Thinking Person's Guide to Autism

The text msg "How are you?" with no embellishment. Clearly you want something, but what? Conversation? Interaction? A genuine report on how I'M doing? Are you going to ask a favor? Are you just bored? And furthermore, I have no idea how long the resulting interaction will take...just use words!

Vague or unclear menus.

I know this state very well. It's one of my most favorite ways to be.

Dealing with doctors and medical settings. The personal interactions with providers are impersonal and rushed. And the physical environment where these interactions occur is uncomfortable.

Agreeing to meet somewhere I've never been to before, lack of specifics about where exactly to wait for someone or any vague verbal instructions.

Dancing in public.

Traffic

I get *extremely* anxious going into new spaces, particularly if it's unclear that I'm going into the right place. Also: meeting up with someone in person in a random location. "You'll see me." No, my prosopagnosic bodymind will NOT see you.

My partner is currently processing the shutdown of EA and consequent demise of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises

Looking over my shoulder while I do something. I will take your hand and show you how I do it, but if you just stand there and watch while I try to do it you're triggering my RSD and perfectionism and guaranteeing that I'll forget something important.

It’s nice reading all your things, feeling connected to all of you; I see myself in many of you. I don’t know what 1 thing triggers me differently tbh. So many things trip me up. Loud music I didn’t pick, a shirt w/a hair scratching on my back, the jar of peanut butter not opening easily….etc 🙃😆

flourescent lights

Being the center of attention, especially in a group of people I don't know. My neighbor gave my a birthday party. Most of the people there were his friends and family.

Buzzing / whining electronics - lights, kettles, ham radio

As a server, people are sarcastic to my questions when ordering food, and it makes me so anxious bc im guessing what is and isnt a joke, and clarifying ruins the joke so im thebfun killer when Im trying to understand, and it snowballs from there

People that I depend on being vague about their plans.

I spent twenty-three years in IT. Most of that time I served an "on-call" rotation. If I'm sunk deeply enough into a task that I'm actually feeling productive, I will not hear an alarm or process it if I do. The only way I could be on call was to... sit and do nothing and _wait_ for a week.

asking for details/clarifying plans at The Appropriate Time. I don't want to ask too soon because that might be too eager or demanding also what if details change? but I can't leave it too late because I need to plan properly and what if they think I don't care? there must be a prefect moment.

Changing plans. Not a "Going to a different grocery store" kind of plan, but the plan I've routed in my head for what I WILL be doing for the next thirty, sixty, ninety minutes or more. Cut into that unexpectedly and I'm unprepared? Shakes, irritability, brain fog, loss of direction, etc.

Having an unrehearsed conversation.

Call backs. Like, when? Exactly? And will you actually??

A last minute change in plans.

Giving me a choice when they already know what they want me to do. Please be direct!

Once again, RFK the Lesser is full of male bovine excrement. Medicare does not pay physicians to recommend vaccines; VAERS is for data collection, not evidence of injury; and HHS's proposed actions on vaccine injury are a costly, public health-compromising derail. www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

Autistic people report that 'autistic flow' helps "with emotional regulation, feeling connected to themselves & others, and generally improved their wellbeing, [&] left them less anxious and overwhelmed even after the 'autistic flow' had ended. www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/autist... #monotropism

"A person’s disability-related communication challenges must never be mistaken for defiance, used to justify unnecessary force, or become a barrier to receiving medical attention." @elarcdecalifornia.bsky.social condemns ICE’s violent detention of a disabled student: thearcca.org/the-arc-of-c...

Clothing

People pleasing behaviors. Like get that the eff away from me.

So, so, so many things. The anxiety of walking into a new place is always a big one for me. From not knowing every detail of the room, to the new people I’ll have to socialize with, to the sensory information of it all… it’s exhausting and meltdown-inducing on the hard days.

People emphatically moving their hands and arms in time with their speech, especially when less than a metre from my face, are always utterly oblivious to the depleting discomfort they're causing me. They simply don't notice me battening down my sensory hatches and curling up like a woodlouse.

unexpected textures in a food

loud music playing EVERYWHERE — especially in grocery stores. IT IS NOT A BAR, PEOPLE!!