#30 days of autism acceptance

[jasper-stims]

Has anyone made a "30 Days of Autism Acceptance" post yet?

I haven't seen one but want to participate!

#autistic #actually autistic #disabled #autism #autism acceptance #autism awareness #30 days of autism acceptance #questions

[si-unit-is-kg]

final: 30 days of autism acceptance

28 April: As a child, did you tend to express yourself overly formally? Or did you struggle with grammar? Did you "borrow" words and expressions from other people or media, or did you make up your own words? Or both?

I expressed myself overly formally. To the adults around me, I just sounded precociously erudite. I did not struggle with grammar: I was good at it because it follows specific rules. I borrowed words and expressions from other people in the media. I don't think I have the creativity to create my own.

29 April: Was your hand-eye coordination delayed or maybe is still impaired? This includes things like throwing and catching a ball, putting a key into a lock without missing it, etc. Everything where your brain needs to process what your eyes see so that your hands can adjust what they do. If you're blind, tell us if you think your autism made it harder for you to estimate where things are, using your hands.

I could throw and catch a ball just fine: I struggled with kicking balls. Inserting a key into a lock takes me a while. I also feel like my hand-eye coordination has atrophied with disuse. I manage it by allowing myself to take the time to do these things. It can come across as awkward and ungraceful to an outsider, but I'm learning to not take that too personally.

30 April: If you're interested in other people/want contact, did you try to make friends on your own when you were younger, or didn't you initiate anything because you didn't know what to do?

If you're not interested in other people, did/do you still enjoy online contact? If not, did/do people assume you're lonely and try to interact with you all the time?

Not really. I kept to myself mostly; people came to me (if they came at all). I know how to initiate social contact, I'm just reluctant to do so.

I love online contact and that is why I started regularly updating my blog. It's lonely so far, but expressing myself has become easier.

People most likely assume I'm lonely, like a lingering redolence of isolation. Still, they rarely approach me. I don't know whether to attribute it to my appearance or demeanour.

#30 days of autism acceptance 2023 #30 days of autism acceptance #actually dyspraxic #actually autistic #actuallyautistic

[autisticseaserpent]

30 days of autism acceptance

Did/do you have accommodations at school/IEP?

Yep, I’m currently trying to get them implemented at my new job too. I’ve had more success this time since I made it verify clear that I’ve got the power of the Ohio state government behind me. It still took me 2 months to get things approved and Im still getting things set up 4 months in to the job. it’s very much, we’ll nominally approve these but it’s up to you peon to actually implement them. What do you mean we have over 500 employees we should have a process in place for accommodations already?

#actually autistic #30 days of autism acceptance

[mousetaur]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance

6 April: Can you understand what people say when they talk fast, or do you lose track after a while? Was it different when you were younger? Additional question if your hearing is aided: If your hearing is aided, does that trigger sensory overloads sometimes?

If I'm unfamiliar with someone, and there's a lot of background noise, then I have difficulties. I phase out or just have to wait for my brain to "catch up". I call it "lag", like with computers.

I think it was the same when I was younger. I especially had difficulty with the Kiwi accent when we first moved here. Couldn't understand a single word!

#30 days of autism acceptance #30 days of autism acceptance 2023 #2023 #actually autistic #autism awareness #autism acceptance

[nbsoftbutch]

3 April: How good or bad is your memory for things people say? For example verbal instructions. If you're deaf: Can you lip read? Do you think your autism influences your ability to lip read?

A: My memory is shit for things like verbal instructions! I’m a great example of words going “in one ear and out the other.”

#actuallyautistic #30daysofautismacceptance #2023 #30 days of autism acceptance

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

April 27th: Do you have trouble identifying physical feelings like hunger or being tired? Do you have trouble with identifying emotions?

Emotions, yea.

Idk what im feeling like 90% of the time. The other 10% is very strong, generally negative emotions.

And anxiety's kind of a weird one for me. I can feel it building up to a certain point and then it just kinda....turns off. Like all the thought spirals go away but im left with all the physical sensations (heart palpitations, shaking, etc.) So it's like im experiencing anxiety while not feeling anxious.

#actually autistic #30 days of autism acceptance #alexithymia

[jovialnightmares]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance

Day 23

If you could live absolutely anywhere, real or fictional, where would you live? What would your dream home look like?

***

literally this:

but not the universe... no dragons or goblins or evil orcs (oh my)

I vibe heavily with the cottagecore aesthetic and the people of Hobbiton.

#30 days of autism acceptance #2022 #30daysofautismacceptance #autism #autistic community #autistic experiences #autism acceptance month

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

April 28th: Can you drive? If so, do you like driving? If not, do you want to learn?

yes and YES (just that with gas prices being as they are…)

April 29th: What sort of things do you like to do to relax/for self care?

listen to music, dance, write, go for walks, eat, that kind of thing.

April 30th: Do you like to plan ahead for things or do you like to “just go with the flow” and see what happens? A mix of both? Does it vary by day to day?

a mix but definitely tending towards the latter, which isn’t always the greatest.

#30 days of autism acceptance

[friendshapedplant]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance: Day 30

(Do you like to plan ahead for things or do you like to just “go with the flow” and see what happens? A mix of both? Does it vary by day to day?)

Woo I made it through all 30 days! Anyways...

I do like to plan when possible, I hate puttin shit together last minute, and I like having structure to my time, but that's also a lotta work and can get stressful. I think more often than not I just set a date, time, and a simple outline (location we goin, what we doin, things like that). Also yknow things don't always go as planned so I think it's best to leave things open to change, I don't usually get too worked up about that.

#actuallyautistic #actually autistic #30 days of autism acceptance #autism acceptance month #original post #atlas.txt

[revengeofthestims]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance 2022: Days 26-29

(Due to personal reasons, I haven't been able to do the past few days properly so I just did all the ones I missed in one day.)

April 26th: Do you stim? What sort of stims do you have? What do you wish people knew about stimming?

Yes. (It’s right in my URL.) I stim with my fingers (wiggle them, tap them, touch the spaces between them with my thumb), I rock back and forth or side to side (especially when I hear music I like), I fidget with small objects like pens, I tap my feet, I wiggle the foot that's in the air when I sit in a chair with my legs crossed... hell, crossing my legs all the time might be a stim itself (pressure stimming). And that is just some of them, I just don't have the time to write all of them down right now.

What I want people to know about stimming is why it happens/why we do it and what to do about it, ie. to learn to live with it if it's not hurting anyone and learn how to help others with harmful stimming. I just want people to inform themselves about as many aspects of it as possible, really. And most importantly, to understand that stimming isn't something that can just be removed from an autistic person. That it's a part of how we work.

April 27th: Do you have trouble identifying physical feelings like hunger or being tired? Do you have trouble with identifying emotions?

Identifying physical feelings isn't that hard for me, but I do have a bit of a problem with thinking I'm hungry every time I feel some kind of sensation in my stomach that feels like hunger. Fortunately, that doesn't immediately make me eat (at least not usually), and I do know that it's not always hunger... it's just easy to confuse.

Emotions, on the other hand, aren't easy for me to identify. I do know when I feel good/comfortable and when I feel bad/uncomfortable, and I have some idea of what the basic emotions feel like, but identifying specific emotions (beyond the basic ones) and what exactly caused them can be difficult and confusing. I’m not sure if it’s because of autism or just because emotions are complicated in general, but... like I said, it’s not easy.

April 28th: Can you drive? If so, do you like driving? If not, do you want to learn?

No. I do like driving as a concept... I guess, but I'm not too sure about learning to drive. It seems very complicated to me and I'm not sure if I have the capacity to focus on it properly, or the coordination for it. Besides, I'm not the most fond of actually sitting in a car. It gets hot easily, the ... car smell feels overwhelming at times (especially when the inside of a car is dusty), it's just not pleasant to me in general.

April 29th: What sort of things do you like to do to relax/for self care?

To relax, I like doodling/coloring, writing/typing stuff that doesn't require much effort just for the sake of it, listening to soft/calming music, looking at pictures of cats or my favorite characters, drinking some water, watching cat videos or clips from movies/shows I like, and browsing Wiktionary (I just love words and I like etymology and translations in particular).

For self-care, I like eating snacks, using soap that smells good in the shower, and eating a good meal (when I know what to eat and I feel that what I'm eating is Just Right).

#30daysofautismacceptance #30 days of autism acceptance #30 days of autism acceptance 2022 #actuallyautistic #actually autistic #autism #autism acceptance #food mention #my post

[liminalweirdo]

14 April: If you learned to speak as a child, were you a late talker, average age, or did you speak at a really young age? If you never learned to speak, how do you communicate? For example an AAC device, sign language, a communication board, etc.

From what I was told, I don’t believe that I was speaking earlier or later than the average age, but my vocabulary was apparently broader than other children my age. But! I don’t remember.

I had no trouble speaking with people I knew well (parents, close friends) but I had a really difficult time speaking to other people — particularly extended blood relatives — until I was maybe 14 or 15. I could manage a sentence, maybe, and felt more comfortable speaking to them in less than a handful of words at a time. (The fewer the better). This was shamed out of me by said relatives eventually.

#30 days of autism acceptance #2023 #asd #actually autistic #autism

[signedjehanne]

12 April: Were/are you in speech therapy? If so, for what? If not, do you think speech therapy could have helped you?

i was not in speech therapy i dont think i needed it

#seb speaks #disability #autism #30 days of autism acceptance

[si-unit-is-kg]

24-27 April, 30 days of autism acceptance 2023

24 April: How did your fine motor skills develop? Were you one of the first kids who could tie their shoe laces or do you think you'll probably never learn it? This is an "open question", if you want to ramble, start rambling.

They developed normally. I was always clumsy: it would irk my mother how often I broke ceramic plates. I was late tying my shoelaces: sometimes, I would walk around with them loose to avoid tying them. I also had big feet, so I wore men's trainers since there weren't school shoes for size eight?

I can tie my shoelaces, it just takes me an unattractively long time.

25 April: How did your gross motor skills develop? Did you walk early or did you struggle to walk (if you can walk)? Do you have a bad posture? This is another "open question".

My gait is fine.

26 April: If you're interested in other people/want contact, how do you normally make contact with others? Do you stay where you are and hope that they approach you, or do you approach them?

If you're not interested in other people, do others respect and understand that? Were you negatively affected by the "autistics are very social actually and want friends, they just don't know how to do that!" mentality (for example that everyone tries to force social interactions because they think you secretly want social contacts)?

I do want social contact, but this desire is not very consistent. It comes across as mercurial. People assume I am mad at them, so do not reciprocate effort.

I hope people approach me. That is how it has usually worked: a nice, extroverted person would invite me over, and I would make friends that way. It rarely happened when I went to outreach days or school conferences. It worked once at a club. That is how I got introduced to a girl I liked.

I sometimes get so distracted that I take that mentally-intensive activity over social interaction. Frankly, many people are self-focused, disingenuous assholes, which augments my reticence in initiating social contact.

27 April: If you have/want real-life friends, how much contact is important for you and when is it too much? Do/would you miss your friends if you wouldn't see each other in person for a while?

I would miss my friends. That's why university was so hard for me: the majority of my friends live close together for university, so see each other more frequently.

#30 days of autism acceptance 2023 #30 days of autism acceptance #actually autistic #actually dyspraxic #autism things

[autisticseaserpent]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance

Day 3 - How good or bad is your memory for things people say? For example verbal instructions.- I have a hellish combination of extremely good long term memory and extremely bad working memory. So either I’m like why is this person telling this story for the third time or we’ve had this exact fight before and you said you would change the exact same thing. And people get mad at me because they genuinely don’t remember. Or I’m like, I did not understand anything you just said can you repeat that for the fifth time.

#actually autistic #30 days of autism acceptance

[mousetaur]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance

4 April: Were/are you in special education? Regular school? Home schooled? A private school? Did it change over time? Did/do you like it?

I was in what we call "mainstream school" at all my schools.

At primary, Year 1, my writing was so bad I was put in for extra Special Education classes but I never switched class, I think I just stayed after school or something. I didn't even really notice.

I enjoyed school in general. I'm a huge nerd and teacher's pet, in terms of the education system I did well. I just got pretty badly bullied by my peers which kind of ruined the whole experience.

#30 days of autism acceptance #2023 #30 days of autism acceptance 2023 #actually autistic #autism acceptance #autism awareness

[nbsoftbutch]

2 April: When were you diagnosed and when did you know that you're autistic? If you're self-diagnosed, when did you first suspect that you're autistic and when were you sure?

A: I’m actually still self-dx’d for the time being, but I’m talking with my new psychiatrist now about finally getting tested. The only obstacle now will be the price tag it seems.

I first suspected that I’m autistic when i was 15 or 16 when I came across a list of autism traits in afab folks and related really strongly to a lot of it. After that I did a bunch of research and actually ended up with an autism special interest for a while (and maybe still today sometimes). It didn’t actually take long to be sure of it, I was pretty quick to accept the label as my own because of how right it felt.

#actuallyautistic #30 days of autism acceptance #30daysofautismacceptance #2023