#autism friendly gifts for adults

[noisycowboyglitter]

Huggable Baby Bear Plushie - Makes a Heartwarming Gift for New Parents

A baby bear, also known as a cub, is a young bear typically under one year old. These adorable creatures are born small, helpless, and with closed eyes, weighing only about a pound. As they grow, baby bears develop into playful, curious, and sometimes mischievous animals that capture the hearts of many.

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Cubs are dependent on their mothers for the first year of life, learning essential survival skills such as foraging, hunting, and navigating their environment. They often have soft, fluffy fur that provides insulation and camouflage in their natural habitats.

Baby bears are known for their endearing behaviors, including wrestling with siblings, climbing trees, and exploring their surroundings with boundless energy. Their appearance in children's literature, such as "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," has cemented their place in popular culture as symbols of innocence and wonder.

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While undeniably cute, it's important to remember that baby bears are wild animals. In nature, they face numerous challenges, including predators and environmental hazards, as they grow into adult bears capable of surviving independently in their ecosystems.

Autism Awareness promotes understanding and acceptance of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It aims to educate the public about the diverse experiences of autistic individuals, their strengths, and challenges. The movement emphasizes early diagnosis, appropriate support, and inclusion in society. It encourages recognition of neurodiversity and advocates for accommodations in education, employment, and community settings. Autism Awareness also focuses on dispelling myths, reducing stigma, and promoting research into causes and interventions. Ultimately, it seeks to create a more inclusive world where autistic individuals can thrive and reach their full potential.

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Choosing presents for adults with autism requires thoughtful consideration of their individual preferences and needs. Sensory-friendly items like weighted blankets, noise-cancelling headphones, or textured fidget toys can provide comfort. Gifts related to special interests, such as books, art supplies, or collectibles, are often well-received. Tech gadgets that assist with organization and communication may be appreciated. Consider practical items that promote independence, like cooking tools or personal care kits. Comfortable clothing or accessories can also make great gifts. Always prioritize the individual's specific interests and sensory preferences when selecting a present.

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[chronicbeans]

Hi! Since I saw the illustrator wally series I've been exited to request this, it was also sad to see how nobody has yet come with this idea or at least I haven't seen anyone else bring this up so here I come!

It will be interesting how It would work a relationship between Human wally and reader who has maladaptive daydreaming along with autism, I thought of how would it be to meet someone who has to experience something familiar with you. ( since maladaptive daydreaming can be described as a variant of schizophrenia with some small differences ) anyways, I'm a desperate for representation-

ET TU, BRUTE? Omg I maladaptive daydream too (if I am reading it right and you mean to say that you do IT-). My therapist says that I am like, addicted to it lol. My family counselor also likened my case more towards depersonalization/dissociation/a variant of DID due to me only daydreaming myself as other people. This is actually the first time I have heard of it being described as a variant of schizophrenia, but it actually makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it! I need more representation too, so let's do this! I'll try to make it as broad as possible, because everyone daydreams about different things!

Illustrator Wally with an Autistic Reader who Maladaptive Daydreams:

TW: Mentions of Hallucinations, Maladaptive Daydreaming

🖍️ He is a bit confused when he sees you pacing around your living room. He is visiting, and decided to try to surprise you by sneaking up behind you and giving you a gift! Now, though, he is a bit enamored by how you are prancing around, muttering little things to yourself as you seem so carefree and happy in your little world. This is the first time he has seen you like this.

🖍️ You finally end up turning around, in his direction, and your face grows a bit pale from shock and embarrassment. "Uh... Hello... I'm so glad you came to visit!" You try to play it off, but he is too intrigued. Maybe you are like him, and hallucinate, too?

🖍️ You explain what you were doing. You daydream... WAY more often than other people! Intense worldbuilding, character arcs, and more all take place in your head the majority of the day. You like to prance or pace, finding it helpful to feel more comfortable. You also tend to stim in other ways if you cannot pace or prance. The odd facial expressions and mutterings were just you getting in character and reacting to what was happening in your daydreams.

🖍️ Wally is intrigued. It is so... similar, but different, from him. Both you and him are autistic, yes. He's known that for a while, since you told him around the second or third meeting between you two. THIS, though, is so amazing to him. He wants to know more about the stories in your head!

🖍️What do they consist of? Are they horror? Romance? Action? Comedy? He wishes to know. Are you in them? Do you play someone else? Is it from a third person perspective, watching over your creations? If it is something child friendly, maybe you can write a book and he can illustrate it!

🖍️ Even if it is something more... dark, disturbing, overall NOT a kid friendly topic... he would still want to draw it! Maybe he can start to expand his illustrations into more adult books. He is shockingly good at drawing horror, you know. Some of his vent art is a really disturbing treat to view.

🖍️ You might get onto the topic of how both of your conditions are similar and different. You have a lot of characters floating around in your head. Different worlds, stories, everything! Wally does have, in a way, characters, too! The little voices in his head count, right? Sometimes the same one will pop up every now and again. Both of your conditions seem, in a way, uncontrolled. Due to Wally preferring to not use medications, he simply lives with the voices and hallucinations, going to therapy to help him cope and learn to live with it. You just go with the flow, in a way. As far as you've heard, the best and only way to help deal with it is therapy. No real medication or anything.

🖍️ You both are finally happy to find someone similar to yourselves. The best part is that it is similar enough to be familiar, but different enough to have such interesting conversations!

[mandoriana]

HEADCANON - DUNCAN VIZLA (POLAR)

His mother abandoned him at the door of a barracks, and the soldiers raised him together.

Duncan was raised by the military from a young age. His childhood was completely different from any other child's; he never had toys, birthday parties, or any affection. He grew up, from the beginning, as a soldier and nothing else.

He has Post-Traumatic Stress and Autism.

He has no hobbies, but he likes to draw in the dirt/snow when he is alone.

He has almost no reaction to physical contact because his nerves are all destroyed due to his work and childhood. He could be beaten for hours and would only feel a slight discomfort because his body no longer feels as much pain as before. (The only place where he still feels contact is his face, but he wouldn't let anyone touch his face because he doesn't trust anyone.)

He doesn't like cats because he thinks they are ungrateful (he compares himself a lot to cats). He likes dogs, he likes how they welcome him and aren't afraid of him, but he knows he wouldn't be a good owner.

He has felt lonely forever, which is why he had an imaginary friend in his childhood. The imaginary friend was small and kind, totally opposite to Duncan, and was named Adam. Duncan imagined him from a book he stole from the library (The Little Prince).

He feels more comfortable talking to children than adults because children are good and without malice.

He finds insects very interesting and once had a pet tarantula, which was the only animal that lasted long enough under his care, but it was accidentally crushed when Duncan took the tarantula with him to training.

He loves chocolate; he ate it for the first time at 16 and never stopped trying to get some bars of his favorite sweet.

Duncan only takes cold showers.

At 17, he left the barracks and was aimless until he saw a group of men attacking a woman on the street. He killed the whole group without problems, and that's how he met Vivian. She and Duncan quickly became friendly, and she took him to the assassin company where he would work for the next few years of his life.

Vivian was his first in everything. His first kiss, sex, date, girlfriend, etc.

Duncan and Vivian were going to get married, but she abandoned him at the altar, and that's when he lost trust in her forever.

At work, Duncan met several people, one of whom was a 20-year-old named John Wick. The two weren't extroverted enough to call each other "best friends," but they had a very good relationship, so much so that John was Duncan's best man at his wedding to Vivian, and Duncan was John's best man.

Duncan helped John's wife choose a gift to leave for his friend because he knew a dog would be the ideal companion to soothe John's grief.

He didn't attend John Wick's wife's funeral but was by his friend's side when he left the funeral and started crying on the street.

Due to his strict upbringing, Duncan has great respect for the elderly and the military.

He never had good dreams, only nightmares or dreamless sleep.

When no one is around, Duncan likes to spin until he gets dizzy and falls down laughing.

Children are instantly attracted to him, and he is often known as "Papa Bear" among the children.

His body is very warm; no matter how cold it is outside, Duncan Vizla is always warm.

[anarchicstoner]

reading through the gifted kid syndrome tag and literally nothing is about gifted kid syndrome. so here's a friendly reminder that giftedness IS A NEURODIVERGENCE on its own

not just a trait of autism and/or adhd, not just "gifted kid burnout" (y'all really have to stop with this shit)

it's a neurodivergence with its own symptoms, problems, positive aspects, difficulties that show up in social/adult life, ecc

i want my gifted kid content please and thank you

[starflungwaddledee]

AAAHH Hi again!

Ur art, OCs, & comics are SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME & CUTE!^^ I really wanna make more fanart of ur Lil dee! To be honest, your art really inspires me! ✨️

I really hope you enjoy some of my fanart I made of you! (Sorry if i'm rambling) And if it's all right with you, I would like to be your friend. If you want. I really like making new friends! (If that's ok with you)

helloooo! thank you so much for the kind words about my work, i'm so happy if i can inspire you with your own creativity! i've of course enjoyed the pieces you've drawn of starstruck very much! i think i reblogged them? if i missed one let me know! thank you for thinking of her and sharing them with me!!

rambling is also okay anytime! added a cut to trim this down: topics include generational friendships and adult responsibilities therein, and also autism making socialising hard

wrt to being friends, i need to make clear that i'm an adult!

i hope it's obvious that i am quite friendly, and i always love to see folks i recognise-such as yourself!!- around. i'm more than happy to chat in comments/asks and such! if you are in my notifications regularly (especially with comments/tagged reblogs/etc, as those don't get compressed in my activity window) you can assume for now that i'll recognise you and be delighted to hear from you any time, and so i do consider that a baseline of friendship already.

but, while i aim to be kind and approachable to everybody of all ages, and i have several friendly mutuals who are minors, i don't want to be close friends with any minors. i just think it's a safety boundary i shouldn't cross and that it's on me (as the adult) to enforce said boundary.

a mutual of mine (who is also an adult) said that they don't hold extended private conversations with any kids. i think that's a good base rule, especially because i think i'm on the slightly older end of folks in this fandom! if this is the wrong stance to have, i'd happily hear otherwise, as i'm very new to being in a fandom space like this where there are a lot of minors active and wanting to interact with me. i'm doing my best but i'm happy to learn, i genuinely want to make a safe and welcoming space!

i hope this doesn't sound at all negative or like i'm rebuffing you or being rude >_< like i said, i'm friendly!! i consider there to be a baseline of friendliness with people who are taking the time to interact with and leave nice comments on my work already, or who have drawn me gift art and such. and maybe this is a bit autistic of me, but i'm not sure what else 'friends' would entail beyond that point! you can feel free to enlighten me, this could just be my age showing too 😂

[odi-the-oddity]

So can we get an explanation of your au for the mane 6? It sounds cool based on what you said on your flutter shy post!

WELL it isn’t really an au since it’s rlly.. yk, minor changes?

but it’s below cut!!! :D

So, twilight is very backwards, kind but distant, I say she has some autism but it isn’t severe, just affects her socially, and she did become princess still, but it took her way longer, because she didn’t become friends with the girls for almost a year, (my vers they all met in their teens and are just now adults) she runs a huge library, and knows almost everything about magic, and friendship, even if she is t very good at being a friend, she really does try, she spends a lot of time baking with pinkie pie per flutter shys request to help her socially

Rarity is a high fashion designer for manehattan, making dresses for the richest of ponies and even celestia and Luna! She’s their main designer of allllll their dresses and even the crowns/chest plates/and armor, she uses applejack as a model despite her bigger build, since she wants to show a diverse and different line of clothing, which gained her popularity

Rainbow dash is a world champion racer, and even surpassed the wonder bolts, and made her own team! She likes working out by helping Apple jack buck for apples and she tries to carry all the apples just her front hooves and wings (despite flutter shy saying not to) and she loves modeling for rarity in rarity’s line of race wear!

Flutter shy, like I said, is very sentimental and keeps all the little gifts from the girls, she runs a animal clinic with a few other local ponies, and tries to help other ponies who deal with bullying, or other stuff, on her free time, since she understands it and she does try to keep up with her flying classes that rainbow dash set up for her

Pinkie pie owns several huge bakery’s, but stays at her first bakery, making things for the girls and sweets for celestia, she always tries to help twilight leave the library by asking her to come bake or go shopping, and pinkie pie is always dropping off cupcakes or little desserts at fluttershys and uses a lot of applejacks apples, and asks rainbow dash to deliver a lot of her orders, and rarity even helps with the design for her bakery’s! Her pinkie sense is actually a sort of magic since she’s related to alicorns very distantly, and she was adopted! That’s why she’s the more hyper one in her family

-

while it would be nice for them to be perfect, they aren’t, yes they all represent the elements of harmony but they have flaws in my version

-

Rarity can be a snob about someone’s looks, but she corrects herself before saying something rude, and compliments them instead, she also had a terrible habit of talking down to people about their clothes

Twilight has a tendency to read someone like a book and tell them things they don’t want to hear, and she is still working on being more people-friendly, and is reading ways to help with her autism, in a healthy way

Flutter shy can be.. extremely shy, and antisocial like twilight, but she pushes herself to be social, and she doesn’t trust a lot of people, even if she is kind, she won’t let a lot of people see a flaw about her, she tries to be perfect for everyone so she’ll be likes

Pinkie pie has adhd, she can be invasive, annoying, and loud, her friends don’t mind it, especially twilight, who loves the way she doesn’t have to talk since pinkie talks enough for the both of them

Rainbow dash can be haughty, thinking she’s cooler/better than most ponies because of her awards and achievements, flutter shy is helping to be more humble and down to earth but it’s hard for her

Apple jack can be aggressive, and short with people, and pushy, it’s something from her parents passing away, she had to take on a protective role and learned to be gruff from her brother Big Mac, who was quiet, and also short with people

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Thank you for reading <33333

[disabilityhorizons]

# Top Searched Products from Disability Horizons Shop

In this article, we will be discussing the top searched products from the Disability Horizons Shop. These products are designed to assist individuals with disabilities, making their lives easier and more comfortable.

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This book is a practical guide for people with chronic pain and fatigue. It provides strategies and techniques for managing energy levels and reducing pain and fatigue. The book is small and lightweight, making it easy to carry around.

3. 4 Ingenious and Useful Ways to Use Grip Tape

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8. Gifts for Adults with Autism

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9. Peta Easi-Grip Long Reach Toe Nail Clippers

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These products are not only practical but also aim to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. They are designed with the user's needs in mind, ensuring they are user-friendly, effective, and beneficial.

[anime-fan93]

Hello! I’m here for an Encanto matchup please! Thank you so much for doing this by the way!

First things first, I’m an adult so I can’t be shipped with any minors, so no Camilo or Mirabel please. I’m also bisexual, so I don’t mind whether you ship me with a man or a woman. And by the way, I also have autism and stim by pacing if that means anything.

Physically I’m a really short adult, I’m only like 5’ tall (152 cm) because I have multiple disabilities, one of which stunted my growth. I have chronic pain basically everywhere but especially in my joints like my hands, hips, back and knees. Just today I’m wearing arthritis gloves, knee braces, compression socks and a scoliosis brace so I kinda look ready to be hospitalized lol. I also faint a lot because of blood pressure issues, and I have asthma and weak bones too. Medically I’m kind of a mess. Anyways, I also have really long wavy (and fluffy) brown hair, glasses and pale skin with lots of moles and freckles. I’m surprisingly muscular but still really slim. My style also switches between masculine and feminine a lot, and I even tend to combine the two. Today I’m wearing a long ankle-length skirt and also a biker’s cut denim jacket on top with a black t-shirt.

I have a bunch of little nervous habits like knocking on wood to prevent jinxes (like Bruno!), biting my lip when I’m nervous, pacing and flapping my hands, making little noises and humming to myself (kinda like Dolores). I’m also learning Greek and Spanish as second languages! I talk with my hands a lot, and I tell crazy stories from my life. I can imagine Mirabel complaining about Isabela and then I’m just like “My siblings used to put me in a trash can and roll me down the stairs” lol. I would also definitely gift Dolores some headphones because I can get pretty loud without really noticing.

I work as a librarian currently, but I’m also learning screenwriting in hopes of actually working at Pixar someday! I write a ton, I have a journal that I’ve kept going for years now, and I’ve picked up a lot of different crafts like sewing and leatherworking.

I’m very polite and extremely friendly, including being really bubbly and excitable. I feel like, maybe aside from the denim jacket, I might be the kind of person even Abuela would like lmao. I shake people’s hands when greeting them and am generally very polite and a little nervous. But it’s easy for me to make people laugh because I have a witty and sarcastic sense of humor, especially combined with my weird life stories. I’m really soft and surprisingly good at giving advice, I’ve often been called “wise beyond my years”. Unfortunately I can be really stubborn and am not quick to forgive, but that’s something I’m trying to work on. I also have a habit of always trying to stay busy and I don’t really know what self care is sometimes, oops.

But yeah, I think that's about it! Sorry if this was too long, I got excited haha. I look forward to seeing who you'll ship me with! Take care of yourself and drink lots of water, bye!

Thank you for requesting!

I match you with...

Pepa!

Even before you two started to date, you would always keep the sun shining and bright when you were around her! Your loudness and energy while talking would match her's, and she would always help massage the areas that were hurting you.

She would talk to you and do fun activities with you while you're nervous to distract you, and would be your No. 1 supporter. She would always stand slightly behind you and would be quick to catch and care for you if you fainted.

She would definitely understand you not being quick to forgive, but would know just how to handle your stubborn moments. She would also help you learn Spanish by having conversations with you in the language to help you become more fluent, and would try to learn Greek with you, the skies becoming more cloudy as she gets frustrated.

She would love your style, and would always adore when you talk with your hand, and would even pick up some of your gestures from being around you and thinking of you so much. Overall, she would absolutely love you!

I hope you enjoyed!

[neurodiversityisamazing]

Autism and ADHD Coaching

Hello,

I wanted to reach out to the Tumblr ADHD and/or Autism community to let you know I am offering Neurodiversity coaching for adults. I am offering virtual meetings, with short initial meetings to see if we are a good fit and if you think continuing the sessions would be interesting or helpful for you.

First session = 30min session for $15

The $15 will be asked at the end of the consultation, contingent on your satisfaction.

If you wish to continue to more sessions we can discuss timing that you feel fit your specific needs. In general, my rate will be $30 for 1 hour sessions.

So, if you are interested in:

getting guidance on whether you might have ADHD or Autism, and if you are interested in pursuing an official diagnosis, what that can mean and how to go about it through official channels

learning ways to work WITH your brain instead of against it

just want someone to listen who understands what it's like to be neurodivergent in a neurotypical world

show you new ways of looking at mental health

help you identify your gifts and talents

Please text me at 215-450-5814 if you have additional questions or to set up a session time!

Or please visit my website at brainhacking.org

Things of note:

I am not an official doctor or a liscense, I CAN NOT give you any official diagnosis or access to medication

I am neurodiverse myself (both Autism and ADHD) and while I was assigned female at birth I consider myself agender

I am a scientist and have a degree in Neuroscience with specialties in Neurodevelopment and Psychiatry

I believe strongly in improving quality of life and not cure research

I am an expert in neurodiversity and do a lot of neuroadvocacy work to the point I am considering achieving the degrees needed to make this kind of coaching official

I am currently working on creation of new scales that address ACTUAL symptoms of ADHD/ASD/C-PTSD instead of the white male child in a classroom focus they have in the DSM. I excel in AFAB symptoms or atypical male symptom presentation.

Something of additional note.... I have 2 friendly cats, one of which is a 4-month old kitten and both are likely to cameo during calls.

Mentioning this for no particular reason ;)

[drrogerjou]

CASY Cultural Autism Studies at Yale (ethnography project led by Dr. Dawn Prince-Hughes) welcomes the return of Lindsey Biel, MA, OTR/L on Monday, October 7, 6-7 p.m. EDT (3-4 p.m. PDT) to discuss, “Interoception, Physical Well-Being, and Autism.” There is no cost to attend, and international participants are welcome. RSVP online through our meetup group https://tinyurl.com/bdhyef7j

DESCRIPTION: Interoception, Physical Well-Being, and Autism. To feel and function optimally, having a fully embodied experience of interoceptive (physiological state), proprioceptive (internal body map), and vestibular (movement) senses is enormously helpful. This discussion will explore practical strategies for tuning in, moving, and strengthening to increase comfort and well-being in daily life.

BRIEF BIO: Lindsey Biel is a longtime advocate and ally to the autistic / neuroexpansive community. She is an occupational therapist with a private practice in New York City. She teaches workshops for parents, therapists, teachers, doctors, and other professionals across the country and overseas. She is the co-author of 𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥: 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘐𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 and author of 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴: 𝘌𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘒𝘪𝘥𝘴 & 𝘛𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴. Her work has been published in the 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘈𝘋𝘋𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 and other publications. She has partnered with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to create sensory-friendly spaces where those with sensory sensitivities can enjoy art, co-authoring the 𝘎𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘮𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘛𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘵.

About Cultural Autism Studies at Yale (CASY, ethnography project led by Dr. Dawn Prince-Hughes). An 'ethnography' is an exploration of how a group of people express themselves in a cultural way. Autistic people have a growing kind of culture, and each autistic experience is a vital part of it. Dr. Dawn Prince-Hughes is an anthropologist, ethnographer, primatologist, and author who is autistic. Join her for an exploration of the importance of autistic self-expression and the culture that grows from it. Those who wish to share their content are free to do so on our private Facebook group (see below), organically contributing to a growing autistic culture.

Links to online events will also be shared on these private Facebook groups: SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY FOR AUTISM (http://tinyurl.com/mrxnxmnc) or CASY Cultural Autism Studies at Yale (http://tinyurl.com/4ckbyut7).

CREDITS: The preparation of this material was financed under an agreement with the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities (CTCDD). CASY Sparks membership, activities and events are free. CASY Sparks is sponsored in part by The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Adult Autism Research Fund, and a generous gift from the Rosen family, and the research of Dr. Roger Jou.

[nightfallsystem]

I posted 5,257 times in 2022

That's 5,257 more posts than 2021!

1,221 posts created (23%)

4,036 posts reblogged (77%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@nightfallsystem

@catboy-collective

@hungry-hyena

@nostalgebraist-autoresponder

@parotcardsroxy

I tagged 2,027 of my posts in 2022

#endo safe - 70 posts

#endogenic - 68 posts

#system - 66 posts

#plural - 63 posts

#art - 62 posts

#my art - 61 posts

#stanley anon - 59 posts

#endogenic friendly - 56 posts

#plural system - 53 posts

#actually plural - 51 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#awwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the skrunkly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 double tap i

I sent 1 gift in 2022

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

basil sprites for your enjoyment

See the full post

917 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

#4

stolen from an anti-mogai person

1,008 notes - Posted September 11, 2022

#3

EVERYONE!!! GREAT NEWS!!!

AUTISM!!!!!!!

1,182 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

#2

normalise..

autistic people who dont stim

autistic people who stim publicly

autistic people who stim a lot

auitstic people who arent "seen as autistic"*

autistic people who arent diagnosed

autistic people who self diagnose

autistic people who got diagnosed as an adult

autistic people who cant get a diagnosis

autistic people who do not want to be diagnosed

autistic people who dont get special interests or hyperfixations

autistic people who are proud of their autism

autistic people who are very social

autistic people who are not social

autistic people who can make eye contact

autistic people who cannot make eye contact

autistic people who view their autism as a good thing

autistic people who are "cringey"

autistic people who use autigenders/neurogenders

autistic people who talk a lot about their autism

And lots more! all autistic people are valid!

( anti self dx, transautistic/supporters, pro-cringe culture, anti-xenogenders/anti-neurogenders DNI please, your comments will be deleted. )

2,503 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Favourite ship dynamic

(btw he's happy ABT not being in a relationship)

(thank you to @otterpenguiny for the image id in the alt text)

3,057 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

----

WHY IS MY MOST REBLOGGED BLOG MYSELF??!??!??? HOW

[noisycowboyglitter]

Chessboard Funny Cute DIY: The Perfect Gift for Chess Lovers

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[ghostietea]

Furuba autistic headcanons

With it being April, or autism acceptance month, I wanted to finally drop my list of characters from Fruits Basket that I read as autistic! This is based a lot on my own experience, as well as that of other autistics I know or have seen talk online. I hope some people can get something out of it, feel free to tell me what you think 😊, though please refrain from getting upset that I would dare suggest your fave is autistic.

Hanajima

Before becoming able to better control her powers, she would be constantly overwhelmed by the things she heard to the point that she couldn't even really go out in public. This reads a lot like sensory overload.

Constantly picked on in school because other kids thought she was weird. Eventually reclaimed this weirdness and turned it into a whole persona.

Seems to talk usually in a relatively flat tone.

Had trouble socializing with no friends outside her family until middleschool.

Has a very funny, dry sense of humor that I find very similar to a bunch of autistics I know, including myself.

Hatsuharu

Listen. You have seen the funky little man, you have seen the way he talks, the way he acts around others. He is, and I mean this in the best way, a weirdo. I do not know how you could look at him and see a neurotypical.

Once again, like Hana, Haru is funny in a way that feels very autistic.

Very flat, dry, tone delivery. Sometimes just Says Things that make everyone else go huh??? Suuuuper blunt. Doesn't emote facially a lot of the time.

When this man sees a social norm he doesn't get he WILL NOT follow it. Pierces his ears just because his hair got flak, defends Momiji wearing whatever he wants because sometimes y'know the social rules are just dumb and don't make sense. Especially dress codes.

Sometimes says things not befitting the current tone of the situation.

Represses (masks) a lot of his emotions, leading to outbursts that seem uncharacteristic.

His main childhood trauma revolves around adults branding him as "dumb" and ridiculing him. Haru, however, is super smart and wise!! Just in an offbeat way that not everyone may get.

Machi

Reads as very "flat" emotionally to the point that others would call her boring. Also has a flat vocal delivery.

Relies on specific habits or ways of doing things or else she gets super upset (her hatred of imperfection.

Has trauma surrounding adults completely misconstruing her intentions and thinking she's doing something malicious when she's not.

Generally behaves in a way that's hard for others to understand, one of her formative moments with Yuki was him saying he wanted to "see how the world looks" through her eyes.

Once again, trouble socializing.

Tries super hard to please her parents but in the end they still see her as somehow inherently "defective."

Listen. A lot of this one and the last two are mostly vibes, hard to verbally define. You just have to look at them and trust me.

Tohru

Displays behavior very reminiscent of masking throughout the story, a huge part of her arc is about how she hides a lot of herself and has a very controlled persona. I think it would fit very well if she had other autistic behaviors that she suppresed also it helps explain why she is relatively socially adept, it's learned behavior to make people like her more.

Yes she is very good at saying what others need to hear, but especially early on she is pretty blatantly imitating her mother's words. She only gets better at getting through on a more personal level later on (see her with Rin and Akito v. early series Tohru). She does this by relating her own experiences, a very autistic way of showing empathy that often gets us written off as self centered. The way she relays things her mom said could also be seen as this, and she even worries at a few points that she's being insensitive for going on about things like that.

While emotionally repressed she is hyper empathetic and feels other's emotions so strongly she cries.

Her speech patterns are all imitated from her father and she often copies verbal things from others (see Ritchan-san). Noted in canon that people think her way of speaking is slightly off/not befitting of someone her age. Additionally, her father was polite more sarcastically, while she plays it straight and sometimes takes things very literally or fails to get the message, indicating trouble with reading tone. Has numerous strange verbal tics, including saying parts of her internal monologue out loud without context.

Very expressive with her hands including waving them around and flapping them up and down.

Does have a bit of trouble with accidental insensitivity in social interactions, like how she constantly fixates on her mom and realizes that might bug the Sohma.

Has trouble paying attention in school since it doesn't have much to do with her interests

Her only friend until she was a middle schooler was her mom

Has a pretty unique outlook on things compared to others, people seem to think she's pretty eccentric. There's always a "this girl is nice but in an odd way, she's our weirdo and we love her" vibe.

Sometimes has an "inappropriate" emotional response to situations

Has a lot of trouble with change, similar to Akito. Which oh, look at the time, next hc coming up.

But first, a disclaimer. It is cathartic for me to read Akito this way, but with that reading comes the baggage that she would, mayhaps, be showing a more negative side of things... It doesn't bother me since it's a joint hc with other characters and she does develop at the end but yeah, general villain hc baggage. This is in no way me trying to excuse her being The Worst being autistic doesn't absolve you of being able to do wrong . Also, a lot of these points can and do have other explanations related to her upbringing, but things can be for more than 1 reason. With that said, she really strongly comes off as autistic to me, in a way that's sorta hard to explain. I wrote a lot more for her than the other, both because I felt I needed more to convince people and that this headcanon was more sensitive and I needed to be careful in my explanation. Also hey! She's my special interest within a special interest.

Akito

Shown to have a dislike of summer weather due to heat and brightness, could be due to sensory issues in tandem with sickness things. Also covers her ears when people raise their voice sometimes which is partially her trying to shut down opposition but also 🤔 can read a different way. She'd also avoids louder Juuni like Ritsu and Ayame because she can't handle them.

Wears pretty much the same outfit every single day. Said outfit is also pretty loose fitting.

Always seen sitting in a pretty unconventional way. Evidence:

Of course this is also the isolated in a cult thing and there is a level of her purposefully doing things to intimidate but: doesn't follow a lot of social rules (overly touchy with strangers, legit doesn't get that what she's doing is wrong, ect.). Repeatedly confused when people indicate she should act otherwise without explanation. Has a breakdown when this comes to a head and approximately says that "they" shouldn't expect her to know "common sense" if "they" never explained it to her, that the way that she was was her "common sense."

Often talks in a way uncharacteristic of her age when shown as a child in a more faux mature/pretentious way. Might just be the translation and idk how to explain it but her speech as an adult also seems off from what one would normally use in conversation. Additionally, when she tries to fake being friendly in her intro chapter, it comes of as extremely stiff and unconvincing.

Generally displays behavior that could be thought of as childish as an adult, but a lot of this behavior could also read as autistic (covering ears, emotional deregulation and meltdowns, ignorance of basic social norms, ect.). It's also important to note that she knows that this behavior makes her seem younger and more helpless to the older zodiac and uses it as a manipulation tactic. Has issues regarding people treating her like a child or only hanging out with her because of pity. While she does weaponize it, we can tell that this grates on her, as seen with her finally blowing up on Kureno, which is partially triggered by the maids saying some sorta infantalizing stuff about her. Irl, a lot of autistic adults and teens struggle with being infantalized for our behavior generally or treated as little babies that can do no wrong. Even in fandom, you see people doing stuff like jumping to call autistic adult characters, such as Entrapta from Shera, "minor coded." It is also common for us to have at least one bad experience with someone hanging around us out of pity. This is something that really gave me a similar feeling in Akito's arc. She's not a baby and she can understand and do better if she is given the chance to learn and break from all the freaky cult indoctrination she's been subjected to instead of just being constantly enabled. In the end, a lot of her growth is represented by her showing that she is capable of changing and being independent.

Shows particular difficulty with socialization, often sits by herself spacing out at social events. A lot of her fear is rooted in the fact that she doesn't know how normal relationships work, becoming overly reliant on the curse because she doesn't know how to make friends.

Clings desperately onto the notion of being "special" and in some way superior to others to be worthy and to make up for perceived inherent "flaws." It's the nd gifted kid burnout vibes for me.

Easily bothered by things that don't bother others. Feels emotions very strongly to the point of getting physically ill and has bad emotional regulation.

Relatively good at reading others in an analytical sense (though has more trouble when it comes to seeing how they feel about her since she's wildly delusional) but brings up her observations in a very cold, detached way and hurts people even on the rare occasion she didn't mean to. Has extreme trouble connecting to others and understanding their point of view. This makes her come off as pretty unempathetic even though that might not fully be the case. Also thinks that people like Momiji are trying to look down on her when they try to empathize with her. A lot of why Tohru can get through to her is that she manages to convince Akito that she's not condescending by relating shared traits and experiences. As I said earlier, autistics often empathize by sharing their own experiences with someone, and I know I often have an easier time confiding in other autistics because of a fear of being seen as lesser by those that don't understand me. I think the connection between these charachters and the way that Tohru manages to reach Akito like that while others couldn't makes a lot of sense through an autistic lense!

Additionally, when Akito herself gets around to trying to help others instead of just projecting trauma, she tries to reach out to the old maid by relating back to her own experiences. This however, doesn't work.

Has "cold" emotional reactions sometimes even to things that do make her upset. For example, how sort of calm and detached she acted after her father's death can make her seem uncaring. However, we know that this event did mess her up a lot and she is still (poorly) dealing with a lot of grief from the death of her father years later.

Copies mannerisms from others, the most blatant example is with Ren, who she directly parrots lines from as a child to Yuki.

Partly just her posturing, but gestures a lot with her hands when she talks. Also seen several times clutching her hands in her hair.

Deals extremely poorly with the idea of things changing to the point that it is a driving force of the story.

Does not understand when people tease her.

Ect. Ect. Ect. Listen, I could go on for ages but just trust me, the mean gremlin lady is autistic.

[passport-guardian-benrey]

👉👈Matchup?

I'm nonbinary afab 5'5", chubby, blue eyes, and pale as fuck. I have wavy long colorful hair with a side shaved. poly/pan

My friends say I'm too nice... to a literal fault. I just think I'm very patient and understanding.

Annoying, repetitive jokes and teasing, however, is my love language. I love it when people do it back!

I'm 80% dad jokes, and the definition of beating a dead horse. Don't ask me what time it is unless you are prepared to hear me say "Time to get a watch." Every. Single. Time. My favorite response to get out of this is definitely people wishing me physical harm and mock violence.

I'm very stubborn, and will argue over facts until proven wrong. I don't get sore about being wrong though, I just really enjoy friendly arguments and debates.

I have adhd, ptsd, depression and anxiety disorders. (And maybe autism? But I haven't been tested for that one.) I'm frequently forgetful, and easily distracted. I'll probably ask for things to be repeated a ton because I have auditory processing issues and I also don't pick up on subtlety or social cues so I'll ask for clarification a bunch as well. So I need a lot of patience from my S.O's

I love suggles! I will want to cuddle and pet and hug a lot. I crave physical affection from friends, family and significant others 24/7.

I'm a creative soul and I love people taking the time to make things with me. Or even make things for me! Handmade gifts are best gifts.<3

I love listening to people ramble. When someone goes on and on about someone or something they're passionate about, I just love it!

and I'm drawn to chaotic energy.

Sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoy this!

I think a good match for you would be . . .

BlackLight!

Of course an aged up version if you're an adult

He finds your hair really cool! Also He's okay with you being nonbinary and respects your pronouns

He likes that you're nice, but he will probably get annoyed by your jokes sometimes

He does want to be right in arguments, so yeah, he doesn't want you to be mad at him because of those, so if anything goes a bit too much on his side he will apologize

He Has a "mother" with depression, ptsd and anxiety, so he knows how to deal with most of the problems you may have with those disorders

He's organized, so anything you may forget, He's remembering for you and reminding you, He's patient

He doesn't mind you asking for repeating, it's better to repeat than have a misunderstanding

He really loves hugs! He will give you a lot of them

He's an artist, he mostly does scrapbooking, he would love to do something with you and for you

He does ramble a lot, they're mostly vents and rants about stupid situations from the day, but he does ramble about his interests and opinions too

While he isn't chaotic himself, chaotic people are drawn to him, so he Has to deal with that

[lizord-lord]

The Invisible Language

(This is a vent fic. I was struggling with having to dump a friend yesterday and it got me dwelling on my social struggles..and so I tried my hand at actually writing a fic to project all my problems through! XD)

(For anyone who doesn’t know, I have autism-Aspergers specifically, and I totally 100% headcanon Logan as an aspie. I have this post detailing why. So..for those of you who also stan autistuc Logan (and maybe a bit of ADHD Roman) here is this, me basically throwing my entire life story on our poor nerd and I am so sorry but also not XD. Also, the book I mentioned is very real, and I actually own it. It’s really useful, if a bit dated and heteronormative)

Warnings: Descriptions of sensory overload (similar to a panic attack) social struggles, very brief mention of selfharm, mentions of fistfights and minor physical violence.

Ships: none, but you can probably see my logicality heart in there lmao

The Invisible Language.

It was all just so complicated now.

Or rather, now he knew how complicated it was.

Before, Logan had always just thought he was bad with people. That was fine. It fit, with his habit of staying inside with his nose in a book. The socially awkward, introverted nerd who wasn’t good with kids.

It was simple.

But that’s the thing. Life isn’t simple. And neither was Logan. Even as a six year old.

The socially awkward, introverted nerd, from what he’d seen on tv, would have cried or just silently tried to make due when another kid ‘accidentally’ spilled tomato juice all over his copy of Alice in Wonderland. Logan Sanders leapt from his desk, grabbed the kid’s wrist, and yanked him down so his head smashed into the wood.

The socially awkward one was laughed at. Logan was sent to the office.

Time and time again this would happen. Until he turned eight, and his parents pulled him out of school. He was homeschooled after that, and it was simultaneously like a breath of fresh air and entering a stifling hot room. He was free of the children, free to discover on his own, but he found himself itching for more, to ask questions about things his parents could answer, to do projects he’d heard about online but often ended up screaming in his attempts to recreate them because it wasn’t explained, why this, why that, how do I do that, it doesn’t make sense!!

Homeschooling was a blessing and a curse. He made due. He did well in fact, almost all of his online courses were marked complete with a neat 100 for the score. It was enough for them, but not for him.  Eight year old Logan hated it. Ten year old Logan was used to it.

Eleven year old Logan dug his heels into it.

Middle school. His parents wanted to send him back. He understood their reasoning, the rational half of his brain did. Middle school was a big change, adolescence, and the middle ground before high school, which he always knew he would be going to-you can’t get college credit from online courses and library books after all, not the ones he was using. It would give him time to prepare. And yet he was a creature of habit, so used to his solitary life..

Logan has no choice however.

On the first day he stepped inside, armed with only the knowledge of American Girl books he’d skimmed through (who cared if they were meant for girls, they didn’t write helpful guides for boys!) and distant memories of elementary school. The first weeks went by as a blur, and Logan ate it up. The assignments, the grades, the smirk he always found himself wearing when he placed his assignments in the bin. That triumph didn’t even compare to the rush of pride and satisfaction he felt when the teacher told the class that he test they’d been given was apparently too hard, many kids failed and only one student actually got a perfect score, and his paper was handed back with a 100 written on the top.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t hold the paper up a bit and catch the eyes of the numerous people who stared at him with no surprise in their eyes.

Logan even found friends in those first few weeks. A darkly dressed kid who, much like him, never really knew where to go during paired projects and ended up working with him. He found that Virgil was actually very bright, a relief when he looked around the room to see people talking and not doing anything useful. The pale boy was quiet, but listened as Logan chattered away about his  plans for the assignment.

Patton was next, a round-faced boy who seemed to share at least a few words with everyone he saw. Logan didn’t mind that. He wasn’t a lazy student, maybe a bit easily distracted, but when he was sat next to Logan in science his work quality was always at least a solid B, as long as he was shushed every now and again. He seemed better with people too, and Logan found himself enjoying his company.

Then there was Roman. He was introduced to their little trio by Patton, who apparently shared a drama class with the tanned boy. He was..a handful. And yet Logan found himself challenged by him. Their friendship was an unusual one, full of debates that more often than not ended in yelling, but at least they started off with intelligent points and interesting ideas-and if often Patton had to break off their passion so neither of them landed with lunch detention, well that was the price to pay.

He was enjoying himself here.

Then the second month. Logan remembered where he was when a redheaded girl told him he was wrong in that ‘you’re a moron’ tone when he told her that actually, the word for the study of space was astronomy, not astrology. When a boy in a green sweater had blatantly ignored him when he asked him to stop scooting his chair across the hard floors. When an entire group of people had continued to call him Logie even though he’d told them over and over he hated it. Many of them seemed to do it just because it annoyed him. This went on. Every day another simpleton would disrespect him. Every day he’d tell him to stop. Often he’d snap at them, or swear. That always got him snickers in return. And Logan found himself clenching his fists as his whole body burned red hot.

It happened again a week after this started. A boy with a Minecraft t-shirt cut him off in the lunch line, and when Logan told him to go to the end, the boy only scoffed and responded with “Are you in kindergarten?” in a tone that made his blood boil with how fucking snotty it was.

Logan’s hand was fisted in the back of that obnoxious t-shirt and pulling back with all its might before he could think.

The boy ended up on the floor crying, and Logan ended up suspended.

There were more incidents that year. Mostly yelling or swearing, but minor physical violence was not unheard of. It was common even.

Logan didn’t want that. He wanted to be cool, to drop the bullies and idiots with bullets of intelligence from his tongue, but everything he tried a witty comeback they’d give him either confused looks, no acknowledgement as all, or retort with ‘Your mom’ jokes, a sort of ‘insult’ that required barely a single brain cell to perform.

They never listened. They were stupid, childish, disrespectful. Logan stuck only to his three friends and the many teachers he’d grown quite friendly with, They liked him after all, he was precocious and that was something teachers always found fun. with adults, he also found he could make himself actually heard, his theories, ideas, suggestions, it was a glorious freedom he had previously only had with Patton, Roman, and Virgil.

But things didn’t get that much better.

In fact, in seventh grade Logan found his outbursts getting worse. They were farther and fewer between, but the eventual rage that would explode was far worse than before. It was like the dam that held back his rage had grown stronger, but that meant it took more water to barrel it over, and that sent far more devastating floods down the peaceful valley of his mind.

In eighth grade, he got into a fistfight with a boy who had called Roman gay as an insult, not knowing that it was true or that the word should not be used in such a manner. When the boy refused to listen to Logan’s explanation of what the word meant and instead switched tracks to scoffing every time he said it was a normal and perfectly acceptable, beautiful thing. And by the time the midget of a bigot tossed in the dreaded f-slur Logan’s mind was so crimson he only felt a rush of relief when his fist connected with the boy’s head.

It was two weeks of suspension for that. And it was during that time that Logan’s mother revealed something to him that he had never expected.

Tales of his childhood-or babyhood rather, where he had exhibited strange behaviors no other parent seemed to have seems.

“I think you might have Aspergers,” she had said.

And now, here he was. He couldn’t believe it had taken her this long to tell him of her suspicions. But now Logan was sitting on his bed, the blanket covered with constellations, staring at the cover of a book.

It was a familiar scene.

But this wasn’t a book chosen by Logan’s own hand, or by the school, or even a recommendation from his parents or a loan from his younger sister Abby.

It had been gifted to him by the man at the Autism Center.

The Asperkid’s Secret Guide to Social Rules.

He’d read the whole thing.

Before, he’d thought he was just awkward.

But no. Of course it couldn’t be that simple. It wasn’t that he just didn’t know that w to say. He was. missing an entire way of communicating that people his mind now knew as ‘neurotypicals’ spoke in without realizing it.

The secret language. Body language, facial expressions, tone, he knew that all existed yes..but he’d never seen it. At least not in the subtleties the book described. And all these double meanings of phrases? So the dark-skinned girl who had asked him what he was reading during math class didn’t want to just read the back and learn Sherlock Holmes’ latest mystery? She’ wanted to get to know him?

Why didn’t she just say so!

It was so much more complicated now. The vague, yet simple term of ‘weird’ was replaced by the vast, yet specific, confusing, and multifaceted word that was autistic. A word he’d never have expected to apply to him. Mental health went really a subject he’d looked into, feelings were too wound into it.. and feelings had always been his greatest vice.

So now, with that book in his hand, he thought.

There was a whole other world he couldn’t see..that’s what he had been missing all this time? was the specific shifts in tone in posture people made-what he’d always thought to be absently-something his parents expected him to understand and that was why he always seemed to have to be elbowed when running his mouth?

It was like….like telepathy. Yes, to Logan, the cues he now found himself putting extra effort into finding; his sister’s slightly hunched shoulders at the dinner table, his dad’s slightly turned up nose when he mentioned his history teacher, were a sort of telepathy that the ‘normal’ population all shared. But it wasn’t as if it was that simple. Of course, it was tauntingly, agonizingly complicated. You see, these people were all telepaths, sharing cues in an invisible tongue-and yet, none of them knew they were telepathic. And yet still, they all expected everyone else to be.

So that was why he was strange. Logan had looked up how much of communication was non-verbal - he felt his eyes go wide when he saw the percentage dedicated to ‘body language’.

Fifty-eight percent.

Fifty-eight percent.

What else could he have missed?

Logan was both happy and uncomfortable with the diagnosis. He now knew terms, words, blessed reasons for his little ticks, why he felt like something was terribly wrong for at least an hour just because he’d had to take an alternate route to school (routine disruption), why was such a picky eater (finickiness caused by sensitivity to textures and certain flavors/smells), why people always responded with confusion whenever they saw him pepper the science teacher with question after question, challenge after challenge like he was trying to understand how the universe wove itself in the span of five minutes, and looked surprised when Roman asked him if he knew why Patton was being quiet. Logan had responded with a simple no, informing the other that Patton hadn’t told him-and when the slightly taller boy had suggested that he ask, Logan realized the thought had never occurred to him.

Most importantly, it explained what Roman had dubbed ‘The Fitness Fiasco’. To sum it up, Logan had thought of a new game for their groups to play in gym class—something besides basketball for once in their lives, and yet as he tried to explain, the girl who seemed to have taken charge of the group he was trying to explain the idea to kept talking over him, ignoring him, challenging what he said—and the noise. The noise, how all the chattering and the sound of balls bouncing on the floor, the rage he felt at being slighted in this way, how it had attacked him. How he’d suddenly found himself tensing, wanting to run or to yell, unsure which, how the sound turned solid and pressed in-his muscles going taut, his hands twitching with every word from the students mouths,  how his arm violently jerked away as Patton tried to comfort him- And then the scream. He’d screamed at the top of his lungs for quiet, falling to the ground and sobbing in the fetal position—eyes screwed shut behind his glasses and hands clamped tight to his ears, unsure of what was even falling from his mouth aside from the fact that he was begging, begging for silence. It had only quieted a bit as people turned to stare, and then he’d felt hands on his shoulders, ones he jerked away from—but no one knew what to do. Virgil’s low whispers for him to breathe, to use the 4-7-8 method that the emo always used to calm his own panic attacks, was only met with more incoherent begging for silence. It had been Patton who rescued him, who brought the teacher over and ended up guiding the sobbing Logan to an empty classroom. There he had been met with silence. There he felt his terrified bawling turn to weeping with relief. In the silence, he’d recovered, his muscles lost the tension, and he allowed the freckled boy to wrap him in a hug.

He’d only been able to call it a panic attack before. But now he knew the term. Sensory overload, brought on my the noise and the stress.

It had been a relief just to know that. To know that in moments when he stood among too many people, feeling his muscles clench as their shoulders brushed his, that his hands should not go out to push them away, but to his ears, to block out the trigger.

It became a cue, when debates with Roman got heated—they were friends after all, if rivals as well, and it was understood that if Logan’s jaw suddenly clenched and his hands went up to cover his ears, they had to pause for at least a minute.

But of course, knowing where the holes in his social skills were led to Logan compensating, and it didn’t..always feel natural. He found himself staring at people, trying to read their faces, for a little too long on many an occasion, or overreacting to something because he’d overanalyzed the tone. He found himself having to bite his tongue on many an occasion to keep himself from simply explaining why he did what he did to his parents, who would only take it as making excuses.

It was a balance of the good, the bad, and the ugly. He understood now that his all-or-nothing attitude was why he found himself simply not doing projects if he couldn’t grasp the material—and this led to him having to more often than not, swallow his pride and ask for help when he was getting frustrated. Yet the same black-and-white philosophy got him gasps of shock from Roman when he explained that, in the story Roman had been iterating to him, the whole second half of the plot could have been avoided if Leealli had simply decapitated Sorcerer Kai while they were trapped in her dungeon. Roman had protested, saying it would make her just as terrible as they, but Logan had frowned, explaining that yes, the act was cruel, but if a single act of evil by her direct hand was all it took to stop countless others by her indirect hand, wasn’t it worth it?

But he had also been the one to convince Patton not to remain friends with Oliver, when one day, sitting on the cotton candy clouds that patterned Patton’s quilt, the smaller boy had confided in him that Oliver had vented about his habits of self-harm to the kind soul for three hours the night previous, yet refused any help Patton gave, shot down any attempt at saying he was worth more than he thought.

It was Logan who had took Patton’s hand and told him that people like that could only be helped by themselves and a therapist, that he should not take it upon himself to bear others’ problems in that way. Who had given him a hesitant hug and told him that his mental health was just as important as theirs.

His friends were his lifeline. Maybe they tripped him up—well, they definitely did, yet as much as he found himself apologizing to Virgil for seeming angry when he was simply tired and being a bit blunter and more insensitive with his words than usual (not that he usually was tactful or sensitive when it came to criticism, even constructive criticism) he found himself sighing in relief as the anxious boy shared with him his own experiences in worrying about the negative undertones in the words of others too much to be considered healthy. They would sit and talk about it, the same experience for two different reasons, one of them due to the irrational fear of people disliking him or being angry, and the other due to worrying he was doing something incorrectly that he was not aware of, failing to pick up on a crucial piece of information.

As much as Logan found himself and Roman butting heads, even shouting at each other during friendly debates gone sour, name-calling and snapping fault after fault, he reflected fondly on the time he had been ecstatic to discover that Roman’s own ADHD-riddled brain hyperfixated on Disney just as his own did on Sherlock, and they would both go on for hours about their obsessions while sadly recalling how old interests had faded.

As much as he often found himself hurting Patton unintentionally, and even worse, learning that Patton had been hiding that fact from him for weeks as to spare his feelings, as difficult as it was to convince (well, more plead with) Patton to tell him these things, as he wouldn’t be offended much and he had no other way of knowing what he was doing wrong, he found himself sitting by his side, all attention completely fixated on what to him were mindblowing truths about people and yet seemed common, boring knowledge to Patton, as the freckled boy explained cues and rules, that invisible language Logan did not speak.

Those friends stuck by him, even though others did not. With all the walls Logan had built up around his emotions, to protect himself and others, few could breach the fortifications—except for those who had already been on the inside as he built them. And he was fine with that.

Going to a therapist was...awkward at first, but it helped. Mr. Picani understood his aversion to talking of his feelings, and instead cleverly tricked him every time, asking questions about events until Logan was off on an angry rant. With that expelled, they’d talk through possible solutions.

He kept the book. And most of the other books he was given on the topic, eager to learn and understand more things about himself, knowing the reasons behind behaviors, quirks in things had always been one of his favorite things, and now he found it was possible in people.

As Logan worked through his discovery during the last semester of eighth grade and through that summer, with his Virgil, Patton, Roman, his parents, Mr. Picani, and occasionally even his rainbow-haired little sister, he found his mind shifting. He was truly calm now more often than not, able to express his rationale...well, rationally, rather than through insults. His debates grew calmer, and while he certainly had his slip-ups..he was improving. Slowly. Steadily.

His viewpoint of the world was unusual, like an outsider, and while that could be isolating, if he explained it well, people were often interested to hear it. It was different, his own; the metaphor Logan found himself using was that everyone else was a Macintosh computer, and he and his fellow spectrumites were PCs, capable of all the same things, though in ways the world was not wired to accommodate. Also, clearly superior in many a way.

His core programming was different, even if his exterior seemed the same, and Logan was okay with that. He’d never know the invisible language, not as a native would, but he could learn it—the same way he learned slang, through help, a lot of online research, his friends, and some study notes here and there.

It was complicated, they way he figured things out, the systems he’d devised. But complicated problems would never be solved with simple solutions.

And he still had plenty of time left to learn.

(Thanks to @poisonedapples for betaing this and basically screaming RELATABLE every two second, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear!)

(...I don’t really have a general fic taglist so imma just- y e a here)

Tags: @royallyanxious @whatwashernameagain @sandersmarvel @the-incedible-sulk @supremestoverlord @hanramz-the-fander @childhood-wishes-and-dreams @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @madly-handsome @galaxy-warping @extremist-water-agenda @ierindoodles @princeanxious

[neurodivergent-media]

Please Stand By (2017)

Please Stand By is a 2017 comedy-drama movie based on the play of the same name by Michael Golamco (who himself wrote the screenplay). The protagonist, Wendy, while not explicitly stated within the film, is autistic.

Overall, I would certainly recommend this film as a source of good autistic representation. Wendy is a rarity to begin with because of her gender, and her creativity. But more than that, she is a three dimensional character rather than a list of symptoms personified, who undergoes a courageous, touching (without being "inspiring") journey and grows and learns as a person. The narrative respects its protagonist who the audience laughs with, rather than at, her. This movie is definitely a step in the right direction.

Further analysis under the cut (spoiler free):

As previously stated, Wendy is a female autistic character, which is still unfortunately very rare at this point in time, especially in movies. Additionally, she is not shown as a savant in maths or otherwise in the STEM field as is so often the case. Wendy's special interest is a work of fiction, Star Trek, and she is a creative, imaginative person and a gifted writer. She also swears (infrequently) which I found a pleasant surprise as all too often autistic teens and adults are seen as "innocent" and incapable of doing such things.

In terms of autistic traits, Wendy is accurately portrayed. She has meltdowns, a special interest, a fairly strict routine (including wearing particular clothes on particular days of the week). She can be sensitive to sound, has difficulty with tone of voice and avoids eye contact. She knits as a hobby, which to me also seems likely to act as a kind of stimming. At times she also has trouble speaking to a high enough volume, especially to strangers, which I found relatable. She also is shown scripting at one point in the film, preparing and equipping herself with what to say for a confrontational situation, which I've rarely seen in other autistic characters.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the film for me was the portrayal of a special interest, not as a restricting, unhealthy obsession, but as a part of her identity, a comfort, a way to navigate the world and, to some extent, connect with people.

Rather than Wendy being bullied, her work colleagues appear to get on well with her and it's implied that one of them has a crush on her. This character, Nemo, is polite and friendly towards her and, while we don't know whether or not he knows she is autistic, he doesn't demand she verbally respond to him or make eye contact, which was pleasant to see.

Her rather rocky relationship with her sister is related to Wendy's autism but mainly due to the sister's attitude towards it. It is shown that the sister was unjust and inaccurate in the way she thought about Wendy and what she was and wasn't capable of.

Also, in  a good way, the film didn't feel like it revolved around autism itself. Sure, the protagonist is autistic, and that plays a large factor into who she is and the story to some degree, but the film was a coming of age story, and a story of family. And for me the portrayal felt that it intentionally stayed away from trying to say "this is what all autistic people are like" (it probably helped that other autistic people can be glimpsed in the home Wendy lives in who, from what little we see, are clearly very different to the protagonist).

There are very few negative aspects of the film, but they include that the actress, Dakota Fanning, is allistic. However, unfortunately at this point in time this is the norm for portrayals of autism. Furthermore, she is white which is overwhelmingly the case with autistic, and otherwise disabled, characters in the media.

Additionally, at times, I felt like the narrative too easily condoned the rather paternalistic way Wendy lived at the group home, with a strict schedule which she had very little control over, but maybe that's just me. And I sometimes felt like they tried to make the sister a little too sympathetic.

There are not many potential triggers in this film, to my knowledge. There is very little violence or foul language and the film is overall rather lighthearted. The meltdown scenes (two in all) were distressing, however, and some people might find the casual ableism Wendy sometimes faces difficult to watch.