#Ask an autistic person

[inkskinned]

crows use tools and like to slide down snowy hills. today we saw a goose with a hurt foot who was kept safe by his flock - before taking off, they waited for him to catch up. there are colors only butterflies see. reindeer are matriarchical. cows have best friends and 4 stomachs and like jazz music. i watched a video recently of an octopus making himself a door out of a coconut shell.

i am a little soft, okay. but sometimes i can't talk either. the world is like fractal light to me, and passes through my skin in tendrils. i feel certain small things like a catapult; i skirt around the big things and somehow arrive in crisis without ever realizing i'm in pain.

in 5th grade we read The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time, which is about a young autistic boy. it is how they introduced us to empathy about neurotypes, which was well-timed: around 10 years old was when i started having my life fully ruined by symptoms. people started noticing.

i wonder if birds can tell if another bird is odd. like the phrase odd duck. i have to believe that all odd ducks are still very much loved by the other normal ducks. i have to believe that, or i will cry.

i remember my 5th grade teacher holding the curious incident up, dazzled by the language written by someone who is neurotypical. my teacher said: "sometimes i want to cut open their mind to know exactly how autistics are thinking. it's just so different! they must see the world so strangely!" later, at 22, in my education classes, we were taught to say a person with autism or a person on the spectrum or neurodivergent. i actually personally kind of like person-first language - it implies the other person is trying to protect me from myself. i know they had to teach themselves that pattern of speech, is all, and it shows they're at least trying. and i was a person first, even if i wasn't good at it.

plants learn information. they must encode data somehow, but where would they store it? when you cut open a sapling, you cannot find the how they think - if they "think" at all. they learn, but do not think. i want to paint that process - i think it would be mostly purple and blue.

the book was not about me, it was about a young boy. his life was patterned into a different set of categories. he did not cry about the tag on his shirt. i remember reading it and saying to myself: i am wrong, and broken, but it isn't in this way. something else is wrong with me instead. later, in that same person-first education class, my teacher would bring up the curious incident and mention that it is now widely panned as being inaccurate and stereotypical. she frowned and said we might not know how a person with autism thinks, but it is unlikely to be expressed in that way. this book was written with the best intentions by a special-ed teacher, but there's some debate as to if somebody who was on the spectrum would be even able to write something like this.

we might not understand it, but crows and ravens have developed their own language. this is also true of whales, dolphins, and many other species. i do not know how a crow thinks, but we do know they can problem solve. (is "thinking" equal to "problem solving"? or is "thinking" data processing? data management?) i do not know how my dog thinks, either, but we "talk" all the same - i know what he is asking for, even if he only asks once.

i am not a dolphin or reindeer or a dog in the nighttime, but i am an odd duck. in the ugly duckling, she grows up and comes home and is beautiful and finds her soulmate. all that ugliness she experienced lives in downy feathers inside of her, staining everything a muted grey. she is beautiful eventually, though, so she is loved. they do not want to cut her open to see how she thinks.

a while ago i got into an argument with a classmate about that weird sia music video about autism. my classmate said she thought it was good to raise awareness. i told her they should have just hired someone else to do it. she said it's not fair to an autistic person to expect them to be able to handle that kind of a thing.

today i saw a goose, and he was limping. i want to be loved like a flock loves a wounded creature: the phrase taken under a wing. which is to say i have always known i am not normal. desperate, mewling - i want to be loved beyond words.

loved beyond thinking.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Autism & Asking for Help

Lil Penguin Studios/Autism Happy Place

[stardustspaceway]

Tired and stressed out pauls

[jasperthejester]

me: finally accepting theres a good chance im autistic and starting to work up the courage to ask my parents to see if i could get a diagnoses but being scared to

my mom: do you ever think you have adhd? if you want to do a screening for add next time your at the doctors you can

me:

[aro-culture-is]

aro culture is imagining yourself as a personal advisor to the protagonist in self-insert dating simulators

ooh i like that, where's an otome where you're literally the tutorial guy?

[the-cimmerians]

everyone else i work with is having a hard time with our micromanaging boss but not me i am using the Power of Autism to enjoy explaining things in the most excruciating and minute detail i am having such a great time plus i am ruining her ability to care about what i'm doing this is probably good for her

[kj-beastboy]

Pregnancy as a kink makes me uncomfortable so man am I glad your pregg Flug stuff is explicitly not kink oriented!

yeah I... don't wanna judge anyone... but it's more than that, it's downright terrifying to me. Blame my hormones bc I'm expecting irl but wow... I'm very sensitive and it feels dehumanizing. but ig that is kinda the point of the kink(?)

it's so common in fandoms!

I'm completely vanilla anyway tho, so not surprising.

I've tried to pretend for a super long time that I'm into kink, but most of them are off putting and I consider them intrusive thoughts, not fantasies. I'm kinda fluctuating between sex-repulsed and neutral (aroace) even fictional... ig kink just isn't for me. I tried so hard to get over it. I know some people in my asks/requests are gonna be disappointed but I'm sorry💔

I'm slightly ashamed of how boring I am and I have serious trouble connecting to anyone in fandoms due to this actually🤕 feel like the most NT autistic person ever.

anyway here's a doodle!

[rubberduckyrye]

-inhales-

GONTA IS NOOOOT A GULLIBLE IDIOOOOOOT!! HE IS AN INTELLIGENT YOUNG MAAAAAN!!! A YOUNG ADULT WHO IS AUTISTIC CODED WHO GOT HORNY WHEN HE SAW MIU IN HER UNDERWEAR!!!! NOT A CHIIIIIIIILD!!!

I will SCREAM this into the void until people stop being weird about Gonta!!!!!! I am no longer asking!!!

Anyway some more links

Gonta was NOT manipulated into the Insect Meet and Greet this is just a blatant lie you fell for

Gonta is a victim of many ableist micro aggressions from his classmates

Gonta is proven to be a young adult by Kirumi Toujou

I am NO LONGER ASKING for people to stop with their ableist interpretations I am no longer asking!!!

[bitchfitch]

I had a shrink appointment today and while I could not see it I knew my doc was going through the five stages of grief while I explained my fool proof strategy for doing my t shots despite a crippling fear of needles: By abusing my vastly more crippling fear of being an inconvenience.

My mother and I play phasmophobia together every week. she usually has a pretty limited time to do this bc she's like. a doctor and a college professor whos always busy. So I asked her to just. hold me to doing them. We don't start playing until the shot is done. so my needle fear doesn't matter because now it's Wasting™ her time and I have to do it quick. Using one neurosis to defeat another.

It's a horrible coping mechanism because it's feeding the inconvenience fear, but it is definitionally a coping mechanism.

[mollypaup]

i think a really great aspect of oofuri is how much it gets mihashi's ass for being overly timid and dependent. it would be really easy to write off the way he and abe interact as being abe's fault because he is overbearing, and a lot of people do, but it has some really great moments of going "hey, you cannot hide behind abe or depend on him to make every decision. it's not good for you, or him, or the team."

[incorrectskyrimquotes]

*in this same cadence as a dragon shout* AU. TIST. IC.

[m4rs-ex3]

actually gonna take a mini break..... which could mean i won't go on tumblr at all or it just means i'll only be making simple posts and not reblogging, and it could be for the rest of the day or it could be for a number of days (this is significant i promise usually i would be yapping like CRAZY rn)

i don't like disliking my show. i don't need to hear about everything they did wrong when i want to be celebrating everything they've done right for 7 seasons. i can't expect everyone to decide that positivity is the only way and i can't expect people to not want to share their opinions when i can't seem to stop talking about my opinion on that. i don't want to do what i did when season 4 came out and i tried to forget tdp existed for months because i couldn't stand being a fan of something others didn't like. tdp is everything to me. i'm not letting this part of my life go because i care too much about what everyone else thinks. and i know that's nobody's fault but my own, but still. i'm hoping it dies down, but even if it doesn't, i just need to step back and remind myself why i love this show, and that that is all that matters.

i know it is NOT that deep but the finals week stress + mourning-in-advance + insane adrenaline rush and joy while watching followed by + immediate feeling of dread and incredible sadness and confusion and anger after i've already had a rough couple and months and tdp was the sole thing keeping me going, it has all just been a lot, as i'm sure you can imagine. it sounds so excessive and sensitive and it probably is those things, but it's how i feel. mainly i just really needed to get this off my chest lol

[narcissisticpdcultureis]

npd + autism culture is being obsessed with coming off as a "normal" person. and if someone else hasnt mastered all the social cues and norms then clearly im better than them.

.

[rabdoidal]

idk how to express it but like. my mum asked me earlier "do you have initiative? you need to learn how to do things without people telling you" and idk how to tell her like. 1. i am autistic and a HUGE part of that is not having motivation or initiative in the traditional sense because its harder to read what people want from you, 2. i also have executive dysfunction with my depression, and 3. she is the reason why i have a lack of motivation! because my whole life when i Try to do things to help out, i either get confused or i do it wrong, and shes not patient with me and also doesnt explain things to me - and the worst part is 4. i dont know how to explain stuff to her without it feeling like an excuse, because when i speak plainly, she thinks im dodging blame, when im actually just trying to communicate my default settings and how im working on overcoming them because i live in a neurotypical society. when i dont contribute or help out because im scared of messing up, i am ridiculed and shamed, and when i do contribute, im not allowed to ask clarifying questions or ask for support, because then i am an idiot. and y'know what? its annoying to be told i have no motivation when right now is the time where i have the most self-driven motivation ive ever had

[faunandfloraas]

im so glad im not the only person that looks at seungmin and goes "❓tism❓" bc he is Way Too Relatable to me as a person w autism

yeah..... like I say it in jest but also..... well, yk. sometimes you notice something and you notice something and you notice something and you go Hmmmm

[miralyk]

Hiiii I had a question. One thing I notice is a lot of the neurodivergent community have a great love for and relate to Henry Townshend. I'd love to hear your two cents on why that might be.

hi, ty for your ask; i'm part of the neurodivergent crowd that loves and relates to henry too, and am happy to give some of my thoughts ^^! imo it's his personality and empathy, especially with how it differs from the other silent hill protagonists. throughout the game, even with horrific monsters and events, henry doesn't show any extreme reactions of terror or dread, if anything, he's moreso detached like "...huh, this is so weird." a lot of people dislike how reticent he is, saying it's "boring" and lacks personality compared to the other protagonists who are more openly expressive, but i personally disagree and like how he's distinct with the more mysterious personality!

like a lot of neurodivergent people, henry's reticent and quietly keeps to himself, but instead of taking it at face value, you should look more into him to get to know him better. especially if you take the time to read his inner monologue, he's very thoughtful, enjoys photography, is courteous and soft-spoken to anyone he first meets, and in spite of his quiet personality, his actions speak louder than words as he naturally goes out of his way to help people...! (read the long discord ramble i typed on the right for some examples LMAO)

despite clearly showing altruism and kindness, as henry's disposition is different as a gentle, introverted guy instead of like some outgoing, loud action hero, that's why a lot of people misinterpret him and his personality/actions at surface-level and in bad faith (eg the peephole he finds in his apartment which is meant to attempt an escape digging out and make any connection to the outside world/other people = "ew he's a creep");; it's another place of common ground too imo, since neurodivergent people understand him getting hit with "you're not acting the "right way"" treatment... thankfully, it's sweet to see more people relate to and support him nowadays as neurodivergency's being discussed and treated with more understanding! overall, henry's a quiet guy that tries his best to help others even emerging from his shell to do so, to which a lot of people (a lot being neurodivergent) relate to and appreciate him for it, myself included <:'0