AP Cymru
Creating Opportunities &
Celebrating Difference

AP Cymru – The Autism Charity provides direct, bespoke support to autistic individuals and their families during all stages of their journey. We provide exclusive inclusive activities for the whole family, Autism Champion Training, clinics, workshops and a Face2Face support service.

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24 hours ago

AP Cymru

Excellent read about Autistic Masking.
If you do not already follow Jaime then click like ❤I know a lot of neurodiversity pages bring up the topic of autistic masking, but I'd like to address it from what I hope is a few different angles.

If you're unsure of what autistic masking is, it's something many neurodiverse people do in order to fit in and remain (temporarily) undetectable to neurotypical people.

For example, an autistic person may control their stimming, speak with inflections and tone, lower the volume of their voice, memorize and repeat safe, small talk topics such as the weather, food, or movies.

We may learn appropriate facial expressions and emulate them, and teach ourselves to control blurting out information or talking about one topic for too long.

These are only a few examples of how we mask, and it is very important to understand why we do this.

One, we do NOT pretend to feel emotions. We may emulate facial expressions, but we DO feel the emotions that go with those facial expressions, but we don't make them automatically, so we have to learn how to express emotions with our faces.

Two, masking is utterly exhausting, and we can only keep it up for so long. What is as easy and effortless for NT people as breathing, we have to consciously remind ourselves to do.

Three, we mask in order to be safe and not draw unwanted attention to ourselves and single ourselves out as different, as this could lead to abuse.

Four, and I'm not sure how often this is addressed, we often are NOT EVEN AWARE that we are masking. After years or even decades of doing this, it just happens, but, again, it is exhausting. It's also quite emotionally damaging because we are not being ourselves.

Five, the NT people we are around usually believe the mask is true and the autistic traits are a lie when the opposite is true, and THIS, above all else, is what hinders us and hurts us the most.

When the mask slips, people believe we've "changed", when, in reality, we are finally being ourselves.

The reason autistic masking exists is because, at a very early age, we were taught (either directly or indirectly) that we were different somehow, and the people around us didn't like that.

We do not mask for any nefarious reason or to manipulate others. It doesn't come from a place of malice. We just want to be safe. This desire to survive overrides everything else and prompts a visceral reaction within us to "blend or die". It's that serious.

This goes in tandem with my post from yesterday about us saying we understand when we don't. Again, it's a survival technique, but it comes at great personal cost.

And the only reason we have to do this is because there is still so little truly understood about how the neurodiverse mind works--the thoughts, the feelings, the intentions, the perceptions--and these nuances are absolutely critical for understanding.

If this understanding does not happen, NT people will continue to ascribe neurotypical intentions to autistic behaviors, and this is completely inaccurate and what causes so many misunderstandings.

The more we all understand the neurodiverse brain, the better off we'll all be, and, little by little, the mask can fall away, and we can live and contribute to society in an authentic way instead of spending a lifetime using all of our energy to cover up who we are.

Autists, what does masking meant you? Do you do it? If so, in what ways, and how does it affect you?

Neurotypicals, do you find yourself believing the mask the neurodiverse person in your life uses is real at times? How do you process behavior changes when the person can no longer hold the mask? Does it take time to adjust to these changes?

...

Accessibility: A close-up of a woman's face with gold paint peeling off in flecks with yellow lettering on black background that reads, "Autistic Masking".

...

Disclaimer: My posts are based on my own personal life experiences as a late-diagnosed autistic woman and others in the autistic community of varying age and gender. While I am absolute in my statements, I do not ever mean all autistic people or all neurotypical people are 100% like "this" (whatever "this" is at the time), and that there are no exceptions. There are always exceptions. Rather, these posts are meant to begin dialogues across the neurotypes and help facilitate understanding on both sides. ... See MoreSee Less

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AP Cymru shared a post.

2 days ago

AP Cymru

We 💜 this...#autism #shutdown #burnout ... See MoreSee Less

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AP Cymru

5 days ago

AP Cymru

Today was the last session of our
Summer Programme 2019.
Our families experienced the art of surfing 🏄‍♂️🏄‍♀️.
They were all fantastic and a pleasure to watch as they listened, practiced turn taking, and exercised in a fun, safe and inclusive environment.

This year, due to demand and listening to our families, we run our Summer Programme over 4 weeks. Trying to meet the needs of all our families.
We’ve encouraged, social interaction, social communication and imagination. But most importantly making sure everyone’s wellbeing was at the heart of all our sessions.

Hopefully, with everyone’s support we will be able to do this all again next year ... See MoreSee Less

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SwanseaGrandSwansea Grand Theatre@SwanseaGrand·
20 Aug

We have a #RelaxedPerformance of Eye of the Storm on Saturday 28th Sep, 10.30am, tickets are just £10. Book via our Box Office on 01792 475715 https://t.co/D8kQBP7Wgh
@NAS_MT @ASDinfoWales @AP_CYMRU @SpectropolisPIF @NPTCarers @SpectrumSwansea @RlxdPerformance

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BarryCoastguarBarry Coastguard@BarryCoastguar·
4 Aug

Job well done our Volunteer teams who one hour before the start of the @BarryIsland10K run had a CALLOUT. 👏👏👏👏

CLICK ON THE LINK TO DONATE
@AP_CYMRU @MindCharity
Coastguard Association
https://t.co/0P6aihbav7…

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AP_CYMRUAP Cymru - The Autism Charity!@AP_CYMRU·
4 Aug

Every time you make a purchase in our shop you directly help to create an opportunity for one of our children or a member of their family like this...

Raising money is difficult - creating smiles is priceless!

#autism #disability #diversity #differentnotless #diagnosis

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AP_CYMRUAP Cymru - The Autism Charity!@AP_CYMRU·
1 Aug

We would love to extend the opening hours of our Charity Shop to 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am - 4pm on a Saturday with a view to open on a Sunday at some point too!

If you are able to help us make this happen please let us know asap!

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