#WHO SAID AUTISTICS CAN'T DO IDIOMS

[blueywritespoetry]

Reason is without rhyme.

That is unfortunately simple

Logic doesn't have dramatic irony

Or repetition or couplets or sonnet

Realism totally lacks soliloquy

Idealism is laced with it

Hopes are lavished by a poet

As reason is removed from rhythm

Reason is without rhyme

And rhyme is without reason

Repellant poles of rhyme and reason

Reject the very notion of each other.

Reason is without rhyme.

[zarenillia]

I knew I was trans before I was aware trans was a thing. I attributed what I would later find as me being trans under "just another weird thing about me I'm experiencing alone". I grew up on the spectrum only knowing about it around the age of 10 onwards, and had up until then to find out plenty things I never told people because I knew nobody else experienced it.

I had to teach myself about so much that everyone around me just, understood. Sarcasm, idioms, I needed someone to break down the concept of empathy for me to obtain it.

Something really beautiful about this, is every subject about queerness, and what it means to be queer, made more sense the less effort I put into trying to understand it and simply accepting it. People actively are going against the "traditional definitions" of labels for groups, and I think that's great, perfect, wonderful. People should be free to identify with whatever helps them feel the best. And that's something I can only appreciate because I don't try to keep up, or understand, or define things the way I do everything else.

Queerphobic arguments very heavily rely on the concept that it's taught to young, impressionable minds, and yet I directly debunk that through my own personal discoveries, my own personal acknowledgements, that I found for myself. Someone may have said the name of a label someone can use, like being trans. But I had already taken its meaning in. I had already, though not fully comfortable expressing it externally, completely accepted what that meant for me, and what it meant in life to be yourself to the fullest extent.

My enemies cannot fathom my existence. They're too stuck trying to neatly categorize when every category in existence is flawed to some extent, and has some sort of exceptions.

As cruel as it seems, I'm glad that queerphobia is a thing, in as absurd and idiotic condition it is. My entire life I've been trying to catch up to my peers in terms of social knowledge. And now those same people are the ones who are unable to catch up themselves. I'm proud to think that, after so many years, I haunt their nightmares because they can't comprehend my intricacies the same way their countless social rules and standards did to me. It's a feeling I know I probably shouldn't have. Being happy people are against my very existence is a thing that sounds self-destructive, sounds like I hate myself too. I may hate certain circumstances I'm in, might find it frustrating when everything seems to be working against me in particular moments, but I love myself. I'm proud of how far I've come, ecstatic that I can become the person that I want to be. There's still steps ahead, and I'll use them to discover an even better version of myself to become. Me being glad the tables have turned between me and queerphobes is formed from bitterness and spite that, after every unjust experience I went through, between genuine trauma, to hatred and backlash for being trans, to the bullying, ridicule, and discrimination I faced for being autistic, I think I've earned at least a little bit. For every harsh thing that has happened to me, I hate my enemies, in every regard, and I relish the fact that my existence scares them to such great extents that my great, dark, unknown abyss tricks them into thinking they feel hate, instead of fear. But it is, fear. Most creatures are naturally inclined to feel it towards that which they do not understand. The fear of the unknown. What I faced every day of every year for so long, and what I will cherish that which tormented me, being tormented by in turn. Fear me, ye dim bastards, fear me with everything you have, for the only way you'll overcome me, is by joining the abyss you fear. And for those that can't, you will see me as your life starts to fade, ready to devour you forever.

[delafiseaseses]

Honestly people just needa stop insulting how people speak. Full stop.

All dialect-based discrimination is wrong.

Yes, that includes those people you like makin' fun of for how they speak. No, there are no exceptions.

Think of what you think a racist's dialect sounds like. That's a fucked up thing to think about a dialect. Imagine if you had that dialect? How would you feel if you heard people default to that as 'racist'. Do better.

I'll even include Received Pronunciation itself in that list. Because even if someone who speaks like that actually is the kinda Aristocratic monsters I hate so very, very much. There's others who speak that way because they were "taught to speak properly" or they saw their own dialect be mocked an' they forced it out of themself. Both these reasons are understandable, I said "taught" in quotes for a very fuckin' good reason and the latter is just sad.

I'd also be remiss as an Autistic person to not point out that dialect and Autism (and other things) can mix in many ways. Just like us and speech things. Y'don't know it, but I have rhotacism and a stammer... sometimes, it comes and goes, I cannot control it. I actually can't control how I speak at all, honestly, me inflections fluxuate, I can hear them fluxuate. That's not good or bad, it's just a thing. Until someone makes it a problem (which is true for a lot of these sortsa things, actually).

You're not a bad person for holdin' such bias. Culture gave you that bias. The only way to grow is t' recognise your biases and take steps t' correct them. You hear someone's voice and your brain immediately says somethin' about 'em? Positive or negative, don't matter think "Hmm, that's an internal bias of mine." and discard it best y'can.

So, in summery, judgin' someone for their dialect is fucked up and t' recognise that in yaself an' attempt t' do better is the important if you don't wanna be cruel.

-

Oh one last thing, word-choice is fine t' politely call out if someone uses bigoted language. That's a connected, but diffrent topic than dialect itself. Jus' mentionin' it in case somebody comes 'round and says "Ah, so you think these random bigoted idioms or the use of slurs is OK if it's part of a dialect." of fuckin' course not. Just don't be cruel about it when you speak up about it. People will be far less receptive t' change if it's hostile. If you're reasonable an' they still ay givin' any self-examination. Then leave because nobody ever wins such an argument. Better things t' do in the day. Alright? Alright. Ta-ra.

[tellthosewithpowersafeintower]

Autistic Bumlets HC’s

This is actually one of the first things I wrote but I’ve been nervous to post it. Anyway, I had so much fun writing this and love Bumlets so much

I might write more for this at some point if anyone’s interested with some more thoughts and I hope you enjoy! This is super long and kind of rambly but I had fun with all of this

Bumlets loves his cane

It has a really nice weight and he always needs to be fidgeting with something and he loves the feel it has when tapping it

It doubles as a stimmy and something to help him maneuver because Bumlets has no coordination

And he loves it

He also on an unrelated note had an injury that screwed with his foot when he was a kid

It bothers him more when its cold out and he relies more on the cane on bad pain days

He uses it as a selling point sometime

He and Crutchie joke around sometimes and mess with their crutch and cane together

They know things can be awful sometimes so they share lighter, goofy silly moments

Bumlets is really uncoordinated

He has a really hard time maneuvering around and controlling his movement when he’s walking

There’s this one table in the hall of the Lodging’s

It stayed in the same place but every day for three years the boy could not get by without knocking into it at some point

His proprioception is completely screwed

He loves dancing tho and he’s SO GOOD at it

He feels self-conscious sometimes bc like, he can do backflips and amazing dance moves but he can’t tell left from right all the time or the distance between objects and proceeds to knock into everything on his way anywhere

Absolutely LOVES dancing

He loves it

Plus dance is a more acceptable way to move your body than flapping your hands/rocking or whatever

At least with the newsies (who don’t really seem to care either way)

Bumlets loves being in motion

He had to work really hard as a kid to figure out how to coordinate his dancing movements. He spent hours trying to practice each step because he was so clumsy due to his brain function that even though he really freaking loved dancing it was really hard for him

He actually used the cane first when he was little to try and help push himself around when he struggled with dance moves he really wanted to do

He’s very proud of his dancing now

And he loves that he gets to show it with the boys he loves as family

He gets praised sometimes for being super expressive because he’s almost always smiling or showing something on his face. It can be really good for selling sometimes to have someone so that seems so open and friendly

Honestly tho Bumlets never knows what is happening on his face so if people ask he has no clue how to help

He has a hard time registering what his face is doing at all 

He can tell sometimes he’s smiling really widely when his face starts hurting but he feels pretty disconnected from his face most of the time and he’s really confused by how others can tell what is happening on people’s faces and what that is supposed to signify so easily

Like… how

Bumlets really doesn’t get idioms at all

He has a mental list of some of the phrases the other newsboys use

Even though sometimes he’ll slip up and get really excited and start grinning because he has a relevant point in response to that statement- but oh that’s a phrase/idiom or non-literal joke they didn’t actually mean that he should stay quiet

Plus English isn’t his first language

So things get really messy there too

There are so many little idiosyncrasies and quirks in different languages and they’re really hard to keep track of sometimes even if you don’t have autistic characteristics

His hair always stays down and he really likes the feel of it

He can’t stand the thought of getting a haircut

Plus having it long/hang down feels nice on the sensory end

He doesn’t like people touching his hair

Bad. Touch.

Bumlets doesn't like short pants bc if your going to wear pants they have to go all the way down

He doesn't like leaving just a section of skin exposed

It's gross!!

Baggy. Clothes.

He loves them

He very rarely slips up when he's dancing. Bumlets has rehearsed the motions for so many countless hours they feel natural at this point so he's generally in a pretty bad way when that does happen

When he gets excited he tends to start tapping his cane faster and his eyes light up

He can chatter away for hours about things he's interested in without pause or losing enthusiasm

Bumlets can be pretty oblivious

He has a hard time telling when people are upset or emotional

Hyperempathetic as frick

Internally panics and screams the whole time anyone is upset bc he isn't sure what he's supposed to do but he Loves Them

Hypersensitive to touches but loves hugs

He is a very physical person bc he loves showing affection but some days touch is just Bad

Can't do surprise touches very well

Espec from certain people

He has a hard time supporting his weight (he just sways faintly a lot but has no idea, can't tell if he's in motion) so he uses his cane for support

It helps him a lot

And he likes something to try to use to catch him if he stumbles a little

Plus itsa stimmy

He tends to shut down if noises and lights become way too much

Like this: 

Duck behind a statue for a moment to breathe

also

tap tap tap and finger thing I can’t get my body to cooperate to do

He has a few places he goes when he's overwhelmed

Very rarely completely shuts down but it's always incredibly exhausting

The first time he did it around the newsies he just collapsed and slept for hours afterwards

He didn't move like at all in his sleep which freaked them all out because Bumlets always seemed to be doing something + he slept for like a whole day

The boys worried about him

Bumlets was a lil sleepy and sheepish when he woke up but good

Used his cane extra that day

The newsies are super great

They don't always understand but they try really hard and love him to death

There aren’t really a lot of words to help him explain things because it is 1899 but they all make it work, and if the kids can sell papes and live with the rest of them they have been absorbed into their crazy weird family and will be fought for

They've become pretty good at noticing signs for when he's getting overwhelmed

Usually someone will grab him and take him out to rest if he’s not in a space to just go himself

Different people do different things but he loves them all

Some of the boys will just have quiet conversations with Bumlets one-on-one about things he loves when he's more coherent

One just sits with him quietly supportive while he fiddles with stuff

He actually doesn't smoke a lot but he loves fiddling with cigars or messing with them in his mouth

Oral stim

He used to use them a lot more

He still uses them sometimes and has some around

One time after a really bad day (meltdown) Race gave him one of his cigars. He made him promise not to tell anyone but Bumlets was so happy he couldn't care less

He was very careful with said cigar bc it was from Race

So it was automatically important

He doesn't always understand Race cause he's super witty but he loves hearing him talk

Bumlets can be a really convincing liar. He's not the best but he can definitely pass and he kind of has to on the streets

Can be really loud

Rowdy boy, like the rest of the newsies

Adventurous as frick

Wild child

He’s super eager and almost always seen smiling

He’s excited by so many things

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other emotions because he definitely does

He feels like he just soaks up all emotions and dealing with them when he can’t understand is a mess

Skittery is great at listening even when Bumlets is past the point of words or even understanding how to put things into words

Doesn't always realize when things are supposed to be insults

Forgets he's supposed to take care of himself sometimes

He forgets he's supposed to eat and doesn't always realize if he's hungry or needs water

Exasperates Skittery and some of the boys but they try to remind him in case he doesn't remember

The newsies love him

He's awkward and nervous and doesn't understand things sometimes but really kind and cares very obviously about all of them

Appreciates the little things

He's good at noticing tiny details or inconsistencies others miss sometimes

While he’s friends are really great at helping that doesn’t mean he can’t fend for himself

He can definitely pick fights and hold his own and look after himself

His family is just their to help when things go sour

They don’t make him feel like he’s any less bc he’s “weird” or different

Skittery is incredibly close with him and helps him a lot

They’re So. Close.

Skittery helps keep track of things when his thoughts are more scattered

Bumlets is also very good at helping Skittery because he’s really smart with money and sorting things out

When he pushes himself too far sometimes Skittery is the exasperated friend who wants Bumlets to stop being an idiot and look after himself

He's really supportive and sometimes tugs him aside to help explain terms or phrases when Bumlets doesn't understand

Skittery also has a cane and they tussle a lot with them

Bumlets has always really loved that bc when they were starting it out it made him feel like he was one of them

They're almost always inseparable

And he has a hard time sometimes when he doesn't have Skittery because with Skittery things Make Sense 

When he's gone Bumlets is sad

He misses his friend

But the other boys are nice too and he loves them

He considers the newsies his family since he doesn’t really have his bio family anymore