#adhd and autism are very similar it's kinda cool!

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Hiii! So, I'm kinda nervous to try but I wanna try the whole matchmaking thing for DC if you don't mind?

So, I'm 5'1, have shoulder length fluffy black hair, I have brownish yellow skin, have a scar above my left eyebrow from some stitches I got there, and dark-ish brown eyes.

I'd say I'm an energetic person, but at the same time have almost no energy for anything if that makes sense? I'm energetic if it's something I like, tired 24/7 otherwise. I'm self diagnosed with Autism and ADHD, waiting on an official diagnosis when I have the money for it. My favorite colors are green, blue, purple, red and black. I like dancing, singing, am super into music, learning how to skateboard right now, I love riding bikes, I am obsessed with reading, I enjoy theatre and am probably a theatre kid. I also like watching anime. I don't really have any close friends, but I do have a lot of friends and acquaintances! I'm a social butterfly and can Yap about anything I'm passionate about. I'm bisexual (masc leaning) and Genderfluid. I love animals and currently do ballet. I'm also a math whiz and a science whiz.

My fashion sense leans on more goth, punk, emo, alt, and Cottagecore. I constantly wear platforms and spiked rings, sometimes dangly earrings. I also wear fingerless gloves a lot. And I mostly wear black.

I dunno what else I can use to describe myself, so I hope this is enough?

Your DCU Ship: Tim Drake

Explanation: starting off with physical attraction, I think he would be very attracted to you. He’s not much taller than you. He’s about 5 inches taller than you and I think that he likes that you’re shorter than him because it’s often hard to find a person that is shorter than him.  he would also probably find your scars pretty bad ass cool and definitely ask lots of questions about where you got them and if you were ever insecure about your scars, he would just tell you how cool they make you look. he also thinks that your brown eyes are really pretty, and if you ever tried to insist that they were just plain brown eyes, and there was nothing special about them then he would definitely start comparing them to all sorts of pretty brown things like the rich soil of the earth or the darkest chestnut wood, chocolate, and coffee or things like that. yes this does make sense. I’m kind of a similar person and also I think that you and Tim would be a great balance. He’s always kind of tired and he doesn’t really sleep or he’s alarm clocks and he’s always kind of drained so I think that you guys will make a good couples, especially with your constant energy. I feel like it would energize him a bit, and he would make you a little bit less chaotic and give you a little bit more motivation to do things. If you were ever tired because it was a boring day then I’m sure he would make coffee with you and then try to cheer you up a little bit and you guys will be just cute little coffee, grumpy people together. He would also totally do a lot of outdoorsy activities with you even though he’s more of a stay and read person. He’s more of an introvert so I feel like your social butterfly would kind of bring him out of that a little bit and he could help you kind of not overwhelming yourself with social interaction. also, if you’re into math and science, you guys would totally geek out together like I feel like you would be so cool. You guys could just go into a room and talk for hours about that stuff and never get bored and I feel like he’d be very happy that you share some of those more similar hobbies to him and I mean he is literally a better detective than Bruce Wayne himself. He’s extremely intelligent so he would love discussing those things with you, as a kid, he listens to musicals. I feel like not a theater kid himself, but he would listen to musicals with you, and I feel like he would listen to his musicals on his own anyway, and he would come to all of her shows and always be super supportive. he also really loves your fashion taste and I feel like that’s kind of what made you stick out to him in the first place as he was like oh my gosh that person is so cool and I’m such a nerd. I’m such a dork like and he was super awkward approaching you and then you approach him and started talking to him and he probably got pretty flustered and awkward and I don’t know. I just feel like it would kind of be a really funny interaction for you to guys to have because I mean, I have a theory that he’s incredibly confident as red Robin his superhero persona but when he’s Tim Drake, he is so awkward man. He cannot hold a conversation and then red Robin. He’s like so smooth talking that’s my theory. anyway yall r cutieee 💙

[mansion1of7]

AUTISM + ADHD symbiosis

There's gotta be some kinda inherent symbiotic relationship thingy or something between autistic people and people with ADHD

Like, obviously due to being ostracized in similar ways we end up in similar spaces and all that, but there's something bout that pairing that just works so naturally. It kinda balances out in a way, yk?

Like, I don't often say that many words during conversation, but since basically everyone I'm close with got ADHD that's fine cause they can have the whole conversation damn near fully by themselves and it'll still be some of the most interesting conversations of your life lol, it balances out perfectly

While this might be leaning slightly into stereotypes, there's so many similarities between the two, but on the things that differ it's almost opposites in a way, right? So you got shared experiences while also being able to kinda cover eachothers weakspots, yk?

I woulda had the most boring life imaginable if it wasn't for those spontaneous gremlins pulling me out on random adventures and just always somehow making life interesting, but also sometimes they definitely need a bit of an anchor amongst the chaos so to speak lol

Now, ik I been typing this as though I don't got ADHD, but I do. I got both. I can to an extent relate to everything on "both sides" of it (for lack of better phrasing). I've just been going at it like that cause my autistic traits definitely present themselves heavier and parts of my hyperactivity is kinda hampered by physical health issues and easy overstimulation keeping me exhausted + being more on the attention deficit side of things (and in heavy burnout). Also cause again, like, basically everyone ik got ADHD, so I'm rarely the ADHD one with someone who exclusively got autism

But, yh, idk, I just think it's really cool and really wholesome how things just kinda work out like that. I think is kinda beautiful, it's a comfort within this machine that's generally built to hurt us

Obviously not tryna reduce whole people down to their disabilities, there's plenty autistic and ADHD people who don't fit well together, like, fucking obviously. People have personalities. Personalities conflict. Some people might just be shitty. Those disabilities present themselves differently in different people, all that, etc

But I find it very beautiful how in my life, and I've seen it be the case for lots of others too, there's this cute little phenomena that just feels like it was meant to be <:3

[sweetchildcloud]

Welcome Tenshi(Angel)✧⁺⸜(●′▾‵●)⸝⁺✧

/ᐠ. ｡.ᐟ\ᵐᵉᵒʷˎˊ˗ Welcome to my humble writing/art blog, i will start by saying this: I'm Italian. My English isn't horrible but, it isn't the best either. I am bound to make mistakes and there will be misunderstandings but, I am learning! If you are bothered by anything I might say please do tell me right away! Most of the times that happens I do not mean it! So I'm sorry in advance if I say something bad! i'm a writer as an hobby so my work will not be the best but i will hope it will entertain you!( ๑‾̀◡‾́)✨ I'm an adult, if you're uncomfortable with that you're free to ignore me. I'm also sorry if I make anyone uncomfortable by asking their age. I don't want any misunderstanding to happen. So, if you're an adult we can chill whatever it's fine. If you're a minor I will most likely not talk to you unless you need help with mental problems. I'm happy to help with that.٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و "By "misunderstandings" I mean people thinking I have bad intentions when I ask "what's your age" to someone. Unfortunately because of my lack of knowledge in English, (since it isn't my first language) people in the past thought I was something I'm not. It made me disgusted and very hurt. I just want to relax and not worry about problems like that again. I'm just trying to make friends not start drama. Thank you. ( •̯́ ^ •̯̀) i go by Von mostly but i have many other nickames too such as Hoen,Momoko and Minty you can choose wichever you like. i have adhd,autism and neurodivergent. (｡- .•) i'm emo (kinda still doesn't have the clothing but ehh i will) pansexual and gender fluid (ฅ́˘ฅ̀)

ʚ(´꒳`)ɞ .｡✧･ﾟ:* ~♡ (｡>﹏<)

i mostly wrote about Gojo (what a surpise uh?)(ugh,shut up not now)(ok angel *winks*)(*rolls eyes*) *ahem* as i was saying i mostly write about Gojo but i'm starting to love Choso too and many other jjk characters. wanna check out my more dark themes? check out: @rabbidbunwy (this account is jjk runt,writing and really REALLY dark themes,so minors DNI) —ฅ/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\ฅ — Request: My jjk master list: My Hazbin Hotel master list: fic challenge list: Daddy!au masterlist: Cowboy bebop masterlist:

HSR[honkai star rail] masterlist

check them out!:

one piece blog

i'm into fluff,comfort,drama,NSFW,SFW,gore,blood,angst and vent so my writing isn't for everyone (lol). ( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝) i love making suffer anime characters in my writing,especially Gojo,just for fun or own entertainment.( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ i'm into furry,cute stuff such as Sanrio characters and similar taste,urban legend,japanese lore,cartoons,cryptids and videogames. so if you dont like any of that stop following me and/or harassing me in my dm,it's not cool and i will block you ( ˶ˆ꒳ˆ˵ ) i'm dealing with depressin,anxiety and many problems in my life so if you see me not replying and/or writing a lot of angst/vent i'm just probably venting. ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)

but as i said i hope you will have a wonderful time here (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)

ଘ(´•×•)⊃━☆.•° ✿ °•.

[ali3nboyfriend]

no fucking way. you put it into words how I feel when it comes to relationships ( romantic and platonic ) with people. I've had trouble figuring out how to word it myself. I find it verrrrry difficult to form friendships with people because they never like things in the same way I do. They're never equally passionate about certain things as I am. It's frustrating because I know there's nothing wrong with them......... whenever I express and show joy about one of my special interests they're always just "ooo" or "cool." simple responses like that always annoy me and just give off the feeling that they don't really care and it sucks. going 2 take a guess and say my adhd + autism might have a part in this????? basically "becoming frustrated and upset when a friend or mutual doesn't enjoy something the same amount as you do and trying to talk to them about it just feels like a drag because they aren't like you." Are any other adhd and / or autism havers like this???

oh yeah a very similar situation is what got me talking about it. like i said in my tags on that post, this isn’t about anyone on tumblr, but it’s a uniquely frustrating situation when you know the two of you share a hyperfixation or special interest and you get to talking about it and it’s like….. their takes are harmless, but they’re not your takes, and they come off “wrong” to your brain. either annoying, or unsupported by what you know/focus on, or just entirely incongruent with what you’ve built up in your head. and it’s like, it would be a dick move to be like “no you’re WRONG.” so you just have to sit there and be like well okay then.

and then when people share an interest but they’re not as passionate, it kinda makes me feel like… a stopped up and shaken bottle of something fizzy, is the best way to describe it. i have so much i wanna pour out but feel like it would be annoying to do so.

i am both adhd and autistic so that very well may be why it’s so frustrating, idk if neurotypical people share the same frustrations (or if they do, if it feels as strong) but they may.

i do recognize for myself that i am a person that’s like, very very friendly but also easily annoyed. i’ve had to teach myself that people are not acting like this to hurt me, they’re not purposely trying to be annoying, and nothing about their behavior is malicious, and just because they don’t share my takes or passions doesn’t mean they’re bad takes or passions. they’re just not for me, and i’m gonna be that guy for someone else, so it’s live and let live.

[writingsoftwistedwonderland]

I saw that you were doing a character match-up and I wanted to give it a try, sorry if this is a bit weird, this is the first time doing one ^^*

My name is Ash, I'm nonbinary and use they/them pronouns. I'm really shy at first, but once I warm up to you, it gets better. I am kinda awkward and weird, but I embrace it. I also have a mouth that could make a sailor blush. The best way I could describe my style is a rotation between "uncle on vacation", softcore/cottagecore, alternative, and hobo. I'm 5'6, my hair goes down to my hips and is split dyed green and pink. I wear glasses. I don't like large crowds or noisy places, I have social anxiety. I'm neurodivergent (ADHD, anxiety, and auditory processing disorder (maybe autism)). I'm a black belt in karate and kobudo. And I do origami.

I hope this is enough, I'm really bad at describing myself ^^*.

Thank you!!

Thank you for requesting Ash! I am very similar to you! I am very quiet when personally meeting someone for the first time then I release crackhead energy after properly becoming their friend! The three characters that I would personally pair you with are Epel Felmier, Jack Howl, and Vil Schoenheit! Word count: 662

☆ My first immediate thought was Epel Felmier, due to how Epel is introduced. The Adeuce duo led the player into thinking of one characteristic when it was another.  Meaning the pair of you would be best at sharing since you both sorta have a similar thing happening! ☆ Epel was most likely caught off guard due to your language, but takes that in stride and joins in with you, making the conversation very fun and very scary to listen to. ☆ When it comes down to possible anxiety attacks or being overstim, Epel is quick to help, covering your ears gently, and tucking you close to him while quietly cussing out the person or thing causing your distress while providing gentle forehead kisses. ☆ He would be very interested in all your hobbies, Especially Kubodo and Karate! Having you teach him different moves and the proper technic while excitedly rambling to you about how cool he thinks this is. He thoroughly got his ass beat but he is so happy and so proud of you. ☆He adores your Origami, finding how you fold the paper into making a shape you want very fascinating and adorable. He will admit, he does not have the patience to fold the paper, so instead you and Him trade origami and carved apples.

☆ For my second choice, I say Jack would fit as well. Jack, while being a big buff beast-man, is an overall sweetheart. He would be another perfect match for you! ☆ He didn’t mind your language, instead taking it in stride that you are warming up to him and feeling safe around him to lower your guard and let loose! Even if it's swearing and being a goofball. ☆ He is quick to detect if you are going to possibly have a panic attack/severe anxiety in a situation and is quick to deter it. He wraps his arms around you gently, before mumbling soft praises while keeping you nice and safe from possible threats.

☆ WIth your hobbies he would gladly help you train! Having you teach him how you do karate and Kobudo would make him all excited as he shows you the stretching and running practice he uses for running! 

☆ The origami amazed him even more because he thought it was so cool that you could change the paper into different shapes! Any origami pieces are saved in a neat box or next to the cactus that he named after you!

☆ My Last and third thought was Vil Schoenheit! Purely because despite having a regal and sorta scary appearance (He is so pretty that I would panic if I stood next to him) but he is overall a sweetheart! He would gladly boost you positively!

☆ He will lightly scold you for your language, but never really means it. He has a soft spot for you and knows that your cursing and being energetic are showing him that he has your trust and that he will gladly cherish it without a second thought. ☆ He gets very protective very fast when it comes to anxiety and panic attacks. He will quickly excuse the both of you and bring you to a quiet, secure place before having you do breathing exercises, Hugging you close as you name items you can see as you ground yourself from the severe anxiety.

☆ He is very supportive of your hobbies, granted he does fret about you in case you do get hurt, being that karate a kubodo are contact sports, meaning he is cheering you on as you go against your opponent but has the first aid kit quickly so he can treat any possible wounds.

☆ Your origami is also very supported! Vil, himself knows how to do it. So he makes you a very special gift of your favorite animal made out of paper. Similar to Jack he too has a box filled with both your and his creations.

[red-revival]

I think I've figured out an important thing for writing autistic characters: relatability, and not just autistic veiwers relating. Because ADHD/ADD and autism tend to be similar, people with ADHD can usually relate to things about autism. So when you write an autistic character, ask yourself a question. Can both autistic and ADHD viewers relate to this character? If yes, congrats! Your writing of this character is good! If not, ask a bunch of autistic people and a few ADHD people how you can improve it. Focus mostly on the relatability that autistic veiwers will have, but also remember that because autism and ADHD are so similar, ADHD veiwers should also relate in skme ways.

A good example of a well-written autistic character is Entrapta from She-ra. When I first saw her on screen, I could relate quite a bit. Her excitement, her intense love of science, her short attention span, those all made her relatable to me as an ADHD veiwer. I've also seen autistic veiwers of the show relating to her writing quite a bit. She's so well written that like in real life, autistic people and ADHD people alike can relate to her.

Just like how autistic people tend to relate to things about ADHD, people with ADHD tend to relate to things about autism, so in writing an autistic or ADHD character, both being able to relate is important.

this advice can also be switched if you're writing a character with ADHD. Can autistic veiwers relate as well as ADHD veiwers?

[well-its-not-human-anymore]

So this is a personal one for me to ask and if you're not comfortable with it don't mind it; how would the tmnt boys (seperate) react when the reader confesses that they're autistic after the boys got curious when she had some peculiar, behavior or stims. The reader would be stressed, because she has a crush on the tmnt boy in question and she didn't want them to find her weird or just stop interacting with her. When she's met with confusion instead, because the boys never heard of it, cue this weird conversation where reader tells them to the best of her ability what it is and the boys just keep asking questions. Also some general headcannons with it maybe?

Okay so I'm actually really happy that you asked me this because I feel like ASD isn't portrayed a lot in any type of media. My ADD and ASD have a lot of overlap so I hope I can capture what you're asking of me!

Now let's get into it!

TMNT Headcanons

The boys reacting to an autistic reader

Leonardo

he wasn't really sure what was happening the first time you reacted

one minute you were standing next to him doing dishes and the next you were attempting to claw your skin off like an angry cat

Leo tried not to look annoyed as he watched you rub your hands against your shirt until your flesh started to turn red

you looked like you were crying but he knew you weren't

but your face was starting to turn purple and your cheeks were puffy from the effort of holding your breath

"Y/N? You need to breathe."

You shot a glare at him, scathing eyes meeting his now very concerned expression

your own softened and you clutched your arms to your chest, heaving oxygen into your lungs until your face became a normal shade again

"Are you okay?"

The words were stuck in your throat and you weren't sure if you should nod or shake your head

so you gave him a half-hearted shrug

he frowned back at you but turned to finish the dishes on his own

when he questioned you about it later he couldn't help but be curious

"Well actually it's uh- it's kinda a sensory type of thing? There are certain textures that I can't stand touching do I avoid them but if I come into contact by accident my brain just kinda explodes and I shut down."

"How exactly does that work though?"

"I don't really understand it much but like- you know that feeling you get when you think there's a bug on you and there's not but it really really feels like it?"

He nodded

"Yeah, it feels like that. And anytime I touch something that triggers that reaction it takes FOREVER to get the feeling off my skin. That's why I usually wear gloves when I do dishes. Guess I just forgot to grab 'em today."

He was sympathetic

and god, you were so embarrassed

lucky for you, Leo's not an asshole

"Well thank you for explaining it to me, you really freaked me out earlier. I'll talk to April and see if we can keep a pair or two at the lair just in case you forget again."

Consider your heart melted

you couldn't even find the words to thank him and holy shit was your face red

"Hey y/n?"

"Yeah Leo?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me- us that you were autistic?"

Did you rip the band aid off now or make something up? Which would ,technically speaking, be less catastrophic in the long run?

"I uh- I really like you and I really didn't want you or the other's to look at me differently..."

wow, you liked him? miss ma'am you have saved this boy a world of anxiety and damn does he thank you for it

"Thanks for telling me... and y/n? I really like you to."

Awh fuck yeah, best possible execution of band aid-ripping-off ever

Donatello

Donnie wished he could act surprised when you finally told him

he really wanted to, it would've made you feel better for sure

but he sucked at lying and he didn't want to make you feel like he thought you were an idiot

because that was so far from the truth

after going through extensive research on Mikey's behalf when he suspected he had ADHD Donnie had stumbled across many different websites that discussed the symptoms and overlaps between both disorders

to make a long story short, Donnie knew that you had ASD and he was waiting for you to tell him

it would probably come off as rude if he brought it up in conversation right?

he didn't want to risk it

but that didn't stop him from keeping an eye on you and your behaviors

he was a man of science, of course he was going to analyze you

not in a weird way or anything, just as a curious sort of precaution

but the longer you were involved in the turtle's lives the more noticeable your stims and meltdowns got, Donnie did his best to cover for you without making you suspicious of him

eventually he'd come up with something that he hoped would come across as a friendly gesture and wouldn't set you off or scare you away

it was game night at the lair and you, as always, were perched on the arm of the sofa, a large grin plastered on your face

inside your head was exploding but you were masking it pretty well if you do say so yourself

but Donnie was, well... donnie was donnie

so when he noticed you starting to rock a little more visibly he removed his attention from commentating the game and grabbed a pair of headphones from the side table

you were beyond confused when he passed them to you but your face revealed everything

"They're noise cancelling, try them on."

holy shit it was like putting your head underwater, everything was muffled

not in the way normal headphones did, you quite literally couldn't hear anything at all, just a calm amount of nothing

you nearly started crying when you realized that Donnie had figured you out on his own

but you'd never been more relieved about anything in your life

Raphael

he wouldn't admit that he was mesmerized by your presence

you practically radiated calm

his complete opposite

it was his favorite thing about you, because despite your quiet disposition and calming aura you weren't afraid to call him out or rebut any of his insults

this was not something you expected him to appreciate nor was it something you thought would make you catch feelings

but damn if you didn't

he'd been sitting in on yours and Donnie's little experiment for an hour or so now, watching you both exchange quiet whispers and inside jokes that you always seemed to lag on

then you slipped up

not bad, nothing detrimental to the project, just the same mistake that you'd already made ten times over

you might as well have exploded

"Y'N, you just have to move thi-"

"I KNOW DONATELLO. I FUCKING KNOW AND I JUST CAN'T DO THIS BULLSHIT!"

you set everything down gently enough to avoid breaking it before turning and storming out of the lab, waving your hands like they were on fire

Raph and Donnie exchanged a look that sent the larger red turtle following after you

when you calmed yourself down enough to talk you kept your gaze locked on the wall, explaining that you couldn't make eye contact when you were upset

he might not be the smartest brother, but Raph's no dummy, he put those pieces together pretty quickly after you told him that one small detail

he wasn't upset that you didn't tell him and you'd personally never been more relieved

your heart nearly splattered into the stratosphere when you finally gace him your own explanation

"yeah, I like ya too."

you grinned so wide you were sure your face would split open and your entire body rocked side to side with excitement

he thought that was pretty adorable too

And he did stick around to offer a bit of support when you apologized to Donnie for screaming at him

Michaelangelo

to be frank it probably shouldn't have taken so long for Mikey to realize that you were autistic

the similarities between your own personality and his ADHD were so in sight it was near painful

it was his turn to make dinner that night and you'd made sure that you came over early to help him set up, you knew how side-tracked he'd get and you were the poster child for solid routine

what more perfect matchup existed?

trick question, there isn't one

you were on one side of the counter cutting vegetables and he was on the other throwing said vegetables into the mixing pot

the music was at an ungodly level of loud so your only means of communication were screaming over it

"MIKEY."

"WHA?"

"YOU GOT THE-"

"YEAH."

"AND THE-"

"UH HUH."

"COOL, HAVE YOU SEEN THE-"

"TONGS? NO, THE SKEWERS. YEAH, THEY'RE IN THE OTHER DRAWER."

"THANKS."

the two of you went about your previous tasks, thinking nothing of the conversation that had just taken place

at least until you'd begun washing your knife and cutting board

that's when Casey walked in, looking both perturbed and annoyed at the same time

"Alright, which one of you knows telepathy?"

Mikey exchanged a glance with you and you returned it with a raised eyebrow

"The hell you mean brah?"

he looked at the both of you like you were the ones that had grown four extra heads before speaking again

"You literally just had a conversation with like five words and somehow just knew what the other meant? What's up with that?"

you glanced at Mikey again

"Holy shit, did we?"

"I mean, not really. You used your hands."

now all three of you were confused but it quickly became two when Casey shook his head in defeat and left the room

"You know I think he's right."

he blinked first and your staring contest ended

"But you used your hands-"

"I got autism Mikey, one does not simply not use their hands as forms of speech."

"You're-"

"Yep."

was the silence laughing at you? could it do that? it was kinda rude

"Huh, that actually makes sense, that's not mean is it?"

you shook your head no

"You're just me but fast."

Mikey agreed with that, pestered you with a few more questions, and went back about working, as did you, you saw no reason to address it further

but your cheeks burned red

"Yo- Y/N that actually explains why everyone else thinks we're a thing."

you didn't know if you could choke on air or not but you did it anyways

"Are we?"

he gave you his signature grin

"If we are then Raph owes April a hundred bucks."

you returned his smile

"Oh this oughta be good."

I'd like to preface this by apologizing for my near three week absence. Life got crazy and my writer's block hopped on a train, went through a school zone, killed seven pedestrians, and committed tax fraud before tumbling off a cliff never to be seen again.

But on the bright side- I got my SAT scores back and started some scholarship applications. Super happy with that. School's out in a few weeks so I'll be able to write more (hopefully).

Anyways, I hope I got this one down okay. I may have hyper analyzed the request so I might be a little off. But I really enjoyed doing this one and I hope you like it!

-Mars 🌠

[limey-writes]

Hi! I absolutely love your TF2 match-ups and stories, they're so cute! If you're not too busy, could I get a match-up as well? But if you can't and/or I'm too similar to someone else you've already done, don't worry about it. I hope your day is going well! :) /gen /lh

My names are Rowen, Arcade, Enzyme, Omni, and Charlie! I'm a comorbid (ADHD + Autism), genderfluid, and polyamorous person (so if you have a toss-up or think I fit with multiple mercs, I'd date more than one). My pronoun sets are (They/Them) and (Ze/Zer/Zem/Zey). I also kinda "collect" more names and pronoun sets as I go. If there's a cool name or word that I like, or if I feel that another set of pronouns describe me as well, then bam! Mine now bitch lmao! I'm 5'7, chubby, have brown and purple hair, and use contacts and black glasses. /lh

First up, my comorbidity sort of makes me who I am in a way. If I don't know you or I'm in a place that I don't go to a lot, I heavily mask my symptoms and am a completely different person; stand-offish, quiet, observant. Once I trust you though, I let down my guard down bit by bit until I know that you and/or the place I'm in is safe. After that, I'm the loudest, most fucking unhinged person you've ever met (unless you're a merc, then I'm slightly more tolerable lmao). But I can get overstimulated too if somewhere/something is too loud. It's a very fine line. Also, as you can see, I use tone tags so that there's as little miscommunication as possible. /lh

Unmasked, I vocal stim all the time, ranging from talking to myself, to making weird noises, to repeating phrases/singing a song over and over. Sometimes I make hand gestures as well, acting out little scenarios in my head by myself or whenever I'm in thought. I also think I'm one of the funniest fucking people to exist, making myself laugh all the time with references that I'm not sure the mercs would get if they're cut off from the internet LMAO. My "feral"/unhinged-ness comes from the fact that I have severe cute-aggression, where if I find something cute then I want to either squeeze/crush/destroy it. Also if I get excited about something, depending on what it is I either hop in place, get the zoomies, or quite literally start barking and/or do this motion while growling:

For clothing/gender-presenting, I (would like to) have a bit of range. I love punk in general, as well as two sub-genres "steampunk" and "clownpunk", wanting to be threatening yet kinda soft at the same time. Think big platform combat boots with purple and yellow laces (bonus points if the mercs know lace code), black make-up, spikes 'n shit. I also love being camp and dressing in ways that absolutely set off even the most sheltered, white evangelical Christian/Mormon/Amish person's gaydar, especially if the outfit isn't stereotypical. And I *want* to dress and present feminine more, truly I do - it gets exhausting being only masc/non-binary at times. My only problem is that because I'm AFAB, people tend to not respect my pronouns and then make me feel dysphoric, so if my match(es) could help reassure me, I'd really appreciate that. /gen /srs

For my hobbies and interests, it really depends. I pick up and put down stuff so often, I can never tell if something I start to like is just another hyperfixation or if I truly want it as a staple of myself. What I *do* know is that I'm an artist, writer, and aspiring animator, even if I'm going through the world's longest creative block right now. I love video games and I'm also a spiritual person, being a baby pagan/witch. I do divination with tarot, I'm learning spells, and working with different deities to help me through my journey. Astrology plays a little bit into it as well, but only a little. I also love language!! I love the way people talk, and would love to learn more than English if I wasn't so burnt out. I know a little Spanish and Scots, and can replicate accents pretty quickly. I've also started cooking and baking, and would like to get into computer stuff, mostly software and coding but a little hardware wouldn't hurt. I also drink a bit and smoke Ms. Mary Jane, and would love to have a hotbox sesh with someone. /pos /gen

Last but absolutely NOT least, relationship stuff. My one big thing is: communication, communication, COMMUNICATION. I fucking hate it when someone gets broody/upset with me and then doesn't tell me what's wrong. How the hell am I supposed to know something if you didn't tell me about it? I'm very upfront and honest about what I want and who I am - and tbh I think that comes through in the fact that this ask is fuckin' ginormous LMAO. Some of this should probably stay private but whatever, I'm here for ACCURACY LMAO. But yeah, communication is my biggest thing and I'm super open to any discussion, serious, kinky, vulnerable, you name it. /gen /srs /pos

Along with that, I like to think of myself as a very affectionate person, even if the ways I show it are a little unorthodox. Sometimes I'm a bit more mundane; cooking, cleaning, spending time with them and doing various activities. Other times it can shine through in different ways, such as sending them videos/memes/posts I think they'd like, sitting in comfortable silence while we do our own thing, biting, and playfully bullying them with banter like "I'm gonna kick your ass!". I also do this thing where I hit my forehead against someone and say "Bonk". /lh /pos

So, uh, yeah. That's literally everything anyone would ever need to know about me, LMAO. Sorry for the long ask, I just like to be accurate. And I know that I'm a little hard to pin down, so just as a reminder, I'm polyamorous! I don't mind (and kinda prefer, but please don't stress yourself out) if I match with more than one. I hope you have as much fun writing for my match(es) as much as I did delving into my own psyche and writing it out!! But if you wanna/have to skip me, that's totally understandable. Please take care of yourself. <3 /gen /pos /lh

You've been chosen!!! Thank you for the detail, I hope you enjoy your new match and thank you for your patience!

I match you with...

Scout, Sniper, & Demo!

You fit perfectly amongst these three, of course they appreciate and love you for who you are and genuinely will fight anyone that misgenders you ofc. So lets break things down and give you a broader feel of the relationship! At first Demo might approach you, due to his friendly nature he just wants to do his best to make you feel comfortable and give you some sort of middle ground rather than you feeling out of place in a crowded spot. He'd start out complimenting your hair and strike up a conversation from there. Demo is the type of guy to somehow make friends with anyone so I'm sure he would somehow do his best to give you the best him he can muster. He talks to you about anything and everything, this man is the master of communication and will be upfront about all the things on his mind. Definitely gifts you flowers all the time and will constantly tell you how they ain't as pretty as your smile <3

Scout came soon after, the excitement riddled lad is ready to throw hands with anybody who tries dissing you, he's so full of love for you that he would gladly go feral along with you. He could walk in on you doing that image exactly and he'd root you on as the supportive man he is. Will remember each one of your names flawlessly, but will ask for help writing them just because he likes the way they look on paper, even if he can't read them too well. Oh man this man loves any sort of love you give him, he loves to bonk you back and gets very excited whenever any sort of banter comes up, this is Scout, of course he'd get super happy with any little loving bullying you guys did together. He tries to help a lot when you are cooking, though just be sure to keep an eye on him so he won't accidentally burn anything.

Now Sniper, we all know he likes to keep to himself, so it takes him a little bit to warm up to you. He's observant, and very blunt, so you can definitely trust he'll let you know if something is up! He can get when you need a moment for yourself or just need space entirely, he knows when to back up and give you a moment, and also when to swoop in and give you a lil smooch on the forehead bc he loves you (: he loves how different your styles are, and however you wanted to dress he absolutely hypes you up in his own ways. Anyone fucking with you either gets a bullet or a death glare by this lanky man, he plays no games when it comes to respecting you and your boundaries! Sniper definitely can relate to the feeling of needing to put up a front when first meeting someone, so he'll also take a bit to be able to come out of his shell and turn into the snuggly guy he is deep down and show you all sorts of forms of affection, he definitely does a lot of small things for you that he tries showing affection with but he's trying his best!

With the three together, you get a big bundle of love wrapped in a pretty bow for you! The trio love to plan together ways just to make you happy, Sniper ending up being the one that has to pull the other two out of some sticky situations that they may or may not pull you into. Scout loves to take lead and show off how great you are to anyone that's out in public, holds your hand and happily uses any pronouns you give him, in fact he even gets Demo to also join in telling anyone just about how wonderful you are as a partner to them. Can and will talk anyone's ear off about it, they are always ready to shower you with love and affection! Sniper is also very affectionate while the two are yelling their love, he on the other hand is much more subtle about it, holding hands, putting his hat on you, he's really sweet and gentle regardless so its always the best of all worlds! They'd definitely partake in cuddle piles, Sniper builds a pillow fort for everyone to enjoy time inside of, no one else allowed without the password that Scout made up on the spot...and forgot when he went to get snacks. Regardless, you've found yourself in a big bundle of love and support!

[luque-moreau]

y'know i think its about time ive refurbished my psychonauts headcanons/theories

what??? me??? rewriting my psychonauts headcanons in a more comprehensible and informed way???

ye

alright, i think everyone knows what im talking about, by headcanons i mean headcanon as in singular, and as singular, i mean my "raz is somewhere on the spectrum of adhd".

so lets just get into it:

what is adhd actually?

adhd by definition stands for attention deficit hyperactive/hyperfocus disorder (yes, let me get into the details in just a sec). it is a nerodevelopmental disorder that is almost completely reliant on genetic factors, however conditions during pregnancy can sometimes contribute to certain aspects of how adhd manifests itself.

long story short, people with adhd have a smaller frontal lobe, and therefore less dopamine in general (even though yes, it is more complicated than that).

theres also a little bit of "chicken or the egg first" goin on here, certain behaviors or personality tendencies can also affect how adhd is presented in one individual to the next, however its still not clear if that is because it is an accommodating for a certain thought process or if someones experiences and personality shape their symptoms of adhd entirely. its a very blurry line, and the answer is different for everybody.

hyperactive type

hyperactive type is probably the closest to most stereotypical depictions of adhd, think the 5 year old whos parents brush off their child’s hyperactivity as something that will “go with age”. however, this isn’t only present in children, adults with adhd have to deal with a constant need for stimuli to make up for the lack of dopamine their current activity is providing them. this results in someone fidgeting frequently in repetitive or predictable motions, unable to hold attention to a specific task for long periods of time, or many other of the symptoms associated with adhd.(i sadly cannot provide more information in this area, i am not knowledgeable enough to...)

hyperfocus type

hyperfocus type is a tricky one, it can look like the complete opposite of adhd in theory. hyperfocus can look similar to special interests or hyperfixation, a great deal of time and knowledge dedicated to a very particular thing (although it is important to note that even though hyperfixations and special interests are incredibly similar, special interests is a term more typically used within autistic-circles, and isnt really the best word to use if you happen to be neurotypical). Think of maybe that kid who knows all the cool animal facts and won’t shut up about them. Its because certain trains of thought or activities might release more dopamine then others, so to get more of that dopamine, someone of hyperfocus type will be mentally unable to stop thinking or doing a very specific task or topic. this results in someone seemingly always spacing out, unable to change subjects or changing subjects too fast or with little to no correlation, or being completely unable to have enough motivation to do simple things.

personally i tend to fall under the category of hyperfocus myself rather than hyperactive, however the two are not mutually exclusive, its more common to find people with both types rather than just one. even myself, i might exhibit more tendencies to place me under the label of hyperfocus, but that doesn’t mean i don’t have any symptoms of the hyperactive type. its my personality that affects my mannerisms, which then makes certain aspects of my symptoms more or less apparent. Thats because im an INTP-T, i just tend to be more to myself and constantly in a state of thinking abstractly. I have trouble communicating and even sometimes recognizing my needs, and get to a point where im unable to do the simplest of things without feeling emotionally drained. Thats just my experience though, everybodys different. 

so what the fuck does this have to do with raz then?

well lets think about it, rather than have it just be me projecting myself onto a comfort character:

raz finds issue with connecting to kids his age

lets be honest. none of the campers really like raz that much. or at least some do the bare minimum to be try and be polite. it doesn’t seem like any of the other campers besides dogen, whos also socially outcasted, are really fond of raz. lili might like him, but that can definitely be interpreted as curiosity in someone new and different from the norm. It might not be that the kids despise him, but nobodys opinionated enough to care whether he is around or not.

social isolation is one of the most damning things i had to experience from an early age and still feel even today. there is a sense of feeling that you are different among your peers, whether that is a good thing or bad thing. it feels difficult to interact with other people you are not familiar with, and can really stunt you emotionally and socially. from a really early age, theres somethin in you that knows something is very different between the experiences of your peers compared to your own, and it can feel incredibly isolating.

raz and his borderline stupidity

time to get real again. raz is a fucking idiot. at least in the sense that sometimes his decisions seem incredibly spontaneous and not really thought through. he runs from home to attend a summer camp, not really thinking about the logistics of how he will get there, how the staff will react, how long its gonna take for his parent to find him, and so on. it doesn’t seem like he over or underestimates his abilities, he just goes for it without considering. that doesnt seem like the smartest thing to do, even though we know hes incredibly intelligent when it comes to larger, abstract situations. its the little details that he misses, small minuet things that seem unimportant that he overlooks, which can sometimes make things harder for him in the end.

i think its obvious that impulsivity is one symptom of adhd. however i cannot stress how difficult it is to think at supersonic speed and still feel incredibly stupid. i mean, thinking faster doesn’t inherently mean you will have better ideas, you can always be stupider faster, but being able to realize stupid mistakes or inconsistencies in your own thought process is annoying as hell. it feels like every time you try to recognize the issue, fix it, and move forward, you only end up not paying attention to another issue that gets bigger and more annoying than the first. Its always two steps forward, one step back, constantly making the same mistakes even though you try everything in your power to avoid them or grow as a person. The simplest of facts, ideas, or just things to remember end up being forgotten, and once youre reminded of them you remember them and feel like an idiot. however, arbitrary things and complex issues are much easier to digest and remember for me, things like history and the whole blame game charade of it all, biology and how every minuet thing has a greater impact on others and intertwines with every single factor of its environment, philosophy and theorizing why we think the way we do and what can be changed. but oh shit, im a dumbass i forgot to do my laundry. shit. god fuckin dammit.

empathy over sympathy

one of the basic themes of psychonauts is empathy. simple as that. raz goes around into other peoples brains, and tries to help them as much as he can, even if his efforts are not always successful in the way he intended. he never demonizes anyone to the point of unredeemability, and can empathize and understand other peoples perspectives. hes open to new ideas and

although some studies out there theorize that empathy is impaired due to adhd, from my perspective i feel like that is simply not true. if anything, i would say the sensitivity that comes with adhd (hypersensitivity) only enhances that empathy. i could definitely see social disconnection being one of the reasons it might appear that someone with adhd is less empathetic, however i would doubt that adhd would impair a persons empathy. adhd tends to also entail heightened emotions, this doesn’t necessarily mean a more outwardly emotional person, however it definitely shifts a persons perspective of their own emotions as well as others. the concept of hypersensitivity also completely contradicts the idea of people with adhd be less empathetic.

miscommunication and disconnect

sigh, the dad thing. yup. raz has that very iffy relationship with his dad at the beginning of the game which is eventually resolved. very abruptly, might i add. but thats not what this is about, thats a topic for another day. miscommunication seemed to be the root of the issue, however we only get razs side of the story. not to mention the severity of his claims and willingness to seemingly drop everything afterwards. kinda sus, ngl.

alright this ones a doosey. this, i feel, cements my theory pretty well. like i mentioned before, social disconnect and hypersensitivity are side effects of the symptoms of adhd.  this means people with adhd are highly more likely to either misinterpret someones words or actions if those in question are not completely transparent, its because they tend to overthink and interpenetrate responses with too much thinkin n such. the social disconnect makes a whole lot of it worse, it can just pile on top of already established feelings of inadequacy and isolation. and oversharing as a poor coping mechanism isnt an exclusively adhd related thing, it tends to be shared within similar neruodevelopmental disorders such as autism or even ptsd. i find it incredibly easy to disconnect myself from my own emotions at times and think critically at what i feel and how it affects me. which is a bad thing. if i dont acknowledge my emotions like they are my own for too long, everything falls apart. its not fun. but, that disconnect can make talking about certain more traumatic experiences or instances that had deep personal effects on my life and development as a person much easier to just share. and not always in an appropriate manner, comedic opportunity can be   v  e  r  y   enticing. this also explains why raz might have been able to drop everything about his dad after he apologized. he didn’t really, he probably still suffers just as much afterwards as he did before. but he probably wont realize that for awhile, since logically, the issue has been resolved. long story short, he has not had the time to cope, and to put that off he detaches himself from those feelings. w a c k

of course i have other reasons why i feel like raz could potentially have adhd, or at least be accurately represented in headcanon with adhd, some minor mentions being:

he uses his camp map as a journal to track his in-game progress, list of goals, and notes/snip-its of information. writing down information on some form of notepad or book is a common tool used by kids and even adults with adhd to help them keep track of minuet, individual tasks. its just using a planner, but with a bit more information. 

just from my personal perspective, the lengths raz goes to pursue his dream of being a psychonaut feel more like a special interest/hyper fixation sort of thing. he can jump between having genuine conversations with his fellow campers and just exploring the campground, to investing himself entirely in obtaining his goal, even when it seems almost impossible. thats some serious dedication to one very specific thing, y’know?

this one isnt as solid as the other but: m̶̖̰̯̫̍͝o̵̦͖̟͈̹̤̥̝͐̿̄̀̀̎̓ņ̶̛̭̠̐̊̆̍͝ķ̸̝͈̺̙̰̊e̶͉͚̼̅̔͗̂͐̍̕͝͝y̶̦̖̼͖̪͎̝̖̠̐̑͋̾̔̑́͐͘ ̵̢̲̘͎͉̔̀͒̄͌͊̀͌̀m̴̲̫̮̪̖̍̐͆̕͜͝ͅả̶͙͚͗n̶̗̳̩̙̘̼̦̦͇͝ ̷̡̨̡͔̗͕̘͍̥̑͒̎̐̃g̴͔̔̈̅̐̏́̌̔̈́́o̶̥̱̽̆̂͌̀͗ ̶̝̩͙͕͛́s̴̛͓̥̲̜͓͚̣̠̆̓̌͌p̶̜̹̯̦̫̯̣̎͐̽̉̾ḙ̴͇̬͑̈́̐̈́͘͠ͅȅ̶̡̗̞̩͔̫̪͈͑̓͗d̵̠͇͎̜͔͇͒̈́́̀̅̈́̒͘y̸̡̦̠̻̖̥̿ͅ. yeah, its the most generalizing reason but look, hes moving nonstop the entire game, climbing and running around the entire goddamn place wrecking havoc. a bit of imp can be found in most people with adhd if you look hard enough.

so thanks for reading this far i guess? im oversharing even right now with this, like an i d i o t but yknow what i dont want to read the great gatsby rn, so ive got nothin better to do. who knows, maybe the second game will give us more info to either support/discredit this theory? gotta wait for pn2 i guess

:^)

[alcordraws]

(Submitted by @winchestersinthetardisin221b )

Hi Again! So I'm putting this in a submission because it's way too long for an ask, but anyway.

I was watching Pacific Rim again recently (thank you again for introducing me to that, btw) and I think I finally realized why I relate so hard to Newt. He's kinda subtly (probably unintentionally) coded as having male-pattern ADHD.

(And yes, I realize technically the dossier says BPD, but the symptoms for untreated male-pattern ADHD fit far closer from my observations, though the symptom lists do have some bleedover.)

I mean, there's actually a really close match with a lot of the symptoms when you go down the list (which I know by heart because, having female-pattern ADHD, it was the list I had to fight against for TWO FREAKING YEARS to get diagnosed, because surprise, surprise! All the studies on the dang thing were done on guys. But I digress.)

Common Symptoms for Male-pattern ADHD

Impulsive behavior - Built a drift link out of garbage and drifted with a disembodied kaiju brain. Need I say more.

Disorganization and problems prioritizing - Have you seen his side of the lab? It's literally a major conflict point between him and Herman

Excessive activity or restlessness - see: his entire performance

Poor planning skills - see 1

Low frustration tolerance - see 1 and subsequent scene

Poor time management - inconclusive, as the majority of his screen time takes place over, like, a day. Ah, the curses of analyzing a side character.

And, may I just add a few the studies don't mention:

Long-term hyperfocus/special interests - I mean. Kaiju.

From personal experience, the way he interacts socially rings very ADHD to me, the specific types of social cues he seems to miss and how he misses them follow very distinctive and familiar patterns that are... quite frankly, really hard to explain. Seriously, though, the communication issues stemming from differing thought processes are something I've had to deal with for freaking ever, but I understand Newt's train of thought almost effortlessly.

His 'overreacting' to Pentecost vetoing his plan just slaps of RSD (Rejection-sensitive dysphoria), another common ADHD symptom.

You have to be looking for it, but one of the subtler things is that in the rare shots we get of Newt's desk, there are a number of empty coffee cups. One of the lesser-known facts about ADHD is that it can sometimes flip the mental effects of depressants and stimulants; That's why Adderall is used as a treatment for it when neurotypical people can use the exact same chemical to get high. In less severe cases, however, patients can actually self-medicate with minor stimulants such as caffeine (in fact, that's actually how I keep mine under control, with caffeine pills.)

Now I just want to say that I am in no way trying to invalidate any other representation this character provides. I've seen people write him with BPD, with autism, and a slew of other very similar mental illnesses, and they're all equally great. I just really like that some of the small details about this really cool character fit with my particular (severely underrepresented) style of brain-weirdness in a really cool way.

[cowtale-utau]

ooh how would the guys react to the s/i’s situation i described in my last ask? you mentioned some of them being more knowledgable than others—! :o also, in the case of an s/i w/ the issues mentioned in my matchup (i.e. No SSRIs In Cowboy Times), is there anything that could be done to like, at least mitigate the withdrawal that would definitely happen or is miss mc on her own lol

You didn’t specify if you wanted each individual reaction, or just the highlights, so Imma be a bit more general this go ‘round, but if you want me to do separate answers for each I will. Just lemme know, and be warned, it would take me a bit because I imagine it would get long.

So at this point, they’re pretty much all used to weird shit. So no ones really gonna be losing it over this. Weird for a non-Firsk/Chara human to come through, but eh, whatever. 

Then it becomes a question of “where did you come from?”. Did you fall from the world the original bunch was copied from? Were you copied over too? Did you fall from the “real world”? (which would raise a whole new bunch of questions and existential issues) Did the creator pull you in/over or was this some strange fluke. Ace would agonize over it. Shine and Calico know, and theoretically could “jump ship” at anytime, but seeing as they are “only copies” don’t see much point. Its pleasant enough here, so they’re kinda whatever about it. If you could convince Shine, they might try to help you get back if you wanted. Similar for Aurum and Viridis. They know. They can’t really leave on a whim like the LustBros, but they’re privy to a lot more than they let on. 

Whether your on your own or not is kinda dependent on you and who’s around when you fall. No one’s going to dismiss you out of hand, but if you were combative or threatening, they might choose to back away and leave you to your own devices. But make a genuine plea for help, and someone is going to answer.

As for treatment. The easy one would be withdrawal mitigation. Careful monitoring and judicious use of healing magic could get you safely through it. As for treatment, there’s a few possibilities, depending on a couple of factors, mostly whether or not you had any of your meds on you when you fell, and how willing you are. If you have some meds with you, it’s possible to convince some of the more science inclined characters to try to replicate them. It might be a bit messy for awhile while they figure it out, but they’ll do there best to ease you through it. It’s also possible with time and practice to find the right balance of intent and understanding of the condition to use magic as a treatment. This would leave you more dependent, as you can’t just take a bottle of magic with you if you leave, but it is an option. 

Where things can get kinda questionable on it. I actually hesitated to bring this up, as I didn’t want anyone to misunderstand what exits in this fiction as a representation of my beliefs. The magic of human mages works much differently than that of monsters. If you were to find a human mage with the correct magical, moral, and ethical inclinations, there are a lot of options. They could magic you up your medication (easier again if you still have some), they could also treat the symptoms, through their own means, but there’s another option as well. One that frankly has some rather horrifying (to me at least) implications. Many of these conditions are caused by how the brain works or is “wired”. A mage could, technically, alter that. They could rewrite/rewire your brain to just, not be like that anymore. But the question then is, would you even be you anymore? 

I went on a big long ass rant on my views of Autism/ADHD/Etc, being on the spectrum myself, and what not, but I deleted it. The jist is, I won’t say anyone in the world, with any amount of magic or science could “fix” you. There’s nothing to fix. There are ways existent in the world to change you. That is a very different thing, and would be entirely up to the character/person in question. Technically anything about anyone or anything could be changed with the proper application of magic. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand my thoughts or stances on these things. These conditions could be changed, but it would fundamentally alter who that person is. Just like ones entire personality could be changed. What they do/don’t like. Their appearance. Their memories. Magic can change anything, if you can find someone willing to do it. But that it can be done doesn’t mean it should, or that it is morally/ethically acceptable. That’s between the people involved, and whatever higher power/moral standard they ascribe to.

I hope that answers your question, and that I didn’t mishandle the issue. It’s touchy, for me and a lot of people. I agonized over including the bit about mages, and discussed it with several people before leaving it. The idea that people exist out there capable of altering your neurology is kinda cool, and also super scary, and I didn’t want to leave it out. Anyway, lemme know if there,s anything else you want/need.

[lover-of-gore-and-rainbows]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance 2020

April 3: Talk about special interests. Do you have any? What are they? How long have you had them? What does it feel like to have special interests? What does having special interests mean to you? Talk about your past special interests

I’ve had special interests pretty much all my life. They’re pretty hard to describe to someone who has never had one. If you aren’t autistic/ADHD, take the most intense love for a topic you’ve ever had… then toss that out the window because it doesn’t compare to a special interest.

Special interests in simplest terms are very pure, joyful, deeply passionate interests that autistic people can have. They may last for a few days to years, you can have multiple special interests at the same time, and they can be anything including a fandom, object, or even a person. Sometimes they’re general, sometimes they’re highly specific, but what all special interests have in common is the strength. You can’t control what you attach to, it just happens without thinking about it. And it isn’t a slow-burn, falling in love kinda deal; you know when you get one. It feels like a ‘click’ and then you become increasingly entranced and extremely energized, your mind buzzing with questions, theories, curiosity, and admiration for this new thing (special interests dont blind you from seeing flaws or negatives though, and autistic are often more aware of them than neurotypicals are with their interests). It also feels highly distressing to lose a special interest, like you lost a close friend. Sometimes you go into a grieving stage or try to force it to comeback or force a new special interest, which just can’t be done in my experience.

My strongest ones or ones I’ve had longest (both apply to Invader ZIM) affect regular activities, they’ve become so habitual and part of my routine that I instinctively act on them and it’s impossible for me to not associate everything with Invader ZIM. Like, since ZIM is green and wears pink, when I go to grab a plastic cup or plate from the cupboard, I absentmindedly go for the green first and if green isn’t there, then pink, if pink isn’t there, then red because it’s close to pink, if there’s no red, then blue cuz it’s sorta like green and so on. If a special interest involves a character, then you might copy certain mannerisms or develop similar personality traits and views. As a pre-teen, I’d hold things with only 3 fingers (per hand) because ZIM has 3 fingers on each hand. ZIM is a huge comfort character for me, oftentimes special interests are also calming and help you to not panic. It helps me cool down and analyze my own emotions when I think about how ZIM would react to and deal with the same emotional or stressful scenario.

For me, a special interest is nearly constantly on my mind from the minute I wake up and until the end of the day when I fall asleep. They feel like limitless fascination and inspiration. What I mean by that is I can relate my special interests to literally ANY of my emotions or any activity or something. When I have a special interest, I literally don’t get tired or bored of it while researching or thinking about it or creating lists related to it and I can just sit daydreaming about it for hours, actively or passively. This gives me amazing focus and dedication and I typically don’t bore easily because I can just jump to my special interest if I have nothing to do. But, sometimes special interests can be very distracting and make it hard to pull yourself away to feed yourself, shower, sleep, or do work or they disrupt other activities because you just starting daydreaming without realizing it or you thought about it briefly and suddenly you need to go look something up about it or work on a project related to it or something and then you just get pulled deeper down the rabbit hole and lose track of time because you’re so transfixed.

I have a chart Here if anyone is interested in knowing my past special interests

[tumblunni]

I have a question that I hope is ok. I have had a suspicion that I might have some form of autism for quite a while now and when you reblog posts that say something along the line of just autism things like the one you just did I have to do a double take because I do all of those things + have them happen to me and am shocked when I see I'm not the only one who does these things especially the really abstract. I don't ever bring it up though in fear that people get upset that I'm "faking"

Oh man, mystery person, that’s pretty heavy!! I know the feeling, it took me a LONG time of self-examination to work out whether I might have autism, and I actually did have to deal with a less-than-optimal response when I tried to talk to someone about it. My doctor outright said ‘but you seem too smart for that’, like.. what the fuck?? So seriously, you need to be prepared to be PERSISTANT. Don’t lose confidence in your decision! Make sure you get to see an actual diagnosis, don’t let them lock you out of it based on dumb stereotypes. Cos seriously, general practitioners going ‘hey this person probably doesnt have this thing that’s completely out of my division, and I wont even let them talk to that division’.. thats just.. GOD I really get frustrated and scared thinking how much more messed up my life would be right now if I’d listened to him and not ever got help for my condition!

So my advice is basically.. even if you don’t want to ‘self-diagnose’, please do ‘self-diagnose’.You need to be abnormally prepared for this, you need to have a list of all your symptoms, you need to learn the terms and have reference to point to in the event of them denying you the ability to talk to an actual psychologist. And you need to be prepared for them even treating you like you cant be autistic if you were capable of doing this!You need to hand-hold your general practitioner through explaining what autism even is, and do whatever the fuck you can so you can get transferred over to someone who actually knows who they’re talking about.Oh and common ‘self-diagnosis’ type stuff can also help a lot in the meantime, because doing research on the subject can lead you to finding new coping methods, finding other people to ask about the subject, and just generally tiding you over until you’re able to get a professional diagnosis and (hopefully) access to things like therapy and local autism community groups.Also, just, in some countries medical care is way less accessable, so I know not eveyrone is even able to get a professional diagnosis at all.

Oh, and an important thing is that autism is a spectrum and there are many different symptoms you can have. it can even be hard to discover your own symptoms, you might find that they manifest in a weird way because you’ve been subconciously trying to hide them or using some form of unhealthy coping method for years. Going undiagnosed into your adult years is really like.. one of the primary causes for autism being REALLY disabling! Dear god my stage of treatment right now is just learning to untangle a bunch of bullshit I’ve done to myself over the years, and re-learn basic life skills and self confidence. I think if i’d been born into an environment with people who actually would have recognised it and cared about getting me help as a kid, i could have grown up without most of my anxiety issues!Another important fact is that adult autism is often co-morbid with anxiety issues, due to the circumstances of being left completely alone to deal with this thing for your entire life with no support. There’s also just a lot of ways certain anxiety disorders (as well as ADHD) can have overlapping symptoms with autism spectrum disorders. A lot of the ‘that feel when’ meme stuff can be relateable to all three of these otherwise quite different disorders. So I’d reccommend looking up info on ADHD, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and related conditions too, and maybe seeing which disorder seems most similar to what you’re experiencing. And don’t be scared if it seems like you might have multiple of them! In real life being ‘all the tokens at once’ is VERY MUCH not ‘unrealistic’, man I really hate those people who’re like ‘hwaaa someone who’s black AND gay AND in a wheelchair? political correctness gone maaaad!’ Seriously, its very VERY possible to have more than one mental illness, especially ones that might have a knock-on effect causing another one. Going undiagnosed and untreated for ANYTHING can lead to developing anxiety and depression, but going undiagnosed for a social disability makes it especially likely to get specifically social anxiety.oh, and randomly for an example I happen to also have prosopagnosia, which means I can’t tell the difference between people’s faces. I literally cannot recognise my best friend if she changes her hairstyle or glasses. This is kinda Double Hell combined with autism, cos its already a challenge for me to judge people’s emotions, lol!

Oh man I’m kinda going offtopic and just rambling every damn fact I know, but I’m just hoping maybe something will be helpful??I really am not an expert on autism, I dont even know any good informative blogs to link you to. I’m just a regular person who happens to have the condition, and I don’t know how to give good advice when i’m still quite often suffering from denial and self hate myself...But I dunno, I just hope it could help to hear my personal experience, and know that you’re not alone.Though now I’m worrying maybe this post is a little intimidating so it might make you feel worse?? Seriously, this is just a worst case scenario thing, hopefully your doctor won’t be as casually gatekeepy as mine was. And I mean, he seemed like a good man who wasnt exactly rude about it and wasnt doing it on purpose. If anything that worries me more, tho, cos he was just politely saying ‘haha no you’re wrong’ to a patient, about a subject he wasnt remotely qualified in, and wouldnt have ever considered reccommending me to a professional if i hadnt kept nagging him about it and come back with a bunch of research and stuff. It felt SO damn cathartic to get that ‘YES, AUTISM’ in the end! Shame I couldnt show it to him and I probably would have had my entire healthcare cut forever if I boasted XDAlso, I was lucky that I had my charity support worker to help me through the stress of the assessment interviews. I hope you have at least one person who’d be able to be there for you and believe you, in times like these. Or, even if you’re like me and you dont’ have any family and stuff, I hope you end up meeting a surprisingly awesome governent worker lady who wears a cool hat and helps you out. Seriously, Amber, you’re a godsend!

So umm.. yeah.. i am REALLY sleep deprived and I am not good at words but i hope some of this helped?? I hope you’re okay, anon!And honestly, reading ‘lol relateable jokes’ type posts on people’s blogs was how I first started suspecting I was autistic, too. I’d grown up buried in so many stereotypes of mentally ill people, I never thought I was one of them until I actually got to read blogs from their perspective. Joke posts obviously aren’t a substitute for a diagnosis, but I think they kinda serve a valuable role in the self acceptance process, yknow? Thank you, joke posts!

[plantanarchy]

do you think you could talk a little about being autistic? im wondering if i might be autistic and im still not sure bc i like pass as neurotypical rlly well so far and i thought it would help to hear about actual people's experiences. you don't have to though and im sorry if this is weird!!

This has been in my inbox for a bit, I’m sorry! But yeah, I can talk about it. Keep in mind that everyone’s experience is different and its less of a “spectrum” from mild to severe/low to high functioning and more of a complex where different people have different experiences. A lot of people use functioning labels to dismiss the experience and opinions of “high functioning” folk when it comes to being autistic because tjey “don’t seem autistic” or “aren’t like those other low functioning autistic people”, but really “function” is relative and can even change day to day… on someone’s bad days they could be totally nonverbal rocking back and forth and on good days pass better at neurotypical than I do…

Ok so, I was diagnosed with Aspergers when I was ~10. I was essentially non-verbal in school and other high stress social situations and had been since I was very very young. This was interpreted as “very shy!” despite me having severe difficulty from a young age in saying anything at all to teachers, doctors, church people, even many of my peers, etc and often feeling like i was physically unable to speak but you know… because I spoke at home and with my neighborhood friends, I wasn’t considered non-verbal at all. Or I guess selective mutism is the correct term which is something I definitely still struggle with. Like when I was in middle school, I spent a few years literally being known by my mom’s friends and by some people at school as “Meep” because thata fuckin all I could physically say when somebody tried to talk to me haha

BUT ok that got away from me, point being: i was diagnosed with Aspergers at a young age which is a diagnosis that no longer exists/has been absorbed into the greater Autism diagnosis. Aspergers was separate for a long time because it was basically used to say “these kids are high functioning and different than those low functioning non communicative kids!”. Basically because I had most of the “cool and good” autism traits, my “not as cool and kinda crippling” autism traits and needs got shoved aside and essentially ignored for a long, long time. Which I think happens to a lot of kids! Even to the point of not getting a diagnosis at all or getting a wrong diagnosis and only realizing later in life what may be going on and what was missed.

Whoops before this becomes a bitter tangent, back to my experience of autism I guess. Ok, so on top of still being selectively verbal/mute (some days are worse than others and sometimes it isn’t even directly anxiety related it’s just a mostly mute day), my other symptoms include 1) it’s almost physically painful to make eye contact with anyone 2) formal social situations are beyond me, I never know what is correct or what’s coming next and usually I survive informal social situations by cracking jokes and making weird references to shit or being obnoxious and just accepting the label of “weird ass obnoxious kid but that’s just bre” 3) usually feel like I’m just two steps away from understanding what’s going on in some social situations lol like sometimes i have good intuition, can read people, can guess at what they’re thinking and then something happens that makes me question my entire interpretation of the situation and I realize maybe I wasn’t reading them correctly the whole time!!!! It’s the social equivalent of being the only one to get a wrong answer on a math problem and frantically rechecking your work lol 4) sensory overload yayyyyy when too many things happen at once (which can be like… 2 thing), I zone out and feel like my environment is unreal or blurry (fun and cool dissociation) and I can never predict what will cause that overload or when but also a lot of people have the very dramatic “autistic child screaming from sensory overload” image in their brain and thats not always accurate… my overload results in shut down 5) also along with that, I have sensory issues such as texture, sounds, etc. Certain fabrics as a kid would legit make me cry if I touched them or if my mom made me wear them (WINDBREAKERS ARE SENSORY HELL) and that still happens lol also with stuff like… chewing sounds, shoes that touch my toes in any way, loud music/bass, etc 6) along with that and with sensory overload… stimming. Stimming is basically a self-regulatory response to overwhelming stimuli and plenty of non-autistic people also do similar things when faced with high anxiety situations. Like foot jiggling, pencil tapping, nail biting, pencil chewing, etc it’s basically a soothing compulsion and not always something many autistic people can control without great effort and that control comes at the cost of not regulating anxieties or sensory overload well. I’ve got and always have had a lot of verbal/language stims and am very reptitive in my speech and writing patterns (y'all and lad anyone???) which is kinda self soothing. I have literally always had catchphrases. When im on my own i also do rock baxk and forth and other repititive body motions, also fidgeting with objects, especially cool round objects 7) catalog all the useless info in my brain!!! I can memorize information very well (not numbers though) and when I was a kiddo that got me labelled as #gifted and I was “savant” level in reading and writing but that is less cool and fun to people than beinf a math or science savant or something. 8) anyway related to that, as evidenced by this blog, I get VERY INVESTED in certain topics/ “special interests” to the point that it eclipses all other thoughts in my brain yay!!! Which isn’t a bad thing, I mean it gets me through and also if you have “good” special interests, people think you’re smart and interesting and ask your advice about stuff lol

Symptoms I don’t have that a lot of people think of when they think of an autistic person 1) I am horrendous at math I fuckin hate it numbers are the devil!!!!!! 2) 99% of my humor is sarcasm and I can understand it and figures of speech lol though sometimes i do get it wrong if i can’t read you otherwise 3) I don’t have “zero empathy”, I can feel for the plights of others VERY strongly, and can usually see any (most) POVs if it’s explained to me

There are others probably and there are certainly autistic people who have thise traits and who have different traits than I have. There are LOADS of different ways to be autistic. But also, there’s a lot of overlap between autism and between other things like ADHD, anxiety disorders, etc! So keep that in mind. Some people are strongly anti-selfdiagnosis of autism but knowing how easy it can be for kids who don’t present 100% stereotypically to slip through the cracks, I am all for it. I pass a lot of the time as neurotypical and can do most society things ok, though I have a steep learning curve compared to others… and with passing as neurotypical comes the frequent dismissal of my opinion on autism related topics and the lack of acknowledgement that actually I often DON’T pass as neurotypical and at those times my lack of passing is interpreted as rudeness, deliberate lack of effort on my part, stubbornness, lack of intelligence, lack of professionalism, an assumption that I’m angry with someone or don’t like them, etc etc. It’s an endless, awful cycle!

And I don’t really have too much personal advice for figuring out if you’re autistic or not… I did go through a point in time where despite being diagnosed I strongly denied that I was autistic and kind of had to come back to that as a near adult and realize nope… definitely autistic. And then knowing what to do with that info once youve figured it out is just… I mean there’s not much. There are little to no resources for autistic adults, very few support groups made up of autistic people and led by autistic people, very little resources directed at autistic people themselves in general, usually the focus is on the parents or guardians and talk aboit autistic people as abstract concepts… whoops, can you tell I’m bitter haha gonna end this before I go full “mental health professionals failed me and I’m a mess” etc