charlieschoice

[charlieschoice]

That being said, if you're allistic and find yourself being mad at an autistic person because of something you haven't actually communicated to them because you feel that you "shouldn't have to say it" and that "they'd figure it out if they really cared to", then YOU are in fact the one causing a problem and the one who needs to work on improving your communication skills

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I often hear that people with ASD lack empathy, or have low empathy, and I think this may just be neurotypical people getting confused about our lack of interest in virtue signalling.

I was at a festival the other week with a group of friends; around mid afternoon it was collectively decided that we should go and find some shade. I knew the shade was at the top of the field so led the way. We needed to go between a gap in the tents and I found one that I judged was wide enough for my friend's mobility scooter.

Eventually another friend called me to say the rest of the group had gone a different way, I turned around and followed them. When we all gathered in the shade one of the ladies who had joined us that I didn't know so well kept going on about how she is so used to looking out for her friend who has a mobility scooter, she often assumes everyone would be considerate of the fact her friend has a mobility scooter but then she is surprised when some people just don't care.

I did process at the time that she was having a dig at me, but in that situation what are you supposed to say? "I can tell you are implying that I didn't consider whether the scooter could fit through that gap, but I can assure you it would have done. Your spacial awareness appears to be impaired."

I didn't say anything, because to defend myself in that situation would have appeared rude/ combative. And I wonder how often the lack of motivation to stand up for ourselves because we don't want to cause a scene is misconstrued as a lack of empathy.

The situation made me feel tired and I slept for the rest of the afternoon.

[charlieschoice]

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Exactly how I feel after a couple of weeks of burnout

Stimming isn’t enough I need to be shot

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Been thinking about that form of bullying people do when you’re autistic or ADHD or just weird to them in general where they’ll pretend to be friends with you ironically because it’s funny to speak to you like you’re an equal and how there’s no way to go about it.

You can’t tell them off because then they get a reaction, you can’t play into it because why would you even do that (unless you’re as socially deprived as I was in eighth grade whoopsie) and you can’t really ignore them because that’s just another reaction in their eyes.

In their eyes you’re pathetic just being who you naturally are, and I’m not sure if I’m being a snowflake by saying this, but that’s pretty fucking disturbing.

[charlieschoice]

I never like to think of myself as disabled because I have structured my life around avoiding people who cannot or choose not to understand me, and work in a field that usually suits my spiky skills profile. However a recent experience with a cruel and calculating person who went out of their way to exploit my literality when they knew that I am autistic, has really shown me that there is still a problem with neurotypical people completely lacking empathy for anyone on the autistic spectrum.

This experience has led to sensory overload and autistic burnout.

I wanted to record how this feels for me on paper and make it available to anyone else who may have been reprimanded for not focusing when in reality, the extreme sensations we experience require us to have a Herculean amount of focus to outwardly perform at the same level as anyone who doesn't face the same challenges.

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