wakehamAMR

pathfinder , 27 days ago to actuallyautistic

@actuallyautistic

Many things to do with being #neurodivergent and autistic are far more nuanced and individual than are sometimes given credit. Masking seems to me to be one of those.

Most of us learnt to mask at a very early age and not just for laughs and giggles. It was to protect ourselves from simply being different in a world that barely tolerated it. And let's face facts, children, bless their little cotton socks, are all too often the absolute worst at this. It was also a way of being seen and acknowledged, when just being ourselves never seemed to work. A way of learning how to communicate with those around us, in ways that they expected and could understand.

In fact, in many ways there has always been a deeply practical and functional element to masking. Like foreigners learning the language and customs of their new home, it allowed us to exist and in many ways flourish in this strange land we found ourselves in. For many of us, and perhaps especially those of us who are late diagnosed, the degree to which we could make the mask work for us, was often the key to how we managed to shape our lives and also perhaps how we could stay below the radar for so long.

It's why sometimes we resist when we hear the calls to unmask and how important it is to do this. The endless YouTube programmes and books dedicated to this. Because, for us, our mask was a functional necessity and perhaps still is. And for some us, perhaps because we've been doing it for so long and found a way of doing it that isn't that difficult, it's hard to see why masking is so wrong, or how we can really live without it.

But that is because it sometimes takes a while to see the damage it does. To our mental and physical health, through the stress and anxiety and sheer amount of energy it requires. But also to our sense of self. We are always behind the mirror we are showing the world. Never seen, never interacted with. It is not us who receives the praise, or respect, or even the love. Our confidence never grows, our worth is never nurtured and neither is our self-esteem.

This is the balance of masking. The good it can do, for some of us at least, against the harm it does. The practical over the necessary for growing and truly nurturing ourselves. And the answer to mask, or not mask, is rarely binary. It's often about finding the balance between the two in terms of our needs and duties, safety and comfort. And always it's a choice we have to make. A balance that can only work for us.

#Autism
#ActuallyAutistic

wakehamAMR , 4 months ago to random

Trying to make sense of my identity and personal history in reference to my late dx of ASD is, exhausting.

My #ADHD assessment is coming up in early May. Early indications suggest being medicated will be life changing.

Anyone know of any decent adult #ActuallyAutistic support groups?

manisha , 5 months ago to academicchatter

I can be a “normal” student: the role of lecture capture
in supporting disabled and neurodivergent students’
participation in higher education

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10734-024-01201-5.pdf

@academicchatter

#academia #HigherEducation #education #AcademicChatter #neurodiversity #disability #inclusivity #accessibility #UniversalDesignForLearning