#anyone is welcome to reblog this and i invite autistic folks to share their opinions!

[transastronautistic]

special(ized) interests in The Good Doctor

The Good Doctor gets some things wrong – a main thing being choosing a non-autistic actor to play an autistic character and having a non-autistic person as the main consultant – but also it gets a lot of stuff right. I really like its depiction of Shaun’s special interest in anatomy!

For autistic people, a special interest (or, for a term I prefer as it sounds less patronizing, specialized interest) is a subject of intense interest to the person – it differs from a typical hobby/interest in intensity or focus, to the point that it could be called an obsession.

For an example, I personally have a “typical” interest in various eras of history – I enjoy learning about them, and will totally read or watch something about them if the opportunity arises; meanwhile, I have a special(ized) interest in the Bible and in linguistics – these are areas of intense and lasting interest to me, subjects that I intentionally seek out very frequently, about which I am always excited, about which I will infodump endlessly when given the chance, and that I can go to when I’m bored, upset, overstimulated, or stressed.

While talking about other topics can be difficult and exhausting, getting to talk about or engage in a special interest is actually energizing to many autistic people. We often retreat to our special interest when we need to recharge.

For more on what a special(ized) interest is, see this article.

Anyhow, on to specialized interests in The Good Doctor: one of Shaun’s specialized interests is clearly anatomy / surgery.

(SPOILER FOR FIRST EP OF THE SHOW AHEAD)

When Shaun’s brother dies when they’re both young teens, Shaun is griefstricken. He has a meltdown in the police car that takes him home, and then shuts down – he doesn’t talk, he doesn’t eat, he probably doesn’t sleep. But Dr. Glassman noticed earlier that Shaun was interested by an anatomy textbook; so Glassman pulls it out and opens it to the page Shaun had been on. Shaun immediately loses himself in the book.

It’s not that his grief over his brother goes away, swallowed up by the special interest; rather, the special interest allows Shaun to survive the grief.

Years later, in the timeframe that most of the show takes place, Shaun has become a surgical resident – his specialized interest has taken him all the way through medical school! It allows him to connect to others on his own terms, getting to talk about topics that he likes to discuss. It allows him to help other people live happy lives, something he is passionate about. And he continues to use that old anatomy book as a comfort item; when a disagreement with Dr. Glassman causes him to retreat into a closet to be by himself, he has the book with him to immerse himself in.

Now, while many autistic people become extremely knowledgeable about and are able to make careers out of their specialized interests, not all of our specialized interests have to be “useful” in that way – they can be just for us, and they’re just as valuable that way!

For instance, the weather channel might be another specialized interest of Shaun’s, as he references it fairly often in the show and perseverated over finding a perfect television for watching it. That’s not a particularly “useful” interest, but Shaun enjoys it and finds enjoyment and comfort in it. That’s what matters.

[eeee-lye]

Hello- I have autism myself, and I was wondering- Is there any way to get into a community on here for people with Autism? ^^: I only recently found out I had it, and... don't know where to start-

Hello! I will preface this by saying that I struggle with socialising and connecting with people in general (and my chronic pain makes it harder still). I’ll talk about the things that have gotten me the wonderful connections I do have here, though, and if folks want to add onto this post with what’s worked for them, please do so. I think how to find other people is a skill tough for anyone and tougher by far for autistics.

Firstly, the tag that’s for conversations about autism by autistics here on Tumblr is #actuallyautistic or #actually autistic. If you have a question, or you want to see what other autistics are talking about, please feel free to check out and post in that tag (first five tags on a post that doesn’t contain a non-Tumblr link, otherwise Tumblr won’t pick it up). Folks who are self-diagnosed are absolutely welcome to use the #actuallyautistic tag, and the vast majority of autistics aren’t here for policing it. It just came into being to separate autistics talking autism from allistic parents/relatives/teachers talking autism.

It’s quite common for autistics who want an answer to post a question to that tag–I’ve done it for “hey, is this an autism thing” questions a few times now. Also for complaints, discussions, recommendations and ableism frustration posts. Other folks post art, positivity, sensory hacks, stimming–anything they think other autistics will find useful or relevant. I’ve never seen anyone object to other autistics reblogging, discussing and interacting on their posts in that tag, as long as everybody keeps it respectful–and I find the autistic community, in the main, to be decent about that.

Secondly, please feel free to talk about your own experiences and feelings on your journey as an autistic, because most of us relate hard to these sorts of conversations. Talk about the positives, the frustrations, the random, the odd, anything. Honestly, I think I’ve found most of my followers and friends by having opinions and voicing them here! There’s risks in that, but the positive conversations and interactions far, far outweigh the negative ones, and it is wonderful to find people sharing my feelings or building on my discussions.

Validation in what we think and feel and know isn’t something we autistics tend to get from allistic society, be we diagnosed or undiagnosed, and I think for this reason autistic folks gladly work to provide it to other autistics.

Thirdly, please feel free to make your own corner of the autistic community. If you want to make a stim blog or an information blog or a positivity blog or a special interest sharing blog, do so. If you see a way in which the community isn’t filling your needs, or you just want to add to the communities that already exist because there’s no such thing as too many blogs, consider this your invitation to give us more spaces to play in. People do come and follow; I’ve people I consider friends–to the point where my life is so much better for having gotten to know them–from my stim blog.

I was thinking the other night–after I told everybody to support autistic creators–that there isn’t much in the way of creativity and media blogs that focus on autistic creators as a sub-community. There’s blogs like @neurodivergent-media​ which look at neurodiversity in fictional media, but not a lot in the way of connecting autistic creators (writers, artists, crafters, musicians, filmmakers, designers, etc) as a group to autistic audiences. I’m sure that’s not the only corner of the autistic community in want of someone stepping in and building it!

Lastly, I’ve listed a few different interaction-heavy and community blogs:

@sbroxman-autisticquestions asks questions about all manner of autistic experiences that autistic people are encouraged to reblog and answer. If you want to get to know other autistic folks, see what they’re saying about autism and autistic experiences, and join in on the conversations yourself, this is a good blog to follow.

If you have questions, you might want to check out @autism-asks​ or @autistickitten​, both of which answer a lot of different questions about autism.

If you’re wanting to know if a particular trait or experience is autistic or related to autism, try @isthisanautistictrait​ and @isthisanautismthing​.

If you want life hacks or information about sensory issues, try @autisticlifehack​ or @sensorypeople​.

For meaningful discussions about social skills tailored for ND people that also addresses the ableism behind how social skills are often taught and applied, I really like @realsocialskills​.

If you want blogs about stim toys, given that many of us stim, check out @stimreferenceblog​, @punkrockstimming​, @safechewablethings​, @yellows-stim-toy-hoarde​ and my own blog @stimtoybox​. If you want more general stimming blogs, try @stims-inc​ and @slimeandspice​.

(If you want a list of autistic stim toy vendors, here’s my master post to get you started.)

@pro-autistic​ and @sweet-autism-things​ are more general autism positivity and support blogs.

@butterflyinthewell​ and @neurowonderful​ are autistic personages of note that talk a lot about autism, autistic media, autistic experiences and autistic advocacy, but also tend more towards the conversational.

Honestly, my best recommendation for finding a place in the community, at least as it exists here on Tumblr, is something simple in theory and far more difficult in practice: be yourself. Talk about who you are as an autistic, what you feel, what you need. Talk about the ways your feelings match those of the community and those that don’t. Talk, and tag it, and respond to posts you find relevant or interesting, and people will find you interesting (because you are). Every autistic has something important to offer and important to say. Every autistic is vital to the community. The good thing about Tumblr is that, unlike a face-to-face conversion, you can take time to think and word; you can pass over posts you don’t want to interact with and focus on the ones you do. It might take time for you to find your place, but it will happen.

Please know that you are an important part of the autistic community and your experiences and thoughts are important and needed. You do not have to be posting every day with thousands of followers to be part of the community. You just have to be autistic.

Under the cut I’ve written a few paragraphs on safety, given that this is Tumblr:

Please note that discourse conversations have changed the timbre of Tumblr interactions, often not for the better. There’s this pressure to never, ever be wrong (voiced aggressively at that) which does nothing to support the exchange of ideas or encourage growth and learning. (Not to mention that some of the never, ever be wrong opinions held in various communities are, in my opinion, either not that correct or try to water down a complex situation.) I find that most autistic spaces are still more accepting of the idea that we can have different opinions or make mistakes, apologise and learn without it being a reflection on a person’s value, and I hope that continues to be the same. We need spaces where we can make mistakes and grow as people without being forever condemned for it. We need spaces where we can respect other differing viewpoints as just different, not necessarily wrong and harmful because they are different.

(Some “wrong” viewpoints cause harm to others. Some of them are just different and we can allow both of them to coexist.)

I wish I didn’t have to write this paragraph, but the truth is that when I am telling someone to talk, I feel obliged to mention that Tumblr is becoming a place where, unless you fit certain proscribed beliefs, talking can be dangerous. Do look after yourself. Don’t allow anon asks if you think it might be risky (I have anon asks allowed on other blogs, but not on this one). Restrict or turn off messages if that makes you more comfortable. Don’t feel you have to respond to hate or viciousness (I have a “block without response” policy because I have better things to do). Don’t feel you have to respond or debate to folks who disagree. You are not obligated to discourse or debate. You are not obligated to justify your thoughts and feelings to those who disagree. You are allowed to pick and choose your responses, to block those who make you upset or uncertain, to unfollow, to curate your interactions with folk to make a Tumblr experience that works for you, to request that people don’t speak rudely or aggressively to you, to ignore things you don’t want to or can’t interact with, to not reveal certain aspects of your identity or experience, to request certain blogs don’t follow you, to not follow popular blogs if they make you uncomfortable or unsafe. Do look after yourself.

In the main, talking has been a positive thing for me–the good interactions far, far outweigh the negative ones, and the validation of having people listen to and agree with me, after a lifetime void of this, is amazing. Knowing what I can do in response to interactions that go off course makes it easier for me to start conversations and voice my feelings; I am prepared for what might come.