11. So how does it feel to be autistic when you are
overstimulated? It feels like: 20 cologne smells (all
people around you are wearing different things, etc.
Autistics smell all of it), like hundreds of kids
running around you asking you questions in
different languages, like youâre sitting in a chair that
is missing one leg and trying to balance it while all
that is going on, and lights ďŹickeringâŚtoo much,
hence why autistics have Meltdowns.
â
Kristina DesJardins
Author, Autist
44. By autistic standards, the ânormalâ brain is
easily distractible, is obsessively social, and
suffers from a deďŹcit of attention to detail
and routine. Thus people on the spectrum
experience the neurotypical world as
relentlessly unpredictable and chaotic,
perpetually turned up too loud, and full of
people who have little respect for personal
space.
â
Steve Silberman
52. It isn't the mountains
ahead to climb that wear
you out; it's the pebble in
your shoe.
â
Muhammad Ali
53. COMMUNICATION
KEY2CELEBRATE DIFFERENTLY
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
âEmployee Loyalty comes from the
daily work itself, a sense of community
accepting of individuality, and constant
reminders that what employees do
matters⌠money is a distant fourth.â
70. Tony Schwartz
New York Times, 11/28/15
According to one recent survey [by Adobe], the average white-
collar worker spends about six hours a day on email. That
doesnât count time online spent shopping, searching or keeping
up with social media.
The brainâs craving for novelty, constant stimulation and
immediate gratiďŹcation creates something called a
âcompulsion loop.â Like lab rats and drug addicts, we need
more and more to get the same effect.
Endless access to new information also easily overloads our
working memory. When we reach cognitive overload, our ability
to transfer learning to long-term memory signiďŹcantly
deteriorates. Itâs as if our brain has become a full cup of water
and anything more poured into it starts to spill out.
â
73. There's no question whatsoever that
multitasking, especially among those who do it
the most, is at the very least ineffective and at
the worst, harmful.
Basically, they are worse at most of the kinds
of thinking not only required for multitasking
but what we generally think of as involving
deep thought.
â
Dr. Clifford Nass
Stanford University
74. I believe that genius in the 21st
century will be attributed to people
who are able to unplug from the
constant state of reactionary
workďŹow ... and allow their minds to
solve the great challenges of our era.
â
Scott Belsky
CEO, Behance
95. The goal of life is to take
everything that made you weird
as a kid and get people to pay
you money for it as an adult.
â
David Freeman
Screenwriter
96. Why is it everybody wants their
children to be normal, but no
one wants them to be
average?
â
Roy H. Williams
CEO, Williams Marketing
97. The pit of mediocrity has
never been wider or deeper.
â
Tim Miles
Guy With The Clicker Thingie
98. I often quote myself; it adds
spice to the conversation.
â
Oscar Wilde
Playwright
102. For too long, we've assumed that there
is a single template for human nature,
which is why we diagnose most
deviations as disorders. But the reality is
that there are many different kinds of
minds. And that's a very good thing.
â
Jonah Lehrer
Wall Street Journal, 3/31/12
103.
104. Iâve learned that every human being, with or
without disabilities, needs to strive to do their
best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive
at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is
normalâ so we canât know for sure what your
ânormalâ is even like. But so long as we can
learn to love ourselves, Iâm not sure how much it
matters whether weâre normal or autistic.
â
Naoki Higashida
The Reason I Jump
107. Number one in your life's blueprint, should
be a deep belief in your own dignity, your
worth and your own somebodiness. Don't
allow anybody to make you feel that you're
nobody. Always feel that you count. Always
feel that you have worth, and always feel
that your life has ultimate signiďŹcance.
â
Martin Luther King, Jr.