Wendy Beresford

09/08/2022

Many of us autistics are very naturally curious

We like facts, details, specifics…. We want to dIve deeper than the surface level information we can see and touch. We like to unpick things, take things apart and seek what is beneath the here and now.

This thirst for information is wonderous to observe in autistic children….. yet all too often it is taken as a child questioning authority, questioning an adult which in non autistic society can be seen as rudeness. Or a child is told just to accept the information they have been given and not to question it. Sadly this can often lead to masking/trauma and a loss of love for learning.

“Why?” Is how we find our more, how we start to dive deeper. How we explore what is expected of us, what is being said to us. It needs to make sense, it needs to feel logical.

I wish everyone was this curious. I think it would make the world a kinder, less judgemental place. I wrote about this in a blog in relation to how children are perceived in schools which can be found here…

https://jodiesmitten.wordpress.com/2022/01/15/curiosity-killed-the-cat-but-it-may-just-save-our-children/

(Picture description; cartoon depiction of an adult and child in a classroom. Adult has speech bubble saying “question everything” and the child responds with “why”)

16/07/2022

I love this visual of diversity 💜

Diversity IS beautiful!

Image credit: Erin Human (EisforErin )

Downloadable version here: eisforerin.com/portfolio/diversity-is-beautiful-pdfs/. Poster sizes available here: tinyurl.com/mre5zna8.

[Image titled “diversity is beautiful” / drawings of animals, text “diversity in the animal world: there are millions of different kinds of animals – more than we can count!” / drawings of kids, text “diversity of people: people come in a great variety of shapes, sizes, genders, abilities, and appearances – we are all unique!” / drawing of smiling heads with multicolored brains, text “diversity of human brains: no two brains are alike, but we have names for different types – like ADHD, autistic, dyslexic, typical, & more!”]

09/03/2022

I started my career as a hypnotherapist and I always wondered why my clients responded so well to it. Its the same with guided meditations, I love doing them for others but I have always struggled with the process for myself.

Friends of mine enjoy podcasts, and they are a great idea but I've struggled with those too, not knowing why. Instead of accepting it doesn't work for me, I added it to the

'Never To Be Done To Do List'

in my head, telling myself that it was something I ought to be doing to help me relax!

I finally realised that my difficulties were because my brain is slower to process spoken words at the speed they are said and I also often need to see pictures to take words in (seeing people faces when they're talking is helpful).

I have now realised that trying to practice relaxation techniques that rely on spoken words has been a cause of sensory overload for me. I knew I didn't feel right, I just didn't understand why.

Now that I understand how I learn and how I process my environment - my individual differences - I am able to choose relaxing activities that work for me.

I guess the point is that we're all taught in the same way and sometimes we need to reassess what works for us so we can be ourselves and take off the mask that we've learned to wear in order to try and fit in.

We are all unique human beings and the more we appreciate ourselves and others, the more diverse and joyful, society will become 🌍🌈

26/02/2022

I have used the "all behaviour is communication" phrase and it mostly works but when you consider the slides below it helps to understand that not all behaviour is for you, and you may just have to accept the behaviour you are witnessing without 'fixing it'.

Lots of conditions cause changes in behaviour and when we hold people up to high communication standards when they are unwell or have neurological differences, we are just helping to make that person suffer more.

The gold standard of communication which everyone seems to hold each other accountable to, is crap.

If you are neurodiverse, have a learning disability, are autistic, have ms (you can get uncontrollable crying episodes from this) and many other conditions, you can't perform all the time socially and you can't control your behaviours all the time. To be held accountable for something that isn't your fault and to have no understanding from others, is seriously damaging to mental health.

Remember everyone is an individual and should be treated as such. You do not know anyone's experiences but your own. You can ask questions and get to know people at a deeper level, if they are important in your life, but if not, just leave them alone and try to stop your conditioned brain from making assumptions and judgments that could cause distress.

25/02/2022

Sending you all Love and Light today ❤☀️

21/02/2022

Impact is greater than intention...

I want to talk about the physical health of autistic people and how the gaslighting of our sensory sensitivities teaches us to ignore our pain – whether it be physical or sensory. There are m…

17/02/2022

Have you always struggled with self worth due to not being able to do seemingly simple things that the people around you could do easily?

Or, did you struggle to be accepted and to fit in, and to understand the way others communicate?

If you answered yes to either question and you were born in the 80's or before, this is definitely worth a read.

The missing generation is Autistic/NeuroDivergent adults, typically growing up in the 1980s or earlier, who were not discovered to be NeuroDivergent as children (because of diagnostic limitations of the time). Autism was not even in the DSM until 1980. So prior to 1980, Autistic People weren't even....

28/01/2022

What do you think about this?

09/01/2022

We really can bin most of societies expectations and rules coz they're outdated and anti humanity.

My daughter asked me why women have to cover up and men don't. Good question.

What sort of society would we like to live in? Inclusive? Fair? Individual? Diverse? One where we accept and support differences?

Do we have to carry on ideas that make no sense and harshly judge those that choose not to follow?

People pull Britney apart for stepping outside of the boundaries of what they expect of her because of the type of baseless societal standards we see exacted upon women all the time