Grant County NeuroDiversity Network - NDN

07/09/2026

No judgement to parents that use ABA therapy, but I'd like to educate on why it can be so harmful.

The New York Times found many problems at a large chain providing Applied Behavioral Analysis to autistic kids. ABA does not help autistic people, it hurts us.

06/30/2026

Another great app to share!

Insight Timer...

This can be utilized by teachers, therapists, and ourselves. It has a timer obviously, but also tons of sounds to help sleep, breathing and mindfulness exercises, check-ins, journaling, and you set an intention each day. Everything I use all different apps for in one place.

05/12/2026

A conversation about your feelings shouldn't be an argument.

Sharing your emotions can actually extend your life span. Studies show that shutting in your feelings and isolating can lead to anxiety/depression.

A lot of adults don't feel safe to share them all with anyone.

I promise to listen. Just make sure I know to listen and not just give advice or share my own story.

05/12/2026

05/08/2026

DBT has me using this app that I've actually used before. I just didn't remember. It's gotten even better since then.

Identifying your feelings is a great step to understanding yourself.

An emotional wellbeing journal

04/19/2026

What is eloping? running away

Eloping is a common problem for autistic people. Usually moreso for parents and caregivers. It's about safety.

There was an article about an autistic man who fatally walked into traffic when left unattended.

When I am having a meltdown, I have the desperate feeling of flight response. I considered walking into the busy street outside, but stopped out of fear of being stopped and sent to inpatient. He didn't stop.

Someone responded to me in the comments that my experience isn't the same as someone with profound autism. That's funny because I have severe autism. I'm on that level. I'm just able to verbalize what he must have felt.

The autistic urge to elope. There is something inside that just wants to run away. I'm desperate to escape. And anything in my way is a threat bigger than even death. Death is an escape. Nothing could hurt me ever again. I feel panicked and scared and all I want to do is run until I disappear and no one can perceive me. Until I calm down and know that's not a rational thing to do.

"Community is everything" so we need good friends to surround us with a safety net. I have my family. Who is there to stop you when the threat is coming from inside?

04/05/2026

How do you accommodate for Easter?

Instead of a big egg hunt at a park, we hide eggs around the house to accommodate for the noise/chaos/socializing.

03/31/2026

I wasn't originally going to read this, but I saw the infinity symbol and looked at the contents. I loved the font inside. This really hits as a parent, but mostly my own internal struggles with ableist ideas of autism. Heidi gives us an unfiltered reminder that we aren't broken and everything is actually hard. Learn more about Heidi at her website: www.heidimavir.com

03/26/2026

03/26/2026

We listen and don't judge.