Wearing Your Resistance: The ALL NEW Fall Edition of the NeuroDivergent Rebel "Refusing Assimilation" Shirt is HERE!!!

Your Support (Buy or Share!) Fuels Neurodivergent Resistance. Get the Shirt Now. When They Took My Work, My Readers Have Rallied Around Me, Making the Continued Operation of this Blog Possible!

Earlier in the year I accidentally launched a shirt sale that I had meant to cancel (mostly due to doubt there would be any interest in the current political climate) but forgot… since the sale was live anyway, I decided to share it with you all.

In the end (despite all my doubts) people loved the shirt and it turned out to be a huge success - so I have decided to continue with these limited edition shirts, with a new shirt each season.

All NEW Fall Design is Here!

So far there has been a spring shirt, and the sale for the summer shirts just came to a close, and now, I present to you my fall shirt (which might be my favorite shirt yet).

I am wearing a hoodie in the photo below, but there are also super soft t-shirts as well as tank tops and other styles available.

Lyric is wearing a purple hoodie and teal pants. On the hoodie is text in an apocalyptic font that reads: Refusing Assimilation into NeuroTypical Society in white and purple text, they are smiling for the photo and Bear, the dog, can be seen in the blurred background.

For those who don’t know, my “day job” (before the anti-DEIA wave hit) was as an independent consultant, teaching organizations how to be more Queer and Neuro-Inclusive.

For many years Pride Season (stretching late May to early July) was my busiest time of year (because I couldn’t fit them all in June).

This year, TOTAL, I have had ONLY 5 clients on my books (since January) - when I used to have 3-5 clients EACH MONTH.

It is scary, but somehow I know that we will be okay.

Shirt purchases mean a lot right now, but also if you are not looking for a shirt at this time, sharing is the type of help one can’t put a price on.

Becoming a Founding or a Paid subscriber here on Substack also is a HUGE help.

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The new shirt, for all interested, will be at:

https://www.bonfire.com/neurorebel-rebel-refusing-assimilation-shirt3/ and will be available until December, when my winter shirt comes out.

To everyone who bought a summer or a spring shirt (or both): I can’t thank you enough for your support, especially, in these uncertain times.

I truly appreciate you all!

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Lyric, poses in a purple hoodie that has purple, teal and white text that reads refusing assimilation into neurotypical society - neurodivergent rebel.

This shirt sale is part of an ongoing fundraising effort to help support the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog's Advocacy Efforts

Everything is so uncertain these days. The world feels very unstable.

In previous years, I'd found a career I loved, that I could do well, and that suited my needs. This (finding adequate, supportive, and meaningful work) is something many Autistic and other NeuroDivergent People often struggle with.

Autistic People are more likely to be underemployed or unemployed because we are often misunderstood and undervalued by those around us. Additionally, we frequently face challenges finding careers adapted to our unique skills and needs.

Many environments do not include or understand us, and we are often blamed for struggling in environments that fail to consider our differences in their design and operation.

For the past four years, I dedicated my life to creating kinder, more compassionate, and neuro-inclusive spaces (something we all can benefit from regardless of our brain types).

I loved my work more than I had loved any job before (because it was meaningful, and I could see its positive impact on the people around me), but recently the tone has changed..

DEI&A (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility) Is NOT a Bad Thing!

My work helped make spaces more accessible for NeuroDivergent People. It also made organizations more efficient and effective (because people are better at collaborating and communicating when they make fewer assumptions about the people around them and understand each other better).

I was trying to make the world a better place (because that's what DEI&A is really about): making the world safe and inclusive for ALL of us.

The current administration's war on DEI&A is a war on those who are most vulnerable (to whom this world is already unkind), making the world harder for all of us to survive in.

Maternity leave is DEI&A.

Wheelchair ramps are DEI&A.

Support for Autistic People and those with disabilities or the elderly is DEI&A.

So many things are DEI&A, but the way those in power talk about it, you wouldn't know it.

Life on Pause

My Neuro-Inclusion work has mostly been placed on pause. The businesses that aren't struggling right now (thanks to all the economic uncertainty) are scared to book anything DEI&A (thanks to threats from our fascist dictators).

My current path (thanks to the help of my readers and my intimate understanding of Christian Nationalist Fundamentalism and Project 2025) has turned to sharing the news about current political events in the United States (and sometimes globally), focusing on Fascism and Christian Nationalism in America, Project 2025, and the Trump-Musk regime.

I am not where I thought I would be; this isn't how I imagined my life. Still, it feels as if I'm on the right path.

While I don't know what our future holds, I am hopeful (today) that things will work out somehow.

Thank you for being part of it!

-Lyric Lark Rivera