#and quite noticeable autism symptoms

[antlerkitty]

This going to be undescribed due to not really knowing how to describe, but if someone else wants to describe that fine. Orange is yes, purple is partially (and will put info in tags on purple).

And here the blank one:

[crimsonender]

Lily is literally the preaching vegan stereotype of sober people.

Lily Orchard showing her ass as a hypocrite and someone with toxic neoliberal values? Wowie I sure didn't see that coming.

Also, guess who has AuDHD (A combination of ADHD and Autism spectrum disorder) and also is no longer on Adderall? Meeeeee. I also had to quit cold turkey!

and. you don't get withdrawal symptoms unless you're abusing the medication. Either Lily was misdiagnosed with ADHD or she takes too much. If you have ADHD and you're taking the appropriate amount, the only thing that happens is you start experiencing ADHD symptoms again... which, you don't really notice as a physical symptom, as the symptoms are entirely behavioural.

[autisticsupervillain]

Autistic Avatars not realizing that they're Avatars because they're just "like that": a thread

The Eye

Special Interest in the supernatural = constant food for The Watcher

You know about Interest? TELL ME EVERYTHING

"Hey man listen to me infodump about this horrifying ghost story I read for twenty minutes, alright?"

I need to Know everything about something before I partake in it.

"How did I Know that? Eh, I probably hyperfixated on it at some point."

I cannot be misunderstood so I'll beam the facts into your brain.

The Web

I must plan everything 200 steps in advance before doing anything.

I have prepared for all possible outcomes, I can now have this one conversation.

If I set up all these variables long in advance, then I can do everything correctly and Win the social interaction.

I cannot do anything before The Plan says to.

"I practice my social skills by talking to my spider friends." -Martin "Autism" Blackwood

The Stranger

I cannot socialize without being Uncanny.

If my socialization seems like an act, that's because it is. I practice it in the mirror every day.

Theater Kid

How do you Normal Human?

The Anatomy Class.

Assuming fellow Stranger Avatars also just have the 'Tism. They're not trying to be creepy, honest.

Can't do faces. Doesn't notice when you get replaced.

Being subtly off is too subtle for me.

The Lonely

"I have failed the social interaction. Let the fog reclaim me."

Talking to people is draining my batteries even faster than ever. I need to be alone for approximately 384,400,000 years.

Nothing can overstimulate me in the cool, blinding fog.

Nothing unpredictable can happen in the fog.

The fog is your friend.

The known connection between autism and depression feeds the fog.

The Dark

Why is the sun so god damn bright? I'm going to blow it up I swear.

Night Owl.

Everything's decently quite at night and people leave you alone.

Same overstimulation preventatives as the Lonely tbh. Dark and fog are good concealers.

The dawn is your enemy.

The dread florescent lights shall never bother me again. They break upon my arrival.

Can and will infodump to the monster under my bed. Even now it feels like it listens.

The Spiral

Autism makes getting other mental illnesses recognized hard.

Autism dissociation from body and mind. When did it become 3 AM and why do I hurt? Why am I grumpy? What vital self care task did I forget?

Literal mind doesn't often match reality. Reality is specifically unspecific.

Spaced out and wandered off. Where the fuck am I?

I'm not a mental baby, please stop treating me like it.

I'm not inherently dangerous, please stop treating me like it.

Memory problems my beloathed. Did that happen? I dunno.

What Is Time?

What Is Me?

The Gender

Why do things only make sense to me? What does no one else make sense?

The Flesh

Autism Genderfuckery = Flesh fueled dysphoria.

Meat is the only texture that's palatable. Especially the Mystery Meat.

Will never try any other foods. Too picky.

Infodumps about the horrors of meat processing at dinner and ruins the meal for everyone. More steak for me.

Hates PETA.

Double the arms means double the stim. You weren't using them, right?

Working out is a great stim.

The Corruption

Practices social interaction with the bugs who live in my walls.

"Insects are disgusting. I love them!"

Will protect endangered insects by any means necessary.

According to all known laws of aviation-

Relationship boundaries struggles.

Difficulty noticing sickness symptoms.

Is that nausea or am I overstimulated? *Accidentally causes supernatural plague outbreak*

Difficulty getting diseases diagnosed because of both Autism and noticing too many symptoms so the doctors assume they're faking.

Forgot vital hygiene needs.

The Bugs Are My Friends! They keep me company when I'm sick!

The Buried

Weighted blankets are insufficient, I need the Earth to reclaim me.

Avoid social interaction by tunneling everywhere like a mole.

101 facts about worms.

Forgor hygiene again. Time to become dirt.

Digging a hole is good stimming.

That guy who had to be buried alive to sleep properly. What do you mean you don't want to be buried?

The End

Aradia Megido from Homestuck.Com

That's it, that's the list.

The Desolation

The Autism Temper.

Losing relationships and friendships to ableism and your own disability constantly.

The Fire is a wonderful stim board. Watch it crinkle.

Just watching candles melt for hours.

The fire and thrill gives my life passion again.

Jude Perry.png

The Vast

Accidentally terrifying people by infodumping about the horrors of nature.

The stimulus of falling.

Nature/Space/Weather Documentary on in background always.

Okay, but from how high did you fall? I want to calculate your velocity as you fell through the void.

Weirdly enough... power scaling?

Power scaling is just the art of determining how easily your favorite characters can destroy mankind so... yeah, I can see it.

Brain empty, only terminal velocity.

The Hunt

Cat Autism

The inherent hyperfocus of the hunt. The chase. Your prey.

Studying the habits of your latest hyperfixation/Hunt assigned prey for days at a time.

I've spent so much time hunting in the woods that I forgot about human society. The Missing Person's Bureau have written you off for dead.

Returning to society to sell your wears and realizing you aren't human anymore.

That's okay. Social interaction is random. The Hunt makes sense.

It's black and white. Predator and prey. Humans hunting monsters. It Makes Sense.

The Slaughter

The incredible human WW1 documentary.

"Did you know?" *Describes horrible historic warcrime*

Takes apart puts back together guns from their collection.

The list of known casualties from this war is incomplete. With my help, they can expand it. :)

The Extinction

The world is spiraling towards its end and only you seem to care.

It hurts to be this passionate about a lost cause.

You Will Make Them Care.

[kiki-smith21]

A Silent Understanding

Wednesday Addams x autistic fem reader

A/N: This is my first fanfic, and any feedback would be appreciated. Let me know if you want a part 2. (I am actually autistic, so this is mostly based off the symptoms I show, but if you have any typical symptoms of autism you wish for me to add to the story later let me know and I'll try my best. Please be respectful to all, and remember to drink water and look after yourself, cuties)

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Summary: In the comfort of the library, you and Wednesday share a moment of vulnerability and trust.

In the dimly lit, Gothic confines of Nevermore Academy, the atmosphere was as thick with mystery as ever. Wednesday Addams, with her signature braids and dark demeanour, was engrossed in her latest endeavor—a particularly challenging crossword puzzle.

You, a quiet student with an affinity for the arts and a mind that danced to a different rhythm, often found solace in the same library where Wednesday spent much of her time. You had always admired her from afar, drawn to her enigmatic presence and unique perspective on the world.

Today, the library was especially silent, save for the occasional creak of the old wooden floors and the soft rustling of pages. You found a seat at a nearby table, trying to focus on your sketchbook. It was in these rare, quiet moments that you felt most at peace, your thoughts flowing freely without the need for words.

As the hours ticked by, you noticed Wednesday glancing over her crossword with a hint of frustration. Summoning your courage, you approached her table, clutching a folded piece of paper in your hand.

"Do you need help with that?" you asked softly, your voice barely above a whisper. Your heart raced as you waited for her response, unsure if you had intruded on her solitary work.

Wednesday looked up, her dark eyes meeting yours with a flicker of curiosity. "And why would you offer assistance?" she asked, her tone a mixture of skepticism and intrigue.

"I noticed you were having trouble with a few clues," you replied, hoping your voice conveyed the sincerity you felt. "I've always been good with puzzles."

A faint, inscrutable smile tugged at the corners of Wednesday’s lips. "Very well. Let's see if your skills are as impressive as you claim."

You settled into the seat beside her, your nerves calming as you began to work through the crossword clues together. The process was slow but rewarding, each shared glance and whispered suggestion deepening the connection between you.

As the final word fit perfectly into the grid, Wednesday's gaze lingered on you. "You did well," she said, her voice softer than usual. "Thank you."

The library was quiet, save for the faint hum of the old heating system. In this serene bubble, you felt an unexpected urge to express something you had been holding back. You reached for the folded piece of paper you had brought, unfolding it to reveal a simple drawing of a crescent moon—an image that had always felt comforting to you.

Wednesday’s eyes softened as she studied the drawing, and for a moment, you both simply sat in silence. It was a moment of unspoken understanding.

Without quite knowing how it happened, your hand found its way to Wednesday’s, fingers brushing lightly against hers. The contact was gentle but electric, a silent acknowledgment of the bond that had formed between you.

Wednesday’s gaze met yours, her expression inscrutable yet filled with something tender. Slowly, she leaned in, her lips brushing against yours in a hesitant, yet warm kiss. It was a soft, fleeting moment that spoke volumes, a shared silence that encapsulated everything words could not.

When you finally pulled away, Wednesday’s eyes were still locked onto yours, a rare and genuine smile playing on her lips. The world outside seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of you in your own little corner of understanding.

As you both sat there, the unspoken connection between you felt more profound than any words could ever convey. It was a silent promise of something more, a shared moment of intimacy that marked the beginning of something beautiful.

[a-little-revolution]

heya, this might be too much for a single post, but i would delight in a ramble about the overlap between dwarfism and disability (whether or not you/the community as a whole generally consider it a capital-D Disability or if theres more nuance like with the autism or HOH/Deaf communities where it just Is and folks feel the the struggles with outgroup folks are like, culture clashes, or perhaps a secret third thing?)

similarly, id love for a ramble on the overlap between dwarfism and queerness, especially The Genders. i have ehlers-danlos syndrome and theres a huge number of us who are trans or nonbinary, to the point where masculinizing hrt is (anecdotally) understood to be a bit of a treatment for some symptoms. i know theres a lot of overlap between queerness and disability as a whole, but so far the couple of artists with dwarfism ive found and followed are all some flavor of trans or nonbinary, so id love to know if thats as common of a thing in your community as it is in mine

dwarfism is for sure underrepresented in discussion about both disability and queerness, and as a disabled queer person they are so intertwined in my head, and im forever curious about other folks experiences so your thoughts are appreciated!

Hello!! I love these questions!!

Firstly, yes, I do identify as being both a little person and disabled, but that isn't the case for everyone with dwarfism. Though dwarfism falls under the classification of a physical disability, not all little people find it physically debilitating. For me, my Achondroplasia dwarfism has resulted in sleep apnea, arthritis, chronic pain, hearing loss, limited mobility and dexterity. I cannot walk long distances and I use multiple moblility aids (wheelchair for long distance, rollator most of the time, and cane for short distances or around the house). My disability is dynamic, meaning that my ability changes day to day depending on pain levels, spoons (unit of measure for disabled energy), and activity.

Being that I am both a little person AND noticeably disabled, I have experienced ableism within both the abled community and the LP community, which is something I don't often talk about. I've been in situations where I feel alienated from my own community - additionally for my queerness. When you exist at the intersection of as many things as I do, you experience many flavours of ignorance and discrimination from the very people who should accept you.

That being said, I have also had the privilege of meeting other little people who are trans, queer, and nonbinary like I am. Our community is incredibly diverse, but spread along the globe. It is easy to feel a profound isolation, but the internet has provided me with a means of connection which I greatly appreciate.

Disability and queerness is something I discuss in depth in my public speaking roles, as I deeply value intersectionality in education and activism (I hope to share some of my talks as I record them in the future!).

I am forever painful aware that ableism is alive and will within the queer community - even when "all are welcome", we are still an after thought. I really urge my fellow queers to think beyond our own community to bipoc and disabled folks, otherwise you're really just dipping your toes into radicalism. Read more books by black disabled trans women of colour, and expand your thinking. (Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk lol)

I can't really speak to hate from the other direction, as all of the disabled folks I know on a personal level are also queer. Though I will say that I certainly receive queer-phobia from older (white) disabled folks - in my experience, when white folks become disabled with age and have not faced any other injustice in their life, they can be very hateful.

This has been quite a post, so I hope I've answered your questions in full! I would be happy to discuss it more if not/answer other related questions! Thank you so much!

Elliot (they/them)

[what-shitfuckery-is-this-ew]

A Critique of Riordan's: Neurodivergency

tldr: Rick made ADHD and dyslexia superpowers in the books which fit the time he wrote the books, but it's not accepted now cause it diminishes neurodivergent struggle. At the same time he made autism coded characters the 'annoying' ones and had a very racist thing of having the only neurotypical be Frank.

He tried to fix it in the show. It worked for about 3 seconds.

TW: Ableism, Autism speaks mention, r slur, anti-schizo stuff.

This paragraph is useless so don't read if you don't want to: Sitting in my drafts are 3 different 'A critique of Riordan's' posts i made as i tried to redo my full critique of the Riordanverse with a little more positive feedback and a little less Rick Riordan is the devil spawn. I have decided to not do it in order because because i watched the show and i noticed some things which were iffy and others which were great. So yeah neurodivergency first. Enjoy and think Critically.

Books

Research and Diversity

The books were written in the early 2000s for Rick's son who has ADHD and dyslexia

As a result, it takes on a very "your ADHD and dyslexia is a superpower" message which were popular during the time, but we recognise now has delegitimised neurodivergent struggles

Also as a result, the books were very focused on his son's symptoms, and represented ADHD as a monolith which quickly turned into stereotypes (e.g jumpy, impatient and fast reflexes becoming the connecting feature of half-bloods)

It got so unresearched that at one point he said:

He also talks about coffee in a similar way, despite sugar and coffee not making us more hyperactive and instead making us sleepy. Unless all the scientists and people with ADHD are wrong i really don't know this works.

and also said this: "Leo was extremely ADHD even by demigod standards" Like what

But the worst part about the PJO books was that the neurodivergency was limited to the first book. Percy's ADHD and dyslexia magically vanish and honestly it's only really brought back up in HOO every now and then (not very well might i add)

Ways he could have improved:

He could have given other characters, like Annabeth, more diverse symptoms of ADHD. It wasn't that hard, For Annabeth recognise that she as a 'gifted kid' is more likely to have undiagnosed and so have to face the issues related to being undiagnosed and/or being both a gifted kid and having ADHD, and then also give her more symptoms common to girls like being really chatty or frequently daydreaming.

Continuing having ADHD (and dyslexia) as constant parts of the novels rather than throwaway lines. Build it into the characters actions and persona rather than add it on like an accessory

Research. Never stop researching. Always reach out to people with the disorders and ask them to help. Writing is nothing without research.

Get sensitivity readers

Grammar

This is really minor, but he keeps say ____ was ADHD, and like gramattically that's a no. I am not a disorder i am a person with a disorder . Note for autism, the prefered grammer is Autistic person (aka turn into adjective and describe, something we can't do with ADHD)

Nico and Leo

Making Leo and Nico the 2 characters who were annoying and unlikeable (to everyone else not to fans) was really weird cause these 2 characters were the autistic coded ones.

NOTE: I did see a post explaining it better in the past, and i will link it when/if i find it again.

Tyson and the R Slur

I genuinely think he tried to make the r-slur scene show that it was bad, but the way Percy reacted to it wasn't quite right. Especially for childrens books these things need to be really clear. So it was good to make a bad bully character who was hated say it, but he could have made it better by skipping Percy saying "He’s not r*tarded" and go straight to "I had to try really, really hard not to punch Sloan the face."

The scene was ok, it could have been better, but again these were written in the 2000s, we have to acknowledge that.

Percy and School

Now this is interesting because this is more recent. Percy tried really hard in school and was smart, it was part of his characterisation. But he never did well in school, because that's how his disability affected him (especially since it was the American school system which we all know is shit and even more shit for people with learning disabilities).

The problem stems from TSATS, where Percy is made out to skip school, and not try at all (feeds into people with ADHD do bad cause they don't try/are lazy)

credits to @aroaceleovaldez

Racism: Frank Zhang

Frank Zhang the only Asian member of the 7 has no form of neurodivergency, despite the rest of them all having. It must be a just coincidence that there's a stereotype that asians are really smart and good at maths and the fact that the rest of the Romans have dyscalculia/s.

It's not weird at all that the character instead has lactose intolerance, which is really common in East Asia unlike dyslexia, ADHD or dyscalculia, which has such a low rate of diagnosis because there is a large stigma behind the disorders and because white people don't think Asians can have learning disabilities/s. No not weird at all that the dude is described with symptoms of dyspraxia but Rick refuses to recognise he is not neurotypical/s

I'm stepping out of sarcasm speak to remind you that Asians with learning disabilities are significantly less likely to get diagnosed with anything because:

because their parents won't let them until they have no other choice (glares at my parents) because there's a massive stigma behind intellectual/learning/development disorders in these communities

When we do try to get diagnosed our claims are diminished because of racist stereotypes and the belief that booksmarts/giftedness = no learning disability. It means most psychologists and psychiatrists (who are usually white) think that all Asians are smart so they don't ever have any form of neurodivergency and we're left to struggle.

Schizo Rep

Octavian. Villain. Schizo. Again.

Do i even need to explain this?

Show

Not actually a specific disorder - Percy just has a learning disability

Interestly Percy's dyslexia is just never talked about, And even his ADHD is never mentioned by name. He's got a random learning disorder which isn't specified. At first i assumed it was still ADHD cause the books, but watching more, you realise they aren't actually focusing on what learning disorder he has and what he has to deal with as a result of that. It's just a generic learning disorder.

Which is weird because learning disorders are all different and we all face different things, even with the same disorder. So placing all learning disorders in the same group? not good. Don't know what i expected from disney, but it wasn't this.

Autism Speaks

So the show tried to acknowledge that Percy was constantly told he was special and heroic when he really wanted to have help for his issues and for people to recognise that he has problems and those are bad. It also represented less stereotypical adhd symptoms (though whether that's because the disorder is no longer adhd or whether they wanted more inattentive symptoms to be present, we'll never know)

but then it went ahead and used a broken puzzle metaphor for his neurodivergency?

Puzzle piece metaphors when talking about any form of neurodivergency are a no go because the creators of the metaphor literally want Autistic people dead.

I DON'T GIVE A SHIT THAT HE DOESN'T HAVE AUTISM, WE ARE NOT ALLIES TO THE AUTISM COMMUNITY IF WE USE THE LANGUAGE AUTISM SPEAKS CREATED

Not only that but a broken puzzle is not a good way to represent us anyways because NEURODIVERGENTS AREN'T BROKEN.

[cripplecharacters]

Hi, this is probably a stupid question but would it make sense/be accurate for an autistic character to have, like,,,,, normal facial expressions, at the correct time (like when they're happy or sad) like a neurotypical person? Without having to mask and intentionally force themselves to make those faces?

I'm autistic but I don't think I do this. I don't talk to people unless I absolutely have to and my memory is dogshit so I can't recall any times when people have commented on my facial expressions, and I definitely do make expressions sometimes, just maybe not in the right contexts or not very often.

I'm making a comic and one of the characters is autistic and very based on my own symptoms (she's the main character so since she gets a lot of screen time, I figured it would be easiest if I already knew how to represent her).

My reasoning behind wanting her expressive is:

There are already two other characters with autism who are pretty blank and expressionless.

It's a comic and I want to draw a lot of fun expressions, I want her to be able to smile softly and snarl and look baffled and make all kinds of faces, without her having to mask and constantly be miserable.

But my problem is that I want her to actually have autism. And when I look up posts online from other people, I'm really not seeing a whole lot of "Oh yeah I can emote and make facial expressions exactly like a normal person, in the correct contexts, automatically without masking."

So I'm not sure at this point if this is something we can even do? I've seen quite a few autistic people say that our brains literally do not work this way.

Maybe, would it be possible that she has the opposite problem most autistic people do? Most of us are sort of blank and expressionless and have to mask and make ourselves look happy/surprised/angry.

I thought that instead, she could be TOO expressive, so she would have the correct expressions at the correct times (looking angry when she's angry) but she wouldn't notice this, and would make the wrong expression at a bad time?

For example, if she was at a funeral and found something funny, she would unintentionally smile/scrunch her face up and everyone would get pissed because "Omg girl their grandma got killed by a dragon and you're laughing?"

So most autistics = masking to create expressions

But her = masking to remove expressions

I hope this makes sense It's midnight and I need to sleep lmao

Hi asker!

I just wanted to say that it is, in fact, possible for autistic people to be naturally expressive. A flat or flatter affect might be more common, and many autistic people mask to create expressions. But that doesn't mean all!

Me, personally, I'm autistic. I've been called expressive pretty often. I generally smile when I'm happy, frown when I'm pissed off, widen my eyes when I'm surprised – expressions you'd consider normal. This happens less often the more tired I am, and in my diagnosis debrief I was told that what I do that isn't normal is that I don't direct expressions to people: basically, that I don't use expressions to communicate with others, they just sort of happen. Which surprised me, because I saw communication as kind of a side effect of expressions as opposed to the main purpose, if that makes sense?

One of my adult family members is autistic as well. They are also very expressive, in fact kind of too expressive like you mention your character could be. They can't really hide the facial expressions they do (that generally correspond to typical expressions) and so can't really hide what they're feeling, even when it would be better to hide it. Their version of masking would be working to remove these expressions, which they don't actually do, but that would be the case.

That's two examples of people with autism that are pretty typically expressive, yet still show social/communication difficulties even in that. So: what you're describing is definitely possible.

As a side note:

Autism is two-fold: social/communication difficulties, and restrictive/repetitive behavior. Everyone who has autism experiences those two aspects. However, autism is also very varied in how these things present, so be wary of anything or anyone that says something (other than those two things) applies to either absolutely all or absolutely no autistic people. Sure, some presentations are more common – like a flat affect, or lack of eye contact, or how hand-flapping is a common stim. But no single presentation is universal. And on top of that, 'difficulties with social communication' doesn't have to mean 'difficulties with every single aspect of this.' It can! But it doesn't always.

Also, wow, I have typed the word "expression" so much that it barely seems like a real word right now!

– mod sparrow

[alexandraisyes]

hi, same anon that asked if your symptoms go away or not. no clue why I worded it like that, but I meant if you experience it worse in intervals (obviously the symptoms are always there but get more noticeable at certain times). since you've answered my (horribly worded) question already, though, I raise another question: are there any resources that aren't horrifically ableist, where I can look further into ASPD, its symptoms and how they interact with things such as autism and other cluster B disorders? I ask so I don't keep asking you circular questions like you're equipped to diagnose a stranger with a personality disorder.

Resources are far and few to come by. A lot of what I know has been through extensive interpersonal study (talking to other people with the disorder). The fact of the matter is that most people with the disorder don’t freely talk about the disorder. You can look in online forum spaces if you want, or just get lucky and meet someone with the disorder in real life or happen to get super lucky and they’re already in your friend group. I have a sociopath and a malignant narcissist in my current friend group.

Understanding neurology would also help you in understanding any disorder, because there’s plenty of research on the neurological side of ASPD. Just not a lot of the psychological side. But if you understand neurology you understand psychology (most psychologists don’t fully understand neurology, they’re two different types of medicine with far different fields).

If you’re looking for how it interacts with other cluster b disorders, you can probably find at the very least one, maybe up to ten different “influencers” who are malignant narcissists (ASPD + NPD) who talk about the disorder on varying platforms. As stereotyped as it is, narcissists do actually love to talk about themselves.

As far as how it interacts with other neurodivergencies? Just ask someone with ASPD if they have comorbid neurodivergent disorders and what it’s like. However you aren’t going to find anything on having comorbid ASPD and autism. The two physically cannot coexist on a neurological level. (Trust me, I tried, I had a misdiagnosis of autism and was trying to wrap my head around it too).

So if someone with ASPD tells you they’re also autistic they’re wrong. They either don’t have ASPD or they don’t have autism. It’s always one or the other.

This is because ASPD and ASD are both largely caused by the amygdala. In ASD the amygdala is enlarged, growing abnormally quick between 6 and 12 months old. So you aren’t actually born autistic, but you may as well be. The faster the amygdala grows during that time the more severe the symptoms are presenting and the younger the symptoms will be noticeable.

ASPD on the other handle is caused by a reduced amygdala. Deformed sounds harsh but yeah it’s basically deformed. It’s smaller than normal, with an extremely regressed growth rate.

I could potentially go into the specifics but that’s a whole other post.

And I can’t diagnose anyone, online or off, so I will never try to. However, I am a reliable resource for understanding ASPD since it quite literally plagues me. So I can at the very least answer questions about something I’m unreasonably specialized in. Especially when the majority people in the psychiatric field of medicine aren’t specialized in it at all and there’s not enough genuine research for them to fake it either. And unfortunately most people aren’t willing to have compassion for things they don’t understand.

[borom1r]

WEIRD fuckin ask but we talked about it once and it would not exit the brain. Flavours of neurodivergence within the fellowship: discuss?

OGH. no, good ask. good ask I love it. AUTISM FLAVORED bc that is my own experience :3

Aragorn— autism of the “I Am 100% A Changeling, I Have No Idea How To Relate To Humanity” variety. like yea being partly raised by elves didn’t help but he absolutely wandered around mimicking people to learn how to Behave Like A Person. autism trait absorption for the win!! comes to Minas Tirith and gets a painful crash course in masking, but never quite figured out how to Not stare at someone like a feral cat when he wants something from them (despite the Stare, HATES eye contact)

Boromir— OPPOSITE AUTISM. very direct. EXTREMELY rigid routines. military history special interest (literally just undiagnosed dad autism). probably has food sensitivities but he’s spent so long as a soldier he can just eat anything now. he hates it and he won’t eat a big portion of non-safe foods, but at least he can swallow them. he IS absolutely 100% undiagnosed and doesn’t think there’s anything wrong but if he doesn’t get to perfectly make his bed every morning he will be in a Noticeably Bad Mood for the rest of the day < does not understand that this isn’t normal

Gandalf— oh there’s definitely something going on there, but good luck with figuring THAT out

Legolas— AuDHD king. the autism/ADHD comorbidity is real and he barely bothers to mask. least of all in front of men?? he’s an elf prince and you expect him to act “normal” by human standards? I love how jacked up the Hobbit film timeline is bc Thranduil implying to Legolas “yeah go hang out in Rivendell with a ten year old” is SO funny. canon to me tho. there was a very significant chunk of time where Aragorn was just Mini Legolas. hell world for civilized Rivendell elves. unlike Aragorn, however, prefers very direct eye contact. WILL fully hit you with the 👁️👁️ almost unblinking for a whole conversation

Gimli— I’m gonna be real here. I think neurotypical but in the sense of like. literally nobody cares. dwarves are craftsmen, artisans, smiths, you think they’re going to risk squandering talent simply because somebody needs some accommodations? are you nuts???? like yea maybe somebody’s a Little Weird Sometimes but they can work the forge just fine or tool leather for straps/handle wraps, or draft designs, or stamp metal for decorations, like?? doesn’t particularly grasp the need for labels when you can just work with ppl to figure out what’s best for them + then everyone’s happy. fully has to stew on the fact that Men Don’t Do That, men are actually very rigid about what is socially acceptable and won’t provide accommodations Unless there is a label. wild.

Frodo— autism/depression hell combination. no meltdowns, only shutdowns. auditory processing disorder!! definitely also has poor temperature regulation (CONSTANTLY cold). hey did u know that’s a symptom of ASD? crazy. WILD. anyways. Sam knows he can barely handle the feeling of mittens/gloves so half the time when they’re hanging out is Sam just holding Frodo’s hands so they actually fucking warm up for a bit. not too rigid about Big routines, most of his are Little (always putting a specific amount of sugar in his tea, for example)

Sam— neurotypical but in the sense of my dad where he was just SO used to me being Autistically Strange that he was just like. “well, that’s Strider!” < blissfully unaware. fully just SO used to whatever’s going on w/ Frodo+Merry that it’s Normal to him. like wdym they’re different?? those are just his friends?? hello??

Merry— ADHDDDDDDDDD. and look ik Tolkien said pipeweed is just tobacco but that’s a lie and we all know it, right? right. self-medicating with pipeweed.

Pippin— neurotypical but Pippin-flavored

[boreal-sea]

I am disabled.

I have a mental illness that quite strongly affects my day to day life: Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I take daily medication to prevent it from sending me into unpredictable anxiety attacks. It has influenced many of the decisions I’ve made in my life. It has caused me much suffering. I’m doing far better these days, thanks to medication, but that’s something I have to take every day for the rest of my life.

I have migraine disorder as well, though thankfully it impacts my life far less than my anxiety.

I also have a developmental disability, though as an adult it’s not as noticeable. I was diagnosed as socially delayed when I was in 7th grade. The psychologist estimated I was about three years behind my peers. My mother didn’t tell me this information until I was an adult. All I knew as a kid is that I didn’t mind playing with other kids, but I didn’t seem to mesh with my peers very well. I didn’t really get how to socialize until junior year of high school. I still tend to quietly wait and observe how be groups of people interact before eventually opening up.

And on that note, I suspect the developmental delay was actually a symptom of autism, though I have no current diagnosis. It would explain a lot though, including my life long struggles with personal hygiene, socialization, why I never cared much if I did or didn’t have friends, and why I take so much time to learn how new groups of people interact. Every group has their own rules, you know?

Anyway. Happy Disability Awareness Month 💚

[the-wandering-space-nomad]

Ive noticed that you display quite a few symptoms of autism: ranging from bouncing around on the spot a lot, or avoiding food with meat (which could either be a texture thing or that you have high empathy for animals)

Have you ever considered an evaluation?

Well, I actually don’t eat meat because I am vegetarian!!!

Hm, nope! I’ve never considered an evaluation of any type!

[innominaterifter]

A little about my ADHD running practices

I have ADHD and autism, ADHD predominates (or so, I think at the moment). The symptoms of ADHD and how it manifests itself in life is a broad topic, but in this post I will focus on one thing: about a specific practice that helps me do things that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.

This practice is definitely not a solution for every matter and every person, but with something specific it works great for me.

So, you have the complexity of doing something, and this complexity is not monolithic. It consists of the difficulty of starting, the difficulty of continuing, and the difficulty of finishing.

Why do I divide it into these stages?

First

For different people, the complexity of these stages may vary: for some it is difficult to start, but it is much easier to continue, for some it is difficult to continue, but in principle it is not difficult to start, and so on.

Moreover, the complexity of the stages for different cases may be different.

An example:

It’s quite difficult for me to get myself into the shower or the bathroom or to swimming practice. But if I’m already there, if I’m already interacting with water, then I can be in this process for a very long time. So much so that it becomes difficult to complete.

Thus, if you evaluate the complexity of the stages on a three-point scale, then for me to start is 3 points, to continue is 0 points, and to complete is 1 or 2 points. External circumstances help me with the completion: the hot water in the boiler runs out sooner or later, and lying in a cooling bathtub is not so fun; during swimming training I get tired or training time ends. The external limiter here serves as a helping element.

With other things, the distribution of stage complexity may be different. And if I know how the complexity is distributed, which stages of a particular task are the most difficult for me, and which do not require the expenditure of willpower, then it is easier for me to plan tactics.

If I know that the continuation stage is not difficult for me, I can plan a larger amount of work for this stage. If I know that in this particular case the continuation stage is gaining high difficulty scores for me, then I will not plan too much work there in advance.

For example, with everything related to water, the most difficult thing for me is to begin with, then there are no problems, because I really like the interaction with water. Thus, the main task becomes to lure myself into the process, to create such conditions and expectations that I would like to start it. The realization that the process will continue on its own and you don’t need to spend any resources on it makes it easier to start.

Thus, dividing into stages allows you to approach the task more structurally, distribute resources more competently and - most importantly - see the upcoming task as something composite and completely doable, and not as a monolithic peak of Overcoming.

Second

Dividing into stages with an understanding of the complexity of a specific stage of a specific task specifically for yourself allows you to praise yourself for the stages completed, even if the task itself was not fully completed.

An example:

If you think of running training as a monolithic task that sounds like “run for an hour,” then if you do not run for an hour—for whatever reason—then you feel like a failure. And any running training that ends in less than an hour gives you a feeling of frustration, a feeling of “I failed”.

But you haven't really failed.

You started this training - this is usually the most difficult thing; you ran for some time - and this also needs to be counted towards your completed things. Actually, you're great. You have done certain things that are difficult for you. Praise yourself, you deserve it.

Dividing into stages helps you better notice what you have succeeded in. Division into stages helps to get away from the catastrophizing “if you didn’t complete some part, you failed in everything” and move on to the more sensible “you didn’t complete some specific stage but completed others.”

To be honest, I have certain difficulties with running. Unlike swimming, it's not something that brings me pleasure in the process, all the time. At least for now. I hope this will change but at the moment this is the situation.

For running training, it’s not enough for me to just start, and then everything will go by itself, like in swimming. For a running workout, the difficulty of continuing is higher for me than the difficulty of starting.

At the same time, I really want to run, I like this feeling of flying, dynamic movement in the surrounding space, when I manage to catch it (if I didn’t like the idea of running or didn’t consider it useful for myself, then I simply wouldn’t do it).

So, unlike swimming workouts, my running workouts look completely different. It was much more difficult for me to start them because I knew that the stage "continuing" would be even more difficult than the stage "starting." And thus it launching a self-propelling attractor: you know that further it will be more difficult for you than at the beginning, so it becomes more difficult to start.

When I began to count as a plus the completion of at least one specific stage - or partial completion - then everything became easier. I went to running training and ran 500 m, and I don’t have the strength to continue? Okay, you basically went out to train and ran this distance. Well done! How about we just walk for the rest of the time? You don't have to run, just walk at a brisk pace. Although look, if you take this turn at a decent speed, there will be a cool feeling of centrifugal force - shall we try it? Doing the task in this format really made a difference for me. This allowed me to concentrate more on what was done rather than on what was not done.

This, in turn, made it possible to create spirals of positive reinforcement that helped start the next workout a little easier (or it allows you to blame yourself less if you missed a workout or didn’t complete it to the extent you planned).

I’ll tell you about how I use cosplay practices for ADHD in the next post.

[asdpawprint]

Accuracy of behavior interruptions as alert tasks.

One of the tasks my service dog is trained to do for my autism is alert to early signs of an oncoming meltdown or panic attack. The specific signs he is trained to recognize are ones I usually don't notice myself: shaking, bouncing my legs, and rubbing or pinching my hands.

Sometimes, especially if he's extra excited to task, he has trouble differentiating these specific symptoms from similar stims that aren't caused by stress for me: flapping and happy wiggles.

I often let him follow up with DPT even when he's not quite accurate. Happy emotions can unfortunately be just as overstimulating as stress, and DPT is just as effective at regulating no matter which is the cause. I'd rather have occasional inaccurate alerts than have him miss alerts due to confusion, especially when the inaccurate alerts are still sometimes helpful!

When I don't let him follow up, I tell him "happy wiggles." He's starting to understand that to mean "you can stop alerting, I'm ok," which might also improve his accuracy over time!

[thatoneweirdowhoknowstoomuch]

Where's Waldo Headcanons Pt 2

Odlaw!

•》General《•

* His full name is Louise Odlaw M. Inidlaw

* Transmasc; got top surgery as a sign of rebellion to his Mami

* Heavily masked Autistic/ADHD, didn't figure out what was wrong with him until he was fully "introduced" to Wally

Wenda: You and Wally are more alike than you think-

Odlaw: And how so?

*Wenda proceeds to name off Wally's symptoms, labeling it as quirks of autism, but stops after a while when she notices Odlaw's too quiet*

Wenda: .. Odlaw?

Odlaw: So that's what's wrong with me-

•》Background《•

* The result of an accidental pregnancy; his parents split a few months after his birth. Not divorced, as it was a hassle to do so, but split.

* He used to visit his dad a lot, but can't really recall him now and not wanting to as "he was an idiot to try and deal with that sow,"

- There were rumors that he was a half-sibling to a certain trio of yellow and black triplets, but this was quickly brushed as fast as it started.

* Being raised by his Mami, a comphet who was forced into a loveless marriage, he was raised extremely conservatively and isolated in "Odlaw Swamp" (Odlaw coined it, that's not the actual name of the area) from others who would say otherwise.

(2019 spoilers Ahead!)

* Being undiagonised, his school life wasn't particularly any better.. Had a lot of trouble in school, both academically and emotionally, due to his upbringing, gaing them name "Odlulu" due to bullying.

* Out of spite, he was often calleous towards others and often lashed out in the form of "pranks" and vandalism.

* One prank too far, and Mami forcefully signed Odlaw up to Wanderer's Society in hopes of straighten up her little girl.

* It didn't exactly worked out in the end, as he would randomly quit the Wander's Society in favor of the Anti Wanders' Society, but he did gain a friend from his experince, Wenda (2019).

* Was immediately annoyed when he found out Waldo was brought into the Wanders' Society to replace their fallen Wander; claimed Waldo as his mortal enemy for then on

* Even when he slowly redeemed himself, there was always something that irked him about Waldo? Too clueless? Too upbeat? Maybe it was because as soon as he left, Waldo became golden boy? Never was able to put a finger on it..

* During high school (still was in the Anti-Wanders Society), he ended up meeting Wenda (1991), and her sister Wilma, Waldo's girlfriend at the time.

-Shared the same math class with Wenda, who noticed he was struggling and offered to tutor him, which he denied for obivious reasons, but gave in when he realized how terribly low his grades were, not to mention this was the second person in his life to give him a chance.

-Around this time, he realized he was transmasc, but kept it hidden until Wenda found out he was stashing a ton of testorone pills and confronted him.

-Became best friends and partners in crime, pretending to be 'dating' and being mushy-mushy just to annoy the other two. Didn't work, tho that's not to say it didn't make Wilma slightly peeved.

•》Misc.《•

* Despite going low contact with each other, him and Mami still love each other; he just wished she wasn't a pain, and Mami wished he wasn't so "feather-brained" and determined to get that damn cane from "that candy cane". Tough love, one might call it.

* While it's true that did want to be a dentist before becoming a mere sidekick, he actually had a few aspirations, including becoming a ringmaster (source: Waldo at the Circus; if you clicked on the mirrors reflection, it shows Odlaw with off-colored brown hair and the ringmaster's suit.

* Due to not really holding a ton of connections growing up, he grew fonder of animals; praticularlly the ones from Odlaw Swamp and Fritz, his childhood pet ferret. Would go on to have a few of them as pets.

* Out of Waldo and the rest of the group, he's the most tech-savvy; mostly using this to hack and/or pirate stuff online.

-Has every posting social media account yo can imagine the normal person to have; where he often posts his graffti or his animals online

* While he never saw Wenda (2019) again after he graduated the Anti-Wanders' Society, but still wonders about her from time to time, haunting him with what could've happened if he stayed a Wander, if only he wasn't so stupid..

Next Character: Wenda, Wenda, and Wilma (these should be short)

[itsaspectrumcomic]

I have a question, and idk how well it’s going to come across but I’m trying to at least get words down

I think I might be autistic, but my mom says I developed like a normal child. I know having adhd can be linked to a higher chance of being somewhere on the autism spectrum, and vise versa, but I don’t really have problems with eye contact (it’s only very little I do) and I’m not quite sure.

I’ve looked into it, and I know a lot of the symptoms overlap, but I’m wondering if maybe I was misdiagnosed with ADHD or have both? Cause I do sometimes have trouble with tone and faces, but I can usually detect that. I also sometimes want to break down because of everything being too much, but it gives me a headache instead of me actually breaking down.

I’ve been wondering for a few months atp and I’m really confused

Sorry if the wording came out weird but I’m not the best articulating my thoughts into words

Hey, I'm definitely not qualified to diagnose you with either ADHD or autism, but if you relate to autistic traits and experiences it's a possibility - parents aren't necessarily going to notice traits when you're growing up due anything from lack of knowledge to being neurodivergent themselves and assuming everyone had those experiences. If you're wondering about how you were as a child, it might help to look at old school reports to see what your teachers thought about you.

Stress can cause headaches without it necessarily being a meltdown or shutdown, but I'm afraid there's no way for me to tell what you're experiencing from here.

My recommendation if you're wondering about it is to discuss your thoughts with doctor, a therapist, a counsellor etc who can give you professional advice, and maybe take some of the quizzes at Embrace Autism if you haven't already :)

[skiptomy]

Help a disabled trans person get back on their feet

Forcing myself to ask for help. It's really hard for me to do this cause I always feel like I've already asked way too much, but a few kind folks have suggested I do something like this, so I guess here goes nothing.

For more info about what's going on you can check out this post, but the tl;dr is that I'm flat fucking broke right now with no way to get extra income. A lot of my stuff is super old or super broken and at the point where I need replacements that I cannot afford.

So I guess here's a list of stuff, and general prices, though if anyone has better recommendations I'm super open. I'm limiting it to things I actively need rather than just things I want cause that obviously doesn't seem fair to ask folks for.

Bedding: at this point all my pillows are so old they are actively yellowing. My comforter is pretty stained and starting to tear up at the seams and whenever I come home from doing one of my dog sitting jobs I've noticed how much worse my allergies are. Fixing this will drastically help my lungs and sinuses, as well as help with joint support/comfort.

Allergy safe pillows: Usually between 8$-15$ x 2 at least, 4 preferred (joint support)

Cooling comforter: [link] 35$ plus shipping

Allergy safe mattress cover: Most I can find are between 30-50$

Cooling mattress pad: [link] 43$ plus shipping

Med support: This part is pretty self explanatory as to why I need them. But just in case you'd like to know; I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, fibromyalgia, chrons/ibs, asthma, pretty bad environmental allergies, as well as being recently diagnosed with ADHD/Autism. This leads to near constant pain, always constant fatigue, and just general bad vibes y'know? My body is essentially a poorly constructed ball joint doll that thinks it's funny to just sprinkle on the symptoms.

This one is just way easier to do as a wishlist, cause there's a LOT of things that could help and a lot of them are very expensive.

Work: I work as a digital artist, and the biggest thing I'm saving up for right now is a functioning PC, as my current computer continues to crash and is plagued with a whole lot of troubles and has never really had enough RAM to do what I need. Thanks to the incredible people in my life I have a little towards this already, as well as a big discount through one of my friend's jobs. The build that my tech buds and I worked out would suit my needs and keep me going for a good decade or so is about 1,400$. I've got 500$ towards it already that I refuse to touch for anything else (if it's not life threatening), and I'm trying my best to save up on the side, but bills and life keep making that very hard.

I've got Paypal, Venmo (just ask for QR), and Ko-fi.

I also do commissions but those are quite slow going right now because of all the aforementioned problems. But if you don't mind waiting a while (trying to catch up on older ones right now) you sure can put an order in.

If you are able to help, I cannot express how much that would mean to me. But I also completely understand if you can't. It's tough out there. Especially right now with everything going on. In any case, I wish you all the best, and thank you heartily for reading and sharing.