How would YOU communicate thru a short-circuiting transistor radio?
Plain language becomes revolutionary when your neurology sparks and stutters.
My live piece explores dancing close to the edge of the noise.
actuallyautistic
JRC is trying to be allowed to shock autistic kids again, please sign if you are able
(Edited because I forgot hashtags)
#DisabilityJustice #DisabilityRights #StopTheShock #ActuallyAutistic #Abuse @actuallyautistic
https://autisticadvocacy.org/2024/03/take-action-to-stoptheshock/
Edited 1y ago
A personal share about some realisations I’ve had: I am taking stock of something that I’ve been told many times, but never actually believed…
I am apparently great at researching topics, I go very deep and even digest a lot of up-to-date scientific and technical information rather well.
I do this much more than the average person, and it is likely because I’m autistic, with a healthy dose of ADHD hyperfixation thrown into the mix!
What does being neurodivergent have to do with this? Well, I hate unexpected things because I cannot cope well with them so I research heavily in advance of something new to empower me. I also don’t fully understand superficial explanations of things like NT folk seem to. If anything, superficial explanations leave me much more confused than no explanations at all, so I go deep to learn about them instead. Oh, and I also find enjoyment in learning, generally, about science and technology, and it plays to my strengths.
However… there is a specific aspect to being like this that I hadn’t considered until now.
I think I intimidate some medical professionals. 😶 I do not mean to AT ALL. I actually assume they have at least the same knowledge if not much better because they’re the experts, not me. This assumption is part of the problem. I seem to get disappointed in conversations with them because I can’t understand why they would talk about out-of-date ideas or they wouldn’t know about and understand a major recent break through in something relevant. I think this is causing tension in my conversations with them.
What to do? I think I need to broach conversations like these with an open mind about the level of knowledge of the experts I speak with. I am holding them to a standard that they may not be able to achieve - e.g. why would a generalist like a GP spend their time researching one, single complex medical condition and know the latest published science about it? Some may know about it, sure, most would not. Also, when speaking with a non-medical member of staff who specialises in my medical condition, I need to remember they might not be able to read and digest the medical research like I seem to be able to.
I am not an expert like either of these people - but I seem to come with my own knowledge or skills that they do not, and that is REALLY surprising to me.
But I must remember this - for better conversations AND to give myself credit for all I do to seek a better quality of life for myself. I always assume that what I know will be out-of-date or incorrect in some way because these medical-related skills are only very recent skills for me, a forty-something-year-old person!
I hope I can keep sharing the benefits of these skills so that others with similar health challenges can benefit too. Without a doubt a lot of this came from doing my recent undergraduate degree that included many human biology topics. But I am still not an expert and not medically trained. So it is rather like all this is a special interest, except it’s driven more by necessity than joy… even if I do find enjoyment along the way, especially in the form of hope for my future. I’d much rather be doing other things with my time, but hope keeps me going while I have a chronic illness that holds me back.
Also: I HIGHLY suspect I’m not the only chronically ill person who has developed some great knowledge / skills in this way and experienced these challenges, neurodivergent or not. I’d be really interested to hear of others’ experiences and tips about how to navigate the disappointments and keep conversations tension-free! 😅
Edited 54d ago
Behold - my cats and autism graphics!
How we are similar to our feline companions.
a thread... 1/3
"The #Autism Social Rule Book": https://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=131296
Contains nuggs of wisdom like: "NTs voice their opinions to feel heard and validated. That is why it is rude to debate with or correct them in most situations."
🇨🇦Anyone else a fan of the movie/tv show Limitless? Watching them for maybe the 4th or 5th time now. The starting position of these two people resonates really hard, especially Eddie since he's a writer like me. Probably it's the ADHD side, but could be the autistic side; not sure since I'm both. Definitely an executive function issue. The appeal isn't of being smarter (although that's cool too), it's that being able to engage hyperfocus at will. If I could just look at (one of) my to-do list(s), and hyperfocus each item off of it, *that* would be amazing.
Realized at 63, I've developed the autism equivalent of gaydar.
I see autism in all the people I instantly get along with.
More importantly, I now see autism in all the people who are instantly aloof or those that irk me. I know an entire family who are comically exaggeratedly loud even in this era.
I've never wanted to be seen. Often for me, my internal cringe goes off and I want to shout "hide don't be seen", but also "please be more unmaskedly seen".
People often say that autistics are clumsy but clearly they haven't watched high level men's tennis in the last 10 years. No, not that person, the other ones.
Take a closer look at all those mostly individual sports that require immense hours of steadfast dedication dedication. Diving anyone ?
In team sports, look at the largely unnoticed perennial "team players" who are consistently good but never really stand out.
Ah yes. This. My son didn't seem in the least bit "different," to me 😂
#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #Diagnosis
Credit to ADHD Explained on FB
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic feels like this community to me…
https://mas.to/@skeletor/115231786107775381
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic filtering unpleasant interactions through these #RandomMovieTVQuotes:
I have to be like this ;cause this is what I'm like. —the Doctor, Doctor Who
…what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. —Bryan Mills, Taken (2008)
No one else will ever have to live like this! No one else will ever have to feel this pain! Not on my watch! —the Doctor, Doctor Who
Something that came onto my feed earlier. Nothing particularly surprising to me. It seems obvious, actually, but it's nice to see that it's finally being admitted. Also shows clearly how the hunt of the brain-worm king, RFK, is just a massive hate search.
1/2
Edited 62d ago
Found my spirit sticker:
"Can't right now...busy multi-procasti-tasking."
Someone wrote about this piece: "I'm not sure if I've been a fly on the wall listening to your family, or if you've been the fly at mine."
That recognition hits deep.
This is "sneaking my mother's creepy g-d on high" - a cinematic spoken word piece about winter 1997, family dinners, and what happens when you finally stop performing neurotypical.
Religious expectations. Neurodivergent reality. The price we pay for authenticity in families that were never built for minds like ours.
Heavy content warning: family trauma, substance use, religious themes, cult references.
How many of us recognize that battlefield of family gatherings where our honesty threatens everyone's comfort?
#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #SpokenWord #WritingCommunity #MentalHealth #DisabilityPoetry
@autistics so just another day being #ActuallyAutistic...
I saw someone sharing this link, and even though I don't doubt my autism diagnosis, I was curious to how I would do with this test...
https://psychology-tools.com/test/autism-spectrum-quotient
Well, my result doesn't come as any surprise 
Still, wanted to share with you, also because the link might interest some who are curious as well. 
Edit: it came to my attention that the creators of this test/site aren't all good in some ways. Sorry for sharing this without a heads up. I really didn't know. 😔 I will leave the Toot up, but with this little bit of new knowledge added to it. Thanks to @cobalt123 for informing me. 
Edited 53d ago
SO IT'S #Autism Awareness Month?
since am one of those #ActuallyAutistic people Dx at the tender age of 50 (yes, 50. and yes am older now, shut up), am not acquainted with the american rituals of national days or awareness months involving autism.
welp, let me do this as a gentle reminder:
1. BLACK
2. INDIGENOUS
3. PUERTO RICAN
4. CARIBBEAN
5. LATINOAMERICANES
6. WOMEN
can be #autistic too.
and in my case: #dyslexic with a sprinkling of good ol' extra spicy #ADHD.
but ironically, 🧵
Hello Neurospicy* friends. Are you someone who finds you need calming sounds/music to help with overwhelm?
I recommend BBC Radio 3 Unwind. 24 hours a day of the calmer, relaxed classical music. Available on BBC Sounds from almost any device.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live/bbc_radio_three_unwind
If you're in the UK, you can also access a massive number of old programmes from BBC Radio 3 Unwind.
Listeners outside the UK can only listen to the live broadcast.
I think one big reason for autistic people to not get along, is that many of us had to "find our niche" and slowly and costly develop a worldview based on the inconsistent and often lacking information we got from our environment.
So probably many of us hold views (and have behaviors resulting from them), maybe not even explicitly and conciously, that are just inconsistent with other peoples views, even if those people could otherwise be very similar to us.
1/
For #autistic people everywhere 💓
Credit to Taylor Sanders on Neurodivergent Memes, FB.
I relate to this.
Anyone else out there 'hardworking and quiet'?
And.. yes:
"Why don't we just start using words to communicate so I can stop tracking everyone's eyebrow twitches, that would be great."
Edited 52d ago
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic me during my work accommodation approval process last year
https://mas.to/@skeletor/115243773785069846
So a follow up on my post about the upcoming autistic employment 'mixer' event*. I had a meeting with the guy that does my employment coaching and was able to get more details about it.
So they are definitely trying to design the event with autistic accommodations in mind. Firstly, they are trying not to make it big and hectic like similar events for NTs, more low key. They will have people on hand for support of any kind, including help with making introductions and such. There will be quiet rooms set aside. They are going to try to gamify the event a little with something like bingo cards, with things like 'hand out X business cards' or something, and then use those to win prizes. I think that the point of that is to provide a little bit of structure, so you're not having to completely make it up as you go along, and maybe focus too, which makes sense, but also to provide external incentives, which I personally have mixed feelings about, and I imagine will affect people differently as well. He also mentioned there being some short talks, and an award given to the most neuroinclusive employer or something like that.
He also told me about some of the employers that they have invited. I told him about how I felt about having as much information ahead of time as possible, and he said that they just haven't gone into much detail yet because of how they are still working out details, and that more information is coming. So that seemed to cover basically all the bases I think.
Still feeling reticent about the whole affair, but less so than before. I do feel more supported and that they are trying their best, and given that this is their first try at such a thing, it'll be a kind of pilot project. So I get that. So I'll be considering it, and looking forward to any more information they send out about it.
* Here's the old post if you want to see it: https://autistics.life/@murdoc/115215021453931443