#I'm sure someone who is autistic could like. explain this better. people are SO WEIRD about the new rival. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wawawawawawawawawawawawawa · 11 months

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the anon who doesnt have aspd and taught myself empathy again here! i've never talked to a psych (self diagnosed autism) and as a teen i was p sure i had aspd (i Knew shit was strange w me and really wanted an explanation and once i figured out my mix of trauma and autism things made sense) coz lack of remorse and shit but i never actually really matched the rest of it -- i dont have substance abuse issues and never have, im p easily entertained, i've had the same three friends basically my entire life. i do though describe myself as the worlds most boring hedonist coz like yeah i sometimes have a hard time controlling my impulses and im motivated by fun but for me thats usually p simple -- easily entertained. read a book, video games, jump around to music. i AM frequently bored though?? like its my most frequent emotion and ive spent a Long time learning to cultivate my joy and really feel it properly. but im also the most easily excitable person i know. i dunno, i have v large emotions that appear then disappear quite quickly. a favourire hobby of mine since i was a kid has been to start arguments between the ppl i care abt and see how large i could make them in a single session then solve the argument w/o the ppl realising i'd manufactured and egged on the argument. which typing that out now seems uh. an interesting hobby. but late last year i told my younger brother and he laughed coz its a v me thing to do and was like "yo thats fucked. pls stop doing it to me" so since then ive mainly tried to just like playfully tease ppl in a normal way coz cognitively i understand its a fucked thing to do and im trynna be like, a decent person who doesnt go outta my way to play w ppl for funsies. which yeah that uh... maybe i Should look into aspd more again, i did a fairly shallow look into it as a teen and relating to azula as much as i did as a kid (and izaya as an older teen/young adult) was deff a sign of smth

i've followed you on this blog for a while (i think you'd only had it for a couple weeks when i first followed u?) so yeah i did know the story abt u and ur fiance! v cute

i feel like maybe we need a different identifier than "the anon who doesnt have aspd" because that might not be, uh. accurate! i have o clue why a lot of people with aspd seem to congregate around my account but i guess this is an aspd helpline now??????? whuh????

like im not complaining its just. how did i get here

also i think ive deadass used the "worlds most boring hedonist" descriptor for myself before and i deal w chronic boredom the same way you do- i have a LOT of hobbies and i plan elaborate projects and that entertains me but only temporarily

and thats the thing about aspd! it- like every other disorder- is a spectrum. you might not have substance abuse issues, and i do. you did.... your interesting hobby, and i find it morally fucked!* i have no idea your relationship with criminality, and i got fired for stealing

*i have done something similar but i have a moral policy of like, only fucking with people who Deserve It. who deserves what varies case by case and what exactly i do... i need to explain weird spiritual stuff to go in depth andyeah im not really itchin to be called crazy on tumblr dot cum

aspd in general is very misunderstood and no literature really focuses on what its like to have the disorder, only the perceived damage being around someone with the disorder will bring- which is why i initially self diagnosed thru tumblr posts from ppl talking about their symptoms in a serious educative way

sometimes i think like, maybe i don't have aspd, maybe i'm just autistic and i'm spreading misinformation- but i never really felt "at home" with other autistic people. its like- yeah i click better with other autistic people, but i'm still masking, i'm still faking, and even in this situation i can drop the mask partially but not fully. growing up with a personality disorder and trauma in communities largely filled with autistic people with trauma, very quickly teaches you that there's something different about you. it's an isolating, traumatizing feeling- my experience with this was mainly symptoms of npd, but like.... knowing you have a problem, wanting it fixed, and knowing nobody around you knows how deep the problem runs, and might even find its existence laughable or dangerous... it's isolating! and its shitty!!

generally i tend to Know if things i'm doing are bad or not, i just tend to not care in the moment, because it's better than being bored! entertainment wins out over everything. it's actually kind of terrible; i'll do stuff just to see a reaction out of people- it's like izaya, honestly, what happens when people are pushed to their breaking points?

thats kind of how i got so much into angst and psychological horror. not only did i want to break the characters, i wanted to break my audience. i'd tell my friends detailed stories about torture partly because i was interested in my story, mostly because i wanted to see their horrified reactions. i wanted to see how far was "too far," and i keep that stuff in my current narratives- i keep the pov extremely tight and do silly little tricks with narrative and formatting to make the audience feel like they're Really There

so yeah look into aspd. do it boy listen to me im the ps5 im speaking to you inside your brain. do it boy do it

#wasks #srry if ur not a guy it meme :(

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autistic-out-loud · 1 year

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Why diagnosis is a GOOD thing

I was late diagnosed and a lot people asked me why I bothered or why it mattered.

It mattered. It mattered so much.

Because it was acknowledgement. Imagine not being able to communicate with people because you don't speak the same language, except you don't realise that and still keep trying and failing, until one day, someone tells you and you realise what the problem is and you can change things.

I always knew I was weird, but more weird than some other people who were "weird", and some things I could change and make better but other things, no matter how hard I tried (like picking my skin - my form of stimming, and not really making friends) some things NEVER changed, and I thought it was my fault that I couldn't change or control it, and I HATED myself for it.

Now I know why it is how it is, and that I can't control it, not always, and there's things I can do about it (for skin picking I have fidget toys instead - doesn't stop me picking but reduces it) but also I can FORGIVE myself.

The worst thing about having something different or wrong is having it and not knowing, because if you don't know you can't understand or act, and others can't either.

I understand myself better and can make better decisions for me.

It doesn't mean I use my autism as an excuse or that I've giving up on trying to do things and just sit back and do nothing. I haven't just gone - "ah well, I'm autistic so I'm just gonna give up and live in my cave"

However, I have given up some things - like eating out - which I didn't do much anyway as I prefer home cooked food. But I'd go out to eat if people invited me, even though I didn't like it because I thought it was just my anxiety, but turns out it' overstimulation from all the noise. Things I never fully understood as my body reacted but I was told it was other things. Now I know it's overstimulation and I need to take time out.

So I don't eat out, at least definitely not if its a busy, noisy place. But I can still go out to eat with friends, just get a takeaway and take it to the park, or take turns cooking at home. So yeah

Diagnosis matters and is important and can turn someone's life around

I told people and they didn't know how to react as they thought it was a negative thing but I was obviously happy about it. Because they're told things like this are negative, but they don't have to be, not if we don't stereotype and shut people out. I haven't changed, and those closest to me realise that, I'm still the same person, just BIGGER, because I understand myself better.

Its never a negative thing - stop acting like it is. Whether a person is diagnosed autistic or not, they will still be autistic if they're autistic - but with knowledge comes power, understanding and opportunity.

this comparison is a bit far out but bear with me: Imagine having cancer and not knowing. Getting weird symptoms and not being able to live your life fully. You can continue on like that until it really eats away at you and you have nothing left or you can seek help, get a diagnosis and get treatment. Sure, you still won't be bouncing back to your normal self straight away, but you'll know the reason behind those symptoms and have things to help and be able to explain to those close to you what's going on. which is better?!

#autism #diagnosis #why diagnosis is important #diagnosis is not a bad thing #positive #autism diagnosis changed my life in a good way #understanding diagnosis

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cromchychipdip · 4 years

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Heya! I was wondering if you had any tips on how to write an autistic character? I'm thinking of making an autistic character and I'm not quite sure how to portray them and I don't want to accidentally be offensive?

You’ve come to the right person!

1. Stimming:

A big part of writing a character on the spectrum is accurately displaying them stimming! Stimming can be defined by an action that lets a person get out sensory energy that is difficult, stressful, or impossible to stop immediately. It can also help them focus. People stim for a lot of different reasons, like when they’re anxious, trying to focus on something, happy, and more! There are some stims that are sort of overused in media like rocking back and forth and humming or hand-flapping, but you can still write them in because they’re realistic stims! Some more stims that you can write are:

Leg bouncing

Mouth popping

Repeating words or phrases to themselves (think: Paul from TGWDLM saying “okay” over and over)

Something I do is take both of my hands and bring them to my face, then sort of shake them. Idk how to explain it, it’s weird

Biting their lips

Tapping their fingers or toes

Picking at their arms/legs

Gently squeezing their arms

2. Language Patterns:

A lot of people on the spectrum struggle with social awareness (myself included). This can include not understanding sarcasm, taking a while to understand jokes, saying some things aloud that sound better in their head, talking when they probably shouldn’t talk, and/or not talking when they should probably talk. Something that you should really avoid when writing dialogue for this character is them saying offensive things out of nowhere, then blaming their autism for it, or the other characters overlooking it because they have autism. Another thing related to this is if/when they go nonverbal, which can happen when someone is really overwhelmed or if they’re used to not talking very much. Some people on the spectrum are already nonverbal, and they communicate in other ways than verbal communication. Another thing that’s sort of connected to this is expressing emotion through words and facial expressions. Some people are really animated, and other people are more monotone. A lot of people, myself included, struggle with showing certain emotions.

3. Special Interests:

Special interests are interests or hobbies that someone on the spectrum really really likes and is very important to them. A lot of the time, autistic characters are written to have a special interest in technology or science. Some of my special interests throughout the years have been Warrior Cats, Avalon: Web of Magic, sharks, chemistry, rocks and minerals, emo music, math, Queen, Sailor Moon, Heathers: The Musical, and StarKid. These are also called hyperfixations. Another thing related to this subject is infodumping, which is when someone has the opportunity to share about their special interest and they share everything, or close to everything, they know and love about it. Infodumping takes a while and it’s very passionate, but if you shut someone down while they do it, then the person will feel like their special interest isn’t important and not share about it with you again. Their self-esteem will also take a hit because their special interests are so important to them. If you want to write a special interest for a character, make it really important to them, but don’t make it all that they talk about. Maybe put some infodumping in there, don’t make it all of their dialogue.

4. Meltdowns:

People on the autism spectrum get overstimulated easily. When they get overstimulated and they don’t calm down in time, they can have a meltdown. Meltdowns can’t really be helped, and they’re very emotional for some people. Some people shut down and dissociate really hard, like they’re running on low battery mode. Others are more frantic and they resort to more harmful stims, like hitting themselves. The type of meltdowns I have mostly revolve around getting really emotional and trying to block out anything that could cause me to freak out more. Something that you absolutely do not want to do is have another character touch them when they’re having a meltdown. Don’t touch people whenever they’re having a meltdown. It makes everything worse for everyone involved.

5. Sexuality:

A lot of people think that people on the spectrum inherently don’t want to have sex or be in a relationship. That isn’t true! There are a lot of people on the spectrum who are also aspec and/or arospec, but not every person is. If you’re going to write this character to also be somewhere on the ace/aro spectrum, don’t make them ace/aro/aroace just because they have autism. Concerning the other possible sexualities/romantic attractions: write them with the same respect you would as a character who isn’t on the autism spectrum.

I hope that this helped! This took a while to write lol. I encourage you to research more about this topic and not take all of my word as gospel. I’m only one person, and my experience as someone on the spectrum can be totally different from someone else on the spectrum. If you have any more questions, please let me know! Good luck! :D

#long post #ask #anon #autism #asd #writing advice #hope this helped #writing autistic characters #info #stimming #special interests

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cardioasscular · 6 years

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Hi Julie! I'm new to tumblr so I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this. I think that I may have autism. I wasn't diagnosed, but I know that some people aren't diagnosed until later in life for a lot of reasons. I'm just curious if you had any advice for figuring out whether I am on the spectrum? I've done some research but it's hard to know where to start. No pressure if you can't/don't want to answer! :) From, Bee

It’s okay! No problem, and feel free to message me any time! I actually don’t know exactly what to tell you in all honesty because I can’t remember what my life was like before I was diagnosed (I was diagnosed at a young age - I think either 3rd or 4th grade). But I can definitely tell you some things that I know about myself/that I’ve experienced that may be able to help you!

-I’ve always had an intense obsession with one specific topic (usually one main one at a time, with others that are still intense, but not AS much), which has varied through the years. Many autistic people call it a “special interest,” mine right now is TGD. The first one I can remember is dogs, which (of course) I still and will always love.

-Everything used to be way too loud for me. I do remember that I used to wear earplugs and snow earmuffs in the cafeteria in elementary school. Over time, I learned to be able to tolerate loudness more, but it can still get really overwhelming at times, especially if there’s more than one type of noise at the same time (like when I’m at work and the oven and dough presser are both going, along with people talking and phones ringing.)

-I can’t stand certain textures. Mine are greasy things, like liquid butter or bacon (I still eat it, but I have to get almost all of the grease off with paper towels), and those holographic/3D things that people love to scratch (and make THE WORST sound that I can’t stand, either). I have an autistic friend who can’t stand chalk or fleece. It varies - unlike my friend, I love fleece!

-I either talk way too loud when I’m comfortable around people, or if I’m not, I don’t talk much, if at all. I find it hard to look people directly in the eye and tend to look above or below their eyes.

-Light, like sound, can get intense for me as well. I have to carry sunglasses with me because sometimes, especially if I’m tired because it seems like my sensory overload problems get worse when I’m tired, the sun is just way too bright and I can’t always get inside to avoid it.

-I tend to do some repetitive actions, and they bring me comfort. For example, I run my hands through my hair a lot, and I pick at/bite my nails and the skin around my nails (yeah, I know, it’s not good for me, I’m trying to kick that habit).

-I find “fidget toys” useful. My favorite are these spinner rings that I have: I have one that’s blue and silver and one that’s kind of rainbow-ish and silver - I got them as a set of 2 on Amazon for like $10 if you think you’d enjoy them!

-I love to hold and squeeze things like pillows and stuffed animals. It’s comforting to me, and the pressure feels amazing - I REALLY want one of those weighted blankets, but they’re expensive and I’m not 100% certain that I’d use it as much as I’d want to (I get really hot at night).

-When I’m overloaded, sometimes I shut down. I don’t talk, I barely move, I space out, and I stare at one specific spot. Sometimes it scares both other people and myself because they don’t know what’s going on, and I feel so overwhelmed that I can’t physically get the words out.

-Sometimes I feel my own emotions too intensely. If something makes me really excited, some people would say that I get “too excited.” On the other hand, the worst part is when I’m sad or upset because a minor thing that might make someone else stressed or sad (for example, I got confused about when lab met last week and missed it, and ended up having a meltdown because of it. Most people would probably be stressed and/or upset, but wouldn’t be as upset as I got.)

-On the flip side, I have an EXTREMELY hard time feeling for other people, which I hate because it makes me seem like the stereotypical “empathy-less autistic.” It’s hard for me to relate to others’ troubles, and even though I try to be comforting, I always feel like I’m not doing it right, or that I’m making it worse. There actually have been times when I HAVE made it worse, and it made me feel completely shitty. I’m horrible at giving advice (so if none of this helps, I am extremely sorry).

-I’m horrible at teaching and giving advice. I have difficulty saying exactly what I mean sometimes, which means that sometimes, people get the wrong idea, or they just don’t understand what I’m trying to say. Most of the time, it’s fine and I can just explain more and people eventually know what I mean, but it’s gotten me into some deep shit before.

-I’m incredibly observant, which is both a blessing and a curse at times given the situation. I notice things that others may not. A good example was when a few weeks ago, my psychology professor was trying to log into the computer, which was projected on the front of the room. It kept giving the “username/password is incorrect” message, and I noticed that she had accidentally hit the spacebar and there was a space before her username, which fixed the problem. A bad example is when there’s a ton of noise, like I mentioned earlier, or multiple people having multiple conversations.

I could give so many more examples, but I feel like this is already much longer than I wanted in the first place.

One thing that I would try is to ask some people around you that you love and trust if they notice any typical actions that seem “weird.” If you’re close with your parents, ask about your actions as a child.

Questions like, “When did I start talking?” “Did I seem unattached to Mom/Dad at first?” “Did I have any ‘odd’ obsessions?” “Did I fit in with other children my age, or did I stand out due to ‘weird’ actions?” may help.

Observe your actions, and see if you catch yourself doing something that you don’t know exactly “why” you’re doing it, that other people don’t typically seem to do.

One thing that I think would really help, if you haven’t already, make some in-person friends (online friends are wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but most of the time you can’t see how your online friends act) who are autistic! Observe some of their behavior, maybe ask a few questions like, “why do you do (x)?” and explain that you have some questions about autism, that you’d like to have a better understanding. Although I do feel uncomfortable talking about myself a majority of the time, I am always happy to explain to others who have a good heart and just want to understand, learn, and support.

Every autistic person is different, so what others may do/feel may not apply to you, and that’s perfectly okay!

It’s always good to ask questions, and I don’t know about your situation, but many public K-12 schools do some academic testing that can point you in the right direction. If you’re a university student (I’m not 100% sure about it, but the University of Tennessee in Knoxville does this), maybe look into your school’s psychology program. Students (under the direction of their professors, of course) can perform academic testing. I think this does cost, though, and I have no idea what the prices are. My college’s disabilities services program sent me to UT for testing and paid for it so I could have updated information, as my last evaluations were done in elementary school.

Again, feel free to message me any time! I’m usually available, but sometimes I do get busy, which is why (and I’m so sorry about this) I took a super long time and answered you super late.

(If you’re autistic as well and have any advice to offer, please feel free to add on!)

#I hope this all came out okay #sometimes I just kinda throw stuff out and it gets all out of order and stuff and it's hard for people to fully understand #and I started this earlier and had to come back to it because shit came up #...and I didn't proofread. Whoops.#asd #actually autistic #autism

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askanautistic · 6 years

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sorry i'm going to submit this because it got kinda long with my rambling sorry

ahh so I was diagnosed with anxiety a few years ago and my therapist said all of my problems with social interaction and touching and meltdowns and other stuff were because of my anxiety, and I thought it might be something else, and now my anxiety is 100% under control but I still don’t understand how people work and I still do all the weird things I did before, so its logical that it’s because of something else. I’ve brought up autism to my parents before but they’ve always dismissed it and made fun of me, but I came across your blog and went through the “talking to parents” tag and used your advice and just listed my symptoms and now I’m going to see a therapist about this stuff! and my parents seemed open to figuring out what’s wrong with me and giving it a name! but I’m really worried that I’ll go to the therapist and she’ll just say that its normal for people to have these issues (like my mom says) when I know that some of it is normal to people but not to this degree if that makes sense? like it feels like everyone else is speaking a completely different language because I don’t understand tone and facial expressions and other nonverbal cues, and I don’t have many friends because I act strangely…

anyways I guess I’m just asking how to deal if it turns out there isn’t a reason for all of this. Because having a label makes me feel a lot better, just having a reason for the way I do things, and that reason was supposed to be anxiety and depression but now I see that it’s not because of that. And it was supposed to be fixed by now. And if it turns out there’s not a concrete reason for the things I do then I’m not sure how to go forwards because I very much prefer when there are concrete reasons and plans. If you could help even a little bit that would be! Very nice. Sorry for rambling. ------------------------------------------------ You might also find our ‘talking to professionals’ tag useful so that you feel better prepared for stating your case when you see a therapist. Also try to be prepared to ask them about their experience and knowledge, because not all therapists will be knowledgable about autism and if you ultimately want an assessment you might be better off looking for someone who specialises in autism assessments. If a therapist or assessor decides that they do not think you’re autistic, they should be able to explain why. You can then think about their reasoning, and discuss it with them. If their reasoning seems incorrect, you could either point them towards information that proves they are wrong. You could also seek a second opinion. If you ultimately discover that you’re not autistic, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a reason. There are many conditions that share overlap with autism and so can present similarly. We have a list of some of there here.

#askanautistic #submission

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stebens · 7 years

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Hey, Snap! This is a bit of an odd question, but how would I go about writing an autistic character? I'd like to write one into my story, but I'm really afraid to stereotype and misrepresent. Is there any basic do's and don'ts that I should know about? Thanks!

I’m so glad you’re including an autistic character in your story!! I’d love to read it if you post it or publish it someday!

Here’s two things I think are most important to know when writing an autistic character.

1. Autists don’t struggle because they’re autistic

We struggle because of how people and society TREATS US because we’re autistic. We struggle when people won’t at least try to understand or accept us, or shun us because we’re ‘weird’, or force us to do things we simply CANNOT do. When we live among people and conditions that accept and accommodate us, we thrive. I, personally, love being autistic, because it’s not being “less than” allistic. It’s simply being different. While this isn’t the case for every autist, you can include that in your character if it suits them! Let them love being autistic! Let them hate how people treat them for being autistic!

2. Not all autists are the same

While we can relate to eachother on this and that, we’re not all the same cluster of autistic traits. We’re not even necessarily the same from year to year; sometimes, we start showing stronger signs of an autistic trait, or start showing signs of an all new trait, or stop showing signs of a trait we usually have or have had for a long time. Sometimes, we hardly show signs of being autistic at all, and then suddenly do (this is explained by the term “autistic burnout”). So if you have more than one autistic character in your story, they’re not gonna be clones. They might even be wildly different from eachother. Autism is a spectrum. Remember that.

As for the do’s and don'ts:

- DO write them being happy and successful(And not just at the end, if you can help it.)

- DO show them being loved and valued(Some of us ARE, in fact, loved and valued by our family/friends/close ones!)

- DO portray their way of stimming in a positive light(As in, make it clear they look/sound handsome or pretty or cute when they stim, as it’s deemed ‘weird’ or 'unattractive’ in our society.)(UNLESS it’s a selfharming stim, in which their friends/close ones might try to give them alternative ways to stim.)(You can also express their emotions this way, i.e. “They stimmed happily when they heard the good news.”, “They were worried about their friend, and stimmed anxiously waiting to hear from them.”)

- DON’T portray them as a burden(We just can’t do things sometimes. That doesn’t make us burdens. If something needs done that we can’t do, there’s someone out there who can or who can help. Alternatively, sometimes we have a lot of needs. That also doesn’t make us burdens. These needs are usually easy to provide, i.e. keeping the lights down low, turning the volume down on the TV, keeping certain foods stocked in the kitchen.)

- DON’T write them as 'weirdos’(Recognize when you’re writing them in such a way. When you see them as 'weird’, it bleeds into your writing, and thus into your reader’s subconscious. So if you see them as another one of your beloved original characters instead, that also bleeds into your writing, and thus into your reader’s subconscious.)

- DON’T kill them off(To clarify, don’t make the autistic character the tragic story or – even worse – kill them off because it’s 'to put them out of their misery’ or 'make the world a better place’. You can let them have problems and face troubles, and have mental illnesses like depression, just don’t kill them off (it’s a bit more acceptable if your story is like, say, The Wa//lking Dead where EVERYONE is dying). There’s plenty of other stories where we die. Let your story stand out!)

I’m sure there’s a lot more I could say, but that should be enough to serve as a guideline. Lemme know if there’s anything else you need help with!

And if any other autistic folk wanna weigh in on this, feel free to reply/reblog with tips on writing autistic characters!

#actuallyautistic #answered #personal #snapback says #long post /#Anonymous

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autistic-google · 7 years

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Hi! I was wondering if you could help me with self-diagnosis a little bit... Basically, I meet most of the requirements for autism, and my autistic friends accept me as a Fellow Autistic and like to point out when I do Autistic Things, but I'm not sure if I might be misdiagnosing... I have difficulty with conversation things like knowing when it's my turn and all that, but I have no problem with metaphors, and actually I tend to latch onto metaphors and extend them out as far as I can, (1/?)

even when other people would expect them to break down. I also definitely did pretend play when I was little, often. It wasn't even one-off sort of stuff; I had huge expansive worlds that I would imagine. And my imagination is still really strong, such that I can imagine things into the real world for myself. I'm pretty sure getting metaphors and pretend play (which I still sort of do aaa) are polar opposite to autism? but other than that I fit the criteria perfectly -- stimming a lot (2/?)

and really enjoying stimming; having trouble understanding other people's emotions and social conventions, going nonverbal; I don't really meltdown usually but it has happened, all that stuff. Other "weird" things about me, if it helps at all: I constantly have music playing in my head and often it will mix and layer; it never ever stops; if I start the day with a bad song it will pretty much ruin my mood and NTs sometimes think it's funny to play my "bad mood" songs to see my reaction (3 or 4?)

(sorry I lost count back there let's call this 5) although thankfully they don't do that often. Also I think I have mild synesthesia because sometimes I can visually stim to a song if that makes sense? I was able to read when I was really little and I've always been good at it, but I think I did learn to talk first and talked at a normal time (another mark against autism). I'm kind of rambling now... Sorry this dragged on and on, I'm just not sure where to start with this. Some days I (5/6 of ?)

Some days I will be super confident like "yes, I am autistic, I can understand myself better now" but other days I'll be like "I'm faking it, look at these contradictions" and aaa I've never been good at reading myself. I know this string of anons was really confusing but if you can please help me out? ;-;

I have a lot to say about this, so I’m going to bullet point it:

-I can’t really tell you if you’re autistic or have synesthesia or whatever. Neither can your autistic friends, tbh. You know your brain best, so in the absence of a professional diagnosis you should go with what you think.

-Not all autistic people have speech delays (that was why, originally, Aspergers was a diagnosis-- to describe those without speech delays). In fact, many professionals think speech delays aren’t a symptom, but instead a comorbid disorder

-The pretend play thing is common in autistic people but not universal; maladaptive daydreaming is also an autistic thing and it kind of sounds like what you’re describing

-Some autistic people have trouble with metaphors, but not all. In particular, many autistic people understand and can use metaphors but find it difficult to detect when someone else is using one. It’s also common for autistic people to understand metaphors because they’ve memorized specific, common ones, but they still won’t understand one if they’ve never heard it before.

-Reading very early is a sign of hyperlexia, also an autism thing.

-If you think you’re misdiagnosing, look at similar/comorbid disorders. Consider if any of them better explain your experiences.

-If you think autism describes your experiences and you benefit from the community, you do have a place in the neurodivergent/autistic community. Even if it turns out you’re misdiagnosing, as long as you aren’t hurting autistic people or intentionally lying about being autistic it’s not a huge problem.

-I run a kik chat for people who are in the process of self-dx’ing, are self-dx’ed or have comorbid disorders, specifically because these kinds of feelings are really common. You can message me @chronicleofhumanity if that’s a thing you’d be interested in that.

-Standard list of diagnostic resources:

https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_testshttps://musingsofanaspie.com/aspie-tests/https://musingsofanaspie.com/tag/take-a-test-tuesday/http://politeyeti.tumblr.com/post/16448184988/autistic-created-alternative-autism-criteriahttp://www.unstrange.com/dsm1.htmlhttp://autiedog.tumblr.com/post/104218756709/arc-open-source-diagnostic-tools-for-asdshttp://autiedog.tumblr.com/post/104134778649/self-diagnosis-resources-for-asd

-In general, focus less on specific symptoms and more on the actual dsm diagnostic criteria, which is way more broad. Do you have communication problems? Do you stim/have special interests? Do you really like routine and rules and such? Do these things make it hard to function? Congrats, you’re probably autistic. Keep in mind, you don’t need to have *every* symptom to be autistic.

-mod Ari

#mod ari #long post #resources #diagnosis #self diagnosis #comorbid disorders #q #itaat #Anonymous

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malewifepalamedes · 7 years

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i hope this doesn't come across as ignorant, but i don't quite understand what stimming means or what stims are. a lot of the people i follow who have autism mention or reblog things that mention stimming (such as stimboards) so i was wondering if you could explain it to me? i'm super sorry if this seems ignorant!

It's not ignorant don't worry! A lot of people don't know exactly what it is, I'm glad you asked! Forgive me if my definition is a little off, sometimes I'm not great with words haha.Stimming is basically self stimulation. Getting another sort of sensory input to help cope with emotions or to help deal with another overwhelming sensory input. Pretty much everyone does it at some point, but for autistic and other ND people it's a lot more necessary and often! For instance someone who's anxious may bounce their leg a lot, that's a form of stimming, whether they have an anxiety disorder or they're just nervous.For autistic folk like me though, it's for both emotional control and for just like, stimulation so we don't get understimulated. I'm constantly moving my foot or just wiggling and flapping my hands and moving about because its just so uncomfortable to not have some sort of sensory input. There's all different kinds of stimming, stim boards mainly cater to visual stimming, where you watch something smooth and satisfying, or auditory stimming if its a video, but there's also pressure stimming, movement and touch, tactile stimming. Stimming, especially movement and tactile based stimming, is really frowned upon in society, especially for autistic folk. For us, when we're happy it's totally natural for us to start flapping our hands or spinning around or making weird noises, it's natural and more comfortable for us to rock back and forth while we sit down or chew on things, it's natural and healthy for us to seek out pressure or flap our hands more when we're upset (though obviously every autistic person differs)I think i've maybe rambled a bit haha. I hope that answered at least some of your question! Best bet is to ask some stim blogs and other nd people like me who are probably better at putting into words what it is haha. Try @nanostims or @gooeychewy or @neurowonderful or @sbroxman-autisticquestions !! theyre all great blogs who im sure can answer this much more eloquently than i can haha!Thanks for asking though anon, I hope you have a great day! ♡♡

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10071991 · 5 years

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Lynn: