NDR News

• Autism
• Autism Moments
• Neurodiversity

How Did You Feel when You First found Out that You are Autistic?

How did you feel when you first found out that you are autistic?   This is the question I asked of autistic Instagrammers this week.  I really wasn’t sure what answers I would get, whether they would be happy or sad.  The answers I received have made a few things clear to me.  Here are the responses:   “I was at a school where autism was something that people were bullied for; I was scared.”   “Ashamed.”   “I was diagnosed as an adult, so as I learnt about autism, all my life made sense to me at once.”  ...

• Autism
• Autism Moments
• Neurodiversity

The Journey to My Son's Autism Diagnosis

I remember when my son was really little (he will soon be seven in July, which admittedly is still quite little!), and I didn’t know where to turn or what to do when I noticed some unusual things about him.  I am writing this so that others might have some sort of guide when in the same position, and also because, like birth stories, autism stories can be quite fascinating.   When he was little, my son met all of his milestones.  He seemed to be a very happy baby, he was a great sleeper, and he was totally chill. ...

Sensory Overload

Last week I asked the following question of autistic people on Instagram:   What does sensory overload feel like?   These are some of the responses I received:   “Like the world is spinning in so many directions.”   “Chaotic, like I can’t take in anymore or I could explode!  Each ability quits functioning…”   “Like I’m a coke bottle that’s been shaken up.”   “Agitation, bombarded, too loud, too fast, too much, fight, flight, shut down.”   “My mind going blank, my vision gets blurry, it’s like everything stops around you.”   “Like wearing 3D glasses in a movie...

• Autism
• Autism Moments

Today is World Autism Awareness Day

World Autism Awareness Day was passed by the United Nations on 1 November 2007 and adopted on 18 December 2007.  The establishment of April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day began in 2008.  Each World Autism Awareness Day has a theme that is determined by the UN, with 2020’s theme being “The Transition to Adulthood”. It seems difficult to think of anything other than the Coronavirus during this Covid-19 pandemic, but I think it is extremely important to acknowledge World Autism Awareness Day.  These uncertain times are causing higher levels of anxiety in an already anxiety-prone community.  Some autistic people...

• Autism

Grunya Efimovna Sukhareva

I thought I knew a lot about autism, including the history of autism.  But then someone I follow on Instagram brought an amazing woman to my attention.  Her name is Grunya Efimovna Sukhareva. We have been led to believe that autism was first described by American child psychiatrist of Austrian-Hungarian origin, Leo Kanner in 1943, and by Austrian paediatrician Hans Asperger in 1944.  Kanner made clinical descriptions of 11 children that later were classified as having the classical early infantile autism.  Asperger described ‘autistic psychopathy’ in four boys that later took the name ‘Asperger Syndrome’.  The actual word ‘autistic’ was...