#Autism Checklist

[jesterkilljoy]

did i miss anything

[parentingvip]

[bunnydevs]

Hello! I made these this morning and thought I'd share. You can print these or use them as inspiration for your bullet journal-- whatever works for you. I made one daily cleaning checklist with suggestions and one without. Enjoy :0

I originally made these for myself (since it's easier to remember if I have something I have to physically "check" off) but realized it wouldn't hurt to share.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

wanna ask how you feel about the eridan bpd headcanon/theory(?? not sure what to call it!) you're so good at your character analysis and i'd love to see your outlook on it

Since I don't have a degree or any formal training in psychology, I feel deeply uncomfortable diagnosing characters. I've made an autism joke before but only because I'm on the spectrum. He's definitely traumatized and anxious, but I mean those as descriptors of his behavior rather than capital-D Diagnoses. I try to focus on those when I can - the cause and effect of cognition, self-image, and behavior - and those factors may very well match up with DSM criteria, but I try not to touch an actual diagnosis with a ten foot pole unless the author has explicitly stated that X character has Y condition.

[ominous-feychild]

Guys I literally JUST realized a thing about my autism/masking/alexithymia. I noticed there was an alexithymia tag here on tumblr and when I investigated, there was this one post listing these symptoms:

and I just--

I've had these exact, MAJOR struggles through my whole life for one.

But for two, and what's really interesting in my opinion...

Yesterday, I was having a video call with my mom. I've been off of some medications that I'm supposed to be taking because of financial issues, so my mental is NOT in a great place and I've had NO spoons for the past month. But while on call with her, she seriously, unironically, asked me if I thought I really needed the meds. Because, apparently, I "wasn't acting like I needed them" or something like that. And I'm sure I don't need to explain why that pissed me tf off.

But, like... at the time, the closest thing I could come up with for an answer was that "I have no spoons and no energy to do anything"; "I lived 17 years without meds, I kind-of know how to fake it"; and "I haven't had much socializing lately, so I have enough Social Energy™ to fake being okay right now."

Now that I'm not being put on the spot and after reading that post, I'm slowly figuring out that I've always done this. I mean, I've obviously always struggled to describe my own emotions and need to analyze my physical reactions to figure them out, but like. I'm just now starting to realize that I've really struggled to describe exactly how I'm "feeling bad" or, in fact, that I am feeling bad at all.

I mean, again, considering the alexithymia, that last part is a given. But it's kinda putting into perspective exactly how I've always had to understand "I don't have the energy to do anything" or "it's incredibly difficult to do anything" or "something deep inside of me feels Wrong™ and I can neither address nor identify it". I'd just passively have those "feelings" and struggle to continue life despite them.

It brings back thoughts of my struggles with masking, and how I was never diagnosed with autism as a child. Looking back, it should've been incredibly obvious. I had SO many of the tell-tale signs. But I guess it wasn't today, and there wasn't anywhere near as much awareness of what those signs were... but really. Textbook.

I'm sure my masking made it more difficult to recognize the signs as I got older. Hell, I even read over different "autism diagnosis checklist"s countless times, thinking to myself "oh wow it's a lot like me!... exceeeeeptttt--" and moved on from there.

I keep digressing. My point is, since discovering my autism and how it was hidden by masking, I've always wondered where my mask ends and where I begin. Most of the time, I feel like I feel nothing, even when I'm not depressed. I've been told I don't show my emotions, like when I'm happy (aka my chest is light and I feel free). That, or people can't tell when I like/dislike them (though that's partially a trauma thing). Other times, I've been told I'm smiling when I didn't even realize I was happy, much less that I was actually smiling. Some people have told me I'm incredibly easy to read, that my emotions show very clearly. But how can they when I feel like I feel nothing?

Which leads me back to what I said earlier, my conversation with my mother. How she asked if I actually need my meds because "I don't seem like I do". I guess I kind-of understand now, why she might've seen it that way. Do most people always show signs of how they actually feel? And how does the fact that I "don't feel" effect what I show?

I've wondered about that for a while. How much of how I act is because I was trained to, one way or another? How much of the emotion I show is because I learned to? Do I even show the emotions I feel? I really can't know because the people I know irl, who would better be able to tell me how I act, aren't understanding of any of these things. My older sister is lowkey ableist and thinks she sees the grand plan of the universe, my mother is too "pull yourself up by the bootstraps!!!" to accept Spoon Theory or mental health struggles, and just about everyone else in my life comes and goes as quickly as the wind.

Anyhow, this was a long rant that I've kinda had half-formed thoughts about for a while. Thanks for reading, hopefully this can help or entertain whoever stumbles upon this?

[februarys-wednesday]

i'm one episode in and this is all i can think about

[mrfoox]

If my brain goes brrrr and I find you intresting, it really doesn't matter how you look

[theaethernetconnection]

What is this feeling in my vague torso area...why am I upset/feel ill...oh shit I'm fucking hungry and it's food time again

[im-adrienne]

The morning's to-do's:

grocery shopping

shoe return

streaming

[andro-studiesmed]

I wish someone listened. Like really listened. I never really feel heard ever. It's difficult.

It began with the suspicion of adhd in the year 2020 actually. Recently I read so many experiences of people with autism and felt like that was me. So another suspicion stems up.

I read through my copy of DSM 5 and matched the criteria for combined adhd and level one autism. Ofcourse I'm not a professional so I cannot diagnose myself.

But it's painful not knowing and it's more painful existing.

[dumpster-fire-deluxe]

I'm NOT saying that Palpatine's autistic, but I do think it would be so easy to get the average therapist/psychiatrist to label him autistic (in that typical loving yet condescending tone 🥰)

T-Rex arms

Special interest: Sith & accumulating power/politics; doesn't show many interests beyond this and can spend most of his time intensely engaging in the interest, preferring it over social contacts etc.

Collects items related to special interest (Sith artifacts)

Once he's emperor, he doesn't appear much in public anymore, instead preferring to engage in his special interest (study the dark side)

Also, the comfy black robes. Bet there are no tags on that thing

Little to no emotional empathy (yes, no empathy autistics do still exist)

He does have cognitive empathy and social skills, but... "he must have taught himself and learned during his political training, he's so intelligent after all 🥰"

Little to no attachment to other human beings

He appears kind, so therapists would be biased ("this person can't have a personality or behavioral disorder, they complimented me and psychopaths aren't capable of being nice, while autistics are just loving angels by nature and incapable of deliberate harm 🥰")

Criminal behavior as a teen? Noooo he just didn't understand social rules and lacked theory of mind 🥰

He's single and has never had a steady romantic relationship, which "clearly points to social-communication problems". If you think this is ridiculous, that's only more of a sign that you don't understand how social structures work 🥰 Yes a psychiatrist said this to me

Exaggerated facial expressions

Lots of bright red in his apartment and office because of chronic understimulation

If you were to present these traits to therapists they would go oh I know what this is :D

In other words: sending Palps to therapy would not accomplish much and it wouldn't even be his fault lol

I don't have bad experiences with the mental health system what gave the impression

[prolibytherium]

Characters that are written and played in a way that seems extremely autistic (but were not intentionally written as such) very frequently feel more authentic than characters intentionally written as autistic. It's weird.

[kiseiakhun]

Sometimes I wonder how much crossover there actually is between ADHD and autism, vs... if you have ADHD there's a higher chance you have SOME degree of autism, and vice versa. How much of it is inherent to the diagnosis vs subclinical comorbidity

[theradicalace]

i made the mistake of downloading a progress tracker for new horizons and now i'm in full collector mode

[anaalnathrakhs]

there is nothing i hate more than a fucking geography assignement. so in this text we’ll be seeing why CITY is ADJECTIVE. we’ll mention how CITY possesses CHARACTERISTIC and INDUSTRY and OTHER THING. cf provided textbook. so. CHARACTERISTIC is present in CITY. INDUSTRY is keeping the economy the way it usually is. they have OTHER THING which fulfills its intended practical purpose. according to the provided checklist, CITY is thus ADJECTIVE. pls good grade thx xoxo.