Autism Contradictions

Neurodivergent_lou

"___ doesn't make you autistic!"

You're right, individual traits don't make someone autistic. It's the combination of several traits that make them autistic.

Saying something is an autistic trait is not saying it can't exist outside of autism, but rather that it is a common trait among those with autism.

It's the same with all neurodivergency. It's not the individual traits that make someone have bipolar disorder or DID or Depression. It's the combination of them.

And if we start looking at it this way, we can all have a better understanding of how these things operate in relation to each other

Hi! I’m a 23 year old with autism and I’m writing a research paper about the lives of autistic people and what it’s like to be you. Going about your daily lives and living in a world not built for autism. Anything about work, school, relationships, positive or negative! I’d love to hear your stories or comments!

i think something allistics should know about autistic people and the autism spectrum, is that it’s not different points on a line, or a sliding bar that shows “how autistic” you are. autism is not just characterized by one set of behaviors. there are autistic people who speak with a very deadpan, flat tone, and there are autistic people who are overly expressive when they talk, and change their afect every three words. there are autistic people who have a hard time feeling empathy and emotions, and there are autistic people who feel those things unusually intensely. there are autistic people who have one thing they have been interested in their whole life, and there are autistic people who cycle through a bunch of different intense interests every few months. there are autistic people who are very quiet and don’t talk a lot, and those who are very loud and can’t stop talking most of the time. autism isn’t just different for everyone, autism can affect two separate people in ways that are complete opposites of each other. we are not a bunch of traits copied and pasted over and over. we are people, who are going to be different, and who are going to be affected by our neurodiversity in different ways. don’t think my autism will look like your autistic cousins, and don’t think that their experience will be like that of an autistic character you saw on TV. autism doesn’t cancel out individuality.

Autism Spectrum Disorder Profile -> Pathological Demand Avoidance

What is PDA?

Hey- I dunno if this isn’t a good idea, or a silly way to go about this or not- but the conclusion I came to was, I’ve met a lot of awesome people, also on the spectrum, here, and maybe someone’ll offer some advice- sorry I abandoned this blog a lil, and haven’t put any art out.

I was diagnosed with Autism a few days ago, after years of simply being told “it wasn’t just adhd” or “it’s adhd and something else. I’m not comfortable labelling at this age” I finally got my answers at 21 years old, from a trusted doctor and everything just makes a lot of sense- anyways.. I wanna do some research into female autism to help myself out/educate myself and my parents, but don’t know about credible sites or good reliable places to get my information..Would anyone be able to recommend anything? Websites, articles, etc. Thank you. :]

I just need to ask someone because I am so confused. Does anyone know if there is any weight to this "Tylenol and metals in baby food can cause autism/adhd" thing I keep hearing about?

It doesn't seem like it makes sense since both autism and adhd are supposed to be something you're born with, and the whole "vaccines cause autism" thing was debunked.

But I keep hearing about this and seeing psa's all over television and YouTube about it so i am very confused. And it's kinda hard to research on Google because I'm not sure if the sources that come up are trustworthy.

Like I said, I don't think it's true, but it's become such a big deal that I feel like I need clarification.

Also, does anyone know why people believe metals and Tylenol are somehow linked to autism/adhd?

Thanks.

*I have autism and adhd myself, btw

Hello! I'm writing an essay on how autism can affect teens in school and relationships for English class. I want to know where I can find good resources? And which ones can I trust? I know autism speaks is a no go ☠️ I'm still fairly new to the autism community

okay sooooo i went to see a psychologist two years ago and she said that i fulfilled the criteria for autism. but then i went to see another psychologist and she said that i wasn’t neurodivergent. it’s kinda confusing but maybe it’s because in the second assessment i was masking my symptoms a lot more because i was a lot more aware of them???because college has been incredibly difficult for me with the disruption in my routine and also i’ve always had an issue with food and sensory issues. my mum thought that i was autistic when i was 15 because of my problems with food. i also have some hyper mobility and when i was younger i saw a speech therapist and i had additional classes for maths because i found it difficult. i also have bad hand eye coordination and find sports difficult.. also idk if this classifies as a special interest or not but when i was 17 i loved gilmore girls.

i watched it once and then during the summertime i watched it four times back to back, also bought all seven seasons on dvd. another thing about me is that this summer i loved stranger things so much that i would spend hours on end analysing it.

do you think that’s similar to anyone else’s experiences on here ??? i’m a little thrown off because of what the second psychologist said😭 but also maybe this is just me but does anyone on here find that people who are loud and bubbly are overwhelming to be around… because they’re always talking and it can be quite overwhelming… and they can just be so bubbly that it’s hard to keep up… they’re so loud that it’s hard to be around them…

i also find the sound of people eating so annoying like the texture and sound is just too much for me also the smells , i find really hard to deal with unless it’s something nice like chocolate or pizza. i just feel like i can get so attached to people really easily and they just aren’t like that and tend to take advantage of me😭😭 but idk if i’m autistic🫠🫠 does anyone find that this relates to them too?obvi you can’t diagnose me, just wondering if anyone relates.

also, i did a couple of tests on here and here are my results.

autism spectrum quotient: 27 out of 50

RAADS-R: 140 out of 227

empathy quotient: 26 out of 80

clinical partners test: 20 out of 30

aspie quiz: 127 of 200

AQ 10: 5 out of 10

AQ: 23

toronto empathy quotient: 60 out of 64

masking test: 131

hi! i've never gotten an ask like this before so i'm going to respond to this the best i can but i want to make it very clear that i am not a professional of any kind so everything i say is based off my own experiences

to me it sounds like there's a high likelihood that you probably are autistic if you, your mom and the first psychologist thinks so. sometimes psychologists are wrong or not educated enough about autism. there are some psychologists and therapists that specialize in autism so they are better at recognizing and offering help to those who are autistic.

i'd also definitely call the thing about the shows at least a hyperfixation if not a special interest. the difference between the two usually has to do with how long you are focused on that things. a hyperfixation may last a few months while a special interests can last for years in comparison.

i have come across people on here who have had similar experiences. everyone's experiences are different. personally for me...i guess like i have a lot of sensitivities or preferences to things like certain types of people are overwhelming (some of this is also due to trauma for me) or certain foods i won't eat, but these can also change depending on my mood. like if my mood is good i might be okay with talking to different people or trying a different food, like i don't want to but i can bare with it. but if my mood isn't good i'm more sensitive to things and if i can't handle it i'm more quick to get frustrate because something isn't the way i need it. and back to the trauma things, i'm also a little less trusting of people because of that, but i also have higher standards for people and so if they don't immediately meet my standards i'm not really gonna bother with them.

i hope this makes sense. this was kinda a lot of word jumble but i'm trying to respond to this at home and i'm surrounded by my family right now which has me really stressed so i can't concentrate but i hope what i did say was at least a little helpful

also i'm sorry but i don't really know a whole lot about those scores. i've 100% probably taken all the quizzes you're referencing but without them infront of me i can't really make heads or tails 😭

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Hello everyone,

I found an interesting article that talks about posture and gait in people who have ASD. According to this article:

Proper alignment of bones and joints is essential for stabilizing body motion during standing and walking. People with ASD have a reduced perception of their body movement or shift relative to their own postural orientation and equilibrium. At the clinic we often hear of issues such as fatigue, awkwardness, clumsiness and instability of their foot, ankle and hip joints.

When we assess people with ASD at our P&O clinic (“P” for Prosthetics and “O” for Orthotics) it becomes clear that foot and ankle issues are interrelated, both affecting and being affected by overall body posture. Some patients exhibit a decrease in dynamic control of posture in standing, walking and, at times, even in sitting.

They go over the following characteristics:

Toe walking

Leg length discrepancy, which causes the individual to frequently lean on one foot

Disrupted and collapsed foot structure

Kyphosis (a curved spine), collapsed chest, dropped shoulders and even scoliosis

The full article will be below for those who want to read through it:

Autism and Gait

Black Autistic Culture is people not believing you're autistic while also critiquing you on everything you said that was "disrespectful" and "rude" as well as telling you to learn how to talk right.

You’re speaking from a place of privilege if you believe self diagnosing autism isn’t valid.

YOU. ARE. PRIVILEGED.

“Oh but it makes us look bad” We already look bad.

“Oh but it invalidates me” Cry about it.

Know your privilege. I hate seeing this. I fucking hate it. POC autistics are being refused diagnoses, women and AFAB people and feminine presenting people are being refused diagnoses, disabled people are being refused diagnoses.

I think that people don’t understand that although yes, there is a lot of nuance, should late diagnosed and self diagnosed autistic people who are low support needs take a step back and let higher support needs and early diagnosed folk talk? Fucking absolutely. But that doesn’t mean that we should be invalidating those that are self diagnosed. Two things can exist at the same fucking time.

Self diagnosis with RESEARCH is completely valid. If you’re a POC then you have a chance not getting diagnosed, if you’re disabled then you have a chance not getting diagnosed, if you’re a woman or afab then you have a chance not being diagnosed. All for the color of your skin or the fact that you look different than the typical white boys who love trains and don’t speak.

Cry. About. It.

I’m tired of being nice, I’m tired of saying this over and over again. Just stop!!! Just fucking stop!! They aren’t harming anyone!!

One of the most heart-wrenching things that've ever happened to me occurred while trying to research the Super Paper Mario art style.

"Ohh what a beautiful and interesting art style! It is very distinctive! I wonder if anyone else has tried or wanted to try breaking it down and replicating it?" Obliviously, I typed in Super Paper Mario Art Style into my search bar... only to find many people calling it ugly and saying they hate it.

This simply could not be... permanent damage was done to my artistic soul.

No joy? No whimsy in this world? No love of early computer graphics? Of the art that was born from the computer and is difficult to replicate without one? Of the art made when this was something new and fascinating? No love for something unique?

Super Paper Mario don't listen to all those haters I love your geometric art style influenced by what shapes are easily drawn on a computer and the smooth mechanical interpolation within your animations. I love you. Also the music is banger.

autism is not just social anxiety and being awkward and having an interest

ADHD is not just being fidgety or loud

some of you need to do some serious research on these conditions before claiming that you have them, because it’s getting exhausting correcting people’s misinformation