autisticeducator

[autisticeducator]

Imagine you’re a high school teacher, school nurse, social worker, or crisis counselor just trying to get through your school day with your students and you hear that a horrific accident happened nearby involving teens from a different county.

That actually happened yesterday. Many of our local high school teachers, social workers, school nurses, and crisis counselors left right after their school day and rushed to the local community college to provide food and grief counseling to dozens of teens who saw a bus with their fellow band members and director go off the road and down a 50ft ravine.

They helped these teens in a time of crisis out of the kindness of their hearts and they know as educators, it was the right thing to do.

Our fire departments, EMS, police departments, doctors, nurses, and educators all showed the true spirit of this county yesterday. Being there for anyone in need is what New Yorkers do.

Farmingdale, Orange County is with you in your time of grief and healing. We’re all Daler Strong.

If you have any spare funds, a GoFundMe has been set up for medical expenses (at the time of this post, 16 students and 2 adults are still in area hospitals, some in critical condition), funeral expenses for the two educators who passed in this horrific accident, and therapy expenses for this community who is grieving right now and the teens and chaperones who were on the bus involved and the other buses who witnessed the accident.

#daler strong #New York bus crash #tw dead mention #donate if you can

[autisticeducator]

I am very curious about something. Can those who don’t live in major cities (suburbs are fine) answer the following question:

Mine does not and I will honestly be very surprised if they ever do given their long history with the KKK (yes, they are here in New York). The school district tows a very fine line between supporting LGBTQ+ students (because NYSED says they have to) and bending to the whim of bigoted taxpayers.

The town next door barely does. They are honestly only doing it because they are a business heavy and tourism heavy town and acknowledging Pride happens to be a good financial decision for them.

#lgbtq representation #actually asexual #actually nonbinary #actually trans #actually aroace #actually aromantic

[autisticeducator]

Took five years, but Facebook found out who my psychiatrist is and recommended her as “Someone I might know”.

Of course I know her you creepy algorithm. But no, I don’t want to be Facebook friends with my psychiatrist. 🤦

Nope, nope, nope. Not doing that.

#actuallyautistic #actually adhd #Facebook is hella creepy

[autisticeducator]

Fellow older autistics…

I’m referring to those ages 30+ that were diagnosed or suspected you were autistic before the age of 30.

Have you noticed that after you hit 30, there seems to be a whole mindset shift of what issues in autistic advocacy you actually think are important?

I just don’t give a crap anymore about people using the perfect terminology 100% of the time. It feels unhelpful to argue about it.

I only seem to care about the bigger issues like healthcare access and intersectionality. I don’t have the energy to spend arguing about words when I know what a person means most of the time.

#actuallyautistic #autism #older autistics

[autisticeducator]

The DeSantis style anti-LGTBQ in education legislation has made it to the federal level and New York LGBTQ+ organizations are rightfully pissed at politicians who are even attempting to support this.

One of them had a very public meeting with Congressman Lawler (NY-17) for being the massive hypocrite he is.

I want to have some faith in the Democrats in the Senate, many who are up for re-election in 2024 and 2026, to block this garbage of a bill.

Contact your US Congressperson and tell them not to support HR 5/Parents Bill of Rights Act. This act is literally terrifying.

#education #united states #hr 5 #medical privacy #hipaa

[autisticeducator]

I have an idea New York State should really consider:

So New York has the NY.gov ID system that most state agencies that need to verify your state ID and/or state tax income tap into in order to unify everything (New York has an obsession about centralized control, which sometimes is actually beneficial).

This means if you have Medicaid/Essential Plan/Child Health Plus/Marketplace plan through NY State of Health and you have already filed your tax return, they are linked in the NY.gov ID system so NY State of Health just grabs your NYS tax return and renews your health insurance for you. It is immensely helpful. If you need to register for medical cannabis, that is also under the same system (also the DMV) so you provide your state issued ID number and they can verify your information with the same ID you used to establish your NY.gov ID account.

It has sped up so many things. But I think we can take this further.

The myBenefits applications and any other income based applications should also be under the NY.gov ID system. This would be so much more efficient since the application is already online anyway and a NY.gov ID account is practically required these days for New Yorkers anyway. The application process could be so much quicker and efficient and recertification wouldn’t be required in most cases as it would automatically be done.

Let it also give the person “Hey, based on your current NYS tax return and your demographics, you or your family may qualify for these programs”

I want the NY.gov ID system to tell our low and middle income seniors that they qualify for EPIC, which will prevent them from falling into the Medicare donut hole. I want it to tell low and middle income homeowners that they qualify for clean heat programs to cut down on the cost of making their homes more energy efficient and installing a clean heat source (and that you can stack those programs together). I want it to tell New Yorkers that qualify for HEAP that they actually do.

I don’t want to remove the current ways of applying for these programs because they will still be helpful for some people. I want to add in the option of applying through NY.gov ID to streamline the entire process and people could have a one stop place to go to find out about programs they qualify for and can instantly apply with their state ID and taxes already there for them.

#new york #public assistance #ny.gov id

[autisticeducator]

For my fellow New Yorkers:

Medicaid/Essential Plan/CHIP/Marketplace:

Everything else (HEAP, SNAP, assistance programs, tax credits):

myBenefits will also indicate if you qualify for Medicaid/CHIP/Essential Plan, but NY State of Health is better for that as it can take you right into applying. Your local Department of Social Services can also help you apply to programs, but New York knows New Yorkers have a lack of desire to talk to people.

Now remember, because of New York’s high cost of living, more people qualify for programs funded entirely or partly by the state (including Medicaid) than just people at/below the Federal poverty line. A lot of the programs for improving energy efficiency and tax credits have a much higher income cutoff.

Oh and New York requires Medicaid to cover gender affirming care and abortions. The one major area that needs to improve is dental. New York dentists and New York Medicaid don’t agree on best practices. New York Medicaid is on a preventative healthcare trip lately. They’d rather you prevent/manage conditions.

Gentle information sharing that if you make under $19k a year you probably qualify for food stamps and state Medicaid. This varies state to state, but absolutely worth a Google.

It was extremely easy to apply and I now have full medical, some dental, psych, and $280 a month of food completely free.

No co-pays. And because Oregon is... slightly less bad than many states, many types of therapy are covered, a chiropractor, gender affirming surgery, it goes on. Abortion. I just got in with my free PCP who also offers telehealth.

Please look into benefits. It varies state by state, my experiences in the Midwest and South weren't as easy and all-encompassing. But SNAP and Medicaid made things possible for my dad and I in Indiana too, and I'm deeply grateful he taught me not to listen to internalized shame about it.

I've made a post about grocery shopping while poor that's still going around and helping people, let's add to this one too! Do you have information about government benefits? I just want to get people seeing and talking about this because it could change a life.

[autisticeducator]

My high school certainly did this. Shock factor was a favorite tool of theirs.

International Tumblr people should look up how messed up the DARE program is. Having actual cops teach 10 year olds about drugs couldn’t possibly go wrong 😒

In the United States it's common for high schools to stage a simulated lethal crash to teach kids about the dangers of distracted or impaired driving. This often includes fake blood and first responders to stage rescuing people from the crash. Is this done anywhere outside the United States? I don't feel like it is. So I ask

[autisticeducator]

The joy of MCAS:

I have the lovely opportunity to tell sick people to back very far away from me very quickly as my overly touchy mast cells have zero problem having anaphylaxis to a virus. 🤦

But at least I can tell the difference between MCAS and Hyper POTS now when it comes to infections for me.

MCAS: upper respiratory infection (usually in the coronavirus family as my mast cells hate that spike protein) and Covid, resulting in grade 2 anaphylaxis. Actually responds (eventually) to antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers.

HyperPOTS: lower respiratory infections (bacterial, RSV, influenza, and Covid), resulting in severe range tachycardia, dizziness, migraines, etc. Is worsened by MCAS treatments.

[autisticeducator]

House is the type who would actually suspect MCAS when the bloodwork and allergy testing comes back normal.

Granted he’s also the type that would likely risk anaphylaxis in a patient in order to get the bloodwork to show a 20% increase in tryptase without telling the patient.

everyone's like wehhhhh why doesn't doctor house gets suuuueeed! like my man. literally every patient he sees is someone that's been trying to find a diagnosis for ages. i could live with a little medical malpractice if it were coming from someone ready to break into my home to look for allergens and not simply half heartedly listen to me before suggesting I lose weight and take ages of back and forth arguing to order a single test

[autisticeducator]

Diphenhydramine stimulates me like all 1st gen antihistamines do since ADHD loves to cause paradoxical side effects. It feels like what imagine most people would experience on Adderall when I am on it round the clock during a MCAS flair trying to prevent anaphylaxis from occurring.

There was an issue for a while with teens using it to get high (thanks TikTok 🙄). But most people usually only take 25mg (they could take the pediatric dose at 12.5mg if they are sensitive to side effects). I have driven to the store with what was technically grade 2 anaphylaxis to get some Benadryl to stop the histamine release causing the reaction (do not try at home, I make bad life choices and MCAS induced anaphylaxis can work differently than typical IgE mediated anaphylaxis. I have often a slower onset due to all the antihistamines/mast cell stabilizers I’m on and I have POTS so I have been told by my doctors to wait until heart rate or breathing is affected or more harm than good can come from epinephrine).

I don’t think with the rising acknowledgement of MCAS being a thing and J&J making a ton of money off Benadryl that it will ever return to prescription in the US.

You can tell shit's getting real with tree pollen season starting up. I'm over here ordering some supplemental antihistamines from Denmark.

Right now, it's apparently mainly alder and hazel shooting their load locally. Wasn't previously aware that I was particularly allergic to either one of those, but okay. If it's pollen, there's an excellent chance my immune system is going to pitch fits at it. 😒 And of course it's just starting up. At least there don't seem to be a lot of maple trees around here, is all I can say.

The only antihistamines available OTC here next door in Sweden are the non-drowsy one a day types. (Which I have been taking again, but yeah that doesn't cut it alone sometimes.) A bit overly cautious here with what's available OTC in general, and I thought the UK could be annoying enough that way.

Whenever I finally manage to pop just across the bridge to Copenhagen, I may have to see what other OTC riches I might be able to find there. 🙄 If I weren't having some mobility problems, I probably would have made an in-person antihistamine (and cheaper decent cooking sake/real mirin/Shaoxing wine!*) run already. Because that's the type of exciting person I am.

Anyway, at least the acrivastine is easy enough to buy from surrounding countries, and it works pretty well for me. The stash I dragged with me from the UK is almost gone, so it seemed like an excellent time to re-up. Not quite desperate enough to resort to grey-market bottles of generic Benadryl from the US off eBay again quite yet.

______

* Because Systembolaget, not any urge to wash the Benadryl down with rice cooking wines.

[autisticeducator]

8mg? Really Europe. They do realize that nothing is really going to actually stop anyone from taking more right.

Our pediatric formulation in the US and Canada has a higher dosage than that. We have 12.5mg, 25mg and 50mg for those of us who have overactive mast cells.

I would need 6 pills to treat a MCAS flair.

You can tell shit's getting real with tree pollen season starting up. I'm over here ordering some supplemental antihistamines from Denmark.

Right now, it's apparently mainly alder and hazel shooting their load locally. Wasn't previously aware that I was particularly allergic to either one of those, but okay. If it's pollen, there's an excellent chance my immune system is going to pitch fits at it. 😒 And of course it's just starting up. At least there don't seem to be a lot of maple trees around here, is all I can say.

The only antihistamines available OTC here next door in Sweden are the non-drowsy one a day types. (Which I have been taking again, but yeah that doesn't cut it alone sometimes.) A bit overly cautious here with what's available OTC in general, and I thought the UK could be annoying enough that way.

Whenever I finally manage to pop just across the bridge to Copenhagen, I may have to see what other OTC riches I might be able to find there. 🙄 If I weren't having some mobility problems, I probably would have made an in-person antihistamine (and cheaper decent cooking sake/real mirin/Shaoxing wine!*) run already. Because that's the type of exciting person I am.

Anyway, at least the acrivastine is easy enough to buy from surrounding countries, and it works pretty well for me. The stash I dragged with me from the UK is almost gone, so it seemed like an excellent time to re-up. Not quite desperate enough to resort to grey-market bottles of generic Benadryl from the US off eBay again quite yet.

______

* Because Systembolaget, not any urge to wash the Benadryl down with rice cooking wines.

[autisticeducator]

What no one around me seemed to understand throughout my diagnosis process was why I NEEDED the psychiatrist to tell me that I was autistic. It wasn't that I had self-diagnosed, it wasn't that I wanted to be "quirky" or be part of the community--- it was because deep down in my heart, I knew that there was always something different about me, and if it turned out that I wasn't autistic then that meant that I still had to keep looking for answers. It's like there's always been a question on the tip of my tongue since birth and I've never known exactly what it was or how to answer it until my autism diagnosis. Not only that, but I felt like if it turned out that I WASNT autistic, that would mean that there was something wrong with me. If I wasn't autistic, then I was just a broken, messed up allistic.

The relief I felt when I got my autism diagnosis was tangible. My depression that I'd struggled with for years lifted. I felt happy and true to myself and accepted by my friends. I felt like, for once in my life, I had the answer that I had always been looking for. I wasn't a broken allistic person-- I was a perfectly good autistic person. My diagnosis was the best thing that ever happened to me.

[autisticeducator]

[autisticeducator]

the bmi was made to represent the "perfect healthy (cis, white) man" so if u dont fall under any of that then its total bull, and even if you do, its still total bull because its been all but entirely proven that there is no "correct" weight for humans just like there's no "correct" height, we aren't like dogs where shorter legs or weighing "too much" will almost always be truly detrimental, we adapt and thrive and a lot of the times our bodies become what they become after birth and especially into adulthood because it's what's necessary to survive, not because of poor choices like people who agree with bmi tend to think.

It was never meant to indicate anything in individuals, which is exactly what happened.

Bones are more dense than fat. Those with higher bone density will have a higher BMI.

Muscle is more dense than fat. Those with good muscle tone are also going to have a higher BMI.

Waist size, hip to waist ratio, body fat percentage, lean muscle percentage, bone density, and lab values together are a better indicator of health than BMI’s flawed logic.

Weight =/= health. The ideal should be good health for your particular body, which is always going to be a multitude of factors.

#tw bmi #tw weight

[autisticeducator]

BMI was never meant to be used this way.

I remember those bullshit letters in high school. Didn’t help at all with my disordered eating. And scales being everywhere is very common in the US.

My best weight for my physical health is 180-190lbs. I have POTS though and remember that POTS doesn’t do well with being super thin and not muscular, which is why weight loss is not a treatment for POTS. I’ve been 160 and I was super symptomatic.

I physically cannot be in normal range according to BMI. But at 180lbs I look absolutely fit because I have to have a lot of lean muscle to even get down to that weight. I fit into kids L/XL at 180 pounds. I am deceivingly compact and typically horses under 16h I can’t fit on because they would need to weigh at least 1000lbs and be in good health for me to fit into the 20% rule with tack. I’m perfectly fine with that because I prefer tall horses anyway.

But according to BMI, I’m overweight and need to lose 30 pounds, which is not physically possible for me.

Yeah there are scales EVEYRWHERE in the US, the only ones I like are the ones at the space museum that shows what you would weigh on different planets to show how gravity works but....yeah 💀 you have to do it for gym class, other students can easily find it, commonly bmi is shown in algebra class and if no one volunteers to embarrass themselves then someone just gets picked randomly and forced to disclose your height and weight in class, you get...letters back home sometimes if you're overweight and....yeah :/ it's part of why I have an eating disorder, it's considered normal for kids to be on diets here! I mean....with bmi the way it is, it's just completely horrible, they even have weight requirements for eating disorders, though I think that one is common everywhere, messed the fuck up though

WAIT WAIT WAIT THEY DO THAT IN SCHOOLS

THEY HAVE SCALES IN SCHOOLS

I wanna cry for u that is fucking twisted

#tw bmi #tw weight

[autisticeducator]