What is your opinion on God not allowing a "cure" for autism? The world is so keen to judge. And media twists things around.

My opinion... well... HMM.... Where to start...I guess my opinion is that divine intervention is hard to come by. That if there is a deity of some sort, then it’s up to their believers to carry out their good will. If there is a God, then we’ve been put here together to better ourselves and understand the universe more wholly by learning from one another and challenging problematic mindsets. The world is steeped in ableism and ignorance, and it’s up to us and our allies to challenge these systems and educate those around us.I think we’ve been lucky thus far, as lucky as you can call it... while other people with disabilities have not been so uh, blessed, if you will.

((Gonna get a little trigger-warning here on a touchy subject so brace yourselves? I’ll even put it under a read more!))

Autism is not the first target of prenatal testing and subsequent terminations, all the while it’s advocators mask it behind the word “cure” or an “eradication of a disorder.” (re: down’s syndrome) Decades of ableist agenda leads well-intending doctors to continue to spread this mindset, and encourage people to make decisions on a tainted narrative. Therein lies the problem, not in the termination of pregnancies itself, but the biased information provided to mothers making their decision-- the fear-mongering narrative steeped into our culture designed to eradicate people with disabilities without giving mothers a real choice in the matter. We have a very real, very scary reminder of what can and will happen if we don’t fight back. (And while we’re at it lets not forget to advocate for others!). I think the only way higher powers will continue to "not allow it” will be because we won’t allow it, or continue to allow it for others! If there is a God, then he gifted us with the knowledge and the voice to stand up to oppression and change the world for the better.

*clears throat* That is my opinion on the matter, anyways.

Do you have "special" interests? I'm into science but haven't been into it that long. When I like something I always get obsessive about it, though.

Me? My first special interest that I remember was dinosaurs, this was pre-jurrasic park so it was actually a huge challenge for my parents to find me dinosaur things, but after the movie? I was in what they call “hog heaven.”

My second special interest then was simply animals. I still have that old DK animal encyclopedia with the spine all worn from over use... which turned into interest in animal behavior--

And currently? I’ve gotten really into psychology and human behavior from the perspective of an animal behaviorist.

Sadly, in my older age, my ability to retain everything like I udrf yo . It really makes me sad because I really enjoyed that aspect of me as like, an individual trait-- something self-identifying and it’s kind of fading away. ;v; I don’t know if that’s normal for aspies or if I’ve spent too much time learning and imitating how neurotypicals function that I lost that brain space.

But I digress... a lot... lol

for some reason google chrome thinks the meme generator is malware :c

It looks like the old one is broken anyways :(

I just take the blank image to https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

Top: Learn about Autism Bottom: Oh shit it all makes sense now

Making this one for the like 20 questions I have about people realizing they might have some form of an autism spectrum disorder.

When I was younger (about 12-15, I can't recall very well) I was told that most people grow out of their aspie "symptoms" but I'm now 19 and I'm only getting more depressed, and more socially anxious and self conscious and more scared. Why is it getting worse for me :( Also, I'm super scared to get a job for fear I'll mess up. I already got fired once because of my Asperger's and I don't want it to happen again :(

If you are gonna “grow out” of them It’s around 25, 26. Though this was thought to be a developmental delay a while back, we’re starting to discover most people don’t really finish developing socially until that age. 18-19 is a rough stage for a lot of people, even if they don’t talk about it, so in some regards what you’re going through is perfectly “normal”It’s also suggested that people on the spectrum do have a latent social development, so the stuff that matters to neurotypical 12 year old is gonna matter to maybe 16 year old on the spectrum. I did personally feel like I experienced this, because when I was 19-20 I started messing around with fashion and looks and cared more about what my friends thought about them like teenagers do, whereas when I was a teenager I gave 0 fucks xD You can look up developmental stages for teens if you want to kind of suss out things that may happen.

But long story short, teenagers often feel a lot of social anxiety as a means to prompt them to pay attention to these social developments, which when you start having that natural progression of concern added to preexisting anxiety disorders... it’s gonna feel like a lot. My best recommendation for this is to seek individual therapy for the anxiety. I found a good balance using propranolol for anxiety, its non-addictive and has little side effects because its really a blood pressure medication, combined with therapy and this thing I did with my counselor called a “magic book”... essentially a visual life planning strategy. if you’re interested https://sites.google.com/site/lifeplanningtips/ I had once attempted to make a page to explain how to do it.... be mindful that it hasn’t been touched in like 5 years so its probably very out of date. 

I’ll admit now that I wound up on disability income for 7 years. Professionals at the time told me I’d never keep a job or even have a stable relationship or live on my own. I was lucky enough to have a friend and a mom that were supportive enough to agree with me when I said that wasn’t true. But I did need help while I sorted everything out and went to college. However, I’m happy to say I persevered and got my degree, now I work doing something probably no one would have thought I could do... social work. I do this hella awesome thing called HOST https://www.desc.org/what-we-do/health-services/host/ and I do it GOOD. 

My best advice? Learn to embrace the life you want for yourself and not what others tell you it should be. Ask for help when you need it... I have medication for my major depressive disorder that actually works after years of trail and error. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without assistance. And... always be open to learning. I also took DBT classes to help connect to an “emotional mind”-- I know DBT is problematic because it cherry picks from eastern religion right-- but it’s also like some amazing skills that probably saved my life. TLDR I hope that helps. I recognize your profile says you’re 20 now so I’m probably a year late on this so orz I’m sorry for that

I want to make a thing for my friends as a sort of 'what to not do/what to try/what to look for' for when I'm having a meltdown and/or shutdown (prolly 2 separate docs) because they've expressed concern and wanting to help but I don't know what to put on it? Especially for my meltdowns, I don't even know what helps them? Do you have any advice or ideas? I'm asking around looking for suggestions, even just things to consider myself to figure it out.

Meltdowns usually respond well to the “low and slow” method. But also keep in mind that these are usually a result of being over-stimuliated, so you also want to remove the problem.1) You may want to attempt to remove any stimuli from the situation, noise, words, lights-- preferably you could get to a quiet room where you can decompress. Your friend could be helpful in that regard if you were able to let them direct you to such a space if there was one. Alternatively, they could ask people to be quiet for a few minutes or try to redirect the milieu. 2) Back to the low and slow-- Your friend would probably want to speak in a low, comforting tone without too many words. They can offer you choices then: Ie “Hey... do you want to go to a different room or stay here?” in that same calm tone. 3) Support your natural instincts. Lots of people have a particular stim that helps, society typically suggests repressing this but if you and your friend both do the stim then people aren’t going to pay as much attention to it. That sounds weird right? But abnormal means that most people aren’t doing it. All it takes for something to become “normal” is for more people to do it-- hell, look at fidget spinners! I won’t get on that rant tho.4) Make a self soothing kit, I have a really old post over here about that http://healthofmind.tumblr.com/post/22571448384/self-soothing-sensory-kit , 5 years ago they weren’t so common but there’s a lot more on the internet now about them. A google search pulls them up now... :’D man things are changing so much as I get older.

Also I guess the difference between a meltdown and a shutdown for me is just stages... I tend to shut down more than melt down these days, melt downs are usually just holding too much sensory stimulation inside my body that I have to get it out-- along with some feelings of frustration and resistance against the stimulation. Shut downs are like “whoops, rebooting.” which is often how I explain it to my friends... just like... man y’all ran too many processes and I crashed, I need to restart, give me a minute.

Sorry I gotta get better at checking this thing. More replies to come! Sorry if you’ve been waiting for a hot minute ;v;

Hi, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I just need some closure. I feel like I could have Aspergers because there's things about me that are different than anyone else. I haven't had a diagnoses ever, and I took multiple Aspergers tests, which I don't rely on at all. I told my mom about it too, and she said it was just my anxiety (and yes I have bad anxiety and depression) It's just been something I've been thinking about for a while and I'm trying to figure myself out

Depression and anxiety are a common result of autism spectrum disorders because of the social isolation and everything else. I wouldn’t put it off the table just because you have other diagnoses. :) 

hey there!! im not super sure if i have aspergers, but the reasoning behind my lack of motivation, social anxiety, “nervous habits”, and other mental health issues seem to fit better with AS than my official diagnosis of avpd. i was wondering if you have any advice/links about increasing motivation from an aspergers perspective? im permanently on mobile so forgive me if ive missed an obvious link!!

No worries! I don’t think there’s any link around and I’m not sure if the current theme for this tumblr is even functional anymore it’s so old! I’m curious what you’re associating autism and lack of motivation with, and like in a genuine way not a snarky way. I haven’t typically heard anything associating the diagnosis with motivation before... But if you mean motivation towards SOCIAL events then yes I could see where that could be the easy conclusion. Certainly I’ve struggled with engaging in certain social behaviors because I couldn’t see the point. (I’ve since learned the points, which has helped me) I think motivation changes dramatically dependent on the thing you’re motivated towards.  (or trying to be motivated towards.) So before I go on, do you think you could elaborate a little more for me? What are you struggling to be motivated with? Or for anyone else curious about this, I don’t mind answers from anyone not OP.

can you put up the blank for the johnny 5 aspergers robot? i really like it.

http://fuckyeahaspiebot.tumblr.com/post/9973785151/make-your-own Here it is! tagged “blank”

Also in mens :D

Each brain is wired uniquely. It’s what makes you YOU. Celebrate it with ThinkGeek’s Neurodiversity Tee! Purchase during April and it supports ASAN’s work AND you get a cool tee! Available in Unisex, Ladies, and Kids sizes.

wildcard-draws: Hello! I’m the artist-anon you so kindly responded to. I’ve created and developed the character thanks to your help and suggestions, and I wanted to share her! Her name is Neko-Chan, and she really loves cats. She even wears little cat-ear hair clips that she refuses to take off unless she’s sleeping. She’s really the sweetest thing, probably the kindest and gentlest character I’ve created so far, and if she’s fond of someone all she wants to do is hug them. She wears these large colored sunglasses because it helps soften the environment around her, making things less bright and turning everything her favorite colors of purple and pink. Her cat is her anxiety and support animal, he follows her everywhere and is her best friend. Let me know what you think! And I’m always open to more suggestions! For more updates on this character as well as others, follow my Instagram: @bellemcauley

Amg I love her. I mean, I might be biased because I love pastels sweatshirts and cats but hey. I also admit that I wore cat ears like 70% of my highschool years through a weeby goth phase… BUT ME ASIDE I know a lot of people on the spectrum that relate to animals a lot and some that feel it would be easier if they had something like ears and tails that would move to express emotion as opposed to figuring out this whole how my face works thing. Not everyone, of course, but a few. Also I love the glasses so much, and one of the pro tips for people on the spectrum is to get colored glasses to help with reading/over stimulation… and the baggy fashion you had going on there. And I really love the expressions you’re giving her (I snooped the instagram) like I think they’re there but more subtle if that makes sense? Honestly I think she’s great. You got in more little details than I thought to mention in my suggestions. A+. I may have done a quick doodle fanarts.

I hope you don’t mind me posting this. Gotta give you some publicity.

CHECK OUT THIS HERE INSTAGRAM

What do you think of emerging science that Aspergers is linked to endocannabinoid (marijuana like) dysregulation?

Hadn’t heard about it yet! I read a few articles, certainly food for thought... but not enough to formulate any opinions. And nothing scientific because, haha, I have no time. I don’t know enough about neurobiology to get invested in the endocannabinoid system theory itself... Granted, personally, I’m inherently skeptical about cannabis research because there had been so many snake-oil theories and case stories like “I had tumors and I rubbed THC oil on them and they went away.” BUT I’M A HORRIBLE EXPERT SO DON’T ASK ME.What do YOU think about it? Or what does someone with more knowledge about it think about it? I know you neurobiologists are out there somewhere

So I didn't know what Aspergers was till my crush mentioned he had it and I nearly cried because I looked it up and realised if it wasn't for Aspergers he wouldn't be the person I love so much. You see he's funny, eccentric and talks like he's from another time period... His turn of phrase gets me. He has a very cool sense of style and is the sweetest human being ever. He struggles sometimes but he's a fighter and always looks to the bright side and looks out for his friends and just... my heart

Baw that’s so cute.

And important because, idk, as we get near Easter again that whole Autism Speaks BS becomes rampant again and yes, the spectrum is sort of a dual minority-disability sort of thing, little pieces of each that vary from person to person... But there are lots of pieces that are a part of a core identity, and the idea of “curing” that is just eugenics.

A while ago my dad confessed to me that he thought I mightve been on the autism spectrum when I was little and that i "grew" out of it. But lately I've been looking up a lot about aspergers and realizing I relate with soo many things.(sensory stuff, social stuff, special interests, becoming nonverbal when stressed) But I can't tell if it's just anxiety? I've had anxiety since I was very little too. I want to go to a professional but im scared they won't take me seriously.

So, for starters. Both? Probably. I have not met someone on the spectrum that has not also had anxiety or depression or TRIPLE THREAT: all three. Funny how impaired social cue reading can result in anxiety, especially in social situations. Or how being ridiculed/blamed at a young age can reduce self esteem and damage your resiliency to depressive episodes.

Though special interests and sensory sensitivity, aren’t typically associated with anxiety. Plus, you have your dad in support of seeing patterns in childhood, which is what you’d need for a professional diagnosis. If you’re worried about being taken seriously that’s pretty much the only thing that jams people up, because a ton of parents are like “oh you’re fine, you’re just lazy, you’re just anxious” etc. Second is age, it’s harder to find a person who can diagnose over the age of 18, and the further into adulthood you get the more the diagnosis is masked by coping skills and poor recall from family members about said childhood experiences. 

But otherwise, like, if you’re just looking for professional support, I’d say finding someone who takes you seriously no matter what is going to be your #1 priority. If they don’t, find someone else because that’s not professional. Now, they may challenge you, like “what about these things” but it should be a supportive self-exploratory environment. 

Cause they pretty and you can stare at them like wow lookit those those are a+. ... Still not very good at talking during this phenomenon.

Hello! I'm an artist currently creating an Aspergers character (as a character designer I tend to focus on neuro-diversity) and I really want to do the correct research to make sure that the character genuinely represents the community. I have ADHD so I do understand some aspects and I have first-hand experience with some Asperger symptoms, but I'll never 100% understand the entire spectrum of it. Do you have any suggestions for what the community would really want in this character?

Oh goodness, hmm. It’s really difficult to speak for the community as a whole, because everyone’s experience is different? Myself and some others have had complaints about people on the spectrum as characters being used as a punch line; ie, personally I dislike big bang theory for that exact reason, as it amps up the “look haha he can’t understand social cues and comes off as really selfish hahaha”… I just recall an episode I saw where he was insisting someone drive him around at times that were really inconvenient and asking her to do ridiculous things for him. In Bones they’ve really played up like “haha she’s so painfully blunt”… to the point she hurts people constantly and argues like “well why are they hurt by that it’s just sense.” Which I admit happens sometimes, but I associate this more with adolescents than adults, because adolescents are still legitimately trying to learn this, if that’s an issue… and usually care a LOT like “oh god I hurt someone but WHY?” in a “I don’t want to do it again” way not a “they should get over it” way.I’ve always liked series where they mention it once or twice, tops. They did it in bob’s burgers with Tina, like first season they threw a few jokes in “You’re the worst kind of autistic” which was… ehhh, bordering on kind of offensive, but never brought it up again. The series really mellowed out later too, I tried to show this one to my parents and was like oh god season one has so much cursing… I digress.I really like Reid in criminal minds, it comes up now and again but usually from outside characters. In the main cast he’s just Reid. I’m trying to think of defining characters that make him “autistic”… struggling a bit. I think it’s really subtle cues like the pauses he makes. Just small hesitations as his brain processes something and then he catches up. He’s also fairly logical, but when something gets to him emotionally it really gets to him and he seems to have trouble processing it and sharing that experience and just works on handling it internally. http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/Spencer_Reid#PersonalityI liked the kid in Jurrasic World, I had a rant about it at one point when the movie first came out… they never said he was on the spectrum, but he displayed a lot of behaviors I associate with it, and identified with. http://fuckyeahaspiebot.tumblr.com/post/121547676957/im-sorry-but-im-really-confused-are-you-saying here it is!Another one is CSI las vegas’ Gil Grissom. Again, mentioned only once or twice throughout several seasons, very smart, great leader, he’s got his quirks but they’re useful and relevant to the career he chose and he’s more than happy to share and teach… he seems to have trouble switching tasks and hates being interrupted, again like Reid when there’s something going wrong in his life he retreats inwards, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Grissom#Characterization

So I think… the “good” characteristics; people on the spectrum, in my opinion are smart, really attentive to details, goal oriented, highly motivated, humorous, enjoy having others smile, are passionate, and when they care about something they care really REALLY intensely. Sometimes to the point of being overwhelmed by the emotion, which can be too much to process at once and results in people “shutting down.” (I had a client of mine die on the 3rd, I got home and sat on the floor staring blankly for like 30 minutes while my friends tried to coax me out of it, then cried for an hour)… and then more neutral characteristics, tend to stick to people they’re familiar with, and look to those people in social situations, can get distracted by cool textures and patterns, tend to enjoy structure and routines… some of the “bad” characteristics, getting overwhelmed by too much stimuli (ie, loud crowded rooms with lots of talking), trouble making eye contact, but may learn other ways around this like briefly looking at someone, staring at their mouth… fidgeting, sometimes, people like to stim but most of us know how to do it subtly, talking too much about something they enjoy (don’t do this too much though, like, Reid it’s usually someone he knows goes “hey,” and he catches himself in a snap and stops immediately.) Not great at picking up subtle nonverbal cues, but oh my god people can learn what crying and frowning mean we’re not idiots 8U I think if you have the character not recognize a nonverbal cue and it turns into a problem, make sure they remember it and tries really hard not to do it again. Most of us are super anxious and depressed because we’re all constantly trying to compensate for what gets missed… From personal experience, at this point I’m actually one of the best non-verbal cue readers in my group of colleagues (I work in Mental health) because I’m doing it from my knowledge that I’ve actively learned, not gut feelings. :0 Anyone got some things for this artist-anon that they want to add in? I’m sure everyone has something they’d love to see represented, or not represented, or represented THE RIGHT WAY or characters they like, SEND THEM IN. 8D I’ll tag them all as artist-anon. Also feel free to contradict something I’ve said! My personal experience and likes is no where near all encompassing of the community.