I'm Taylor, a mom of 2 who was diagnosed as autistic at 31. My diagnosis brought up questions, frustration, doubt, but most importantly, a new level of self compassion and understanding.
I'm here to share knowledge, resources, and products that empower other neurodivergent people and their loved ones to live freely and creatively. I'm not a doctor so please speak with your healthcare providers before implementing any recommendations I make on my channel.
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📪 Business Mailing Address 📬 Taylor Heaton, LLC 8901 Tehama Ridge Parkway, Suite 127 PMB 680 Fort Worth, TX 76177
📰 ⭐️ For Submissions to the Big Autistic Resource Guide (BARG), email submissions@momonthespectrum.life with subject line BARG SUBMISSION REQUEST.
oh i needed to know absolutely everything as a kid and even now as an adult, if there were changes to what i was told the schedule was for family things or if we stopped somewhere on the way to where i was told we were going i would Have to know because i didn't understand why things werent happening exactly as i was told they would lol
I have to big time disagree, the diagnosis criteria is way too vast for one single person to declare themselves autistic without a professional opinion, you have to put up with the trick questions, emotional monitoring, grand scope of possibilities and co-occurance of other neurodevelopmental conditions, theres just so much more that goes into diagnosis from a medical professional than just self affirmation.
My brother remembers probably the most Autistic thing I ever said, "I like people, I just don't know what to do with them." I Dow remember saying it but that is me in a nutshell.
Frequent Comorbidities: -ADHD (AuDHD) -Auto-Immune Disease -Epilepsy -Gastro-intestinal issues -Hypermobility Can't remember if these as well: -Dyspraxia -Dyslexia (Me! 🥳) -Dyscalculia etc (Also Me but 😒) (Depression and Anxiety as a result of living in an Allistic expectations/world) Interestingly, us Autistics respond to stress/fear secretions by other humans with calming effects, whole we respind to everyone at ease secretions, or absence of fear secretions woth fear, stress, discomfort, hypervigilance etc. I'm curious about the links as well as the evolutionary benefits for why these traits persist in the population throughout history.
Thank you for your education. I watch your channel to try to learn about what my daughter is going thru. She is 14 and was just diagnosed as she is my first kid and had symptoms from early on but I was not aware of them.
"Party bulbs" are LED light bulbs that put out a dozen different color light and a dozen different brighness levels. I have used them to great effect to communicate friskiness and hunger type with partners. All it takes is a basic agreement of what the three either RGB or CYMK colors are. The different combined colors and varying brighnesses can very easily communicate a very particular sets of desires or what you're receptive to. You have an exhaustive set of variables and the bulbs come with little credit card sized remotes. With 100-150 color and brigtness options, you can imagine the effectiveness.
Oh, she turned the Party Bulb on and it's a bright pinkish lavender. I don't need too many definitions to know what I am feeling when I see the bulb. That tells me that my partner is not just receptive, but in need due to the brighness and they are probably looking for q lot of sweet, romantic, physical affection. Many humans have intrinsic color emotions and we instantly understand that brighter means hotter. We typically associate richer colors with more intense flavor. I love that the lamp idea was touched on. I hope someone tries taking a step further with the color idea.
oh good gravy, girl! i feel so exposed like you must be spying on me! and i DID lol on the pain assessment thing! all of this is so me! the good thing is the validation...thanks!
I had to come to the comments to get a better understanding. Comments helped quite a bit, so huge thank you to those who gave insight. Will change how I approach my son's GF for things this short covered. It's been a bit of a struggle, now it makes sense.
I tell people that I am mostly a sex positive, transgender, Sapphic leaning, panromantic demisexual. I get weird looks, but it explains me really succintly.
My standard response to, “What’s your favorite…?” is, “Depends how I feel in the moment.” Minimal panic because I know that’s what I’m always going to say. This keeps things simple and can open up a more interesting conversation. With color it’s always, “The spectrum between turquoise and teal”. Very specific. 😂
Absolutely!!! Everything you said!!!❤️People don't even restate what I say in a different way. They often say exactly what I said and get credit for my ideas. I have regular attacks of invisibility. I feel like people don't see who I am at all. Predators see me; but, the people I need to see me, don't seem to have a clue what makes me tick. I've tried to change my patterns of communication; but, nothing seems to work. It's very frustrating. Not all of us have a support system at all. I'm sure your videos are helping a lot of people, thank you!!!❤
I’m in the camp of people that don’t know what they love. I mean thrifting for unique pieces gives me a lot of joy, a “high” if you will, but I’d love to find a hobby to do at home(aside from watching horror/true crime). I think painting a canvas would be fun but my lack of imagining a picture in my mind makes that difficult. lol.
It's recently been pointed out to me that I have autistic traits, and the more research and reading/listening I do - I keep ticking the boxes. I only missed one off your list. I have a few "comfort songs" (as I've called them) which sometimes get listened to for 10 hours a day. Impossible to know you're brain is doing things a little offbeat until someone points them out. I'm finding out this year. I'm 34.
Hey there ! I’m along for the ride and off work for first time in 20 years after adhd /ASD diagnosis a few months ago …asking for time off was horrible with my DR … I lost my voice in the moment and had a panic attack … I’m currently in burn out trying to be a husband and father and I feel for you deeply ❤
I’ve never been told I ask too many questions but I know I often have questions because I need clarification. Someone at work will say “call so and so and ask if they received this payment” but no other details. Ok so I call and they answer yes or no, I have ZERO follow up because I have no idea why the question is being asked. It’s the feeling like others assume that I’m picking up on the context or reading between the lines when I’m not. Be specific and provide all necessary details please! lol
Radical acceptance, yes! Especially if most people around you refuse to accept your rhythm. I have generally been told that my needs are "entitled" since "everyone else can multitask" (actually not) or "push through". Pushing yourself to the brink makes no sense and is not productive long term. You are right in saying that support (and circumstance) makes a difference. While I am really happy for folks who have support I admit I get jealous. As someone who has neither the financial stability to be able to rest (in fact, I feel like I am always scrounging for another small job) and the spouse who is strict with themself and tends to dissociate and push myself (I am the mom, so weird societal expectations add to that-surprising to me since my spouse talks like a feminist...that is just another layer to the complex cake of life!) I pretty much never get that down time. I find I have to "go on strike" to get that, and even then... I feel very sad that while this is so necessary, it is also borderline unattainable for a lot of people. Nonetheless, this is super relatable: the intense productivity followed by the "what just happened? I am going to need a minute-or week" is very familiar (I feel like I have just survived a round of boxing: it was great cardio and exciting at the time but now my head hurts and I am dizzy from all the punches.)
First, thank you for this video, and all the ones you've given us! Listening to you describe childhood experiences (about a year ago now, in spring 2023) was my "Aha!" moment. Most of the intervening year has been thinking about my life (I'm 76; there's a lotta life to think about!) and realizing how much my life experiences actually fit into the overarching reality of having autism. It's been about seeing what I thought were disparate experiences as actually being related within a pattern. For example, I've always had difficulty with social cues, recognizing them, responding to them in the ways that most people do. I eventually recognized that I was just different from most of the people around me; a more introverted person than most others. It wasn't until I started consuming your videos that I began to recognize, that aspect of me is related to the aspect of me that seeks data/information and thrives on analyzing it, in ways that most of the people I know just can't relate to; and is related to that aspect of me that has a lot of trouble handling noise, to the point that I get almost instantly overloaded if someone tries to have a conversation while I'm analyzing said data.
