#autism and the senses

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

The 8 Senses

The Autistic Teacher

[macdenlover]

it came to my realization that 99% of my fandom related headaches would be cured if everyone understood this

[owlpero]

free will is all about headcanoning your faves as autistic

[genderkoolaid]

i don't know what autistic person needs to hear this but they are not watching you. the entire world is not constantly waiting for you to do something weird and laugh at you behind your back. you do not need to constantly self-police whenever there's the slightest chance another person might see you. you have a right to be your autistic self in public spaces. stop fighting yourself for their sake.

[inbabylontheywept]

she was dead silent on the drive home, but that was okay. sometimes, after band practice, she was just out of words. it was a short drive to her house. the only part where it actually felt weird was after i pulled up her parent’s driveway. 

after that, the silence stretched so far it smeared and left a weird residue. she kept looking at the car door like she wanted to leave, so i looked at the door too, then she looked at me, and i looked at her, and my first thought was that she was going to tell me that the door was stuck. i was used to that car always doing some damn thing. it was the car me and all my siblings had learned to drive in, and it was really beat to hell. there were dents all over the body, which we’d unsuccessfully tried fixing up with spackle. it had looked nice for maybe a week, but then the sun wrecked it - the spackle cracked up like the mud on the bottom of a dry riverbed and turned a sort of off yellow-white that made the car looked like it had been molded out of chicken shit. it also had a bullet hole it through the cabin that whistled like a toothless old man whenever the car went above 40, so loud it could drown out the radio, and a cabin that smelled so strongly of bugspray that even the arizona summer we drove everywhere we could with the windows down.

(if you have kids one day, you will maybe, possibly, begin to understand how much i loved that car.)

anyway, i was thinking about what else could possibly be wrong with the chickenshitmobile, and she just kept looking at me, and then i wondered if there was something on my face, and she just kept looking at me, and then the penny dropped and i realized she was trying to work up the nerve to break up with me. 

now, i’d seen her work up the nerve to do things like this before – it could take quite a while. and knowing it was about to happen made the waiting immediately unbearable. 

so i said hey. 

and she looked at me, very startled, and said hey back real small. like she’d been caught. and in a way, i suppose she had. 

and i said it’s okay. you can just say it. i’ll be okay.

i’m always okay. 

and she said: i’m really sorry. 

i loved her, you know? it was highschool, but teenagers are capable of love. the way people love changes over time just as much as the way they stand, or the way they talk, but things don’t stop existing just because they're different. opposite really – a thing only stops changing when it's fully gone.

and i said, nothing to be sorry for, and i meant it. she looked a little relived, and i was happy to give her that peace. then she left. i watched her make it through the front door, because that was just habit at that point, and then i sat there a while afterwards, checking how i felt. and the answer was not good, but good enough to make it home. good enough to limp on. 

so i put my car in reverse, took my last look goodbye, and immediately backed into her neighbor’s car. 

crunch. 

air bags didn't go off, which was good. i left a decent dent in the bumper of the other car. genuinely couldn’t tell if i did anything to my car – anything wrong with it just kind of blended together into the general ecosystem of hand mottled, sun cracked, chickenshit spackle. 

i checked my glove box, and my car insurance info was, of course, out of date. my phone was dead too. as a teenager, my phone was less my lifeline to my friends, and more my tether to my parents, so i wasn’t particularly conscious of keeping it charged. both my fault.

i sat there a few minutes, trying to think of the best way to handle things, and there was only one answer i could think of, and i hated that answer, so i spent a few more minutes trying and failing to think of a better one, and then a few more coming to peace with what had to be done. 

then i went back to knock on my now ex’s front door. 

her dad opened, which i was very relieved over, even if he seemed less than thrilled. he looked me over, and in a firm, but slightly apologetic way said: she does not want to see you right now. 

(i think he assumed i was going to try and talk her out of the break up?)

and i said not here for her. i just backed into your neighbor’s car, and i need to call my dad, but my phone’s dead. could i borrow yours?

and he looked at me, then back at his neighbors car, which sure enough was dented, then he looked at the chickenshitmobile, and if there was something wrong with it, it just kind of blended into the general Wrongness of the car, then back to me, and i could see him imagining the last ten minutes from my pov: getting broken up with, backing into a car, having to walk up to your exes door and borrow a phone, calling my dad to tell him that i just reversed into someone.  

and his expression shifted from stern and apologetic to truly sad, which felt more kind that i deserved. things only got here because i kept fucking up - forgot to look behind me, forgot to replace the insurance forms, forgot to charge my phone. it was my mess, but his sympathy meant the world to me. i probably would’ve cried if he said sorry, or patted me on the back or called me sport, but instead he said

stay out here – i’ll bring you a phone.

and then he left.  

i found a nice spot on the lawn in the shade under a sycamore, then settled into his grass.i was trying not to freak out, and was doing an okay job. he came out a minute or so later, not just with a phone, but a juicebox and a jar of green olives, which really threw a wrench in the whole try not to cry thing. soon as i saw those, a few tears squoze out. i was still hoping i could pass them off as Manly Tears but then he told me that he’d gotten the olives a few weeks before and had been meaning to hand them off to me, and that this was his last chance for that. then i made a sound like a horse drowning in a bog, and he patted my back pretty rough, four solid thumps, like he wasn't sure if i was crying or choking on an olive, and was trying to cover both bases at once.

then he went back inside, and i made a few more bog horse noises while finishing off the rest of the entire jar of green olives, and then i called my dad.

he was about ten minutes away that day, and luckily was home. he drove over, and we went to the neighbor’s house, and from there things actually went quite nice. the neighbor was a retired man who actually said he could fix the dent himself, no need for insurance. he said he appreciated that i didn't just drive off, and i said i was really sorry about his car, and he said he was really sorry about my car, and then he gestured to the chickenshitmobile and i laughed because it really was a disaster on wheels.

then we left.

i thought we were going to head straight home, but instead we went to a gas station, and we both got several slim jims that we folded into thick enough coils that we could put them on a hotdog bun because the growing up mormon equivalent of having a sad brewski with your dad is just choosing to make bad decisions sober. then he took me to the canals and we watched the sun turn all orange and pink, and he looked over at me and said:

brains are good at remembering bad days. so you gotta make sure that a bad day has a good part in it, so you can remember that too. remember that when you have a kid. try to do a good job on days like that - they're going to be a big part of how they remember you.

and then he gave me a big hug and said he was never going to eat another slim jim again.

---

the year after that i went to college, which kicked my butt in new and exciting ways. and on a lot of those bad days, after a test that went sour, or a faux paus that was particularly embarrassing, or some other hardship of my new adult life, i’d stop by the gas station and pick up leathery, half jerkied hotdog before heading to the canals to watch the sun set. i’d take a bite and imagine my dad next to me, grimacing through the slim-jim wad, asking what good thing i was going use that time to remember. 

and in my head, i’d say you, dad. 

i’m going to remember you.

[grasslandgirl]

i'll never get over how fascinating eliot's characterization as a hitter. obviously he's trained- military, hand to hand, weaponry, martial arts- that's to be expected. but so often I think in media about like. the Best Hitters in this genre and etc they're characterized by like? not getting hit. they're sooo good that the avoid every punch and catch every kick in mid air and dodge bullets and etc and that's not Eliot at all. he lets himself get punched in the face. he gets kicked and bowled over and uses that shift in momentum to his advantage. he gets knocked to the ground and the guys he's fighting think he's down for the count for only one moment before Eliot Spencer gets back up. because he always gets back up- but that character trait is Only compelling IF he gets knocked down enough for it to MATTER. and he DOES! and his fighting skills- they're not innate, they're not a natural inclination to fighting, its training and knowledge- he can talk about details and styles at length, he can (and does!) teach the others how to take and throw a punch, which speaks even more to his skill and knowledge and ability. he's the hitter because he's been doing it so long. because he fights to survive and he isn't afraid to get hit and lose the fight to win the battle. god. Eliot Spencer. character of all time

[degenerateshinji]

(read left to right)

nonverbal lu guang the only trope ever

[neurodivergent-mermaid]

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me as my family are all considered carers for me,

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me as i receive disability benefits for my autism

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me as i have special needs so severe i cant even attend school

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me as i am nonverbal

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me as i can't regularly dress, bath, do grooming tasks without help or at all

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me after I've spent months of my life requiring 24/7 1-1 supervision

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me as i am housebound

"Autism isn't a disability" you tell me as i am officially diagnosed with nothing other than autism.

Maybe autism is a disability, and maybe you just don't want to accept you are disabled because of the stigma around disability? All autistic people are significantly impaired in areas of functioning, even if that makes you uncomfortable, that is the truth. And maybe you should spent 1 minute to go and read the diagnostic criteria for autism. That all autistic people meet.

Autism is a disability, and when you advocate that it's not, you are making real world harm, especially for people with substantial support needs.

They don't give disability services to non disabled people, so please, when your advocacy includes limiting services for those of us who need them the most, is it advocacy or are you just harming people who are already in positions that they can't advocate and be as loud as you.

[pien-art]

really fun autism and chronic illness cycle 😀👍👍

[lovelyrottingcrows]

Learning to understand that when hannibal is trending, its not because big news or anything important happened, its just our collective autism syncing up

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Don’t do it people!

Funny ADHD ASD Memes

[greenlings]

love maomao being like maybe the reason that i never understood social interactions is because i wasn't comforted enough as a child. when, little does she know, she's part of the trio of most autistic-coded protagonists the winter anime seasons have ever seen

[sword-wielding-sapphic]

i feel like these things are connected

[halitis]

dc characters as canines/felines!!

so these are obvi just my thoughts.... and most of these will be domesticated, as i think only those of high standing tend to be like. Big cats and wolves and stuff ;p (also fellas i promise this isnt just batfam. its actually mostly arrowfam)

hal jordan - staffy as someone who owns a staffy? this fuck ass dog is so hal coded. feral little freak with such a polite smile :]

bruce wayne - cougar okay hear me out... these guys are fucking SCARY man.... i do not like them :[ they also tend to be quite solitary creatures which i feel fits

clark kent - labrador i think they r so similar.... look at his floppy face. thats clark baby!

[continued under read more]

barry allen - whippet look at those big wet sad eyes.... look at them :[ thats barry!

bart allen - jack russel terrier "um. oh god. have you seen them do their little rat races? where they go in their barns and they chase rats into tunnels and when their owners go to pick them up they fling themselves back so they can keep looking at the rats? yeah that." - @softsadrainy my bart consultant

oliver queen - lion i think that the beard lines up with the mane and i also just think he is a very Proud man.... very liony :3

dinah lance - russian blue what a distinguished little thing! idk. i had a russian blue once and i think they are just so similiar....

roy harper - coyote friendly little guy :D they like to spar and i think they are goofy.

connor hawke - american bobtail idk. i have no reasoning. he just is.

mia dearden - german rex this is a weird breed of cat, in that they typically arent even recognised as a breed. (typically ull just see the cornish rex) but i think these guys are great! they are super smart cats, who when under-stimulated will cause chaos and are pretty playful. anyway i just love them. i think they look goofy :3

jade nguyen - norwegian forest cat i was gonna do a different cat for jade (british shorthair) but then this breed popped up on my searches and i was instantly reminded of her in the yj show. why is that actually just. her.

linda park - cocker spaniel i knew someone who had a cocker spaniel once and the dog was so incredibly funny. was a strange little thing and i loved it! so. therefore its linda. she is also a funny and strange beasst <3

wally west - german shepherd i have no idea Why but wally is absolutely german shepherd vibes. do not @ me or correct me. im right. you can argue with the wall i dont caaare!

damian wayne - cheetah look at this little beast. he's so spiky. they have it in common

[doctorsiren]

Part 2

<- previous | next ->

[gideonnavsenormousbiceps]

currently watching apothecary diaries and the fact that jinshi is so pleased by how much maomao detests him is so incredibly funny to me