While I'm on the subject I insist that #UrbanDictionary is a critical resource for Autistic folks struggling to understand idioms that have nothing to do with their subject and I love it #ActuallyAutistic
Morningđ«Ą I'm trying to raise about $80 to buy enough groceries to last me until the next disability check day Any donations are appreciated. Boosting is needed as well. Thank you so muchđ
If you'd like to find out more about what kind of content I'm doing and get an impression of my writing, feel free to check out the links on my profile page!
@alice@ashleyspencer should have known all you cool kids know each other. But I love it when a friend enthusiastically introduces me to a mutual friend, it's sweet and funny. Hope you felt the same way đ
Itâs exhausting: the process of realisation that youâre #actuallyAutistic and unpicking 40yrs of fudges and workarounds so entrenched that you forget youâre going against your own nature, but itâs been costing you in energy, identity and self-esteem the whole time.
And I know the office tea-round seems like a fucking PATHETIC thing to lose sleep over, but imagine what it does to your confidence to feel incompetent about something so trivial. đł
@theautisticcoach@actuallyautistic Constant fear of what other people might be thinking of me. Probably also contributes to my instinct to be as invisible as possible.
Iâve been reading about âstimming in autismâ, which up until now was very confusing to me mostly because thatâs the one point kept being repeated in the community being a must for an autistic individual. And I canât relate to that at all.
Then I came across something that describes the purpose of âstimmingâ is to deal with extra energy. Then it kinda hit me, Iâve never had the need to stim because Iâm a low energy person in general.
I get overwhelmed with activities when they involve raising heart rates (yes, THAT too). I like quiet things, dead of night etc. Once at a time in my life, I was pretty sure I could hear flow of electricity.
So my question to the #ActuallyAutistic community: do you think stimming is a must for autistic people? Do you relate to it? Anyone know of any low energy stimming that gets overlooked?
@farah@actuallyautistic I absolutely don't think that stimming is inherent to being autistic. I think some of the things I do probably count as stimming, but 99% of what I see referred to as stimming is alien to me.
It frequently bothers me that I see so much 'we all do this', 'we all like that' in the community. I don't think it's helpful, and it can be othering and ostracising to autistic people (like me) who don't fit into what seems to be common niches.
I got my diagnosis today! I am indeed autistic and have ADHD (therefore AuDHD). I was waiting for these result for a half a year and I'm happy that it got confirmed. Now I can start to make bigger steps to the better future for myself. â€ïž #ActuallyAutistic#Autistic#AuDHD#ADHD
Do you use subtitles? I'm using them more and more when they are available? It helps me to keep track of what's going on, and I like that I can turn the sound down when if it gets overwhelming.
@autism101 I always use subs when available (and they should always be available, annoys me when they're not).
My hearing isn't fantastic, and the modern tendency for pushing the dialogue deep in the mix really doesn't help matters.
But I also just struggle badly with so many voices and accents, and I tend to focus too much on background sounds (including those in my world, not just coming out of the speakers), so subs are always useful.
I'm not sure what to make of this video about autism diagnosis from Rebecca Quinn. I'm watching a lot of autistic youtubers to check them out, and this is the first of her videos I watched. Strong start, good information, engaging use of humor.
But the latter half of the video got weird. The first half was basically why self-diagnosis is valid and even necessary, and doesn't hurt anyone. But the second half was largely about how getting an official diagnosis is a privilege and refusing to get a diagnosis when you can is somehow letting people down.
This seems like a strange conclusion. Rebecca even got into how getting a diagnosis can have negative consequences because of laws that infantilize and restrict us. She also mentions how it can take as much as a couple years to get an assessment for a diagnosis, because there is not enough capacity to diagnose everyone. So, it seems there are actually reasons not to get an official diagnosis.
But Rebecca says everyone who can get an official diagnosis should get one, because that normalizes gettting one. As if getting an official diagnosis is a good thing that should be normalized. That's begging the question.
The other thing she leaves out is how getting a diagnosis often gets you NO SUPPORT at all, so what's even the point of it? There aren't any support programs for autistic adults, especially us late-dx folk. And even having a diagnosis doesn't get you accommodations at work if they have no ability to give you what you need and would rather fire you and then fight you in court than change how they operate.
Some people really do need an official diagnosis to access accommodations or care, or for other reasons. And it can take a few years to get that diagnosis. It seems ridiculous to tell everyone they should use up that limited capacity for a confirmation diagnosis that does nothing else beyond checking a box, when that takes away that opportunity from someone who actually needs it.
The most compelling reason she gave to seek a diagnosis was to check if it's some other mental illness or disorder that can be mistaken for autism but has a different treatment, or if it's something comorbid with autism. It's a reasonable concern, but I want to see some data about how effective psycholgists are at diagnosing someone accurately in that situation. Is it worth taking those diagnosis slots away from people who need them if they usually don't give any useful information?
Am reading "Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries" by Heather Fawcett. Absolutely loving it.
I'm not sure if the writer did this on purpose, but the main character is heavily autistic coded. Emily Wilde finds it easier to deal with the capricious Fae, than with mystifying human social conventions.
The book reminds me quite a lot of Naomi Novik, especially "Spinning Silver".