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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author

@nicolefilippone.bsky.social
13K followers 16 following 4.6K posts

Advocating through science based education, validation, and empathy Nicolefilipponeauthor.com/my-links

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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Autistic masking is overcompensating for your challenges by channeling all the energy you would normally be putting towards other things into the thing you struggle with so people can't tell you're struggling, while nonautistic people do those things without even thinking.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Being autistic in a conversation your brain doesn't jive with... but masking well enough to sound interested and not rude... is like running up a steep hill in 100 degree weather...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Being an unsupported autistic person (with any level of support needs) often means living in a constant state of urgent survival, relying on strategies that keep you alive but don't actually help you find peace, comfort, fulfillment, and happiness...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Being autistic is extremely destabilizing for me cognitively... especially in a world full of extremely conflicting information...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
High masking internalized autism is performing "human" just well enough for autism to be completely missed but not well enough to not be blamed for all the ways you're failing at being human.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
High masking internalized autism looks like literally nothing to an outsider, but it is a slow but steady degradation of your internal capacity, and mental / physical health. Autistic burnout is only a symptom of a much more severe underlying problem...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
If you are seeing this I want you to know something... I see you. Your wholeness as a person. Your heart. Your pain. Your passions. Your impact on the world around you.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This is autism. Sort of. Autism has many looks... mine is just one of them.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
One of the saddest parts of the autistic experience for me is being able to see the wholeness and nuances of others while they are unable to see the wholeness and nuances of me...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Level 1 autism is living with a disabling and incomprehensibly exhausting condition while constantly being told your experiences aren't real, you're overreacting, and everyone is going through the exact same things, you're just complaining more and doing less.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Here's your friendly reminder that there's a type of anxiety specific to autism that isn't explained by any other existing diagnosable anxiety disorder¹... And that autism is misdiagnosed for anxiety disorders at notably high rates, especially in women². I wonder if the two might be related... 🤔
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Jason Arday was a Black, autistic professor who worked hard for his achievements and who spent his life bringing his whole entire heart and all its beauty to the world...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
There's something that's been weighing heavily on my heart and mind that I want to talk about as I reflect on everything that led up to my heart event last weekend. Autism advocacy is currently psychologically dangerous for public advocates. This is not an exaggeration. It is literal and accurate.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Autism is dangerously misunderstood. Autistic people all over the world are suffering and dying prematurely at disproportionate rates¹ due to... - Severe health issues² - Heart complications³ - Substance abuse⁴ - Suicide⁵ Research has repeatedly shown this across decades of studies...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I don't have the bandwidth to fully get into what exactly got me here... But over the weekend I found myself back in the hospital with chest pains and was just diagnosed with stress-induced cardiomyopathy... a cardiac event caused by extreme emotional and physiological stress.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I have come to realize something important about the internal autistic experience that I think needs to become a serious focus of autism advocacy. Being misunderstood is not just an annoying side effect of being different for autistic people... It actually hurts us.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
It just occurred to me that I've been using the phrase "I don't disagree" in conversation to communicate that I'm not about to correct the other person but that I'm also about to add important nuance that I want them to consider...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Getting diagnosed autistic and "suddenly" behaving more autistic is like spending your whole life with a 10-ton brick on your back, moving through life with the weight making everything harder but having no idea that's why everything feels so hard...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
As a late identified, high masking, lower support needs autistic person, learning about your autistic brain can feel incredibly overwhelming and confusing. I remember the day I first started connecting the dots for myself...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Everyone is misunderstood to some degree... but I think autistic people are much more sensitive to misunderstandings because they often result in social consequences that our nervous systems encode as threatening to our safety. Misunderstanding literally feel dangerous to our nervous systems...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
The research: Autistic people are bottom up processors and need details to make sense of the bigger picture. Also the research: Autistic people are systems thinkers who have a unique capability of seeing countless small details in the context of the larger system...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
A few months ago I came across a fascinating study that I haven't stopped thinking about... It found that Acetaminophen (aka Tylenol, a pain reliever) reduces what it called "social pain" and associated emotional empathy¹.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Talking about things that disable you is not learned helplessness. Talking about things that disable you is not weaponized incompetence. Talking about things that disable you is not playing the victim. Talking about things that disable you is self-advocacy. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The research: Autistic people are at a significantly higher risk of developing cardiac issues and heart disease¹ Also the research: Autistic people are significantly more likely to have sensory sensitivities that cause extreme psychological distress²
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Autism exists in a person's brain. The next time you have the compulsion to tell someone they're not autistic and that they're just claiming to be autistic for attention remind yourself that there's literally no way for you to actually know that. That is all.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I was recently mocked by people in my own community for sharing how I believe the sound of a piccolo contributed to my stress induced heart event 8 years ago (they called it a heart attack in the hospital). Specifically, long-term continued exposure to the sound of a piccolo while I was working.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I predict that in the age of AI, incorrect punctuation, typos, and grammatical differences will become the new human signature. I recently realized that I've stopped editing my content for punctuation and slightly "incorrect" grammar because it's actually a sign that my writing is mine and not AI.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The world: Autistic people can't take a joke Autistic person: *Exists* Nonautistic person: *Makes a sarcastic, unfunny joke about autistic person* Autistic person: 😒 Nonautistic person: Oh come on, it was just a joke. You have no sense of humor!
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
"Everyone is claiming to be autistic for attention" and "everyone is using autism as an excuse" (for supposedly "unacceptable" behavior) are two extremely popular social media sentiments that have been making their rounds lately...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
When you're undiagnosed autistic and you develop a sophisticated masking strategy to avoid negative social consequences and that mask eventually becomes fused with who you are but is somehow still exhausting to wear, so your mental and physical health start to decline...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Autistic person: *Does something that is deemed socially inappropriate* Other person: What on earth is wrong with you? What you just did is absolutely terrible. And that makes you a terrible person.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Autistic people process differently. That's autism. A processing difference. Numerous processing differences to be precise. - It's not rigidity - It's not defiance - It's not demand avoidance - It's not correcting others - It's not self-centeredness
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
The "lost generation" of adult undiagnosed autistic people: Exists The loudest people on the internet: Autism isn't real. It's overdiagnosed. It's an illness caused by toxins. Everyone is now saying they're autistic for attention. IT'S AN EPIDEMIC
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I just realized something that's blowing my mind... Half the time when people think I'm correcting them, I'm actually AGREEING with them. 😳🤯 #autistic
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The number of times I get accused of writing with AI because I am a careful and intentional writer whose brain actively rejects using imprecise language is troubling. I am autistic. I am not writing with AI. 🤦‍♀️
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I don't think enough people understand that for many autistic people, context isn't just important... it's necessary. "Do this thing" "Why?" Is not insubordination, it's context.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The DSM*: OCD is a condition that manifests as obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors related to those thoughts Everyone: That's extremely good to know... but why do those compulsive behaviors show up?
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
The next time you feel like someone has completely twisted your words, motives, meaning, and put you into their personal box of "evil"... but at the same time they seem to fully believe every word they're saying, remember this...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
I think wires are getting crossed about my recent critique of the DSM*, particularly my observation that it doesn't provide explanations for the autistic behavior it includes in the criteria, so I'd like to clarify by providing some examples...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
If you've ever felt misunderstood or mischaracterized to an extreme degree... as in, the other person is saying things about you that are blatantly false... but they also don't sound like they're saying things they *know* are false...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
To be clear, I believe the DSM* is absolutely necessary, even crucial when it comes to how we support autistic individuals at the systemic level. However, I also believe it contains a significant gap when it comes to defining what autism is in the first place...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
The DSM: Autistic people have a hard time with social reciprocity Everyone: Ok, but WHY The DSM: The DSM: Autistic people have an unusual nonverbal communication style Everyone: Ok, but WHY The DSM:
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I think I'm coming to the realization that for an autistic person, being misunderstood can feel as triggering as sensory overstimulation...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Does unsupported autism lead to acquired long term trauma in autistic people? This is the exact question I've been circling for several weeks in most of my recent posts.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I see a lot of autistic people talking about having a fear of being perceived, and I wonder if it's more a fear of being misperceived...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
The unsupported Autistic experience in a nutshell (as I see it). It's a continuum that moves downward. (I call it the continuum of decline)... Autistic brain wiring / Mismatch with environment / Autistic unmet needs ↓
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
For those who don't know... misunderstandings are not just a side thing that make autistic people feel anxious sometimes... They are a fundamental aspect of our internal experience and what makes communication so anxiety inducing for many of us so much of the time.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Less than two weeks ago, I introduced my theory that there is a causal link between autism and cPTSD, specifically that I believe unmet autistic needs directly lead to cPTSD over time...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
I'm asked regularly about my opinions on ABA, and though I plan on writing a series on this at some point, that won't be for a while. So, for now, I'll summarize my thoughts on ABA as follows...
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Autistic brain wiring ↓ Mismatched environment ↓ Autistic unmet need ↓ Autistic (distinct) anxiety ↓
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