Spectrum-speculation - Autistic Earth Visitor

[Image description: A photograph of a pretty twenty-year-old woman. Her name is Claire Wineland. She wears glasses and also an oxygen canula that fits into her nose, wraps around her ears and fastens under her chin. She has brown hair that reaches down to her shoulders. She is giving us a big smile, showing lots of front teeth. End of image description.]

“We’re the manifestation of some kind of underlying brilliance...”

Claire Wineland lived a beautiful, joyful life while suffering from CF (cystic fibrosis). At the end of August, she received a lung transplant, hoping this might give her a new lease on life. Sadly, she died of a blood clot on September second.

During her life she shared many of her experiences, her sense of humor, and a lot of deep wisdom in her YouTube videos. You should watch them.

Claire Wineland YouTube Channel

 She also started Claire’s Place Foundation, which provides financial and emotional support to families living with CF. If you can, please donate.

Claire’s Place Foundation

Here’s an example of her wisdom from her YouTube video, “What it feels like to die.” In it, she describes her experience of dying, up to the point when she lost consciousness and then was saved by medical intervention. 

Phos is my hero / heroine

Phos and the crew.

さむい by りー

i love phose

That pretty well describes it

@ everyone within a five-mile radius of me, prepare to hear about literally everything that’s ever happened in critical role, there is no escape.

That’s me to a T

I love being alone in my room, I love not having to be a person

heartbreaker

Me in my dreams

My feeling is that in general there is no reason to make a distinction between the ways in which people were (or were not) diagnosed. The main thing is usually that the person identifies with a set of issues and challenges, and their internal voice says: “That’s a lot like me!”

Of course, if a person is facing some kind of challenge related to NOT having an official diagnosis, and they want to talk about it, that’s up to them. But otherwise I can’t really see why it should come up in our discussions.

Also it makes me think: I’m not blind, or deaf, but because of my sensory issues I find it very helpful to read about and discuss things that blind or deaf people experience. Mainly I’m interested in the sense of touch, which it seems to me is neglected by five-sensed people and culture.

Anyhow, my point is: for Tumblr discussions and things of this sort, it matters more that we have something in common. and that we learn from each other. And I would say: our differences may be interesting to discuss; but our differences should not be what define us.

So I’m seeing a new meme I guess? Where posts have (professionally diagnosed) or (self diagnosed) and it’s making me uncomfortable?

There’s a lot of stigma on being diagnosed with mental disorders, illnesses, or the like

People treat it as you trying to get attention or faking it or even ridicule you for it

I’m just worried that this meme is going to turn out horribly for those that use these terms seriously

So please if you do see it can you not make it any bigger?

Sincerely from a self-diagnosed autistic

(You can add to it if you feel the same)