I will forever advocate for the normalization of adults doing harmless “childish” things. Sleep with stuffed animals bring them to class carry around a safety blanket. so many of these are deemed as inappropriate because of ableism. The constant societal push for those with

Developmental disabilities (which even that wording I have qualms with) to stay out of the sight of abled people is disgusting. Shame from engaging in childish behaviors comes from the idea that it would imply some proximity to disabled people. That’s not necessarily something

That you in particular believe in, but it’s been so reinforced that it’s hard not to. I feel this way too and I am on the spectrum. So is my brother. It is significantly easier for me to come down from being activated or having a full meltdown when I self soothe with things

Like comfort objects, blankets, curling into a ball, etc. It helps me be able to move on with my day instead of pushing everything down to fein functionality. This isn’t just let people enjoy things, it’s examining why we have so many issues with it in the first place