Joy F Johnson, MEd, MS, BCBA

12/19/2025

My feelings have genuinely been hurt watching autism turn into performance.

Stimming is not choreography.
It’s not rhythmic on command.
It’s not something you sync to a beat for a camera angle.

Echolalia isn’t repeating a catchy song lyric because it’s stuck in your head.
It’s not “cute.”
It’s not clever mimicry.
It’s communication, regulation, and survival — often misunderstood and punished.

Sensory tools aren’t accessories.
Headphones aren’t props.
If you’re alone in a quiet room, filming content, asking “Why am I wearing these?” — that’s the point.
They’re not meant to be worn for aesthetics or explanation.
They’re meant to reduce harm to a nervous system.

What hurts is watching the things that once got us disciplined, mocked, restrained, or pathologized
get rebranded as relatable content.

You get applause for what cost us safety.
You get to take it off.
We never did.

Autism is not a trend.
Stimming is not a performance.
And my neurology is not your content.

12/18/2025

I had a conversation this week that I’ve had more times than I can count.

“What if parents aren’t comfortable with identity-first language?”
“What if we should use person-first because that’s what they’re used to?”
“What if it turns people away?”

And here’s the truth we keep avoiding:

When a community has clearly said “This is how we want to be named,” continuing to prioritize comfort over that clarity is how harm keeps happening — quietly, politely, and with good intentions.

I see this constantly in schools.

Teachers tell me they use person-first language because it feels “safer” for parents.
Because it’s what they were taught.
Because they don’t want to upset anyone.

But we’ve heard this logic before.

We didn’t stop using terms like Colored or Negro because everyone felt comfortable.
We stopped because the community said: This harms us.

Once that happens, the conversation changes.

At that point, it’s no longer about preference.
It’s about ethics.

Autistic people — especially Autistic adults — have been clear that identity-first language matters. Autism isn’t an accessory. It isn’t something we’re “on.” It’s an integral part of identity.

Our responsibility as educators, clinicians, and researchers is not to maintain outdated language because it feels familiar.

Our responsibility is to model what respect looks like — even when it requires people to learn something new.

That’s how harm stops being inherited.
That’s how systems change.





AutismAcceptance
DisabilityJustice
ListenToAutisticPeople
UnlearningHarm

12/09/2025

Neurodivergent-affirming care has never been about giving people “extra” support.
It’s about removing the unnecessary weight of expectations that were never ours to carry.

For so many of us, the world has been shaped around a single way of thinking, moving, communicating, and existing. And when we showed up differently, we were taught to fold ourselves smaller — to twist, bend, smooth, and silence parts of who we are just to earn permission to belong.

But belonging shouldn’t require distortion.

Affirming care is the moment someone says:
“You don’t have to reshape yourself to fit here.
The space will expand around you.”

It is spaciousness.
It is breath.
It is the quiet relief of realizing you are not a problem to solve.
It is the freedom of being met as a whole person, not a list of traits to modify.

And when we stop trying to make people fit into rigid molds, we finally see them clearly — not as versions of who we think they should be, but as who they already are.

This isn’t specialty care.
This is humanity.
And everyone deserves access to the kind of support that lets their nervous system exhale and their identity take up its full shape.

12/08/2025

Some of us spent our whole lives being told that who we are is “too much,”
“too sensitive,” “too direct,” “too emotional,” “too different.”
And somewhere along the way, we started believing that our identities
were things to manage…
things to soften…
things to hide.

But the truth is this:

There is nothing broken about the way we move through the world.
Nothing shameful about the way our nervous systems speak.
Nothing wrong with needing what we need
or feeling what we feel
or expressing ourselves in the languages our bodies understand.

Identity is not a performance.
It is not something to earn, negotiate, or apologize for.
It is the quiet truth of who we’ve always been —
even in the moments when the world tried to convince us otherwise.

Neurodivergent-affirming care isn’t a specialty.
It isn’t a niche.
It isn’t “extra.”
It is simply what it looks like when we stop expecting people
to contort themselves into shapes that don’t fit.
It’s the deep exhale of being allowed to exist
without being corrected for it.

This work — this movement — isn’t about creating
a gentler world for a “category” of people.
It’s about creating a world where every human being
is allowed to take up space
without their needs being labeled as inconvenience.

Where listening replaces debating.
Where believing someone replaces trying to fix them.
Where identity is honored instead of inspected.
Where difference is seen as truth, not threat.

Because we are not fighting for “special” treatment.
We are fighting for basic humanity —
for the right to be understood without apology,
supported without condition,
and accepted without translation.

May this be the reminder:

Your identity is not too much.
Your needs are not wrong.
You are allowed to exist without shrinking.
You deserve a life that fits the shape of who you truly are.

And there is nothing more human than that.

12/07/2025

I’ve been sitting with this for a while because there’s no real research, no guidebook, and no roadmap for what I’m going through.
So I’m naming it for myself:

Menopause is hitting my Autistic nervous system the same way puberty hits autistic teens — hard, deep, emotional, and identity-shifting.

I’m experiencing emotional highs and lows, sensory overwhelm that changes by the day, and a level of self-honesty I can’t turn off.
My tolerance is low.
My boundaries are sharp.
My body will not entertain nonsense — not socially, not professionally, not emotionally.

And the wildest part?
It feels like rediscovery.
Like I’m meeting myself again with a level of clarity I didn’t have before.
My masking is dropping.
My inner voice is louder.
My needs are clearer.

There is so little research on Autistic adults in menopause, especially Black autistic women, that all we really have is our lived experience.
So this is mine.
It’s messy.
It’s intense.
It’s honest.
And it’s real.

If you’re in this stage too — I see you.
We’re not “regressing.”
We’re recalibrating.
And maybe, just maybe, we’re becoming more ourselves than ever.

12/07/2025

The mask was never mine, and I’m done pretending it fits.
I’m not for everyone, and everyone isn’t for me.
That’s not a failure — it’s honesty.
No villains, no heroes. Just truth.
I choose authenticity over approval.

12/06/2025

I have always been triggered by the term “kiddo”
They call us kiddo
in that high-pitched, sugar-coated,
Karen-inflected lilt —
the one that stretches the vowel
like they’re talking to a toddler
or a dog
or something soft enough
to mold in their palms.

Kiddo.
The word they save
for our children,
never theirs.
A vocabulary reserved
for the disabled,
for the ones they think
need rescuing,
redirecting,
retraining —
a linguistic pat on the head
disguised as affection.

There’s a tone to it,
a pitch too sweet
to be sincere.
Like they’re sprinkling glitter
over condescension.
Like their voice rises an octave
the moment they step
into “special ed mode,”
suddenly auditioning
for the role
of benevolent savior
in a play nobody asked for.

“My kiddo…”
they say,
claiming us with their tongues
as if proximity grants ownership,
as if support requires possession,
as if we should be grateful
for their guidance,
their pity,
their professional charity.

But we do not belong
to their narratives.
We do not fit neatly
in their soft-focus lenses.
We are not mascots
for their martyrdom
or props
for their performance of care.

Our children —
our people —
are not “kiddos.”
They are human.
Full.
Complex.
Autonomous.
Worthy of honor
instead of diminishment.
Worthy of language
that speaks to them,
not down at them.

So keep your kiddo.
Keep the cutesy tone
and the savior pitch.
We will choose names
that respect the weight
of who we are —
names that rise
from dignity,
not from the tiny hands
they imagine us having.

Because we are not kiddo.
We never were.
We never will be.

12/04/2025

“We Have a Voice”

Non-vocal does not mean silent.
Non-vocal does not mean absent.
Non-vocal does not mean without a voice.

There are so many ways to speak —
through movement, stillness, breath, rhythm,
the pause before a meltdown,
the way the body curls in protectiveness,
the way the eyes reach before the hands can.

Imagine having a message burning inside you
and the world keeps asking for it
in a language your body does not use.

Imagine screaming without sound,
and watching people mistake your volume for “behavior.”
Imagine the ache of being unheard
not because you are quiet
but because no one learned how to listen.

This is the reality for so many non-vocal people —
their bodies are speaking,
their nervous systems are pleading,
their gestures are whole paragraphs,
their expressions are full chapters.

And yet…
with good intentions,
others step in and speak over them.
They call it helping.
They call it protecting.
They call it being a “voice.”
But often, it becomes an overshadowing.

Non-vocal people do not need a voice given to them.
They need space for their voice to be recognized.
Respected.
Honored.
Amplified — not replaced.

Because non-vocal does not mean voiceless.

It means:
A different language.
A different rhythm.
A different truth.
A voice that asks the world
to slow down enough
to actually hear it.

Listen with your whole self.
Pay attention to the way communication lives in the body.
Honor the voice that was there all along —
even if it wasn’t made of words.

We have a voice.
Always have.
Always will.

11/29/2025

https://joyfulvoices.lovable.app

Introducing Joyful Voices — the first culturally affirming AAC tool created for Black children.
A communication system built with dignity, representation, and identity at the center.

AAC has been Eurocentric for far too long — filled with robotic voices, unfamiliar images, and tools that do not reflect our children, our families, or our culture.

Joyful Voices is here to change that.
And today, I’m launching it with flexible subscription options so every family can choose the support they need.

🖤 FREE — Joyful Start

A gentle introduction to AAC, centered in representation and ease of use.
Includes:
• Joyful Start category
• Simple tap-to-speak
• No custom words
• No AI illustrations

💛 BASIC — Monthly or Annual

For families wanting a full, everyday AAC tool aligned with culture and identity.
Includes:
• All categories
• Custom words (library + upload)
• Culturally affirming visuals
• Soft, gender-neutral voice options

💜 PREMIUM — Monthly or Annual

The complete Joyful Voices experience with growing creative power.
Includes:
• All categories
• Custom words (library + upload)
• AI-generated illustrations
• Early access to new features
• Priority updates

🖤 The Mission Behind It

AAC should not erase identity.
It should not be Eurocentric.
It should not rely on robotic voices or unfamiliar images.

Joyful Voices is built on the belief that:
• Culture is communication
• Representation is regulation
• Identity is not optional
• Black children deserve to see themselves in the tools designed to help them speak

This release is the foundation.
The vision is so much bigger.

Every subscription supports building the full Joyful Voices AAC system, including:
• Expanded vocabulary sets
• Cultural voice packs
• Customizable grids
• Full sentence-building tools
• More community-centered imagery
• Continued culturally aligned innovation

🌈 Joyful Voices — Helping you say it proud.

An accessible communication app designed for Black children to express themselves through words and images

11/28/2025

https://joyfulvoices.lovable.app Introducing Joyful Voices — the first culturally affirming AAC tool created for Black children.
A communication system built with dignity, representation, and identity at the center.

AAC has been Eurocentric for far too long — filled with robotic voices, unfamiliar images, and tools that do not reflect our children, our families, or our culture.

Joyful Voices is here to change that.
And today, I’m launching it with flexible subscription options so every family can choose the support they need.

🖤 FREE — Joyful Start

A gentle introduction to AAC, centered in representation and ease of use.
Includes:
• Joyful Start category
• Simple tap-to-speak
• No custom words
• No AI illustrations

💛 BASIC — Monthly or Annual

For families wanting a full, everyday AAC tool aligned with culture and identity.
Includes:
• All categories
• Custom words (library + upload)
• Culturally affirming visuals
• Soft, gender-neutral voice options

💜 PREMIUM — Monthly or Annual

The complete Joyful Voices experience with growing creative power.
Includes:
• All categories
• Custom words (library + upload)
• AI-generated illustrations
• Early access to new features
• Priority updates

🖤 The Mission Behind It

AAC should not erase identity.
It should not be Eurocentric.
It should not rely on robotic voices or unfamiliar images.

Joyful Voices is built on the belief that:
• Culture is communication
• Representation is regulation
• Identity is not optional
• Black children deserve to see themselves in the tools designed to help them speak

This release is the foundation.
The vision is so much bigger.

Every subscription supports building the full Joyful Voices AAC system, including:
• Expanded vocabulary sets
• Cultural voice packs
• Customizable grids
• Full sentence-building tools
• More community-centered imagery
• Continued culturally aligned innovation

🌈 Joyful Voices — Helping you say it proud.

11/27/2025

Joyful Voices is an early-access, culturally affirming AAC tool created for Black children.
This first version includes tap-to-speak communication buttons and culturally relevant visuals designed to support communication with dignity, identity, and representation.

To make Joyful Voices accessible and sustainable as it grows, the app now offers flexible subscription options:

🖤 FREE – Joyful Start

Joyful Start category only
❌ No custom words
❌ No AI-generated illustrations

💛 BASIC – Monthly or Annual

All categories
✅ Custom words (Library + Upload)
❌ AI-generated illustrations

💜 PREMIUM – Monthly or Annual

All categories
✅ Custom words (Library + Upload)
✅ AI-generated illustrations

Your subscription directly supports the continued development of the full Joyful Voices AAC system.
These subscriptions will help us build the expanded version together, including:
• Expanded vocabulary sets
• Cultural voice packs
• Customizable grids
• Full sentence-building tools
• More community-centered images and phrases

This is still an early version — the foundation of something much bigger.

with every subscription, we’re building it together.
Link in bio on Instagram.

🌈 Joyful Voices — Helping you say it proud.

with every subscription, we’re building it together.
LINK 👇🏽

https://joyfulvoices.lovable.app

11/27/2025