notacutewitch

[notacutewitch]

writing an autistic character when you are not autistic - a masterpost

completely double spaced version on google docs here – this post is more blocky for the sake of people’s dashboards, but still long so people will be less likely to glaze over it. my apologies if that makes it hard to read

things to look for and avoid in an autistic character

• symptoms only manifesting as “nonverbal and rocking” • super smart / living calculator • super dumb / doesn’t understand anything • all the symptoms you can come up with for them are “awkward” and “has special interest(s)” (please do more research) • trains, technology, and/or math as special interests • acting like a child • getting treated like a baby • unreasonably cruel and uncaring about others’ reactions to them being cruel • if they’re comparable to sheldon from the big bang theory, start over • animal comparisons • a lack of feelings • please no stories about what it’s like to be autistic told by allistics

the right way to write an autistic person

• lots of symptoms, including secondary ones not included on a general diagnosis requirement list (here’s a list i rather like that was made by an autistic person – their blog is also a good resource) • having a good amount of general knowledge and actually talking about it (i cannot believe that i have to say this) • talking about things outside of special interests (again…. come on……….) (special interests are usually the default things our brains go to when theres no stimulation or we want to entertain ourselves – it isn’t literally all we think or talk about ever. if a conversation has no connections to a special interest, reconsider having your autistic character bring it up in a context that is not an introduction.) • explicitly expressed to be capable of attraction and romantic feelings – if your character is an adult, add sexual feelings to this point • capable of general functioning, just with a disability that makes it more difficult – not a walking disability (….sigh) • a wide amount of feelings and emotional turmoil (but perhaps only being able to express it in limited ways) • we’re people • just people whose brains are wired differently

things to avoid in research for an autistic character

• autism moms / autism blogs and websites not run by autistic people • any affiliation with autism $peaks means you should walk away and never look back • a scientist trying to create explanations for what autistic people do without actually asking / not mentioning asking autistic people • anything about a cure for autism • a person that “worked with autistic kids” phrased in the same way as “worked with animals” • talking about autistic people as if they are mysteries, are like animals, or are otherwise othered weirdos instead of people

things to look for in research for an autistic character

• actual autistic people talking about their experiences and symptoms • just stick to that and you’re good but it’s hard to find sometimes ngl. just look for the above red flags

things i would personally like to see in an autistic character

• less easy to swallow sadness and more destructive anger. i would love to see a canonically autistic character who was frustrated easily by small things and had trouble communicating why • not a story about being autistic, a story that happens to have a character or characters who are autistic – it isn’t pointed out or questioned, they’re right at home with the rest of the cast and not othered (a la symmetra from overwatch) • intensive sensory issues / small sounds making large reactions • clear communications about not liking x sensory thing (for example being touched) • poor motor skills / clumsiness and not being laughed at for it • walking funny (body bent downwards, walking very fast, walking slowly, big strides, shuffling, stiffness, etc)  – no one treats it as if it’s funny or something totally strange • a big personality that has a presence so they can’t be cast aside (but feel free to have quiet characters too) – if this was along with being nonverbal they would probably leap to being one of my favorite characters ever • a fear of asking for clarification on sarcasm or jokes because of past experiences and an arc about the character becoming more comfortable asking questions

>> if any fellow autistic people want to add something, feel free <<

allistics are encouraged to rb this

[notacutewitch]

2020 Rау-Bаn charitable-sale

@lpt​ @imjustherefortherdr2fics​ @casketsanctum​ @vvitchchild​ @writerofmanyfandoms​ @lokis-sigyn​ @klausriordain​ @thismoonrisekingdom​ @wiggleinthemiddle​ @mrswhysoserious​ @lokiloveforever​ @queenofdarkness999​ @olivia-the-weirdo​ @ellecraig​ @seacombers​ @mrbloodymoon​ @beezlebubs-whore​ @kristinjomarieb​ @iloveyouramsaybolton​ @lokislilslut​ @leslie-and-sadness​ @historygeeker​ @boltxnbastard​ @fatfemmefetishist​ @petitpoivreee​ @joshyconker909​ @roberttidwell​ @nymethod82​

2020 Rау-Bаn charitable-sale. All styles sunglasses only sale$24.99! We will contribution profits 50% as child's education fund.Every purchase is your support for charity, thank you!

Shoppiпg Now>>>Click to enter the store

[notacutewitch]

2020 Rау-Bаn charitable-sale

@lpt​ @imjustherefortherdr2fics​ @casketsanctum​ @vvitchchild​ @writerofmanyfandoms​ @lokis-sigyn​ @klausriordain​ @thismoonrisekingdom​ @wiggleinthemiddle​ @mrswhysoserious​ @lokiloveforever​ @queenofdarkness999​ @olivia-the-weirdo​ @ellecraig​ @seacombers​ @mrbloodymoon​ @beezlebubs-whore​ @kristinjomarieb​ @iloveyouramsaybolton​ @lokislilslut​ @leslie-and-sadness​ @historygeeker​ @boltxnbastard​ @fatfemmefetishist​ @petitpoivreee​ @joshyconker909​ @roberttidwell​ @nymethod82​

2020 Rау-Bаn charitable-sale. All styles sunglasses only sale$24.99! We will contribution profits 50% as child's education fund.Every purchase is your support for charity, thank you!

Shoppiпg Now>>>Click to enter the store

[notacutewitch]

trans_irl

[notacutewitch]

i’ve stopped trash talking comic sans after learning the font is actually one of the only dyslexia-friendly fonts that come standard with most computers and i advocate for others doing the same

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[notacutewitch]

Stupid is timeless.

[notacutewitch]

25-35 is such a weird fucking age because you’re 100% a bread-and-butter Standard Edition Millennial but the cool teens are like “ok boomer” because you have a Real Job but the actual Boomers at your job are like “I’m not going to listen to a literal fucking child” as they download 16 self-replicating viruses and meanwhile the Gen Xers are telling you to refinance a mortgage for a house you don’t have and you’re sitting there at the Adults Table with the pretty tasty casserole you cooked because you’ve finally figured out how to do that now but everyone is eating the Boomer’s store-bought macaroni instead and admittedly they do sort of taste similar so it probably wasn’t worth all the trouble of cooking from scratch and you’re trying to comfort the freshly-graduated sobbing 22-year-old next to you because she just woke up here and doesn’t know where she is but you have like maybe 5k dollars in a savings account labelled RETIREMENT that grows approx. twelve cents a year and you keep eating dry macaroni while smiling incomprehensibly and periodically blacking out like ??????????

[notacutewitch]

basically:

it is not a virtue to not set boundaries

ignoring your own wants and needs is not a healthy way to show love

people worth loving will respect your boundaries

people worth loving will not want you to set aside your own wants and needs to make them more comfortable

‘having no boundaries at all’ describes a person who is very hurt, not a person who is very virtuous

suffering for others’ comfort is not how you be a good person, it is just how you become very hurt

sometimes you need to make others uncomfortable in order to get your needs met

your needs are more important than others’ comfort

your comfort is equally important to others’ comfort

making other people uncomfortable is not, in itself, ethically wrong or morally dubious

[notacutewitch]

4 Guys Beg Their Neighbor To Let Them Play With Their Dog, Get A Wholesome Letter In Response

Source: Tw/Jack McCrossan

The goodest girl: IG/Stevie Ticks

[notacutewitch]

"But they have long wait times in Canada!"

I am from the USA.

I have one of the most top-teir private insurance plans available.

I live in a city with four, count ‘em, FOUR hospitals.

I have been a patient of my pulmonologist for 2 years.

I scheduled my next appointment today. The first available appointment?

In three and a half months.

Please stop with this “you can see a specialist in a week!” Nonsense. No you can’t. Not with elite insurance and not as an existing patient. I’ve had to make specialist appointments as far as 8 months out.

Yesterday I made an appointment with my primary for a somewhat urgent matter. His next available? In 3 weeks.

I hate going to the emergency room because the average wait time is 4-10 hours. I ended up in a coma once because of complications caused by the wait time.

I am in the most medically privileged position a chronically ill person in the US can be, and the wait times to see my doctor are still very very long.

There are people in my country who can’t even afford to go to the doctor and people justify it by saying “but in Canada, they have to ~*wait*~.

We wait here too. We wait JUST AS LONG, and sometimes even LONGER.

But not everyone gets to wait, and they die because of it.

That disgusts me.

Universal health care now, please. And yes, my full time working, disabled, chronically ill self is more than happy to fork over taxes so that nobody goes without healthcare-even the people I don’t like!

[notacutewitch]

when i was a teenager it felt very revolutionary to be cruel to myself. like some kind of slow passive protest against how much everything hurt. i starved myself of sleep and food and tenderness because it felt right. it felt sharp and angry and radical and i wanted to be those things. adulthood is the realisation that the world is already working to cut into you well before you learn how to do it yourself. caring for yourself and others is the real protest

[notacutewitch]

sorry but if your bed isn’t against at least one wall you’re not valid

[notacutewitch]

[notacutewitch]

We Are Here pt 1/?

[notacutewitch]

you know those posts that are like “if you play x song at 11:59:06 on new years eve you’ll hear x lyric when the clock strikes 12?”

Can someone calculate that for me for Year Zero? Where when the clock turns twelve the first “Hell Satan, welcome year zero” hits? I have no idea how people figure those posts out and I’m not about to fucking do math

Thanks in advance