#and that makes navigating internalized ableism re: my mental and physical health issues really hard

[the-moogle-of-your-nightmares]

[alarming health stuff, internalized ableism cw]

no, moogle, it is not in fact fishing for sympathy or making excuses for dropping the ball on things or whatever to talk about it when your health issues continue to get worse. you are not scaring people for attention when you post on your personal blog about the fact that you aren't sure yet whether your current condition might be 'dangerous but recoverable' or 'irreversible, incurable, and usually fatal.' stop that.

[harvest-honeymoon]

🤝❓

🤝 - How do you find social interactions?

depends on who i’m talking to and when. i do like to interact with people but it tends to take me more energy to interact with people who i’m unfamiliar with and physically in person with. online and with acquaintances, friends, and family, it’s not as hard, though it can be if i’m feeling stressed.

❓- What question isn’t on this list but you wish was? What is your answer to it?

i wish we had some questions regarding autistic people seeking careers. i would love to hear what dream job a fellow autistic person would love to have, or a career they’re currently working toward, or even a job they’re currently doing, so long as they’re comfortable sharing that information.

as someone whose internalized ableism stemmed from not seeing other autistic ppl in the world and not having examples to navigate by, it always improves my mental health to hear where other people like me are going and what they’re accomplishing, and i think that could be true of other autistic ppl as well.

idk tho? like again, i know that the idea of finding a job isn’t always something autistic people want to think about or have an answer for, which is understandable considering the nature of our neurodivergence, its most common symptoms, the barriers we tend to encounter in pursuing it, and the state of the world rn. i would hate to put pressure on other folks who come here as a means of respite and seeking community, more so than contemplating the more pressing issues of day-to-day living.

that being said, i’m currently working towards an art degree again, which is exciting. i’ve always been drawn to art, but when i first went to college, i had no idea how my disability would affect my ability to live by myself and do school work in a college setting. i didn’t have a well-defined support network, i got really stressed out by the state of the world (trump literally got elected that year), and i had a bad break up as well, so i only did a year of art school before leaving and coming home.

i did an associate’s degree in arts and sciences at a local community college afterward and earlier last year, i applied to my current college and got in. while i had a couple issues regarding stress caused by quarantine and re-emerging maladaptive coping mechanisms, i’m doing better now and i’ve been working on all the things i want to make, when the pandemic subsides and i actually head into art professionally.

i want to make comics and get involved in animation, either as an animator or a storyboarder, or a showrunner. that would be my dream job, tbh