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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Not necessarily. It's all based around how it's framed. There's definitely soem amazing tools that can be used to support executive functioning and communication out there, but if it's neurotypicals talking about how they can use AI to help autistics in a way that doesn't do justice, it's bad.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Doing some research on autism therapies in Germany, and this came up on the auto-translate-

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Attending the Puget Sound American Chemical Society, bit of an odd event, but interesting to get insights on autistic careers in STEM.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It's not what makes autistic friendships work, it's *how* you create an environment where autistics feel comfortable and engaged enough in an autistic way to feel like the friendship is sufficiently scaffolded. Neurotypical-normative activities don't do that well. You have to get weird to get along.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The most successful autistic friendships I've seen are built on autistic activities. Things that support special interests (gaming groups, cosplay, conventions, etc), routine (weekly gaming), or are low engagement and have a sort of parallel play vibe (i/e movie nights.)

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Saw an autistic person complaining about how they were having a hard time making friends with other autistics, and explaining that they had tried coffee dates, dinner parties, etc- Very neurotypical modalities of friendship.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I'm at a community resource meeting, typically we discuss disability and social services, but ICE is all over King County, so that's the focus. The legal teams are already overwhelmed, but the other shitty thing is the families don't even have *time* to contact a legal team. So tired of this shit.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

At PAX today, mostly doing outreach stuff for work. Who else am I seeing?

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Just did a talk with the Washington Secretary of State on Neurodivergence and political access. Very important area, and one that needs more attention on it to safeguard disabled voting and legislative access.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and Peter standing in front of a PowerPoint presentation

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

It just infuriates me seeing so many borderline auti-supremacists who, I imagine, if put into a job working with high support needs autistics with significant challenges, wouldn't last a day. But those high support needs folks need *the most advocacy* and are getting the least.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

And that sugarcoating attitude is tremendously ablest, as it states that higher support needs individuals are not included in the struggle, or do not exist. The better option is to center the voices of disability self advocates who work with these populations, accommodate them, and let them lead.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

This isn't a universal problem, I do see orgs that center high support needs voices first. But a lot of the Ivory Tower work seems to have no experience with these folks, and it shows. It's a sugarcoating of disability that insists if society changed autism wouldn't be disabling anymore.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Don't include their voices. I worked in intensive services for 8 years and saw so many kids who would never be welcomed into these spaces because of significant aggression, hygiene issues, etc. So the people who speak for their needs are the neurotypical medical model folks.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Insisting that autism is only disabling because society is not designed for autistics does help highlight ablest norms, but erases the genuine challenges higher support needs folks have that *can not be well accommodated for.* And it dumps those people into ablest systems because the advocates-

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Does anyone know if there's a term for when low support needs autistics essentially erase the struggles/existence of high support needs autistics with social model of disability approaches? I see this happening a bit with auti-supremacists/in advocacy spaces that are dominated by low support needs.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I wish that scene had extended to Rogue simply asking Storm when the last time she got a hug was. Last time she was near someone without having to calculate the distance. When she last had any physical touch. But the scene also illustrates that the less impacted often talk over the more impacted.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I'm actually very much reminded of this scene from X-men 3, where Rogue, a poor touch starved teenager who murders anyone she touches, asks if there's a cure, and Storm, a badass who can create storms says there's no need for a cure. www.youtube.com/watch?v=h84g...

youtube.com

X Men 3 - Empaths need no cure; Embrace your Super Power...

YouTube video by Life Is Grey

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

But being the one person who could humanize that kid that was seen as a monster by the rest of the world was by far the best skill I had. And we need more of that. People who don't flinch, and still love. Because it's the kids that are seen as the hardest to love that need it the most.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

My friends commented that I took a few levels in Paladin in that time, and I fully feel I did. I got threatened with knives and guns, covered in bruises, had a crystal thrown at my eye (hit my glasses, thankfully), got touched inappropriately, and screamed at full volume. It was rough.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

And weirdly enough, in my case, my autism was an asset in crisis work. I tend to process after the fact (alexithymia), have a very neutral affect, am good at reverting to scripted deescalation/flow charts in my head, and can often understand what the triggers were, and communicate autisticly well.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

This was coming from a group that was ivory tower and had never done community based work. It infuriated me, because honestly, I was frank about the realities of my clients, but I'd actually work with them within the realities of their lives. Not flinching from that is critical.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Also, something came to mind when I was interacting with an advocacy org. I mentioned working in crisis, and having autistic clients with aggression, and whatnot. I was told that such language was unacceptable and stigmatizing. That was the reality of their lives. To ignore it is to erase it.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Although right now this is a hard sell. However, there is a paper coming out about dosage effects of ABA (It's a research review that states ABA is not effective past 6 hours weekly for 1 year) which may change the landscape. Although right now the ABA industry is trying to bury it, so. We'll see.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

That is how we bridge the gap between services that provide supports for the highest support needs, and advocacy communities that seek to understand the needs of the entire community. It results in a higher standard of care, and better authenticity, and is liberated from stale medicalized models.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The benefit there is getting more people who fundamentally speak autistic, and can help connect on an autistic wavelength, but also, culture change. By creating more autistic professionals, we fight ableism in the system, and have more advocates who can speak to the needs of the highest impacted.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

But I do believe there is a positive path- Using either community health worker or peer counseling models, creating non-schooling intensive, subclinical, advocacy focused roles for autistics to work in these settings, I think there's the ability for them to do more of that relational work.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

And unfortunately the medical field is not equipped to accommodate neurodivergent people well. Insurance/medicaid billing ensures a certain bullshit standard of care that is focused on time rather than outcomes, metrics over connection, quantity over quality. Plus, the culture tends to be ablest af.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

But when I worked in intensive services, out of 500 people, I was the sole autistic employee, despite about a third of our clients being autistic. When I got my diagnosis and requested accommodation I got laughed at, which radicalized me into advocacy work. But I miss that work incredibly.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

And I feel like there are ways to make these jobs accessible for more neurodivergent people- There will always be challenges and difficult behaviors, but I truly feel that one of the hugest needs is autistic advocates who deeply understand how to advocate for high support need autistics.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Having spent my time in these spaces was very hard as an autistic- I don't like being touched, I very much don't like being assaulted, I don't like loud noises, and I don't like last minute changes in routine due to cancellations, etc. But I loved connecting with the kids in a way no one else could.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

By having a history of working successfully with very high support needs autistics, I've been able to speak to parent groups who initially view me with distrust. They don't think I know what *their* kid is like- Until I tell them my success stories with kids with big behavioral concerns.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

There are some orgs that actually do good work, but they're not in the mainstream, and are radically inclusive. But so often the discussions are about making the lives of autistics with relatively low support needs lives better. I do feel like there is a solution- hiring autistics in services.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

So they are relegated to ABA, autism speaks, ablest parenting groups, and institutions. I've met autism advocates that have no idea there's still institutions here in Washington state. So the high needs people are not included in discussions around advocacy, because nobody made space for them.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

But when I read a lot of disability advocacy stuff, these perspectives are not included. The autistics that are discussed are the ones that can work, can communicate verbally, and are struggling to live in a social world not meant for them. But the high needs ones are not mentioned.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I worked in intensive services for 8 years with autistics who smeared feces on walls. Punched and bit. Hurt pets. Damaged property. Significant issues that often arose from sensory overwhelm or unavoidable changes in routine, etc. I did good work with these kids, because I could get on their level.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

When advocates talk about autistic disability, too often they talk about having to work in loud offices, having to make small talk, things like that. Meanwhile, autistics who have significant challenges are completely excluded from the conversations, likely by the lack of experience with them.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I've recently been doing some reading about autism from disability scholars, and one of the biggest failures, IMO, is the relative erasure of high support needs autistics from the discourse. While this is generally a fairly well known problem, the issue is that parents become the spokespeople.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I'm doing a talk with WA Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and Connie Graham next month on pathways to legislative advocacy for neurodivergents. Please share this in your networks- as not enough people are talking about positive pathways to legislative advocacy. RSVP here: www.ryther.org/rsvp-ay-event

A flyer describing the talk about neurodivergents finding pathways to political advocacy with bios of the speakers, with a QR code for the link: https://www.ryther.org/rsvp-ay-event

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I left IT to go back into human services because I love the work, but nonprofit workers are constantly existing on a knife's edge, and things are just getting worse- Which is really bad, as they're often the last safety net for people with IDD, and that safety net is already incredibly frayed.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I'm thankfully making more now and have health benefits, but my partner is uninsured, as my job doesn't cover spousal benefits. And that scares the hell out of me. Meanwhile, I remember when I worked in IT, I made six figures+benefits and stock options for honestly, 1/10th of the work I do now.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

My last job, I made ~30k a year with no health insurance despite working fulltime- there's a rule saying nonprofits don't need to provide health benefits. After the ACA cuts, I lost my health insurance. I have a masters and 20 years of experience working with intellectual/developmental disabilities.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

And the reason is obvious, and twofold- Layoffs, and cost of living. A lot of disability advocates are funded via grants, which thanks to DOGE and the current admin are being cut. Meanwhile, a lot of nonprofit folks have a masters degree, but the pay is a joke.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

And I'm seeing a lot of people who are critical experts leaving. People who built parent to parent programs that helped hundreds of parents find community. Subject matter experts that know how to actually get families necessary services. Healthcare and policy advocates with decades of experience.

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Peter/Roll for Kindness (Autism advocacy TTRPG GM, M.Ed.) @rollforkindness.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

In the disability nonprofit world, a recent trend- Critical experts leaving. Doing disability nonprofit work is grueling, low paid, and necessary work- you're often the person who actually picks up the phone when nobody else does, cut through the red tape and actually prioritize the person's needs.

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