Them: Oh You Don’t Want This Cat. He’s Wild And He Bites Everyone And He’ll Never Just Sit Nicely

Them: Oh you don’t want this cat. He’s wild and he bites everyone and he’ll never just sit nicely in your lap. He’s a project cat.

Me: That’s okay, I’m a project person.

Two weeks later:

Them: Oh You Don’t Want This Cat. He’s Wild And He Bites Everyone And He’ll Never Just Sit Nicely

He won’t leave.

Punishment for stimming is BAD.

I don't care if my blog's not popular, if this post reaches one person it'll be one more person helped. I just had a college class in abnormal psychology where the professor taught us that punishment is a workable and useful therapy to "treat" autistic symptoms such as head-banging, biting etc. What he neglected to tell the class is that those behaviors are forms of self-stimulation (aka stimming) which is necessary for most people with autism to regulate their sensory systems. Specifically the above destructive behaviors are forms of overload stimming, in which the person will turn to types of self-stimulation that blocks out whatever is causing them distress in their environment. For example, head-banging and biting cause pain and so the body is forced to process that instead of what's outside, temporarily interfering with their perception of the world to give them a reprieve. To clarify: this behavior isn't good, it's dangerous. The solution is to replace the overload stims with healthier ones, let them remove themself from the situation, and give them coping mechanisms and plans so that next time they don't have to get to overload levels of upset.

The solution is NOT to punish them for overload stimming. They are not exhibiting bad behavior, they are trying desperately to do what their body needs them to do. If you punish them and they stop overload stimming in response, it's not successful learning: it's abuse. They are not stopping because they 'see the error in their ways,' they are stopping because they are afraid of what you will do to them. All punishment works like that, but it is called for when the person does something wrong, not when they are working to do what their body needs because there is nothing wrong with that.

By the way, this is true for non-destructive types of stimming as well. Preventing any kind of stimming is abuse because it prevents people with autism's bodies from working as they should. Instead stimming needs to be accommodated and respected or, if it absolutely must be stopped, immediately replaced with an equally effective option.

To recap: punishment is designed to stop bad behavior. Stimming is not bad behavior because it is an action that people with autism need to do to regulate their sensory systems. It is abuse to punish someone without cause. Therefore it is abuse to punish someone for stimming. Instead find non-destructive stims and solutions that solve the problem without the damaging consequences.

*p.s. if someone is overload stimming they're already really upset. don't make it worse. it's common sense and so easy to do if you care about that person.*

PSA

You feel like shit is a website set up to help you get out of that funk/improve things just enough to not feel horrible and miserable all the time. It’s amazing.

Whether you struggle with mental health problems all the time or whether this is a new/temporary state for you, this guide is an easy and judgement-free self-care tool.

PLEASE TRY IT OUT! Really! You just click through the questions to answer and follow simple instructions that in the end, ideally, will help you to feel more comfortable and stable on a daily basis.

Good luck! Have fun!

PSA:

If you, as a Neurotypical Able-Bodied Person: -befriend a disabled person. -take a disabled person out on a date. -vote a disabled person for prom/homecoming king/queen. -are someone who works in a field of safety, such as cops or firefighters, and you help a disabled person. -Teach disabled people. -Raise disabled people. -Work with disabled people. -Are an employer and you give a disabled person a job.

You’re not a hero. You’re not special. You’re not a saint. You’re a person being kind. Unless it’s done out of pity or for fame, in which case, screw you.

That kind of rhetoric further dehumanizes disabled people like myself because it’s saying that only a certain special few can be decent to disabled people, which may perpetuate the idea that NTABs who are assholes can treat us like shit because “they’re not one of the special ones that can be nice to them.”

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

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purple-37-bird

6 years ago

Thank fuck