holyramenempire

nddev , 4 months ago to actuallyautistic

Earlier today, I came out as #ActuallyAutistic to my bosses and our company wellbeing ambassador. I said that discovering my autism had dramatically improved my mental health. I suggested it would be good to improve people's understanding of autism, because we're a software shop and we have quite a few autists, some of whom probably don't know they're autistic (especially if they grew up in the 60s and 70s). I also said I planned to say something brief to my immediate colleagues next week.

Bosses were supportive and enthusiastic. Wellbeing ambassador asked me to contribute something to her company-wide newsletter. That went better than I'd dared to hope!

@actuallyautistic

sebwhatever , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic #askingautistics #autisticsurveys

What are you most proud of yourself today?

undefined_variable , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

I'm not sure if this is an autistic thing, but I'd bet it might be...

How many of you restart a game when you fail at something in it, even if you didn't have to. Or when you feel like you made a mistake or a wrong choice or whatnot. And I don't mean just loading the last convenient save, but starting anew all the way from the beginning. I do that, a lot, almost with every game (Yes, even casual ones, I restarted the original Life Is Strange I don't know how many times... You can imagine what a chore it was to get through XCOM, which is one of my favorite series). So instead of playing like 20 hours, I spend easily 80 hours going though the game. Provided that I ever actually finish the game.

Now, here's the kicker... Ready for it? Does that apply to other things in your life too? I just realized today, that for me it does. I get into something, something ungood happens, I drop it, get rid of my "save game" (that is, whatever I have acquired, tangible or intangible for said thing), then take it up again some time later, start from an empty table, other than the experience from the previous try, maybe get a bit further, something happens...

I've done it with trivial things, like learning a new skill I don't really need to survive. Today I realized I've been doing it with something fundamental about myself. And oh my that realization sucks. Unlike my game characters, I don't... I can't start a new game with the game world, or myself, in the same state every time, neatly rolled back in time. For me, a month, or a yeah, or a decade has passed. It is very ungood. I wanna restart and try again.

@actuallyautistic #ActuallyAutistic

fulanigirl , 5 months ago to blackmastodon

#politics #trump #fascism #BlackMastodon #BlackTwitter @blackmastodon
Can you participate in a thought experiment with me? The posts warning about fascism are good, but I'm wondering what you think fascism actually looks like. Give a thought, and list what it looks like. Don't just say "the end of democracy." List what the concrete changes will be and make it local. "In my town/city/county/state the following will happen......" Think about it before replying. Not just for #BlackMastodon .

rebekka_m , 5 months ago to actuallyadhd

For people that are not @actuallyadhd the common medication feels different that for those who are #actuallyADHD - non ADHDers feel like on Coke, very energetic and highly vibrant, similar to using Speed, while ADHDers tend to get calm and focused, able to concentrate at all.

Question [I haven't googled yet]: What is it with antidepressants - if people without a depression take those, do they feel LOTS happier than ever or something different?

Or do you know sth. about this, @actuallyautistic?

Dr_Obvious , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic German

@actuallyautistic
I want to try out some kind of meditation to better deal with things that go into direction of anxiety/phobia.

Many people here mentioned that they are doing it and my therapist mentioned that there is good evidence for some methods which are not esoterical and are proven to help with that like MBSR.

Someone here recently highlighted waking up. But before I try that out I am curious whether you have recommendations for self paced tutorials.

EmilyMoranBarwick , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

To my fellow #Autistic #ADHD #AuDHD or otherwise #neurodivergent folks…

I would appreciate any tips on how to use Mastodon without it causing overwhelm/getting lost in it.

🧠My blend of #neurodivergence has a REAL hard time with this kind of platform (never got Twitter either), but I’m drawn to the community & connection here.

I’m like instantly a confounded 105-year-old when it comes to Mastodon/Twitter 🙃

Ps - I’ve seen @actuallyautistic but not clear how that even works

independentpen , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

@actuallyautistic A lot of people on here talk about meltdowns as a regular, visible thing. I know we're all different, but this is so far from my experience I started feeling a little impostery. I have had melts before, ie I've completely lost control and either: fled to save myself and others from me, or sort of left my body like a blackout (while still walking/talking) ... 1/

seanwithwords , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

I have a question for my @actuallyautistic friends...

is the constant internal dialogue a function of Autism's "bottom-up" processing, or a function of shame-based masking?

I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to just act or speak without that layer. should I be trying to act/speak thru the layer of dialogue or should I just let it happen & be less anxious about it?

I guess I'm wondering if it comes from my masking coping strategies or if it's more ingrained and unavoidable
#ActuallyAutistic

poloniousmonk , 7 months ago to actuallyautistic

@actuallyautistic

Does anyone else drink a lot? Not booze, just fluids. For someone who barely feels hunger or discomfort, I'm always drinking and pissing. I've always assumed it was something medical and undiagnosed, but maybe it's an autist thing. Thoughts?

sahat , 7 months ago to actuallyautistic

dear fellow neurodivergents
I am a bit troubled by all the anxiety- laden posts from people, who fear the holidays as a time, where their boundaries will be overstepped, resulting in stress with all kinds of negative mental emotional and physical consequences.
Do enforce your healthy boundaries. It's self love as well as survival. If your family and friends don't support you doing this, run for the hills.

If we don't take our human rights as neurodifferent people seriously , then who will? If we don't know what is good for us, then who will? If we don't create social inclusion, than who will?
Just saying. I'm the mum of one such person who is able to suffer a lot, wanting to be included and is learning how to accommodate himself and his nervous system, understanding that boudnaries are a matter of survival for the hyperempath. And I am one such person myself. So I have two different angles on it. Don't allow tradition or want for closeness to crash your boundaries.The double bind of being alone while keeping them intact or being "included" while suffering, must be broken. By us.
I would like for there to be many proud and self- caring autistics that show the world the exact and true profile of what inclusion really looks like and where it begins.
I know it's most difficult with family. But it's also extremely rewarding, to at least tackle this. Just bear with me, I couldn't suppress the mother-duck instinct. There was pain seeping out of the posts I have been reading. Don't accept anything that puts you into such a state.
Just don't. It's not necessary. Question it. If you do this, you will also help the whole social unit progress in their understanding.
@actuallyautistic

magicalgrrrl , 7 months ago to random

#ActuallyAutistic community!

How do I make friends as an adult? I'm new to my area and don't have any local friends or community. Have been struggling with loneliness a lot lately.

holyramenempire , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

This is kind of a half-baked thought, but one of the reasons children of abusive or neglectful parents have such a hard time having self-worth is that when other people treat you like something is wrong with you, by withholding care, you start to believe it. You're a logical, sensible person, so everyone else must also have reasons for what they do, therefore withholding care from you has to have a reason. No one's telling you the reason, so it must be something REALLY bad.

But for #ActuallyAutistic folks, aren't most of us treated like that by the whole of society, not just our parents? We are fundamentally not supported, even by the most well-meaning non-autistic people. We are treated like a problem to be solved. To me, it amounts to a withholding of care that signals to us "You're not wanted." No wonder so many of us are sick and suicidal, you know?

@actuallyautistic

theautisticcoach , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

What’s been the most important thing you’ve learned about yourself during your #ActuallyAutistic journey?

#AskingAutistics @actuallyautistic

theautisticcoach , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

What does autistic liberation look like to you?

#ActuallyAutistic #AskingAutistics @actuallyautistic

masukomi , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

A nice little TickTok about finding joy in someone else's Special Interest, even if it's really not your thing.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8Sqeq92/

I think this is something most #ActuallyAutistic folks "just get" but that Allistic people constantly struggle with. The end result being Austistic people can frequently only talk about the thing they're passionate about with other autistics, or other people with the same Special Interest.

1/2

@actuallyautistic

Sci_Fi_FanGirl , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic German

Can anyone relate?

Usually, I'm very self-conscious. But it happens from time to time, that I'm in a state of (work) flow and feel rather good about myself. Then, I'm more likely to engage in various conversations. Because I feel good, I might overshare, give advice, over-estimate my abilities or be silly. Consequently, I feel ashamed about my "outburst" and wish to never see any of them ever again. (Repeat cycle)

@actuallyautistic

holyramenempire , 8 months ago to random

I love this study. It emphasizes how vital written communication is to autistic people. (If your business or service requires a phone call or an in-person interaction, it's not accessible to us.)

Also, it's the kind of research we need more of: not about how to "fix" us, but about what we want, and who we are. There are still people out there who think that we can't even have our own opinions, that we're just parroting what we've been told. There are still people out there who believe autism is a learning disability or a disease!

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613211014995

holyramenempire , 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

@yourautisticlife @actuallyautistic My understanding is that NT people are very quick to "stop seeing" a word that is repeated often.

Neurotypical people seem to hit semantic satiation (when a repeated word loses all sense of meaning) faster than I would expect of a ND person.

So I think repeating a word doesn't matter as much for us - if it was the right word to describe something the first time, it's obviously still going to be the right word the tenth time.

But NT people are going to get lost with a word being repeated ten times - they'll assume the email says nothing important, or why would it need to contain so many repetitions of a word?*

*Yes, this logic is all backwards and fucked-up to me, too!

theautisticcoach , 9 months ago to actuallyautistic

How did my #ActuallyAutistic comrades understand that they're autistic?

How old were you?

@actuallyautistic

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