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[autist-tips]

Side blog announcement!

I’ve decided that I don’t like the idea of derailing this blog from its usual content, both to keep things organized and so that if I have time in the future, I can continue posting here.

That being said, I’ve created a side blog, @kitscraftcorner, where I’ll be posting about knit and crochet instead. If you’re interested, please check it out! I have a link to an album of project photos pinned at the top, and a few posts highlighting the projects and commissions I’m most proud of. I plan to make some things related to my special interests in the future :)

Thank you again to everyone who still interacts with this blog despite its dormancy <3

[autist-tips]

Reblogging again in celebration of my one (1) year anniversary of learning to knit and crochet!

I have a sizable portfolio now that I’ll get around to posting soon. If anyone is interested in having something made, my DMs are open!

So i’ve started doing knit and crochet over the past five or so months.

Would anyone be interested in commissioning me? I have pictures of finished projects I can post if people are interested

[autist-tips]

i will never apologize for my accessibility needs. i will never apologize for standing up for myself and my accessibility needs. i will never apologize for having accessibility needs. i will never apologize for asking for my accessibility needs to be met. neither should you.

[autist-tips]

HOLD ON A MIN- YOUR SPECIAL INTEREST IS BTD BATTLES?

Yes!!! I love playing BTDB, although i’ll admit i’m a bit rusty right now haha. I used to be a BFB coliseum level player

[autist-tips]

[autist-tips]

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) 🦓🦓🦓

Having hEDS is moving your shoulder and inch and feeling it pop so violently that you have to check for subluxations (or to see if it glows in the dark (⊙ˍ⊙)).

Having hEDS is waking up and deciding that you need more sleep, but it ain’t happening (fatigue and sleep problems).

Having hEDS is making 40 year old man noises when you move, yet being able to reach your entire back with one hand (stiff, yet hyper mobile).

Having hEDS is not knowing where to place the heating pad (widespread chronic pain).

Having hEDS is feeling like you spawn a new condition twice a month (generalized health problems).

Having hEDS is being asked by strangers about your cane (invisible disability).

Having hEDS is feeling like you’re collecting braces for every joint in your body (joint instability).

Having hEDS is having a pulse of 130 and people saying you need to see a counselor for stress management or other unsolicited advice (orthostatic intolerance and tachycardia).

Having hEDS is dying of heat exhaustion in 85 degree weather (temperature dysregulation).

Having hEDS is wondering in what way your stomach is malfunctioning, because it could be one of ten things (bowel and digestive issues/ allergies and food sensitivities).

Having hEDS is being told there’s nothing wrong with you, when that couldn’t be farther from the truth (symptoms are scattered/ seem separate or unrelated to each other, tests come back normal, findings don’t make sense, may appear psychological).

Repost if you too are a Zebra, or to spread Dazzle awareness and support ✨✨✨

Ehlers-danlos is valid. It may not be a commonly known condition, but we can change that!!!

[autist-tips]

Reblog this post if you are professionally diagnosed and you support informed self diagnosis and you hate people accusing others of faking disorders when they have no evidence to support that

[autist-tips]

Myth VS Reality

Autism

[autist-tips]

Late-diagnosed autistic here.

My nana was the only one that got suspicious over this, but I would cry and scream if I was interrupted while in the middle of a task (ex: coloring a page) but would be perfectly calm about having to stop what I was doing if I was allowed to finish. She said my distress looked as if I was in physical, real pain over this every time it happened.

undiagnosed or late-diagnosed autistics, time to reveal yourselves. what is one memory from your childhood or pre-teen years that should have suggested to people that you might have autism, but didn’t. 

for me, i made my mom sing me a lullaby every night until i was 12, because i didn’t like the idea of my nightly routine ever changing. if she didn’t sing me one, i would get out of bed, go get her from wherever she was in the house, bring her to my room, and make her tuck me in and sing one to me. i wasn’t able to fall asleep until she did. 

[autist-tips]

[Image text]: I learned against my own will how to hide my entire being at a young age as a result of chronic, repetitive child abuse, emotional neglect, bullying, ostracism, and social isolation simply because I am autistic that lasted for over a decade, causing me to involuntarily mask on a daily basis and become a bitter, confused dissociating mess of a human shell who for a long time believed that there was something horribly wrong with me as an existing human being and couldn’t comprehend that I was just different and that there was actually nothing wrong with me and I never came to terms with it until early adulthood and that is why, my friend, I do not ‘look’ autistic to you.

“You don’t look autistic!”

Can everyone please stop saying things like this? Just because we don’t show traits around certain people doesn’t mean that we’re faking/don’t have the disorder. I had to learn to the best of my ability to be, what society says, is normal. And not be so “weird”. It’s harder than people think. And it really drains you too.

Autism

[autist-tips]

@ethanthedino yes, I’ve seen patterns for whales and octopi! Would 100% make one 😁 They’re so cute

So i’ve started doing knit and crochet over the past five or so months.

Would anyone be interested in commissioning me? I have pictures of finished projects I can post if people are interested

[autist-tips]

this may not work for everyone, but the best advice i’ve ever heard was something like “if you’re struggling with something, make it easier.” that sounds like bullshit, but it actually helps me a lot.

i struggled to brush my teeth for years. i still do! but i made it easier for myself by paying attention to my needs. what kept me from brushing? part of it was the sensory experience, so i switched to an electric one and it works much better for me. part of it was having to stand in the bathroom for two minutes, so i moved my brush and toothpaste into my bedroom, where i lay or sit in bed and look at my phone while i use them. this didn’t solve the entire problem for me, but it made things so much easier.

i can’t stand having a shirt collar, so i wear mostly tank tops, but for the shirts i really like, i usually just cut the neck part out. yeah it’s not super pretty, so i keep some of my shirts uncut if i really like them for their look, but it helps for my every day clothes. (my mom taught me this one.)

showering and doing dishes are two things that make me want to die from boredom(? i don’t really have a term for that crushing boredom/dread of executive dysfunction and trauma responses). now i have a speaker for my shower and headphones for chores, and i just listen to music or podcasts. it makes things easier, even if it isn’t enough every time.

just. look at what you’re struggling with and think about what specific part is bothering you most. if there’s an easy fix, take it. even if it only makes things slightly more manageable, you deserve that. you deserve an easier way to do things that you struggle with. even if the solution seems silly or weird, is it hurting anyone? is it making anything worse? is it better to brush your teeth in bed or not at all?

[autist-tips]

I really love the autism positivity on this website, but it seems to mainly focus on verbal autistics. Can I get a reblog for nonverbal autism positivity?

[autist-tips]

So i’ve started doing knit and crochet over the past five or so months.

Would anyone be interested in commissioning me? I have pictures of finished projects I can post if people are interested

[autist-tips]

Good luck to all the disabled students going back soon, please be kind to yourself and do what you need to to get through it

[autist-tips]

I want the mile long Prince Sidon Analysis on why you think he's autistic because I'm totally neurotypical and I love him a completely normal amount 👍👍👍

I AUDIBLY SAID YAY WHEN I READ THIS ANON ILY anyways

Prince Sidon is autistic and here's why

The most noticable symptoms I have observed in Sidon as an autistic person are observed in his relationships, body language, routine, and interactions with Link.

Let's start with relationships. Sidon is without a doubt an extrovert, but I have a maybe painful, maybe controversial observation to make here. Other than Link, Sidon doesn't have any observable friends. A common misconception about autistic people is that we are all introverts, but this is not the case. Often we want to make friends, but struggle with social cues to where we are alienated in conversation. In Sidon's case, he struggles with social ques, either implying something he does not mean, or misunderstanding a figure of speech. For, "Implying something he does not mean" a certain hylian serves as evidence for this. Traysi.

Remember how Sidon introduced himself to Link? Well, not everyone took kindly to it. Traysi can be found hiding before you meet Sidon at Inogo bridge. To paraphrase her, she says Sidon is "A freak (or creep? I can't remember which one)" and that he said he was, "watching her." Yeah, Sidon did say that to Link as well, but as the players we know that he did not have any stalker like implications, however as a lone traveler, it's not insane of Traysi to assume that. This exemplifies the fact that Sidon, like many other autistic people, will give off unintentional implications due to wording. Sidon mistakingly came off as a stalker to Traysi, and likely did not understand why she hid, as he says the same thing to Link after. I bold that because autistic people often do not understand neurotypical's social rules, we will not know why we have upset something 90% of the time.

Next is body language. I'm sure most already know but i will clarify anyway because I want to: a common trait in autistic people is stimming! This is a method of emotional regulation where we will move a part of our bodies in a repeated motion/action, or repeat words and phrases. Sidon's trademarked pose is very likely a stim! He does it when he is excited, whether it be from encouraging others or good news. This stim gives a lot of enjoyment and is very charming (plus he has done it since he was a child!) So he does this a lot due to positive reactions from others. This is not Sidon's only stim, as he noticeably bounces a lot when he talks. A more subtle stim can be observed in Age of Calamity, where he bounces his head a lot while talking! (My personal favorite, it's fucking adorable.)

Next is routine. This is a more simple observation, and more dismissible due to video game logic, but I thought to include it anyway. Sidon has a routine of: Staring at Mipha's statue by night, staring at Vah Ruta by day. Autistic people are known to have strict routines to follow, and Sidon's routine centers around Mipha. We also may be found getting upset when routine is disrupted, as Sidon does when Link overhears his grieving at night.

Last and most definitely not least, we have his interactions with Link. My personal favorite is at Inogo bridge. When Sidon asks you if you are going to help with Vah Ruta, one of the response options is, "I'll think on it." Sidon's response is, "You'll think on it? ... ... ... ... ... Was that sufficient time to think? Surely, let's go!" Holy FUCK I love this dialogue. Sidon does not catch what the implications of, "I'll think on it" are. Normally one would use this dismissively, (as it kinda serves as a no option...) But luckily Sidon has autism immunity! He couldn't read the social que that was being conveyed, one being dismissive, and instead gives Link maybe 10 seconds to "think on it." As a whole, when Sidon talks to Link his mannerisms are definitely different from the other Zora. He has is own way of wording things, for example, "Have I mentioned how incredible you are? And how thankful I am? Because you are, and I am!" Also... speaking of this line of dialogue, the first part is written in a larger font because our boy here is yelling. Like many other autistic people, Sidon seems to occasionally lack control with the volume of his voice. Other zora are not often found yelling as often as Sidon, and many of his behaviors are specific to him.

Another interaction I like is an alternative cutscene. Instead of meeting Sidon at Inogo bridge, you can pass him, and meet him at the throne room instead. Here you will see Sidon's more... bitchy side, which I love. Though Sidon did have some bitchy intent in this conversation, I doubt it was truly malicious. However, his tone definitely comes off very rude. I am unsure if this was intentional, because he apologizes immediately after. Another instance of Sidon's bluntness (autistic people are also known to be very blunt) is when he tried to recruit the Goron Reagah, who hangs out in the general store. Sidon says to Reagah, "I simply cannot carry you!" Which I really don't think he had any malicious intent behind, however Reagah feels it was rude of Sidon. I think this was an instance of Sidon showing that classic bluntness of autistic people (a bluntness that he apologizes for!!!) And, in his blunt honesty, he came off as offensive towards the Goron.

As a final note, Sidon constant apologizing gives off a subtle internalized ableism, and low self esteem. But these mile long paragraphs are my main reasons for headcanoning him as autistic. I addition, I think he may have ADHD as well, many symptoms of the two are shared, but they are also present together frequently. Here is a venn diagram I found where I highlighted symptoms Sidon shows.

I wasn't sure about some, so I'll explain why.

Short attention span: This is something I quite frankly don't know how to catch in Sidon. He does tend to switch between subjects sometimes in conversation, but I am not confident enough to be sure if that indicates a short attention span.

Emotional dysregulation: Sidon has a few responses that don't seem traditional, most indicative in the alternative throne room cutscene and his interaction with Reagah. However I again do not have enough evidence to confidently identify it.

Rejection sensitive: I an actually pretty sure Sidon is rejection sensitive, as I feel his self esteem is dependent on how others perceive him. Then again, this may be an interpretation specific to me so it's debatable.

Anxiety from routine change: Sidon does have routines, but we simply don't get enough info to tell if he gets anxiety from change. He was anxious when Link heard his grieving, but that's all we have. Not enough to make a sure conclusion.

Not understanding social rules: This plays into social ques. Sidon didn't seem to understand why someone would think, "I've been watching you" sounds weird, so that indicates he doesn't understand social rules. I leave this up for debate because honestly I think I'm reading into things too much.

The ones that are fully highlighted should have been explained to some degree already. I would have provided screenshots instead of paraphrasing, but that required me to play through the entire beginning again just to get them, or get a YouTube video. My memory is fairly reliable when it comes to Zoras, especially Sidon, so I hope my explanation is enough. Again, thank you so kuch for asking this, I have wanted to yell about Autistic Sidon for so long.

[autist-tips]

The autistic experience is having a memory of a day you ate a popsicle and then cringing for ten minutes while you relive the sensation of wet wood on your tongue.