Autism

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A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

We have created our own instance! Visit Autism Place the following community for more info.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts must be related to autism, off-topic discussions happen in the matrix chat.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it. Chat Room
  • We have a chat room! Want to engage in dialogue? Come join us at the community's Matrix Chat.

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Helpful Resources

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
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Address to our community. (lemmy.autism.place)
submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/autism
 
 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.autism.place/post/206166

As you may know we have launched our own community space dedicated to providing a safe and welcoming environment for autistic individuals. After a long journey of searching for a place to truly belong, I believe we have the opportunity to create something special together. Let's work towards building a community that is as inclusive and horizontally organized as possible, but we can't do it without your support.

Share your skills and ideas in the comments below, and if they align with our community values, we'll invite you to join our collaboration chat to discuss how you can contribute further. You can also help by staying active, spreading the word, and donating to keep our server running smoothly. Together, we can build a space where autistic people feel welcome and valued!

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I consistently lose and always fail the vibe checks. I have given up on trying to win and now I sow chaos for fun when people insist on playing them.

It's a fun trick to enjoy the game even if winning is off the table.

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Not an advertisement I swear, but I honestly love language models, I specifically use Chat GPT and Gemini ALL the time.

I'm someone who loves research and learning. I always have questions on all sorts of things. Before GPT I would be googling things for hours each day, visiting forums, watching YouTube videos, etc.

Now with GPT I can ask so many questions on things I am curious about, and even ask follow up questions or ask for more in depth explanations.

I think I am also a bit ADHD and so my brain is always jumping around different topics which makes me curious on specific things. My latest is insects, specifically wasps.

I absolutely hate bugs, and wasps are the worst. But I am now learning more and more how important a lot of bugs actually are to the ecosystem. It's really a great way to learn and engage with topics when you can ask follow up questions or ask for more details on specific aspects.

TLDR: GPT has replaced 90% of my research that Google used to be.

Important Note: Please be aware language models can be innacurate and prone to mistakes, so always verify the data from other sources if you need accurate information and not just general knowledge.

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I've seen Autism used as the reason that some people commit a crime. It might be a factor but in some of these I just don't see the connection. It has been used in everything from cyber crimes to violent murders.

Autism doesn't mean you don't have morals and it especially doesn't mean that one can't care about others. On the contrary, most Autism people care deeply about other people.

https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/1hafe7s/i_despise_when_people_use_autism_as_an_excuse_for/

https://www.ibtimes.sg/autistic-teen-hacker-arion-kurtaj-faces-life-secure-hospital-grand-theft-auto-6-leak-72845

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Found after seeing #198 Misidentification (dated Dec 4, 2020) shared from a trans group and looking through the West Newbury cartoons across WebToon and Insta

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big mad (sopuli.xyz)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/autism
 
 

I can't be the only one who has been on both sides of this, yeah?

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Friend? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 weeks ago by fede to c/autism
 
 
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submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/autism
 
 

I feel like in a lot of my interactions I end up being viewed as a child, one of what I would consider my closest friends, legitimately views me as child to the extent where there are boundries people my age cross that I never have, I’m left in the dark regarding a lot. Even down to conversation being had about me that I’m not involved in, I just feel odd when another 23 year old knows who I believe isn’t closer to her than me knows about things I don’t know. I know I’m likely wrong and maybe I’m not as close as I thought but I just feel like it’s giving” the adults are talking” It’s also she will state that she loves me and cares about so much. I just get the vibe I’m a child.

This kinda contaminates most of my other friendships where people will distance themselves from me thinking I’m some sort of creepy child. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I hate myself

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submitted 1 month ago by Szyler to c/autism
 
 
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The timing of exposure appears crucial, with heightened vulnerability during prenatal development and early childhood when critical neurodevelopmental processes occur.

The research suggests that individuals with genetic predisposition to ASD may be more vulnerable to the harmful effects of air pollution exposure

The implications extend beyond individual health to public policy. How might cities need to adapt their urban planning to protect vulnerable populations? What role could air quality monitoring play in prenatal care?

Actually I don't see why anything would be done to orevent development of autism, when not much was done for all the already known damage that actual urban development cause

Link to the actual article:

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submitted 1 month ago by Angrywaffle2 to c/autism
 
 

Im just a terrible person. I walk wrong. I talk wrong. I breathe wrong. I exist wrong and everyone around me makes sure I know it. I don't think suicide is a choice that is worth making but I do eagerly await the sweet release of death sometimes. I just needed to vent and you all get my sadness right now.

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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/autism
 
 

Oh, I didn't know this had a name. "pebbling". I do this all the time.

Source https://www.instagram.com/reel/DATrXNjscHU/

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I was shown a picture of lots of different activities at a seaside. I was asked describe what was happening in the picture. So I described the individual activities. The fact that I did that instead of describing the larger picture as 'vacation' is evidence that im autistic. But those people could have lived at the coast, it might just be a saturday for them .. right?

So the mark of not being autistic, is to draw assumptions based on partial evidence? I joke, but also I dont really joke.

I was at a training course for work and they were talking about the difference between big picture thinking and evidence based thinking - as though those two have no crossover. They show us a picture of stone henge and tell us to say what we notice about it. I get picked first: "it looks like the grass has recently been cut". Everyone laughs, its probably an odd thing to point out. Next person: "its summer solstice", very good, well done. But is it?? Why? "The sky is red". Yeah okay, I saw stonehenge and thought summer too, but nothing in the picture shows that. So I looked for evidence of summer - the grass is yellowed, parched? No its only a patch, the rest is quite dark and the stones appear to be damp, the yellow is probably some dead grass from having been cut - yes, the grass is short around the bottom of the stones and there seems to be some grass blades powdered to them, the grass has been cut, there is no evidence of it being solstice. Red sky and damp, its probably dawn.

Back to the test, the theory is that someone with autism cant assess the outer context, or the big picture, in the first instance of thought (<200ms). But actually maybe that is what is happening to me if im dismissing the context as not proven, its coming later in my processing of what I am looking at 🤔 either way, whether the test works or not, those people could just live at the coast 😤

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I haven't been diagnosed with autism. If this question comes across as entitled or ableist, I offer my sincere apology in advance.

My wife thinks I'm autistic. Occasionally I wonder myself.

What is involved in getting a diagnosis?

If a diagnosis is acquired, what is the benefit? AFAIK there is no treatment, right? In fact, based on my reading on Lemmy, there may be downsides to being officially recognized (not due to the individual but due to the responses, especially by bureaucracy).

If I am, the only downside in my life has been being shunned and referred to as weird. Maybe being unsure of how to respond to the loss of those close to me. My career has been excellent because of things related to my apparently unusual personality.

Should I pursue this?

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submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/autism
 
 

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/44621407

Now I want one

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.autism.place/post/476283

I'm trying to see what we look like in NT settings from a 3rd person view. Most of the examples I know are shows about autism specifically, but I'm looking for a more natural NT setting type of thing.

Edit: Looking for a normal show in which one of the main characters are autistic, but autism is not the central focus. My brain feels like it's gunked up lately, so having trouble explaining things. Like trying to run in a nightmare. iassgdgdsflsfd

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I have been diagnosed with depression and ADD. I feel like a lot of their symptoms partially bleed over into autism. I am also incredibly anxious when it comes to social interactions.

I feel like I have a decent amount of behavioural symptoms like getting upset when plans change, not liking when things are moved from where I put them, some sensory things (ex. the sound of velcro tearing, gloves rubbing against the skin at the base of my fingers, I hate making sound when I walk in public, and so on), self-stimming, getting really invested in certain niche topics, and avoiding eye contact.

There are some parts where I don't feel like I match at all. I would say I'm better than most people at reading people's emotions. I am good with social cues and nonverbal communication. I just over think everything afterwards.

Getting help for my depression and ADD was a lot of work and I felt like I essentially had to coach them into giving it to me so I'm just not sure if it would be worth the effort. The only benefit I could see is a better sense of self-identity but I already have a major case of imposter syndrome when it comes to what I've been diagnosed with and I feel like that would be even worse with autism due to the stigma that surrounds it. People saying "You don't have autism because we chitchat all the time at work" would feel like a real kick in the nuts. I have been able to force myself to mask or get over some of the issues I've mentioned above so far.

Sorry if any of this seems improper. I really don't want to sound like someone who took a "What mental illness are you?" Buzzfeed-style quiz as a medical diagnosis or someone making unfair stereotypes.

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A contact of mine suggested me to join a support group to find people with similar difficulties and talk to them.

I found a group nearby, but I'm a bit reluctant to go. I can feel myself making up excuses as to why it would not be a good idea.

  • I don't feel like it would be helpful.
  • I will feel like they have even more severe issues than me and I can't relate.
  • It's a group with 10 people, so I feel like it's a bit too much for me. I feel like I will just let everybody else talk and be silent like usual.
  • I was a bit sick in the past weekend and I'm worried about making other people sick (even though it's kinda over)

Anybody already went to a support group before, what was your experience?

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I thought I ate something wrong, but I've been sick for more than 3 days now. Sneezing, nose completely blocked, coughing, vomiting, terrible sleep, muscle pain, stomachache and sharp headaches.

It seems like my partner also got infected, because they started sneezing a day later.

But I don't even really mind all this physical pain and discomfort. The thing that bothers me the most is that I'm completely useless. Unable to think properly apart from a few moments during the day. Sometimes even unable to talk or properly understand my partner.

I can't even read or play a game or something because it quickly gives me a painful headache, and I don't enjoy anything at the moment anyway.

Anyone have some strategies to cope with this? Seems to happen frequently when I get sick and I don't really know how to deal with it. And it seems like it also drags on quite long because I forget to eat enough, I don't seem to have enough energy to take care of myself (brushing, showering)

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A howdy hello to everyone,

Getting older has made me realize the deficits in my cooking skills. I was a very picky eater growing up, and started to widen my palate so that I wouldn’t be condemned to eating some form of bread with cheese for my entire life. I love fruits and vegetables, so there’s no problem here. Grains are a bit difficult because of their texture.

I am completely dogshit at cooking. Whenever I try a new recipe, I either burn or undercook the food, resulting in about an hour wasted of poor planning.

This may involve walking back and forth around the kitchen getting ingredients as needed, forgetting to do a step, or forgetting an ingredient that is sitting on the counter away from me.

My motor skills are sometimes clumsy with cutting, so oftentimes the vegetables and fruit are cut too thick, or not to the point where the recipe expects them. When I made aloo gobi, my cauliflower was too large, the potatoes were undercooked, and the other veggies were just a pile of slop. Sometimes other dishes will not be entirely cooked and other parts will be burnt.

Oftentimes I might hate the taste of what I’ve made, so ultimately I will act to not eat anything because I don’t want to waste money cooking then going out. I have been working out and live a much more active lifestyle compared to how sedentary I was in university. Walking around 10 hours a day has made me truly realize the feeling of hunger. An emotion I normally never felt due to stomach problems and perpetual nausea.

I am very good at cooking breakfast foods, but do not want to eat French toast or Pancakes every single day. I’d like to add a broader spectrum to my breakfasts as well, as it is a quite small subset. I tried learning the cookiebookie latex package to write a cookbook as I went, but I gave up on trying to get it working. Formatting documents is an entirely different post.

This is turning into a rant, but for those of you whose special interests are cooking and who have found a spectrum of foods that are nutritious and filling, what advice would you have for me? What cookware do you recommend? Is there a set of recipes you think would be good to introduce cooking techniques? My end goal would be to cook with mostly anything I have on hand to turn it into something delicious and nutritious. Protein rich meals, vitamins, minerals, calories, etc.

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submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/autism
 
 

I'm looking into getting a therapy animal, a dog. This dog will be trained by a licensed companion animal training breeder near me. When I spoke to my landlord they said no pets including therapy animals.
Is this legal at all?

I'm in the United States.

.gif unrelated

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Hello again everyone,

I’m very happy with the comments from the last post I made. Many of you had positive and constructive feedback about socializing. Made me realize that I’m generally overthinking the whole thing.

I mentioned that I was a chatterbox with a tendency to delve too deep into things and talk about whatever spontaneously comes to mind. Usually I can hold a conversation for the first couple of meetings, but then I’ll be at a loss of words for relatability.

When I thought more about why I can’t relate to others, it’s not because of any distaste towards people or their personal likes/dislikes… In fact, I would prefer to be viewed well in someone else’s perception. Generally treating others with kindness, complimenting specific items of clothing, jewelry, hairstyles, and inquiring about basic things like music, weather, architecture, outdoors etc.

But when I look into myself… I went through life having mostly no preferences

For example, when asked where I’d like to eat, I have been trying to expand my preferences. However, most of the time when I eat outside of my selective food items (mostly bread-based with some cheese), food can be difficult to chew and swallow. My music tastes are broad, but I don’t usually seek out new songs, and have difficulty discovering new songs.

Let’s continue this conversation about socialization, and extend it to preferences, likes, and dislikes. The problem with having an identity that doesn’t revolve around external activities outside of the usual hyper-specific autie hobbies, I’d like to become more relatable, learn to discover new likes and dislikes, and overall gain the ability to do this. I’d imagine it would make life quite a sum easier to change my perspective, but sometimes my mind is blank and unable to seek things out.

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