NOT need to publicly perform their suffering for you. Many disabilities come with a range, variables or whatever. People have Good Days and that really does not mean they're "faking" those Other Days.🟤 None of us knows what it takes for another person to have a good day, and we definitely don't know how hard the bad days get.

⚫ Facts: Disabled people have better and worse days, and it's ableist af to expect disabled people to perform their suffering in some way that looks convincing enough for you. This is coming from the observer's bias, not the disabled person's alleged faking.

ℹ️ #Ableism is an oppressive set of assumptions that devalue and deny the realities of disabled people's lives. Ableism often comes from not understanding that many disabilities are invisible and/or variable, and the result is oppression.Folks assume they'd for SURE be able to tell if someone's REALLY disabled or whatever, but you really can't. Most of life is unpredictable, friends. Disabilty usually is too.

And someone's support needs will probably not always look one way and remain constant either.

✌️😊 tl;dr People with disabilities have a right to experience joy and even some times of success and freedom without having to endure this bs about how they were surely faking those other times.

AutisticPhD.com
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Autistic PhD - Erika Sanborne @autisticphd.com · 15/07/2025
My peak is for about two hours after evening meds. What I choose to DO in that sacred time reflects my values. That's #CripTime 🫶
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