#i will protect self dx autistics with my life

[vampiiric]

slightly serious but its been on my mind so. as someone who went through autism-specific abuse from parents as well as the american school system from a young age, i don't like people using experiences of people like me to discourage self diagnosis. like.

i've seen people in the wild saying that if you self diagnose autism, you're making a mockery of people who underwent the abuse, especially in schools. but the thing is, the schools especially knew i was autistic before i did!! they treated me as autistic long before i was diagnosed, and were in fact the ones who pushed for my diagnosis. i did an entire paper on autism specific abuse for school and did a lot of research into the topic, which is how i realized what i went through was autism specific abuse and how it affects me. and yes it exponentially affects those diagnosed from a young age but it was awful before i got diagnosed and it got worse after!! so a professional diagnosis can hurt people!

if you were able to mask well enough to escape it, i am so fucking happy for you. like. this is incredibly traumatizing. and it's really underrepresented. and if you use the trauma and abuse people like me have gone through to tell people they aren't autistic and are hurting us, don't you fucking dare. you need to be blaming the people who abuse us and who make it hard for the people who are self diagnosing to get the proper diagnosis- and make life exponentially harder for those of us who are diagnosed.

by attacking people who are just seeking help and community and understanding, you aren't helping ASA survivors. you're hurting people (who might even have experienced that!! you don't know!!) who are trying to live their life with the most understanding of themselves.

anyways this blog supports self-diagnosed autistics and autistics who didn't learn until later in life and autistics who masked so well nobody realized and autistics who didn't realize that what they went through was autism specific abuse. i love you guys. we're in this together.

[deuynndoodles]

[ID: A banner including an icon of Catori to the left, and to the right, text reading out the OP's username, which is deuynndoodles (pronounced dune-doodles). Catori is a small, blue, star-themed raccoon with a red ribbon tied around her neck. She is sticking out her tongue happily. end ID]

kofi ★ commissions (open)

ao3 ★ discord ★ spotify ★ sideblog

hi there, i'm dey and i'm an artist! use whatever pronouns you'd like. i mainly do visual illustrations, comics, and doodles, but i dabble in animation, poetry, and writing on occasion.

cheers! ✌💫

[ID: a colored, digital meet the artist. The artist, named Dey, is young and feminine presenting. They have warm, light skin, brown eyes, various moles and freckles, and their wavy, scruffy brown hair is in a high ponytail. They have a tail and pointed ears. They wear a t-shirt dress, a hoodie around their waist, ripped jeans, sneakers, and most notably, a key necklace. Dey waves at the viewer with a grin and a wink. An arrow points to them, saying "my sona".

Catori, a small, slight blue raccoon, slinks around Dey's shoulders. She has stars peppered throughout the dark of her fur and wears a ribbon around her neck. An arrow points to her and says her name.

Dey is gesturing to some text and flags in the upper corner. It says Dey is an adult, uses any/mirror pronouns, and their birthday is June 15th. They are agender and aroace, american, and autistic.

In another section, their likes are listed out. They enjoy loz (legend of zelda) and danny phantom. Their favorite animals are raccoons and they enjoy spending their time watching cartoons, learning, and making art.

In the last section, their daily essentials are drawn. They include, from left to right: a phone, a water bottle, a wallet, keys, a usb c charger, bluetooth headphones, a tablet, and a pen and stylus. end ID]

beliefs and faq under the cut!

my beliefs

anti racism. i acknowledge i am on stolen land. in that sense, i am pro-palestine/sudan/congo/etc.: please donate if you are able! remember your daily click.

pro queer rights. that said, i support any good faith identity (and yes, that includes masc lesbians etc.)

pro choice. give people the support and medical care they need.

pro disabled rights. self dx is valid. fakeclaiming is always bad. all people own their bodies, no one else, and reserve the right to do whatever they'd like.

pro endo. plurality is already stimatized enough, no infighting.

neither proship or antiship, but a secret third thing (wants people to touch grass). tag appropriately and we won't have problems.

fiction influences reality, and vice versa. they are not 1:1 but affect each other. ensuring media comprehension and literacy is important so we don't get things mixed up.

atheist. i do my best to support, but there are some things i simply can't wrap my head around. apologies in advance.

anti ai. as it is now, most ais are built off stolen work and scraped databases. legal protections must be set up.

suicide baiting or calling others slurs is not okay. the only scenario in which it is okay is if both individuals are friends, they're joking, and consented beforehand OR if it's reclaimed and used in a non-negative context. i do not condone anyone in "my community" that suicide baits.

honesty is the best policy. i tend to be blunt and straightforward, simply because i dislike playing the game of social norms. i never mean to offend: i will tell you directly if something offends me.

i do not share donation requests or other forms of reblog bait. i apologize, but i keep this blog as a form of escape and i do not like bringing real life matters up terribly much.

note that this is not a dni. i would, instead, prefer people to keep these in mind when interacting. i reserve the right to block.

if i ever do something offensive and/or juxtaposes with something above, please let me know in a private space.

faq

q: what do you use to draw?

a: i use a samsung galaxy tab s8 and draw in ibispaint.

q: what are mirror pronouns?

a: i borrow your pronouns—hence the phrase 'mirror'. when you refer to me, use your own pronoun set. (ex: if you use she/they, when you refer to me, also use she/they.)

q: what are the dates in the tags of your posts for?

a: i buffer my posts in case i go through an art block phase. the date represents the day i finished work on the file (in mm/dd/yy format).

q: why do you not use alt text?

a: it's usually more accessible to scroll down a little bit than to click a small button in my experience. alt text could be improved, as well, so i find this method best. if any screenreader users have critique, please share!

q: can i make something based on a thing of yours?

a: of course! just @ me in the post + give credit if it's specific enough :]

q: may i use your art as a pfp/phone background/etc?

a: i'm perfectly fine with personal use. just link back to my account if others will see it. if you are profiting off my art, however, that is a whole 'nother conversation we should have in dms.

[joyboythehopepunk]

mental health daze of a voidpunk

i'm self dx autistic. i def have cptsd, too. i'm brown. and trans. and have no support.

every now and then i'll have anxiety attacks. or my brain will just go "nope" and i'll feel physically ill (nausea, diarrhea, headaches etc). so i call in.

sometimes - most times - it is caused by overwork, stress, built up frustrations.

basically i burn out. i take a mental health day. for my actual health. because it will only get worse.

i need days to recover. to not be around people. to just sleep or eat. especially if my insomnia has been acting up. or my appetite has been fucked up. i weightlift to regulate my emotions. i also have low iron. and sometimes i can't eat. even when i'm hungry. people don't get that. they look at me like i'm stupid.

it's the autism.

and lately... i've been feeling particularly detached and disgusted from the world and by it. and also from people and by people. and i know.. a lot of it is the trauma. but there is only so much i can do. the best remedy for this would be a better world and better experiences with people.

but i've gotten to the point where i don't want to interact with anyone. i only want to find my soulmate. maybe it sounds crazy. or whatever.

but i'm aplatonic. i've never felt comfortable around people. i've never felt.. close to people. not for a lack of trying on either person's part. it's just there's a disconnect there. like a language barrier between our experiences (inner and outer). i've never closed that gap with anyone.

and my recent experiences with people and dating have left me...

wondering if i should bother any more. i feel less like a human being the longer i'm alone. even if i can interact with people better.. eh. maybe i will find a woman who understands. who i find attractive on the outside and inside (and she'll feel the same about me)

but it isn't anything i can go looking for. and it won't happen normally. these are the lessons i've learned thusfar.

and i know that sounds weird. but some people are playing with different rules. you can see how it works in the material realm. but imagine how different it is for people with a spiritual vocation. the forces that move my life are not all the same forces that moves a normal person's life. and i've been shown that too. to my chagrin.

it is more frightening and vexing than anything else. but then there are times when i'm shown i've been protected and.. i don't know.

i kinda feel like there may be hope that it'll be worth it.

[my-darling-boy]

Genuinely asking, isn't self-diagnose with a condition kind of dangerous? Because legitimizing self-diagnosing opens a door to many malicious people who would want to exploit the fact they can self-diagnose? And in turn, make the space of autistic people worse?

Was going to skip this, but I’m writing a LONG response because I’m VERY exhausted with the amount of misinformation I see on this “self dx is dangerous” take, so buckle up and allow me to info dump.

Recently, authentic_autism_advocacy, an Instagram account run by a supposed medically diagnosed autistic woman was discovered to be a non-autistic woman, Connie Manning, posing as a medically diagnosed autistic person to spread hate and anti-self diagnosing speech. In reality, she is a neurotypical mother who regularly uses her autistic son for clout; she also turned out to have a hand behind CalmWear, a brand of sensory compression products designed for disabled people. Not only had she been spewing hatred towards other autistic people, she had been accusing well known AFAB autistic tiktokers like beckspectrum of faking being autistic and threatening self diagnosed autistics and saying they are a danger to the community, and engaging in other incredibly discriminating behaviour. Yes, she herself was a neurotypical person posing as a medically diagnosed autistic to perpetuate hateful rhetoric about self diagnosed people and used her voice to speak OVER autistic folk for financial gain and exploitation of autistic people, including her own son. If you want to read this roller coaster of a story, an autistic person wrote an entire article on it with tons of screenshots and sources.

So let me make one thing clear to you.

The purpose of actually, genuinely self diagnosing is not done to attract attention or to parade around and exploit other autistic people. Self diagnosed autistic individuals have recognised due to difficult life circumstances, financial hardship, bigotry and stigma within the medical/legal world, being a minor, lack of insurance, lack of proper access to safe care facilities, being denied assessment due to incompetent or biased practitioners, and/or any other obstacle that they may temporarily or permanently be barred from diagnosis. Self diagnosis does NOT instantly mean a person is posing for clout, nor does it indicate a person is trying to wring money from assistance services or exploit other autistics. And nts who use self diagnose with intentions of harming the community? That’s NOT self diagnosis, that’s abuse of something meant to aid people blocked from medical care or financial means to that care. All we can do for autistic people, no matter who we perceive them to be, is treat them the same way we would any other autistic person. Because the moment you start deciding by your own book who deserves respect and who doesn’t, you’ll be on a slippery slope to locking out thousands of autistic people from the community. If it’s discovered a person like Connie is literally abusing the system of self dx to intentionally mislead the community, by all means, we must hold them accountable. But you cannot simply go about granting and revoking access from people just because someone lacks a diagnosis or doesn’t fit your idea of what being autistic looks like, especially if it’s based on stereotypes.

Moral of the story? Isn’t it ironic how anti-self dx people will 100% believe a user who claims to be medically diagnosed but shows no “written proof” of it, yet always demand written proof from a self dx person? It’s almost like even anti-self dx people can’t tell the difference between someone who is medically diagnosed autistic and someone who isn’t. Well, that’s because they can’t. While there might be common traits, autism has no set model, it is a spectrum, no autistic person is alike; Policing self diagnosed people about their self diagnosis isn’t a form of protecting the community. It’s a form of gatekeeping. If you find yourself granting instant acceptance, without asking for proof, to a person insisting they are medically diagnosed like this neurotyical mother, but then prohibit self dx people from entry entirely on the grounds of not showing proof of medical assessment, you are upholding a double standard. This is why policing autistic people’s diagnosis, self or not, is inherently useless.

So here’s the thing... instead of asking people to stop self diagnosing, what you should instead be asking yourself is, “Why do people self diagnose? What kind of medical system could possibly be in place where people feel they need to resort to self diagnosis rather than get an actual diagnosis?”

Well, it’s mainly common knowledge among most of the autistic community that diagnosis is NOT easy to come by.

One of the main reasons why people cannot get a diagnosis is due to financial/insurance reasons. It’s reasonable to estimate that by the end of 2020 almost 30 million Americans alone were without health insurance. I’ve heard costs out of pocket for an autism diagnosis are between $500-$6000. If a person or a family cannot afford health insurance—which by the way on average is around $5,400 a year for a single person and $13,800 for a family here—where are they supposed to pull out $6,000 to get screened?

You might be asking, “Well aren’t insurances supposed to cover disability?” Sure, there are options for disability care through health insurance—not even going to get into that—but like a lot of things in the US, this is a severely flawed system. A lot of private health insurance will stop or limit coverage for an autism diagnosis or assistance services once a person reaches 18 to 21 years old. In most states, coverage has a higher chance of being denied to autistic adults coming with the added age cap or ONLY covering ABA, an abusive, manipulative “therapy” used to force social compliance and trait suppression on autistic people. The fact that ABA, a conversion therapy, is covered, but little else, shows exactly what insurance companies think of autistic people: they’ll only cover us if we want to learn to be “normal”. This can leave many undiagnosed autistic adults who cannot afford analysis, insurance, or safe assistance services with nowhere to turn. If I was not on my parents’ insurance, there is NO WAY I would EVER be able to afford a diagnosis. I don’t have $2,000 lying around. The MONEY ALONE would prohibit me from getting a diagnosis, no matter how many autistic traits I presented.

When I was going through this system years ago to start a diagnosis, I was shocked to find no therapist within three hours of me was accepting adult patients. “Up to 18 only” their websites would say. And in the event I had found one (1) that accepted me as a then 20 year old with X insurance, and that person refused me diagnosis, I would be out of options unless I planned a 5 hour drive which may have also led me to another biased screener. A person seeking self financed assessment can waste thousands of dollars therapist hopping.

People will say, “Well I live in X place, and where I come from, it’s covered!” Well the reality is that everyone in the world does not live where you live. It’s not realistic to assume everyone is in the same position as you or your family to afford care or access the same resources as you. When you say, “Just go out and get a diagnosis! It’s not that hard!”, understand you are speaking from your personal vantage point where screening may be easily accessed or easily covered/is free OR you have no personal knowledge of what that process is like yourself.

The second thing that bars a ton of people from being diagnosed is the fact that when autism was first discovered, its research was HEAVILY centered on white, cis, heterosexual men. The idea that autistic people are ONLY cis, white, heterosexual men carries on to this day. If you are an outlier to this stereotype, your chances of being misdiagnosed with something else or refused diagnosis skyrocket because so-called “professionals” don’t know how to observe traits in any other person besides a cis, white, heterosexual man, and refuse/fail to recognise the endless ways in which a person can be autistic. ALL the time I hear how AFAB people will go in to get screened only to find out their screener does not believe AFAB people can be autistic, because yes, sexism and anti-lgbtq+ ideas play a huge role in the incredibly outdated diagnostic process, because autism is still believed to be an “AMAB only” thing. People report going into a therapists office and being asked questions like, “Do you like going outside? Do you like having friends?” and being told that if you agree with either of these, you cannot be autistic because criteria at some places is so backwards, you can’t even say you enjoy conversation without failing the test. Other things commonly heard during the analysis are screeners telling someone they are too smart/articulate to be autistic, gas lighting them by saying they are mistaking their symptoms for something else/making them up, telling a person they seem normal, dismissing clear autistic traits by saying they’re unique “superpowers”, or intentionally misdiagnosing a person as ADHD INSTEAD of autistic. People on social media have also pointed out what influences racism has on the diagnostic process as well and how lack of research and understanding of autistic POC contributes to under-diagnosis and stigma has only contributed to refusal of care and under-representation of POC in the disabled community, as one autistic Black woman points out on Instagram, “I found excellent articles that support and validate my feelings and experiences, but I could find no research on autistic Black people.” Additionally, because research has primarily been done on young men, this means anyone who is not a cis man and is over the age of 18 and is seeking a diagnosis has a much higher chance of not receiving one because screeners don’t understand how autistic traits may present differently in adults, especially since adults are very likely to mask. Some autism screeners are so against autism they have told clients they would only diagnosis a person autistic if it was their last resort to avoid “placing a burden on their shoulders”. These reasons are largely responsible for why autism is incredibly mis/under-diagnosed. This ask would be the length of a novel if I included every single type of discrimination and mistreatment during the evaluation process alone, but understand it can be incredibly biased, sexist, transphobic, racist, or just flat out ableist. And guess what? Though this process can take as little as a month to get sorted, that is rare. The assessment SHOULD be very short. But a lot of autistic people have reported their diagnosis took more than 2-4 years because of having to waste time, energy, and money hopping from therapist to therapist looking for someone to take them seriously, as many autistic people compiled on the actuallyautistictiktoks page on Instagram point out.

The last thing I want to touch on is this idea that people have that self diagnosing is dangerous. “What if someone self diagnoses and they take advantage of services that are meant for autistic people?” ...The Big Things you think I am going to take advantage of as a self diagnosed autistic person, like scholarship money for instance or SSDI, I do not have legal access to without a formal diagnosis. I cannot waltz into a law firm and ask for a $5,000 scholarship for autistic people without a diagnosis, because they WILL NOT give it to me!

Let me tell you some of things I’ve “cruelly taken advantage of” as a self diagnosed autistic person. I bought glasses with blue light protection, because screen and fluorescent lighting at work and even natural blue toned light from the sky lowers my threshold for some sensory input like noise and social interaction; wearing them to work everyday has improved my sensory thresholds incredibly. I’ve talked to my manager and told him I’m autistic and that I have a hard time understanding vague direction and may need to step away briefly on occasion to tend to a shutdown before a meltdown comes on at work; he had no problem with this. I use subtitles; sometimes I have trouble processing audio or reading facial expressions and tone, and being able to see the words displayed on the screen gives me a significantly better understanding of what I watch. All my life, I have been having meltdowns which I had mistaken for mental breakdowns or panic attacks and having access to resources that walked me through preventative methods and tips on what to do if I have one has been ENORMOUSLY helpful to me. All my life, I was trying to deal with them thinking they were something else; becoming aware of this and accepting that they are in fact autistic meltdowns has helped me not only go through them, but has helped me redirect stims which at their worst previously had me hitting and clawing my arms, slapping my face, and even hitting my head. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait 4 years for a diagnosis to use resources I could be using to make my life more accessible right now!

People will say, “Oh well yeah, I don’t mean You are one of Those Types of self diagnosed autistic people, you clearly sound/look autistic, I’m talking about other people.” The thing is, there is no broad “sounding/looking autistic”, that’s stereotyping, and you can’t demand everyone who interacts with you show you their Autistic Card, because again, not everyone is able to be diagnosed, especially given the mistreatment and stigma present towards autistic people in the medical field! And what made you ask for their diagnosis? Because they “don’t seem autistic” to you? Why didn’t you ask for their diagnosis? Because they “seemed autistic” to you? By denying anyone who doesn’t have a diagnosis resources they may very well need, you are denying assistance to thousands of people who are without means to be diagnosed. And I am SO tired of seeing comments online on self diagnosis posts that “people don’t know what they’re taking about” as if they know us personally, like are you me? Are you my doctor I’ve consulted? Did you watch me academically research and consult with other autistic people about being autistic for over 3 years? I’m tired of “well, one time a self diagnosed person laughed at my actually autistic diagnosed friend...so all self dx people are evil” because there is ZERO correlation between a person being self assessed and their behavior towards a non self assessed person. The fact both those arguments are in use whenever self dx comes up is yet another form of gatekeeping.

Self diagnosing autism is not begging for attention or Evil Criminal Money Funneling Schemes. It is a result of a deeply flawed medical and insurance system that has failed to give proper attention and care to those who need it, it is a result of resources not made available, of safe support systems not there for kids and adults alike. You want to talk about what’s truly dangerous? How the hate group Autism Speaks has been parading itself around since 2005 as an advocacy group for autistic people and has been misusing millions of dollars worth of donation money and promoting stigma and hatred around autistic people; no autistic members are present on their board. How Sia and her new film Music was nominated for 2 Golden Globes despite it replacing the original autistic actor with a neurotypical actor, using offensive stereotypes, and using the main autistic character as a prop, and featured an extremely dangerous bodily restraint scene on an autistic person having a meltdown in public and featured very insensitive content due to Sia’s lack of consulting with autistic people to make the film (spoilers in that article).

Instead of policing autistic people, whether they fit your idea of what an autistic person is or not, redirect your efforts and your energy to dismantling systems and holding others accountable for perpetuating harmful stereotypes about autistic people that are legitimately dangerous on such a scale that they have created insurmountable damage to the autistic community. But I guarantee you, worrying over whether your classmate is “faking it” will not do any justice to the decades worth of discrimination autistic people face still today.

I understand. You care about the community, you don’t want autistic people to be exploited or taken advantage of. I don’t want to be exploited and taken advantage of as an autistic person, and I don’t want that for others! But I also understand that when we self proclaim ourselves as judges of random autistic strangers on the internet or start accusing people of faking or demanding to see medical paperwork from people when the basis of our suspicions is “this person doesn’t look like my stereotyped view on how I think an autistic person should act”, THAT is when you really run into trouble. Because if you are allowed to deny self dx people entrance into the autistic community, what’s stopping you from thinking you have the power to deny ANYONE entrance into that community?

And there is power in self diagnosis for many autistic people. When the evaluation system is literally rigged to set you up for failure and put you through unnecessary hardship, self dx is a self affirming, empowering tool to take back control from a process designed to gaslight and crush you. The evaluation process was NOT formulated by an autistic person, nor was it made to be inclusive of all autistic people. Until the evaluation system in place for autistic people is safe, accessible, and free to ALL, you have EVERY right to self diagnose.

[ablednt]

I really need more people to realize that the field of psychology still supports eugenics.

They say that autistic people can't be independent and have a poor quality of life due to their autism

They aid in the taking of autonomy and rights from mentally ill and neurodovergent adults in cases of abuse from parents and make no effort to protect people with intellectual disabilities

They still use the r slur in articles and do not give a shit about our identities or communities

DID was coined by people making the dsm4 who think that mpd was made up and it was an attempt to silence people. Before that people diagnosed with mpd were not! Allowed! To! Talk! To! Each! Other! in case it made them want to get into self advocacy.

Many psychologists are taught in school that certain conditions such as DID do not actually exist. In addition I've met multiple psych students from different countries who all told me they book learn and see no value in learning from people who actually have the conditions they're researching. Most psyche students I know support violence towards people with psychosis or personality disorders such as BPD or NPD.

You can be taken off of organ transplant waiting lists for having professionally dxed DID or BPD

People with nd disorders or mental illness are often not Allowed to adopt children and may have their children taken away from them (affects BIPOC the most afaik like the majority of these issues do)

If admitted to a psychiatric ward during times of emergency in which they deemed someone a danger to themselves or others (and again for BIPOC this perception is likely happening without presence of actual emergency) you can lose your rights to refuse any kind of treatment and be put on a probation in which after you leave you have to take medications (even if they do not help you) or meet certain requirements or you will be sent back.

There are hundreds and hundreds of issues like this and they target the most vulnerable of us. In my case I'm lucky, I'm lucky bc I never got diagnosed with anything I have, because I managed to mask well enough to barely slip by and this is in large because I'm verbal and because I'm white.

But I hear so often about the abuse that less fortunate people in different places and situations go through from the psychiatric field and it's honestly horrifying.

I'm specifically addressing this to A) anyone who thinks they should have a professional diagnosis just to be sure they have something (you can talk to a therapist about it of course but request to not write that dx on paper/file it/make it official unless you absolutely need it and ask your therapist about the drawbacks of this diagnosis if they're a good therapist they will tell you about this stuff) B) people who think that just because their therapist happens to be good and helpful that the field of psychology isn't a mess and doesn't need to be abolished and completely reformed.

Once again, the field of psychology and the mental health side of the medical field absolutely is just another part of the governemnt that is corrupt and hurting people. In America (which is where I live and know the most about) the system works with and is just as harmful as the police so include this in your activism.

We need to stop ignoring the vulnerable people in our mentally ill and neurodovergent communities and start to help advocacy groups and mad pride groups the same as we do for others.

[noys-boise]

Introduction post!

I once again did the mistake of unpinning my introduction (shame on me) but then again I also just redesigned my profile so this is a good fresh start™

Also before anything I'm going to state I'm a minor, nsfw bl9gs please don't follow me, it's creepy, seriously just stop it

Identity stuff

My names are Fanny/Felix/Flame/Fiume, but I prefer Felix

I'm bisexual/mspec gay (homoromantic questioning??) and alloaro/greyromantic

For now I label my gender as genderqueer (demi)boy but I'm mostly constantly questioning

I use he/they pronouns mainly, i do have neopronouns tho: ey/em/eir/eirs/emself, aq/aqua/aqs/aqs/aquaself, plant/plant/plants/plants/plantself, please use them sometimes!

I am diagnosed neurodivergent (autistic, more specifically aspergers) and talk about it a lot

I have self-dx anxiety

Interests/fandoms/hyperfixations

Amrev (major)

Falsettos (major, current biggest hyperfixation)

The owl house (major)

Any cats, especially my own(major, permanent hyperfixation)

Pokemon (minor)

Luca (minor)

DEH, BMC, Six, Heathers (I'm listing these together, minor)

Steven Universe (minor)

MCU (minor)

A lot more, but you might not see me mention anything else

Other

Dni: homophobes, transphobes, racists, sexists, misogynists, misandrists, radfems, TERFs, aphobes, biphobes, and any other kinds of bigots and Andrew Rannells haters cuz I had enough of that already /srs

I will protect Andrew Rannells and Anthony Rosenthal with my life, I am not taking criticism.

I have created the Alexander Hamilton smexy leg joke and I take pride in that

Cool people to follow

@vive-la-revolution, @gayitalianfish, @connormurphybutinamrev, @quillsink, @imgaybut, @forest-the-tree, @themostingloriousisvictorious, @queenbottomless, @were1776

I have so many more amazing mutuals, but I don’t really want to make this too long

[messages-into-the-void]

Trying a new anti-anxiety medication. It’s not the tranquilizer kind. It’s the “wait and see” guinea pig variant. (Ok so I might be bitter.) 4-6weeks.

It’s one full day into it, so I am guessing I can’t judge it yet. I am already stressed out because I’m moving and the doc thinks now is a good time?

I was on Xanax. I think being off Xanax cold turkey at least makes sense. I am super amped up right now. I’m not experiencing delusions, but things that make me lose control frustrate me greatly.

This fucking doc thinks I’m addicted to Xanax? I’ve been on 0.5mg for years. No more than that. I feel like this is anti-drug boomer nonsense.

I’ve done the calming version of 🌿 before. It was immediate and calmed me right the fuck down without the gross drowsiness of Xanax or without throwing a fucking wrench in my life and sanity for 4-6 weeks.

Today during the day I was just tired. Tonight I am so amped up I cannot rest. I have the weird amped up surging blood feeling. I feel nauseated and I want this to stop.

Yet... I get treated like I’m being over dramatic. It’s been one full day. Am I being over dramatic? Why the hell can’t I live in a place where 🌿 is legalized? (At least medically. God damn.)

I don’t know what this is, what’s wrong. What I do know is I was expressing obvious ADHD symptoms and I get the anxiety brush off. Which is common with women. I don’t know though.

I just want to be able to get through a day without being overtired and unable to pay attention. I want to get through a night without feeling like crying in frustration. I want calmness.

I don’t want attention. I usually tag my dx’s. I am diagnosed autistic. I think my dx might be fucked because there was a time when autism and adhd were mutually exclusive and old people don’t like change. Women get the anxiety catch all and apparently blamed for wanting more calmness. I don’t necessarily want more Xanax or want the adhd related drugs, I want to be taken seriously.

Ok. So. I’m not tired and it’s 2:30am. I don’t want to take Benadryl as the new meds interact with it apparently.

Also I’m annoyed he was talking about the move like it’s a fun thing when it’s obviously stressing me out. It’s not all present day stressed. I moved so often as a kid I’m pretty sure I have some lasting effect.

I am protective of my vulnerable self. This is not whining. This is frustration. This is just loneliness and frustration.

I sound crazy right and proper 🙃

[autism-asks]

My husband is self dx Aspergers, and I wonder if our our four year old son is too? He's high energy, but needs cooling down times, does not like to play by himself but likes stimulus in puzzle solving or maths or a problem solving video games. He get's very upset at loud noises, and refuses most public toilets and get's traumatized by alarms or sirens. What other things should I look out for? We are taking him to a specialist in a month, but what can I do till then? How hereditary is Aspergers?

I would just suggest giving your son what he needs to be healthy and happy. Pay attention to things that upset him.

And while we don’t know how hereditary autism is, there is a genetic component that makes it so if one person is autistic, their relatives have a higher chance of also being autistic.

Os

As you will be seeing a specialist soon, I would suggest keeping notes of any specific behaviors you notice that seem indicative of autism. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it can be easy to forget the specifics, especially when talking to a professional. Having examples ready will better prepare you to answer questions. 

Does he rock or flap his hands or bounce or otherwise move his body in atypical ways?

Does he show a need for routine or difficulty with change? Can you provide examples?

Does he become very obsessive about his interests? Are there specific subjects that he will talk at great length about?

Does he struggle socially with his peers? In what ways?

Does he tend to prefer the company of adults rather than other children?

Does he have reactions that seem extreme in comparison to the situation?

These are a few things you can keep an eye out for and take note of if you see these things in your child. 

As Os said, the main focus should be on paying attention to your child and doing what you can to help him live a healthy and happy life. This can mean avoiding public restrooms since they are distressing for him. It might mean noise cancelling headphones/ear defenders to protect him from too loud sounds. It could mean developing a schedule that includes enough down time for him. Work with your child and find the things that will help him succeed, socially, academically, and emotionally. 

-Sabrina

[autism-asks]

(I'm the anon whose ask got eaten.) 1/2 I have issue with sound sensitivity and I have expressed this multiple times to my family that I'm living with. The only person who is remotely understanding is my fiancée, but no one else (i.e. the loudest) seem to care. When I get loud, I'm very self conscious about it and I apologize, but it just makes me feel like a hypocrite for wanting others to be quite for me. I don't have noise-cancelling headphones and I don't have a proper bedroom, so...

2/2 ...So I don't know what to do. Any advice? (I'm also not prof dx with asd just yet, but it is incredibly likely that I do and the people in my immediate life are anti self dx. I don't blame them. I just wish they would take me more seriously.)            

                                                                                                                Anonymous said to autism-asks:                                                                I feel like a hypocrite. I'm constantly complaining about everyone and everything being too loud and people criticise me for it, but then I end up being super loud myself like when I'm happy or mad. I'm always apologizing for being too loud, but no one here besides my s/o takes me seriously when I just want quietness. Blankets and headphones help a little, but not enough. Idk what to do

Ok I think I found your original ask anon and the ones that you resent.

My first suggestion would be to enlist your fiancee's help in getting the rest of your family to listen to you. They are going to be more aware and versed in the situation than we are and so may have better ideas than we do. Plus, they can actively engage in the situation, whereas we can only offer suggestions from a blog.

An option that doesn't involve having to talk to the family could be buying a pair of ear defenders/noise blockers. You can find them at hardware stores or outdoor stores for pretty cheap since the passive noise blocking is something that people who work with powertools a lot and who shoot guns need to protect their hearing. You can get a decent and cheap pair for $10. The pair I have is a peltor and works really well for reducing the noise in my house to a tolerable level. I've managed to sleep through screaming arguments with them on.

My other suggestion is to view this not as a matter of your sensory needs as an autistic person, but just as the family needing to respect your boundaries and needs as a person. You've already acknowledge to yourself that you get loud and that you feel bad about it and like a hypocrite when you do. So, let them know you're aware that you get loud at times too, but it doesn't change the fact the noise level they create is too loud for you. Again, this is where enlisting your S/O to help you will be more helpful as they will be there to be on your side of the situation.

Also, as a side note, we're often able to tolerate sounds we create ourselves WAY better than noises that other people create. It's a really common thing. Especially if it's you talking. So, maybe cut yourself a little slack on feeling hypocritical because most people are that way and you're not doing anything wrong.

- Os