neurospicy

Ello sweet and lovely Friendos

Another Toot that goes out especially to my #NeuroSpicy 🌶️ #ActuallyAutistic Friendos!

Yesterday I shared a bit of info on Autistic Burnout, as I realized that I am currently struggling with it... 😔 I got some very sweet replies, fankoos for that! and I noticed the Toot getting some likes and boosts.

For those who aren't familiar with #AutisticBurnout, I found some info that I'll share here, with the link to the original source.

> Recognizing the signs of autistic burnout is the first step towards recovery. Some common indicators include:

1. Increased difficulty with social interaction and communication
2. Heightened sensory sensitivities
3. Extreme fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
4. Loss of executive functioning skills (e.g., planning, organizing, decision-making)
5. Increased meltdowns or shutdowns
6. Difficulty performing tasks that were previously manageable
7. Increased need for alone time or reduced tolerance for social situations
8. Feelings of overwhelm, hopelessness, or being “stuck”

🔗 https://neurolaunch.com/autistic-burnout-recovery/

There are many tips on this page on how to deal with the burnout in the "best way". There are many tips for different types of situations, and they could help you to find a way to recovery (or help you to find help for recovery).

Hope this helps a bit to those that, like me, feel like they're "not doing well" at the moment...

Much 💜 🫂 in your journey to recovery...

@autistics

Ello sweet and lovely Friendos

With a special wink towards my #NeuroSpicy 🌶️ friends, especially the #ActuallyAutistic ones...

I felt like I was struggling again with the dark monster (depression). But, after some DuckDuck scrolling, I came to a site where they had an article on "Autistic Burnout".

I read more and when I came to these bits, I felt like they had been writing about me!

I hope I used the right symbol to show that these texts are quoted, original link to the article is below the 3 quoted bits.

> Meltdowns and shutdowns, those intense reactions to overwhelming situations, might become more frequent. You could find yourself losing control over your emotions in situations you’d previously learned to manage. These episodes can be frightening and embarrassing, further fueling the desire to retreat from the world.

> Even your special interests, those passions that have always brought you joy and comfort, might lose their luster. The hyperfocus that once allowed you to dive deep into your favorite subjects now feels elusive, replaced by a fog of disinterest and fatigue. This loss can be particularly distressing, as these interests often form a core part of an autistic person’s identity and coping mechanisms.

> Self-care routines that once anchored your days might start to slip. Keeping up with personal hygiene, maintaining a tidy living space, or preparing healthy meals can feel like insurmountable tasks. The structure that once provided comfort now feels like a series of impossible demands.

🔗 https://neurolaunch.com/autistic-burnout-symptoms-adults/

I will definitely try to find more about this... But I wanted to share this, and if I find more info, I'll try to share!

Catch you all later folks!

💜 🍀 🐾

#PixysJourney

@autistics

Introducing, the #Neurodivergent @popfeed.social@bsky.brid.gy List for movies and TV shows!popfeed.social/list/at://di...Check it out and find your next watch!#Neurospicy #Neuroatypical #Autistm #Autistic #ADHD #AuDHD and more.

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Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 759 , Tuesday 25/11/2025

Tuesday started quite late at just gone 07:30.
Mrs S was in the office today so I had the house to myself.

I got my breakfast & did the normal early chores .

There is still stuff to do to get things back to normal now the router has been moved but I was waiting on materials to be delivered so I decided to have a bit of a lazy day.

This kind of worked in that I did some miscellaneous bits & bobs this morning, had lunch then called the store where I bought my new iPad from to chase a discount I had been promised but which had failed to be applied to my purchase - after 18 minutes on hold to their helpdesk a guy called Ollie answered & like so many people do, addressed me as madame - ok I have a high pitched voice - I’m not sure my voice ever broke - but really!!

Anyway I think his guilt at this faux pas got me an easy ride because as soon as I explained my problem he disappeared for a couple of minutes then came back & applied the discount!

Having not only conquered my intense dislike of calling folk, but also succeeding in my mission I decided that I deserved the 1st Dune movie!

I quite happily watched Dune until about 3pm when for no reason other than the thought occurring to me, I decided to redo the cabling in the recently fitter smart network switch (which did need doing because I had failed to document what was fitted to each port, making port management a bit complex) & in doing so decided that to accomplish this I needed to rewire the whole AV unit (where the switch is sited).
There followed a couple of hours merry cable management with the upshot that the cable runs in the AV unit are now a lot tidier & devoid of several redundant cables & all the ports in the smart switch are now identified & documented.

While I was about it I decided that (later this week ) the sound system needs recalibrating. I might factory reset the AVR we have & start from scratch, we've had issues with Mrs S's Bluetooth headphones loosing their connection to the AVR recently so a reset might well help.

I still need to finish watching Dune & watch Dune pt 2, that will be my reward at the end of the week I think!

Final Thoughts.

Not a bad day, not the relax fest I initially planned but not a bad day for all that!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 760 , Wednesday 26/11/2025

Wednesday started just after 07:30 & found me suffering from a streaming cold which had come over me during the night causing me to sneeze myself awake in the wee small hours!

I cracked on with breakfast & my chores then set about insulating the pipes that run along the landing & those in Mrs S’s study.
I also re laid part of the cable run to my room because it was bugging me that it wasn’t ’just so’.

The doorbell went around 11am & our postie stood without holding my iPad, which I’m now using to write this! However at the time I was very good, & put it on one side, having thanked our Portman profusely, & went back to re-laying the floorboards.

Stopped for a cheese n pickle sarnie around 1pm then finished the floorboards.

I had just finished that at around 3pm when Mrs S rang to say that her mum had been taken to hospital again & she was on route to see what was what. Turns out that my MiL had had a fall & cut her leg, but other than a dressing & an overnight stay under observation she seems to be ok - indeed Mrs S rang this evening & the Dr was discussing discharge details with her.

The upshot of all this is that I delayed unpacking & making the the new iPad mine until I knew all was well & I wasn’t going to have to find someway getting over to the hospital without a car!

So it was at around 4pm I finally got to play with my new toy / early Christmas present.

I’ve decided not to do a straight copy of everything all at once as I want to tailor this new iPad according to its capabilities.

Final Thoughts.

Not a bad day all told, the post router move work is very nearly done & I have my new iPad 3 days before I was expecting it!

Now it just has to survive until tomorrow lunchtime when the case & screen protector arrive!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 761 , Thursday 27/11/2025

Thursday started around 07:15 ish, after an absolutely rubbish night due to I the lurgy that has me in its clutches.

Mrs S has stepped up & helped a lot today, I must look ill!

Spent most of the day working on getting my new iPad the way I want it & transferring Mrs S’s stuff from her old iPad to my ‘old’ iPad Pro. It should be a significant change for her not least because it’s a bigger screen.
She is not, by any stretch of the imagination a techno nerd but hopefully she will enjoy the bump up in speed & facilities.

One thing I have noticed is that my new iPad seems to have corrected a long standing problem I had with compose boxes on Mona & other apps not scrolling down when the text hit the bottom of the compose box, in fact not merely not scrolling down but the text vanishing until the post was sent. I found that placing a cartridge return or an emoji at the end of the text was a work around but it was annoying nonetheless!
It only took buying a whole new iPad to fix!

Final Thoughts.

I’m feeling slightly better this evening, which is an improvement - I’m hoping for a better night tonight!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 762 , Friday 28/11/2025

Friday started just after 07:15 after a much better night than the previous one but with me still coughing & splitting as I fight the lurgy!

Today has been a quiet day with the high point being the arrival of the bits & bobs for my new iPad - a screen protector, case & a new apple pencil as the old one isn’t compatible - talk about built in obsolescence!

I’ve reset the AVR today factory settings again today & so I have to go thru the settings & recalibrate it next week when Mrs S is in the office.

Final Thoughts.

Well thanks to a number of fairly minor frustrations today has not ended on a high note.

Sometimes I wish there was someone close at hand who I could depend upon to help with technical issues. It is exhausting under usual circumstances to be the one working out the solution to pretty much any problem that occurs with even the most simple electronic devices in the house, it’s even more exhausting when I’m ill & my brain isn’t firing on all cylinders!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 763 , Saturday 29/11/2025

Saturday started late, I had another very disturbed night so I slept thru until nearly 8am.

It’s been a quiet day, I went wild & made scrambled eggs for lunch - threw a couple of bread cakes into the air fryer for a couple of minutes - it toasted them wonderfully! Spread some blue cheese onto the toasted bread cakes & threw the eggs on top = very nice if I do say so myself.

It’s been another day of recovery today - I’m mostly there - just gotta get my strength back now, hopefully I will get a good nights sleep tonight!

We’ve had a Downton fest this afternoon / evening with pizza for tea!

The new iPad is settling in nicely, Mrs S seems happy with her upgrade & the ‘old’ iPad 7th gen is cleared ready for the trade in when the relevant packaging arrives next week.

Final Thoughts.

I seem to have won the battle with this bug, so I can look to finish tidying up after the great router move of 2025!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 764 , Sunday 30/11/2025

Sunday started obscenely early at just past 6am when Mrs S woke me to tell me that she had had a call from the hospital where my MiL is being treated to the effect that she should get over there because they were putting my MiL on ‘End of Life’ care!

Mrs S insured on going in on her own, although I offered several times to go with.

I took me a while to get my act into gear, & by the time I got downstairs for breakfast Mrs S had already left.

After breakfast I got on with the task of heroism upstairs back into some kind of shape, I had to take the door off Mrs S’s study to lay the carpet, then that had to go back on, there were a whole host of other minor jobs that cumulatively took me until 3pm, with only a berth stop for a quick lunch.

Mrs S got back around 4pm with the news that her mum was up & had been asking for tea & biscuits - so it looks like she might well recover. I swear my MiL has more lives than a cat, this is the 3rd time she has come back from what doctors at that hospital have described as ‘end of life’ care!

Mrs S seemed happy with my efforts & was happier still when I made us ham hocks with veg & baby potatoes, with lashings of gravy!

Final Thoughts.

Well today has been a different day to what I envisaged yesterday!

On the plus side my MiL seems to be on the mend, although we are only cautiously optimistic on that front!
Also I seem to have more or less gotten over the dreaded lurgy. I still have a cough & ache a bit but other than that I’m ok.

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 765 , Monday 01/12/2025

Monday started stupidly early with next door’s kid screaming warheads off & chasing one another at around 6am!

I clung to my comfy warm duvet for as long as I could but was downstairs by 06:30!

Breakfast followed then after my coffee & some time on here I worked on the daily chores.

I’ve been taking ginkgo biloba for the last few weeks & it really seems to be helping me focus & find the motivation to do things.
I’ve tidied my desk today, with side forays into sorting out my not inconsiderable hoard of computer cables & drives.

The end result, after a days effort is a much tidier desk & a better layout for my mac & the 2 attached screens.

Now I’m left with the much bigger job of sorting my filing system out - it has been neglected for far too long!

Finished the day with s fried chicken takeaway & an episode of Judge John Deed - a fine way to end the day!

Final Thoughts.

I am starting to function again after a long period of struggle, but some of the key factors that drag me down are still very much in play. Perhaps one day I will be brave enough to tackle them & completely change my life.

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 766 , Tuesday 02/12/2025

Tuesday started quite late, Mrs S was off to the office so I managed to get a lie in until around 07:30.

I’m still fighting off the dregs of last weeks cold, still a bit snotty & still got some gunk in my lungs so my cunning plan was to do the most urgent chores & then have a very relaxed day.
Oh the plans of mice (or squirrels) & men!

So we keep our spare toilet rolls in a cupboard under the CH boiler - I went to get a couple to top up supplies in the bathroom & noticed some water on the packaging - the last time this happened it was down to the condenser overflow coming loose, so i checked that was ok - it was fine. Then I put my diagnostics head on & went searching for the leak. Off came the cover of our Vaillant boiler, down came the instrument panel to give me access to the innards & there in front of me was a thin layer of water - after some further investigation I tracked the fault down to a component to near the pump - turns out this is the diverter valve, which aims the hot water at the heating system or the hot water heater as required.
I will tackle most plumbing problems but this one was beyond me so I called our tame plumber, Simon.
Simon id’s the part & then got a price for me - turns out our boiler is 14 years old & parts are not easy to come by nor are they cheap. The cost of the repair was a decent chunk towards a new boiler.
Given that the boiler is so old I decided that I would take the hint & let this boiler retire in favour of a new one.

Simon advised a Gloworm boiler of a similar heating output as they are made by Vaillant & share many parts, they are also cheaper.
Initially I was swayed by this argument, but, having had ice to think about it & chatted to Mrs S about it, we feel that although it is somewhat more expensive sticking with the brand we know with its superior quality parts is prolly the way to go.
(Additional: I’ve pinged Simon this evening & asked him for a price for a Vaillant boiler too. )

I went up into the loft & got down the oil filled electric radiator & the fan heater we store up there & installed them at strategic points in the house.

All this took me to around 3pm, wanting to have something to divert my mind I pulled my desk out & had a major go at tidying up the rats nest of power cables behind it.
By 5:30 pm it was all tidied too within an inch of its life!

By the time Mrs S got home it was mostly all done & dusted!

We had nuked lasagna for tea while watching one of Mrs S’s tv shows.

Final Thoughts.

Well today has been a moderately fraught day. We are still waiting on a price & a date for the new boiler, hopefully they will be provided tomorrow!

For those on MiL watch, we heard form the hospital this afternoon, she is still on a palliative care path but her condition is ‘not much changed’ from when Mrs S left her on Sunday afternoon. I’m not sure she will be coming home, but as noted before she is a hell of a tough nut & it’s not over till it’s over!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 767 , Wednesday 03/12/2025

Wednesday started early at just before 7am.
The oil radiator that I left on overnight to warm the upper floor had done sterling work - possibly working a bit too well, so I’ll turn it to a lower setting tonight & see how that feels in the morning.

The towel I put it the bottom of the cupboard housing the boiler was soaked thru this morning - I should have put a bowel down, but when I left it last night it was hard to tell exactly where the water was breaking out of the cabinet. This has been resolved now.

Mrs S, not wanting to be in our icebox of a house buggered off early to the office & was gone by the time I got downstairs about 15 minutes later.

22:30 I’m too tired & mentally exhausted to add much more to today’s entry - I’m glad I wrote up this morning this morning if that makes any sense.

So 2 things before I go to bed.

1. I have not heard from Simon the plumber all day, he is in extreme danger of loosing a long time customer especially after what is detailed in what follows:
2. My MiL passed this evening, sometime in between us getting a call from the hospital at around 18:30 & us arriving at the hospital - which is an hour away.
She passed peacefully in her sleep & I guess no one can ask for more than that.

Final Thoughts.

My MiL & I had a very stormy relationship, especially in recent years. I am still so sad that she will no longer be a force in our lives and I will miss her.
GNU Glo, may the ripples of your passing never fade. 😔🖤

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves
#GnuGlo