Autism Support Courses

Online self-study course is in development.

Shared Life Experiences
Paula M. Kramer

I decided to write a course for autistic people after what 2 relatives said to me about autistic people.

Decades ago, my psychologist brother-in-law told me that children become autistic because they had cold mothers. I didn’t believe it.

Several years ago, my granddaughter worked for an organization that promised to make autistic children normal. Despite this promise, the director of the organization compared autistic children to animals. Only to staff members, of course, never to the parents. My granddaughter did not last long in that job because she couldn’t participate in what she saw has terrible treatment of the children.

To prepare for writing a course to help autistic people fit in as who they are, I read through Chris Bonnello’s survey of autistic people. I discovered I shared several life experiences with autistic people.

Depression
Masking (My mother tried to kill me twice. I had to mask my terror of her.)
Eating disorder
PTSD (self-diagnosed)
Living with stereotypes

I learned from a woman who commented on Chris’s International Women’s Day post that I shared an experience with her. People would not believe her autism diagnosis.She did not fit their beliefs about autism, so she couldn’t be autistic.

From childhood on, many people refused to believe I had invisible pain in my spine from a misdiagnosed childhood spinal injury. I did not fit their beliefs about people with back pain, so I couldn’t be in pain.

Sharing negative life experiences with autistic people means we also share positive life experiences.

We can get to those positive life experiences through the same strategies.

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