MossyQuartz

Murdoc , 1 day ago to actuallyautistic

Ok, I've been sitting on this for a couple of weeks now. Part of it is, I don't know what to call it, artistic shyness? (https://universeodon.com/) But part of it was also me getting hung up on where to post it, since it is too big for a post here, and I don't want to split it up.
In any case, I'm trying out Hubzilla for the moment. Let me know if you have any problems with accessing it.

This is a super short allegory I wrote about #neurodivergence (although it may fit other topics as well): https://commonworlds.org/channel/murdoc?mid=b64.aHR0cHM6Ly9jb21tb253b3JsZHMub3JnL2l0ZW0vOGQ3MDAxZjQtMDVkNi00ODMyLTkyYjUtYTVlMDgyNTEwYmE5

#actuallyautistic #Neurodiversity
#adhd #actuallyadhd #audhd
@actuallyautistic @actuallyaudhd

MossyQuartz , 4 hours ago

@Murdoc @actuallyautistic @actuallyaudhd
I was able to read your story by clicking on the link. I was diagnosed on the autistic spectrum back when I was 52. A story like yours would have been welcome in my childhood.

AutisticAdam , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

Anyone can be inquisitive, but many Autistic people are extra thirsty for knowledge and I love it. Unknown things that intrigue others for a few minutes become our hyper fixations, interests and areas of expertise. It’s like others want to know things, but we need to know things.

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic

MossyQuartz , 8 months ago

@AutisticAdam @actuallyautistic perhaps this explains those lost three months where I tested multiple ways to derive a tofu out of split peas. Ultimately, my conclusions were foiled by inconsistent variables in the age of dried peas from the local market. Results: not the same recipe as for soybeans. Presently, I am awaiting my next hyper fixation.

theautisticcoach , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

Do my #ActuallyAutistic comrades find themselves becoming dehydrated often?

If so, you’re not alone.

#AskingAutistics @actuallyautistic

MossyQuartz , 8 months ago

@theautisticcoach @actuallyautistic Thanks for the reminder to drink more water! I lost track of time while reading, and I forgot to grab my refillable water bottle before sitting down to read!

AutisticAdam , 9 months ago to actuallyautistic

Autistic people may appear ‘negative’, ‘pessimistic’ or ‘critical’ when sharing their thoughts or concerns about something, but usually we are just being realistic and helpful if we can.

Often, I have no clue what forms are asking or their instructions can be interpreted 5 different ways. I try to call for help if I can, but I have to hype myself up for it because I rarely do phone calls. If I can’t get help, I have to guess, and this rarely goes well.

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic

MossyQuartz , 9 months ago

@AutisticAdam @actuallyautistic
Filling out forms was easier in the pre-digitized days when I could put an asterisk or double-asterisk or triple-asterisk (and so forth) indicator for placing my interpretation of the numbered question with my full answer and background understanding onto pages of end-notes. I either numbered the pages or used one page for each footnoted/endnoted response. Digital now usually ends up with stock-answers gleaned from decades of learning, or more often ends with copious notes in hand and an hour of waiting on hold for a telephone call to get to a human because those chat text bots on those company websites cannot handle the wording of my reasons for calls. My stock-ending for such phone interactions with the human is for me to thank them for their time and patience in listening to and attempting to assist me with this call.

AutisticAdam , 9 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to actuallyautistic

"You can’t be autistic - you can make eye contact!”

Being autistic doesn’t mean I can’t make eye contact, rather that eye contact can be painful and overstimulating for me. Yet, I make it because I have to. If I didn’t, many would be hurt/angry, and I’d face further ostracism. Thanks for your pointless comment anyway from someone that clearly doesn't know what you're talking about.

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic

MossyQuartz , 9 months ago

@AutisticAdam @actuallyautistic
My eye contact experience is less painful than yours, but mine also is unhelpful. I learned at a young age that I could "look at the teacher's eyes" while she or he was talking, or I could listen to what the teacher was saying, but not both. Funny, teachers always got upset when I asked which eye or if I was to switch looking at from one eye to the next and if that then how often, each time I blink? Eventually I learned I could gaze at the speaker's left eyebrow and lull into a meditative rest and learn nothing during the lesson. Now, I look at someone's eyes as I begin to speak and just before I blink, then quite often I stare into my empty left palm as though I am remembering a checklist of what needs to be said.

AutisticAdam , 9 months ago to actuallyautistic

A strange part of being autistic is getting in trouble for your facial expressions, tone of voice, not inferring things you haven’t been told, & somehow implying things you haven’t implied. It can feel like people get offended by stuff that’s unavoidable & beyond our control.

You're basically getting in trouble for what others are reading in between the lines because they're making assumptions that are only valid for the people they're used to dealing with.

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic

MossyQuartz , 9 months ago (edited 7 months ago)

@AutisticAdam @actuallyautistic
I agree there is "trouble for what others are reading in between the lines because they're making assumptions ..." Those people assume that speakers of the same language also are fluent in nonverbal forms of regional communication.

I was lucky in childhood for guidance in using poetry to practice voice inflection, (thanks to my mother). I was lucky another child told me they recognized a liar by looking at the face, (so I learned to compare faces to words AND reactions while I was young). I was lucky to have so many neighbors from a different culture where girls avert their gaze in order to show respect to parents and elders, (so I seemed to look normal to many of my neighbors). I recognize that I was lucky. I wonder if I was a lucky child or if my consciously observed and learned actions and tonal qualities and speech choices might also be learned by others in the same way as others learn languages or folk dances.

I thought other people had problems. My diagnosis as being on the spectrum explained to me why work was so stressful, I was 53 at the time. I feel lucky to now understand and manage stress.

AutisticAdam , 9 months ago to actuallyautistic

The autistic urge to panic when someone says something might happen, as not knowing whether something scary will happen is usually worse than knowing for sure that it will, because if you don’t know, you can’t fully prepare yourself on an emotional or practical level.

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic

MossyQuartz , 9 months ago

@AutisticAdam @actuallyautistic
Sometimes your insights seem to me as self-insights more applicable to yourself; and, othertimes your insights give me food-for-thought and assist in enhancing my own understanding of my formative years. I suppose you are proving the "rule" that: "if you have met one autistic person then you have met ONE autistic person!" Anyway, sometimes I agree with you and othertimes I think more carefully because of your posts.