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My Breaking Bad Kin Network imploded and I lost my Jesse

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ND makers: These are fidget spinners. They help with emotional regulation. tween and teen students: *using them to get through class* schools: Too many students are using these in class, so we have to ban them.

Or, you know, your classes are emotionally dysregulating and you need to fix that root problem rather than taking away your victims' coping mechanism.

The world is so hostile to tweens.....

Like we joke about how our schools growing up would ban the latest toy trends, but that reality genuinely horrific when you think about it. Like maybe 1% of the bans were based on safety, but the rest cited reasoning like

-"kids were bartering for collectibles" (kids learning about economics and product value)

-"kids were wearing them and the colors were too flashy" (kids experimenting with self expression and fashion)

-"kids were playing with them during lunch and recess instead of using our rusted safety hazard playground" (kids utilizing their free time to do what helps *them* unwind).

Play areas specifically geared towards children and especially towards teens are constantly being shut down. "Oh kids today are always on their phones!" Maybe because

-there are barely any arcades left and even less arcades that aren't adult-oriented,

-public pools and gyms are underfunded and shut down,

-"no loitering" laws prevent kids and teens from just hanging out,

-movie theatres only play the latest films and ticket prices are only rising,

-parks and playgrounds are either neglected or replaced with gear only directed at toddlers and unsuitable for anyone older

-genuine children's and young teen media is being phased out in favour of media directed only at very small children or older teens and adults.

-suburbs and even cities are becoming more and more hostile to pedestrians, it's just not safe for kids to walk to or ride their bikes to their friends' houses or other play destinations

Children's agency is hardly ever respected. Kids between the ages of 9-13 are either treated as babies or as full-grown adults, with no in-between. When they ask to be given more independence, they are either scoffed at or given more responsibilities than are reasonable for a child their age.

This is even evident in the fashion scene.

Clothing stores and brands like Justice and Gap are either closing or rebranding to either exclusively adult clothing or young children's clothes, with no middle ground for tweens. Tweens have to choose between clothes designed for adults that are too large and/or too mature for their age and bodies, or more clothes they feel are far too childish. For tween girls especially it's either a frilly pinafore dress with pigtails or a woman's size dress with cleavage. No wonder tween girls these days dress like they're older, it's because their other option is little girl clothes and they don't want to feel childish.

And then when tweens go to school, the books they want to read aren't available because they cover "mature" topics (read: oh no two people kissed and they weren't straight or oh no menstruation was mentioned or oh no a religion other than Christianity is depicted), so kids are left with books for way below their reading level. No wonder kids today are struggling with literacy, it's because they can't exercise and expand their reading skills with age-appropriate books. Readers need to be challenged with new words and concepts in order to grow in their skills, only letting tween read Dr. Seuss and nursery rhymes doesn't let them learn.

Discussions about substance use, reproduction, and sexuality aren't taught at an age-appropriate level in school or even by children's parents, so they either grow up ignorant and more vulnerable to abuse, or they seek out information elsewhere that is delivered in a less-than-age-appropriate manner. It shouldn't be a coin-toss between "I didn't know what sex was until I was 18 and in college" or "my first exposure to sex as a tween was through porn" or "I didn't know what sex was so I didn't know I was being sexually abused as a kid."

Tweenhood is already such a volatile and confusing time for kids, their bodies are changing and they're transitioning from elementary to middle to high school. It's hard enough for them in this stage, but it's made worse by how society devalues and fails them.

We talk about the disappearance of teenagehood, and maybe that's gonna happen in the future, but the erasure of tweenhood is happing in real time, and it's having and going to have major consequences for next generation's adults.

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sitting on the floor > sitting anywhere else

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clothes pin fidget

we made one for us, one for our niece.

we plan to make a bigger tangle one

but its a pretty east diy fidget/stim toy and it's a quiet one too

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You're telling me I have to actually post on my sideblog?? *faints twice somehow*

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What do bracket blogs normally post before starting the actual bracket? I guess I gotta go dig through the old posts of some others and/or consult my orb.

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I’ve found sample of alien flora that seems to help people self-soothe. It appears to be a mobius strip, and you can pull it out from the center forever. I’ll be collecting more samples from my source for our next gathering.

Pattern by Mary Beth Temple

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autistic things 30

there should be fidget/stim toy emojis

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When I let my mentor play with my heavy fidget spinner, he said he was surprised they let me take it on a plane.

I'm leaving pocket knives out of this for obvious reasons.

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Is it ok to submit more than one fidget at once, or should I send them separately?

Multiple at once is totally cool!

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this user collects fidget/stim toys

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Here's the initial off-the-top-of-my-head list of fidgets for the bracket.

Currently, we'd have six phases of 1v1 polls. It looks like the indentation is a little broken, so hopefully it makes sense. I'm guessing I'll get a bunch of messages telling me about fidgets I've never heard of, or didn't realize could be fidgets, so it'll probably get bumped up to seven phases. I really hope people who make/sell their own designs will submit stuff to the bracket!

fidget spinner

wobble spinner

magnet slider

fidget cube

infinity cube

worry stone

selenite plate

multi-tool

wire strippers

gyro ball

acupressure ring/bracelet

click/ratchet wheel

bike chain

bike chain + key ring (not sure if this has a more specific name)

MOT capsule / MAG.U

clicky pen

twist pen

flipping pen

ring

spinner ring

mood ring

pocket knife

flip open

spring open

butterfly knife / balisong

other types? (send an ask!)

hour glass

lava lamp

glitter lamp

star projector lamp

vice grips

silicone pop toys

sheet

bracelet

ball

fidget spinner

brushes

head scratcher / scalp massager

ambidextrous screw

pop sockets

Glorb

stress balls

Nee-Doh balls

stretch armstrong

panic pete

silica gel balls

mechanical keyboard switches

chewable necklaces

chewing gum

worm on a string

color shift ball

Rubiks cube

zippers

zipper bracelet

spike wheels

electric shock

suction cups

pea pods

nested worm/slug

ferrofluid

snap bracelet

hour glass

oil timer

prism

crystal ball

meraki sphere

pillbug spinner

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My mom had one of these when I was little! I remember playing with it for hours...

Betcha didn't know these trinkets once were treasures. A once popular toy enjoyed by those born in the 1900's, survived the test of time as a toy for fidgeting, ornamental piece, and fashion accessory.

It's difficult to find 100% handmade versions of these quirky multi-functional toys in 2023. Luckily, I've spent the last half decade crafting these to keep this traditional handmade piece alive.

Please consider browsing my Etsy shop. I offer these in 100's of colours (including custom requests), and my reviews showcase how customers have discovered uses for this in their own personal way.

My Etsy bestseller listing below:

PS: As highly requested, international customers can now enjoy lower shipping costs, making Meraki Sphere more affordable than ever, overseas. :)

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Extraordinary Attorney Woo is really good. Each episode (or pair of episodes) is a vignette of autistic/neurodivergent struggles, kind of like how each Star Trek episode (except the new stuff) is a vignette of an ethical dilemma. My main complaints are that Young-Woo is unreasonably lucky in finding people who are supportive and compassionate to her, and she does fall into the savant trope, IMO.

It's very wholesome. I think it would be a great show to recommend to a neurotypical who's open to being compassionate towards neurodivergents. Like, I think it makes a very clear distinction about the right and wrong ways to treat people. I cried a lot while watching it.

Unbeknownst to me, my parents watched it twice before I did. (I have strong suspicions that my mom is ADHD and my dad is autistic, but they are undiagnosed.) I was only a few episodes in when I started watching it with them. I had only recently figured out that I'm autistic, and hadn't talked to them about it yet. So, it was a really great way to start conversations with them about different issues.

Young-Woo's best friend also seems to be portrayed as ADHD, but they haven't touched on it yet. I'm hoping that will be a season 2 thing.

How do you feel about the current representation of autism in media and popular culture? What are some examples of representation done right, and where do you think improvements are needed?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Hi there,

Personally I think the representation could be better. I wish directors and writers would let more autistic people act in films.

Not all media is bad though, there are some good ones out there. Like the movie, “Please Stand By” and the Netflix show “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”. But I haven’t watched them myself, so I can’t really say.

The thing that bothers me in particular when it comes to autism in media. Like the classic savant syndrome they tend to use. Or do an awful portrayal of those who have low support needs. Like Sia’s film “Music”.

I guess the main point here is that I wish there were more characters who are “in the middle” and that directors would cast actual autistic people. All I see in media are autistic savants or low support characters that aren’t really accurate. Some films make it look like a mockery in my opinion.

Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ❤️

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How are they doing this?? aaaaaaa

Is the GIF just cut in a sneaky way? Maybe they've got one more link in the chain than I do, because mine feels pretty rigid when I coil it.