Two survival systems, two empathy modes
What if autistic and neurotypical empathies were two different systems, driven by two different survival instincts?
I explore this (and Milton's double empathy problem) in this new article.
#autism #autismawareness #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity
https://dev.to/raphink/two-survival-systems-two-empathy-modes-5nl
Most people picture autism as a line from "a little autistic" to "very autistic."
That's not what the spectrum means.
#Autism is not a dial, but a different way of seeing.
🔗 raphink.info/autism
#actuallyautistic #neurodiversity @autistics
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J'ai eu plusieurs demandes de traduction de mes posts sur l'autisme en français.
J'ai donc pris mon courage à deux mains et j'ai ajouté ça sur https://blog.raphink.info/fr/series/autism-awareness/
What would it look like, in a world full of autistic people, to study and try to understand how allistic (non-autistic) people function?
Attempting to explore this (in a cheeky way) in this new article:
https://dev.to/raphink/return-to-the-planet-of-the-autistics-447g
Defining Autism: The Shadow and the Object
The DSM defines autism by what clinicians can observe. But describing the shadow isn't the same as defining the object.
We know enough to define it. We don't yet know enough to test for it reliably. Conflating the two is a category error — and it has real consequences.
New post: https://dev.to/raphink/defining-autism-the-shadow-and-the-object-3ca7
#autism #autismawareness #neurodiversity #actuallyautistic @autistics
Deficit or difference?
There are a few things about autism that it takes quite a lot of ingenuity to consistently frame them as negative.
I've listed some of them here...
A thread 🧵
⬇️
#Autism #Neurodiversity #Neurodivergent #ActuallyAutistic
1/13
Today is both my birthday and #Neurodiversity Pride Day (which I just discovered has always been on my birthday).
I'm not much of a pride day advocacy person in general, BUT if any of my posts on #autism have been useful to you, sharing one (and commenting why you chose it) would be a lovely gift to support autism awareness.
The series is at https://dev.to/raphink/series/40570
A few years ago, I realized my wife's condition had something in common with #autism and I thought I'd make a comic strip about it, to help understand both.
She has demyelination: her nervous system doesn't automatically coordinate her movements the way most people's does. Every step is conscious, planned. And some signals still arrive too late, no matter how much practice.
With autism, social and emotional signals don't get pre-filtered before reaching conscious awareness. What most people process automatically, we process deliberately, with a similar risk of arriving too late.
🧵
👉 raphink.info/autism
When neurotypical people read someone's expression, it happens automatically: parallel processing, fast, effortless. Like a GPU rendering a scene.
When an autistic brain does it, I run a different process: observe, decode, match, select, output. Sequential, non-automatic, constructed from scratch.
The result looks similar, but the cost doesn't.
This is why masking is exhausting: not because autistic people are bad at social interaction, but because they're running a CPU process where everyone else has a GPU. Same output. Different architecture.
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A message for my fellow neurodivergents:
The latest update for my current special interest project, the Techne System for Foundational Skills, has just been put online. The topic is Psychology (Intermediate level). I bring this to your attention not just for its own sake, but because it includes an introduction to Neurodiversity, autism, ADHD and other neurotypes.
Now I'm sure many if not most of you already know all the stuff in this mere introductory overview, but I would very happy to hear your feedback on it. Is it accurate? Is it easily understood? Is there anything I should add, or leave out? The point of the program is that there is only so good one person can make it, so it's intended to improve through community feedback. For context this is aimed at a general audience.
And for everyone else that isn't as familiar with the material, I'd like your feedback too, and hopefully you'll learn something useful.
And this is only one subject out of 5 in the Psychology topic, not counting the Bare Essentials material. Or the other 22 topics in the program, in case you want to poke around. It's all free with no sign ups, subscriptions, or even tracking or cookies.
Here's a link directly to the Neurodiversity page:
https://techne-system.neocities.org/program/level-2/topic-2/l2t2-iib-psy
There are many navigation tools for getting around the rest of the site.
#ActuallyAutistic @autistics #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #ADHD #AuDHD
For months I've been publishing essays on late-diagnosed autism. You already see the titles here. I've opened a newsletter for those who also want to follow the theoretical research (preprints on Zenodo, open access) and the second book in progress.
Subscribers receive My AuDHD Organization System immediately, as a free PDF.
https://www.christiangajewski.com/newsletter
#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodiversity #Autism #MentalHealth #ADHD #Neurodivergent #Psychology #Philosophy #AuDHD #productivity
Really enjoying listening to this as audiobook. Historical and Marxist look at how capitalism and industrialisation started demanding normalcy, segregating disabled people and neurodivergent people from the "norm".
#neurodivergent #neurodiversity
#Autistic #Marxist
@autistics @actuallyadhd
When I was a child visiting friends, I would tour every room of their apartment before I could sit down and play. I had no idea I was doing it. I just couldn't settle until I had a complete map.
That pattern never went away.
There's a documented phenomenon called intolerance of uncertainty: the autistic nervous system's difficulty tolerating absent information. Any gap in the map feels like a potential trapdoor. The scan runs continuously — not because something is wrong, but because the system needs more explicit data to feel oriented.
The exhaustion isn't from interacting. It's from never switching off.
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I published “I No Longer Tell People I Probably Have ADHD or AuDHD” at
https://www.ii.com/not-telling-i-have-audhd/
#adhd #audhd #neurodiversity #asd #autismspectrumdisorder #procrastination #health #life
#InfiniteInk #Byℵ #ByNM
Why has autism persisted across all human populations, across cultures, and most likely across centuries?
A hypothesis: not individual advantage, but group survival.
https://dev.to/raphink/why-autism-hasnt-disappeared-a-hypothesis-1b6g
Hot take: Refusing to adapt to AI/LLM mirrors a lack of patience for autistic & neurodivergent persons. If you can't handle an AI, you can't handle a person. I'm talking communication & treatment, not Copyright. Refusing explicit context reveals bias.
Way ahead of you, Baron-Cohen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phqIVUoy70k My take here
https://nikolaskozloff.substack.com/p/reflections-on-autism-evolution-and #autism #autistic #ASD #evolution #politics #science #psychology #trump #fascism #neurodiversity
Autistic characters are seldom seen on the big screen in Japan. Syoutarou Kobayasi's "Lives at Right Angles" is a heartfelt, insightful tale of an autistic man's unbreakable bond with his sister. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/08/23/film/lives-at-right-angles/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #film #japanesefilm #syoutaroukobayasi #shotayasuda #non #autism #neurodiversity
I'm Kalvin, 26 y/o. I'm from & live in Sabah, Malaysia. I'm currently an IT student (college diploma). Most likely I’ll continue my studies towards a bachelor's degree in software engineering. I may not have ambitions like others do; I just want to be myself & be happy. But yes, the economy seems compulsory; if we don't work, then no money. I'm aware of that. I'm autistic & schizophrenic, under professional care & lifelong support.
#introduction #intro #Fediverse #neurodiversity #autism #friend
Neuroqueering on the lawn
Hans Christian Andersen’s tantrum in Charles Dickens’s garden was a case of ‘too muchness’, emotions bursting past respectability
by Siobhan Unwin and Kathryne Ford
Books by Andersen and Dickens at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2298
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/37
I still remember that my therapist suggested something to me, like, not because I don't have anything to offer in exchange for money. It's more because my qualities are not being rewarded (honesty, patience, and many more).
#livedexperience #mentalhealth #workersrights #capitalism #values #integrity #neurodiversity #selfworth #reflections #dignity #humanity #authenticity #society
Pushing myself into jobs I do not enjoy because others define success as stable income. But I am neurodivergent, and masking is exhausting. I write, I blog, I host. That is who I am. The debt is real. The confusion is real. But forcing myself into someone else's career breaks me.
https://kalvin.top/i-am-not-a-sysadmin-not-a-developer-i-am-a-microblogger-masking-as-normal/
#neurodiversity #autism #masking #career #identity #mentalhealth #honesty #burnout #struggle #authenticity #writing #blogging #Malaysia #survival #truth
📋 SURVEY FOR PEOPLE ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM
Do you feel that, because you’re on the autism spectrum, you often find yourself in conflict with others?
Personally, I hate conflict, but it seems to me that, because of my autism, it tends to come up quite often in my life.
Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.
I’d also appreciate a boost to get a larger sample size. Thank you! 🙏
#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #NeuroDiversity @autistics
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