#autistic achievements

[earhartsease]

what's the most autistic achievement you've ever made? we'll start (sorry bit of a long story coming now - read on if you want a small heap of casual woodwind instrument knowledge)

it's spring of 1985, we're *counts* 22 years old and in our first year of an intense af course learning to make and repair woodwind instruments (which we will a year later tumble out of due to getting ME/CFS, as it turned out)

anyway, one of our old friends (well we'd known each other since we were 11 so) asked us to service her father's bass clarinet - if you're not familiar with those, they look thus

and they're played almost exactly like your normal Bb clarinet that you might have seen or played in a school band, but all an octave lower

the important part here is all that keywork

like there's just a lot of it - and the keywork was what brought the instrument to our tiny college workshop desk

because what happened was this was a pretty nice bass clarinet, and it had silver plated keys (often on the more basic/cheaper instruments the keys will be nickel-plated), and he'd put one of those classic yellow duster cloths you get in the case to wipe the instrument down with, and the cloth had come from china and had some kind of chemical in it that basically took some of the silver off the keywork it was pressed against

we showed the instrument to our repairing tutor and he was keen for us to do the work on it - which meant not only giving the thing a full service and repadding the keys (they have little pads under the cups which press against the edges of the holes underneath to make a seal - on standard clarinets back then they were either synthetic or handmade with fish bladder skin of all things, but on posher ones or bass clarinets they used white leather pads sorry long parenthesis) but also to strip off all of the keywork and get it replated

bloody hell this is getting long

anyway we did this, so before tweaking everything that needed tweaking we took off all the keys, and unscrewed all the pillars that are set into the wood (african blackwood, dalbergia melanoxylon) of the instrument's body, and strung them carefully in order on a steel wire to send off for replating

we were off college for a couple of weeks because of the fucking fatigue, and when we got back the guy who'd sent the metalwork off for us for replating looked sombre and handed us a box - the plating had come back beautifully done, but "I'm afraid the wire broke" and all of the pillars and posts were just in a jumble in the box - and there's two of these things for each key or lever or whatever, it's like over 50 of them (from the top and bottom halves of the instrument, which comes apart for storage) - and they're each unique, each can only go in one specific place because they're all different heights and so on

and we looked at them, and they looked at us - and then we cried havoc and let slip the dogs of autism, and worked out by means of jigsawlike logic and memory and sense and got it all back together - this took us three weeks, and when we showed our tutor and the class we got a huge round of applause, and he admitted he didn't think it could be done

now we feel a bit stupid writing about this, but can you imagine the fucking satisfaction involved in this?! like putting together a watch that someone else had taken apart and handed you in a teacup

so, we also want to introduce you to the bass clarinet sound if you're not familiar - first the godsdamn king, Eric Dolphy

and here's it being played beautifully and lyrically with some Bach originally for cello - we literally just found this and are in love

thank you for indulging our autism, we hope you learned new things you enjoyed learning - now tell us yours if you want to?

[hasellia]

[girlnadian]

i think like. one of the reasons i love ken so much and think shes such a fascinating character is because she is, by nature, not actually that great of a person. she is not especially kind or welcoming or strong or brave. in fact, she can be really, really condescending and mean and almost cowardly. she continuously fails to understand things like sentimentality or maintaining hope, she will always put safety and survival above any of that. but its really interesting to try and get into her head because she obviously knows all that about herself. ken is not someone who is naturally kind, but she wants to be kind, so all her kindness is conscious. she has to work her way to kindness like an equation. in the wifies debunk we hear her, verbally, walk through the steps to decide that leaving clonefies to his fate would be cruel (right after evilfies traps her in the escape room). in proton she circles the idea of helping everyone escape again and again, readjusting with every development, as if it's a lateral thinking puzzle. and to her, it is! everything is a puzzle. being "good" is a puzzle. and all she has to do is find the solution

[hermit-home]

I see your “to be read” pile and raise you a “to be spun” pile.

[shadow-travel]

sometimes i think about how both nico and will weren't necessarily written to be autistic characters and i get so confused because both of them are so autistic. and in such different ways. personally i can't even remember the amount of times while i was reading tsats and nico did or thought something very particular that i also have done or thought and that is also a sign of autism

[cryptile]

Drumbot Julian and Jonny d'Bee (@jonny-b-meowborn ) are real.

Don't let the heavenly atmosphere fool you, we're about to fuck you up

Textless version since i have it

[lenin-it-to-win-it]

Artemis Fowl is what happens when you put all your stats into intelligence and have -800 left over for self-awareness

[gvnchvcks]

Genuine question since it’s been a few years and I’ve been away from the fandom but is there any semblance of an RT/AH fandom left after everything that happened 😭 my hyperfixation is resurfacing but this was lowkey mostly an AH blog and now idk what to do with it lmao

[m-for-now]

I have this thing where I project my stuff onto fictional characters I like, so sometimes I go

What if Leo Valdez also had that thing where sometimes autistic masking and adhd procrastination are so exhausting that you consistently want to do something, but you just kinda can't and the sentence

"So, what did you do today?"

Is incredibly depressing, because the answer is "nothing much" but what is really also true is "I was trying to force myself to do literally anything at all the entire day and I kept failing the entire day so even if I factually did a thing, it doesn't count because I didn't achieve anything valuable that someone else could understand"

[rooolt]

television shows should not make one off jokes about character possibly being autistic, not because it’s in poor taste or anything, but because it invites speculation on an alternate, better show in which that person’s autism was actually focused on as an important aspect of their character and something integral to their arc and development throughout the series

[void-galaxy-shenanigans]

Not sure why this is such a hot take (people resist when I tell them, even ‘in person’) but

¡let people celebrate ‘small’ achievements!

This doesn’t have to mean traditionally high levels of achievement (though that’s also valid & important to celebrate)— I mean simple tasks, everyday things.

~~~~

If you took a shower today*, if you fixed your sheets or your pillow today*, if you sorted your laundry into piles (even if it’s not folded) today*, if you ate a snack or a meal today* (even “unhealthy” food; candy, carbs, etc.), if you stepped/rolled outside to breathe fresh air today*, if you wrote a sentence (essay, fiction, etc.) today*, if you rested (laid in bed, read a book, etc.) today*, if you only stayed alive today*—

if you did something today*, I see you and I’m proud of you.

Whether you’re disabled/with a disability, whether you’re without disability (‘abled’), whether you’re grieving or having the best time of your life...

whatever place you find yourself in mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally today— you deserve to celebrate all of your achievements today*.

(* or if you did these in the past week, past month, or however much time you needed to achieve it)

Your achievements are worth celebrating. Staying alive is worth celebrating, especially if it’s a war for you to do so.

Very sincerely, “bare minimum” tasks are worth celebrating.

I see you. Your effort matters. You’re doing enough (and not too much). And most of all, even if no one else is, I am proud of you.

(+ long distance hugs, if you like physical affection & want one right now 🫂)

~~~~

(elaboration as to why/how important this is below the cut, but I want to prioritize the encouragement up here ↑)

You don’t know for certain that they aren’t disabled by looking at them, for one, & “small” achievements can be a huge win for a variety of disabilities that people can be born with or develop later in life.

Also, even if they’re not disabled in any way, humans don’t achieve “big, important” wins without the little ones first. Writing one chapter is a step towards a novel, ¿right? (The answer is yes, it is.)

You also don’t know if they’re currently grieving a loved one or unsafe at home or etc., and “small” achievements can be big wins in those cases too.

We aren’t built to “go through the motions” all the time. We aren’t built to wash every dish and dust every shelf and fix our bedsheets every single day without celebrating.

The celebration for these wins gives us motivation to reach higher.

Whether you perceive that feeling/moment as the presence & pride of a higher power (spiritual presence, God, deities, spirits, etc.), the energy of nature/the universe, or science (dopamine; hippocampus + thalamus sections of the brain),

we all celebrate our achievements—and this is a necessary part of the process.

Scientifically, this is because dopamine (the reward for completion of a task / goal) is also the motivator that empowers you to begin a task and see it through to the end. It is both the battery/stored power (to start the car, turn on the PC, etc.) and the confetti at the end (/analogy).

Historically, this is a cultural practice that we see signs of as long as humans and their ancestors/predecessors have been alive. We see it in religion/faith practices, we see it in national holidays, we see it in cave paintings. More recently, we see video game achievements with rewards like titles, gold, XP points, and items.

Modern society*, especially the USA with its intense value of individualism (achieve amazing feats alone; hyperindependence), often minimizes these achievements.

(* in the “Western” world, which is what I know best & can speak to)

“¿You made your bed? Okay. But you’re an adult...that’s expected. That’s not worth celebrating.” - this narrative is pervasive and damaging.

All this to say, “small” tasks & progress are worth celebrating.

Let them celebrate that they made their bed, that they did a load of laundry, that they took a shower, that they went for a short & slow walk, that they ate a meal (or a snack). We become empowered to do more when we celebrate the “bare minimum”.

[mokeonn]

I fucking hate the tetris effect so much. Like oooh lemme play this funnie little card game rogue-like, ooh it's so fun it's gonna be the only game I play for weeks now, oooh what do you mean I'm fucking duplicating multi-card holographic sevens in my dreams

[frogayyyy]

why must i "watch" star trek. why can i not absorb every episode directly into my brain.

[cryptidclaw]

you might like qpp! (Queer platonic partner) it's like the middle ground of friendship/relationship and is something aroacespec people use to describe their relationship! It varies from relationship to relationship so I can't really give you a clear definition but I encourage you to research it if you didn't know about it beforehand!! :]

Oh I kno, I would like one plz 🤲

Tho I also wouldn't mind possibly having a romantic relationship but just like... not doing the kissing and sexual stuff lol (idk if that counts as a qpr ?)

Anywaysss they should make a aroace spec "dating" site where u can find fellow aroaces

[the-entity-down-the-street]

Has anyone done an animatic of "Lifetime Achievement Award" with Herbert West and Dan Cain yet? I feel like that song really suits them

[w1tchybusiness]

i could write a 100 page essay about what a fucking masterpiece warframe is. i will write many words in the tags. please readem if you want my 'tism.