Episode 268: Nanny Aut: Autistic Blogger, Advocate, and Teacher

This week, we share an amazing interview with Nanny Aut! Nanny Aut is an amazing autistic blogger and advocate who created Autistic Village, a group of blogs with contributions from autistic people around the world. Nanny Aut shares about their experience being diagnosed with autism as an adult, being told autistic people “can’t be teachers” (as they were training to be a teacher), how we can better support neurodiverse students in the schools, and so much more!

Before the interview, Sarah Gregory and Ashley Larisey join Rachel for a lively discussion of the meaning of phrases commonly used in education like “life skills” and “functional skills”. They note that, if a teacher says a student needs more “functional” skills/academics/language, is that just another way of saying they are giving up on academics? If not, what are they saying then? They discuss how terms like “functional” are often too vague, and ways we can be more specific when we share those ideas.

Key ideas this week:

🔑 When we say “life skills” or “functional skills”, are we really thinking about what skills we want for a person, or are we thinking about what is important to a person? We should always do our best to connect our goals for a person with their personal interests and desires. If something is not intrinsically motivating, a person is often less likely to learn the skill and/or generalize it.

🔑 Nanny Aut uses the Emergency Chat app when they get overwhelmed and verbal speech becomes difficult or impossible. They share about a time in the hospital when they needed their phone to communicate, and how frustrated it make them feel when their phone was taken away as punishment.

🔑 When your autistic child says “no” verbally or nonverbally, they are probably telling you “no” for a reason. They may not understand exactly why they feel a certain way, but that doesn’t mean their feelings are invalid.  Telling an autistic child “just ignore it”, “it’s not that bad”, or “no one else is having a problem,” can be frustrating and, in some cases, even traumatic.

Links this week:

Inside-Aut.com, Nanny Aut’s space for parents to learn about autism, including their 6 week “SPEED for Needs” course.

Autistic-Village.com  a group of blogs by autistic people from around the world

Nanny Aut's free online seminar : 5 Keys to Understanding Autism