#autism life hack

[r04ch4ch3]

this is one of the best things i've bought this year

mine doesn't look exactly like this but the purpose is the same!! this makes washing your head so much easier and it actually feels nice.

i hate having to rub my scalp with my fingers and now i never have to do that again.

[i-pickleu]

Hi. Autistic, ADHD, and all others with Auditory Processing Disorder (ADP.)

Does anyone have any recommendations for a way to get a complete transcript for a video? Either software that listens and writes, or a service that can help?

If you can, it'd be really beneficial for the service to be free or extremeeeely cheap (cause I'm broke)

Something that I just found that is free, is Free Live Transcript. But I was wondering if anyone had any other options?

Free Live Transcript (review I guess?):

It works okay, and I'm thankful that it's free:

It gathers audio from the mic, so I was able to turn the sound of a YouTube video on max and the transcription worked.

The only downside is the grammar and it doesn't pick up on some words.

But on the very good news:

the screen doesn't clear with new sentences and it allows you to scroll up.

all of the video is transcribed

it allows you to copy the transcript,

toggle light/dark mode,

change font size,

and save/share.

[catgirl-catboy]

Honestly, to any fellow neurodivergents that struggle with doing tasks: have you tried doing the task intentionally badly?

I'm serious. I always used to struggle with getting schoolwork done on time. Then one day, out of a place of spite, I tried to write the shittiest assignment the teacher ever damn graded. (It was a stupid assignment.) Got fed up with the bit halfway through and began writing the assignment in earnest. This has helped me start shit halfway since.

Even if it doesn't work like that for other people, half-assed is better than not finished. Half ass cleaning? Guess what, the space is still cleaner.

If you are reading this, I encourage you to try that thing you are procrastinating on or struggling with using the minimum effort possible.

[kebbopulos]

Hey folks you know those hyperspecific polls that are making the rounds on here?

THAT'S THE TYPE OF SHIT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SAY WHEN YOU ARE ASKED FOR A FUN FACT ABOUT YOURSELF (at least based on the polls I've seen). I know myself and a lot of other people hate having to come up with fun facts about themselves, so use these as a cheat sheet!

Literally, if you find one that's true, mentally save it as your fun fact to have ready about yourself. Please allow me to give you some potential fun facts from real polls on this site:

I *exclusively* wear novelty print socks. no plain ones at all

I can't ride a bike

tiramisù is my favorite dessert

I can speak and write fluently in pig latin

I am scared of moths

I know 30+ digits of pi (this is one I use as a fun fact regularly)

I grew up with a pet macaw

I currently want the same job that I did when I was 4

I have been buried in corn

I was once stranded on a mountain and had to be rescued

I’ve seen a bear in the wild more than once

My pet is named after a fictional character

I planted over three hundred thousand trees by hand

Any of these true about you? Awesome! Use it as a fun fact! If none of these are true for you feel free to look through other hyperspecific polls! Good luck!

[lachiennearoo]

How to Make Friends

A more-or-less clear guide on social interactions

Growing up with heavy ADHD and generalized anxiety, it was always a bit hard for me to make friends and socialize. Despite my yearning for friendship, I was always "the quiet one" and "a loner", simply because I didn't know how to approach certain social situations, and it made any friendship I had extremely unstable (except for my sister @vive-le-quebec-flouffi, who was so extroverted and friendly it was literally impossible to escape her clutches of socialization)

As I grew older, I learned through a lot of trial and error what makes a good friendship.

Or, rather... what's the best way for someone to WANT to be your friend (without being superficial or hypocritical.)

Now, obviously, this doesn't work for everyone. But this is what I found helped me the most in social circles (especially online) and I hope it can help others too

LET'S BEGIN!

1 - Be yourself

Now that sounds very cliche and cringe, I know, but hear me out, because my opinion on this is not the same as all those feelgood inspirational movies and ads.

"Being yourself" isn't as simple as it seems. Because after all, what does "self" imply? If someone is, say, a criminal, would "be yourself" mean that they should embrace their sinful side?

No, obviously not.

"Be yourself" is a bit more nuanced, but I'll try to boil it down for you.

It just means "be unashamed of your qualities which you think are flaws". For example, "be yourself" would apply to someone who sees themselves as ugly, or maybe someone with an odd yet unharmful hobby, or a weird sense of fashion, or someone with say a handicap, a speech impediment. "Be yourself" is a sentence for the specific people who have genuine good in them, but are afraid to show it to others because they have been persecuted in the past, or are scared to be. It does NOT mean to accept genuine flaws. "Be yourself" does not include say violent anger issues, an addiction, a recent crime committed, or a generally unpleasant personality. Those are obviously not things to encourage. You can understand they may be a thing that happen to you, and accept it in your life, but that's different from being proud of it or encouraging it.

Speaking of personalities... let's talk about that

2 - Be kind

Now when some people hear that, they think it means "always smile no matter what, always look happy and positive, always agree with everyone just so you don't hurt their feelings, and never cause any drama", like you're Deku in My Hero Academia or Steven Universe in his titular show.

But that's... not quite that.

Obviously, kindness is something you use to help people feel better, to cheer up, and feel happy, and obviously to be kind, you need to have compassion, heart, empathy, and always put yourself in other people's shoes regardless of who they are. But it is not necessarily all-encompassing.

There's a rule that I think anyone learning kindness must learn. It's that sometimes, kindness means to be firm.

Not mean, of course. Not judgmental, not insensitive. Don't insult anyone, don't belittle or patronize anyone or make them feel inferior to you. That's still very rude and that's not what you want.

But what I mean is that sometimes, if you know that a person's actions towards something are wrong, especially if it's towards someone else, you must be able to point it out, and act accordingly. Don't just stand there and agree with them just because you don't want to hurt their feelings. You must still be able to know right from wrong. Kindness just means you won't be an ass about it, it doesn't mean to stay silent.

Hey, that brings me to point three!

3 - Show your own opinions

If there's one thing people hate just as much as meanness, it's those who stand by and do nothing about it.

Regardless of if you agree with them or not, if you say absolutely nothing when genuinely bad behaviour is happening, out of fear of "starting a fight", you are actively making the person who is being attacked feel alone.

I remember myself, when I was bullied in the first two grades of secondary school (11-13 years old for those who don't know) for "being ugly", I was told by my mother (who was friends with other kid's parents) that some of the kids "didn't hate me" and "didn't agree with the bullying". And I asked her "if they don't hate me, why won't they talk to me?" She never managed to answer that one. And it broke my heart, because outside of my sister, I had no one else.

Don't be like that. You may be scared of acting, but you know who would be grateful if you did act? The victims. And isn't their opinion of you much more important than the opinion of someone who acts with hatred and bigotry?

If you see someone suffering injustice, or even just hear someone who has a rather harmful opinion, don't be scared to tell them that you disagree. Obviously don't be an asshole about it, stay civil, but if you voice out your opinion, you will be seen as someone who stays true to their beliefs and is brave enough to stand up for them if the opportunity comes.

There's obviously much more that comes with social life (nonverbal cues, sense of humor, timing and mood), and I don't know everything (I'm just some random québécois girl on the internet). But I hope this was a bit more helpful. I did have fun writing this, at least. So I guess that's better than nothing!

[zenithsys]

Do you feel, like, constantly overwhelmed? Unable to focus on tasks and self-care like showering? Have I got the tip for you

I recently got put on this method through a YouTube video recommended to me called the Sharp Ax method. Name doesn't matter, I'm gonna skip right to telling you what to do.

You have a notebook? Maybe one that you've horded and used once or twice before abandoning? Grab that shit. Get your favorite pen. At the top of the page you're going to write "Brain Dump". For like, 10-15 minutes, just sit there and write down every thought that comes to mind. Does your back hurt? Write it. Do you have to make breakfast? Write it.

But here's the thing: if there's something you need to do (paperwork, showering, shopping, etc) you're gonna write it like this.

"I want to shower." "I want to check the mailbox." "I want to do my laundry today."

For whatever reason, reframing things you need to do as things you want to do has helped me so immensely, and even when I can't finish all the things I want to finish, I still feel good for finishing the ones I was able to.

This stupidly simple journaling technique (which doesn't even feel like journalling to me) has caused me to go from being chronically overwhelmed to feeling like, even just for a little bit, everything is going to be okay.

[shadowsfascination]

Tumblr folks,

I'm looking for neurodivergent people who are willing to share their life hacks on personal hygiene with me. How do you get yourself to frequently take a shower or brush your teeth in the morning? Stuff like that.

I'm looking for anything that can help; tips/tricks, apps, life hacks. Give it to me, pretty pretty please with a cherry on the top :)

[greatandholypangolin]

alright, time for some DIY mental conditioning!

step one- find a music artist that you like listening to. This should NOT be your favourite artist because you may not to get to listen to them often anymore. It’s also easier if it’s rather niche, so that you’re unlikely to just hear it out and about. step two- you will listen to this artist ONLY when you clean or do other chores. It’s important that you don’t listen to it while relaxing, that’ll undermine the whole operation. But having it play gives you an incentive to be productive, because it’s your only chance to listen to this music, and also helps you associate particular music with getting up and doing things

step 3- once the association is well and truly there, then this music can be a useful tool to make you start on chores. When you play the music, you’re put into a productive mood and sort yourself out. It’s crucial that you don’t then start ignoring the music, because then it won’t work as well.

uh, disclaimer, I genuinely don’t know if this’ll work for anyone else, but it’s worth a try if you really struggle with chores and stuff.

[beenovel]

Hey does anyone have advice for remembering to eat as an autistic person other than just “set some alarms!” Because if I have too many alarms I start ignoring all of them and I sort of need to pay attention to my med alarms

[autism-unfiltered]

Life Hacks That Made My Days Brighter (ASD)

Multiple "Stim Stations": If you find stimming helpful, consider setting up multiple 'stim stations' around your home. These could be corners with stim toys, soft textures, or anything else that provides comfort. Just like having multiple trash cans in a room can help with cleanliness, having multiple stim stations can help with easy access to comfort and self-regulation.

Dimmer Switches: If you're sensitive to bright lights, consider installing dimmer switches in your living space. This way, you have control over the light intensity to suit your comfort.

Physical Activity for Sensory Overload: When sensory overload starts creeping in, and you feel restless or overwhelmed, some light exercise can help. Even something as simple as jumping jacks, deep-pressure stretches, or yoga can help regulate your sensory input.

Visual Schedules: Visual schedules can be a lifesaver when it comes to routine and predictability. Use drawings, printed pictures, or even digital tools to plan out your day. This can help reduce anxiety about what's coming next.

Toothbrushing Motivators: If routine tasks like brushing your teeth are challenging, find a fun motivator. Maybe you listen to your favorite song while brushing or use a toothbrush with your favorite character on it. You could also try rewarding yourself with a fun activity after brushing.

Social Scripts: If social situations sometimes feel overwhelming, prepare a few 'social scripts' in advance. These can be phrases or responses that you're comfortable with, to use in common social interactions. They can take some of the stress out of on-the-spot communication.

Remember, it's okay to find your own solutions and to do what works best for you. These tips have made my life a bit easier, and I hope they can help some of you too. Feel free to share your own life hacks!

[performing-personhood]

Hallo I have sensory issues and terribly lagged audio processing. I really badly wanna watch Fantasy High: Sophomore Year but the sound is so, so bad.

Anyone have a tip trick or suggestion about the best way to consume this season and also pick up on all the dialogue?

[vexwerewolf]

Neat little neurodivergence trick

For people with both ADHD and autism struggling to integrate a new thing into their routine, I found a cool trick that might help.

If you are having trouble forcing yourself do a thing you need to do every day, do it now but tell yourself you'll stop tomorrow.  This is a cool little trick that - at least for me - plays my ADHD and my autism against each other. By resolving in my mind to do something now but not do it tomorrow, I've created something that both of them hate:

A break in routine that's also an appointment.

[sassypotatoe1]

Survival guide for the adhd/depressed/autistic newly established office worker:

Brought to you by a depressed adhd autistic who took 10 months to adjust to office life after starting to work their first full time job.

Food:

We all have trouble with food, no denying it, so how do you manage it? Well there's a couple of ways depending on your individual needs.

If you're like me and you will end up just not eating if you don't have food immediately accessible, keep a snack drawer. Empty an entire drawer in your desk, buy a combination of healthy and less nutritious snack food that's shelf stable in bulk. I typically get a bunch of packets of like two types of potato chips/crisps, a bunch of single serving packets of salted peanuts, single serving packets of dried fruit flakes because the solid dried fruit are a sensory nightmare, and a bag of lollipops. By 10ish when I need my first snack I pop a lollipop, and if I didn't pack lunch I have access to fiber, protein, fat and carbs.

I also sniffed around for a couple of months to find the best deal on safe food takeout, ie a meal that's filling, relatively balanced, cheap and fits my texture and taste sensitivities. When it gets too expensive I find another one. Once a week I allow myself to get that if I didn't pack lunch so I don't end up spending all my money on takeout but still get to eat well enough.

If you're concerned about overeating or eating less nutritious food, get nutritious safe food options. They're typically a bit more expensive and a bit less shelf stable, I keep instant soup with freeze dried veggies in my drawer in the winter, and I have a tub of ensure to make shakes if I feel I'm missing out on some nutrients. Focus more on dried fruits, pretzels, nuts, instant food with veggies and nutrient loaded fruit juice. Get ensure if you can afford it. In a limited way it can act as a nutritious meal replacement, but I mean limited as in once or twice a week. Do not replace all your meals with a nutrition shake.

When you buy fresh produce, process it immediately before it goes into the fridge/freezer. Don't let that head of lettuce wilt and rot. Pull it apart, wash it off, put what you're not using immediately in a ziploc in the freezer if it freezes, and put the rest open in the produce section of your fridge. Not only will it already be ready to use when you use it, if it's not in a bag or container where the moisture is trapped it remains fresh for longer. That or if you can afford it buy pre-processed produce, divide it into serving portions, freeze what can be frozen.

Buy. Ready. Made. Meals. I know microwave dinners are the butt of the depression joke but they're literally life-saving, because when I was really struggling with my depression and ARFID microwave dinners were my only source of nutrition for a while and it literally kept me from actually dying. Do not be ashamed to meet your needs.

Stimming:

Keep some of your fidget toys or stimming items at your desk. I keep my tangle and fidget cube there so I don't pick my eyebrows to hell and back. It doesn't always work but it's better than nothing. Keep chewing gum in your car. Chewing tricks your brain into thinking you're eating, which tells your sympathetic nervous system that you're safe. It helps you focus better on driving and keeps you a bit calmer making your reaction times faster and less impulsive.

Reminders:

Keep a pad of sticky notes on your desk, preferably a neon color, and all the pens you own that you don't care about losing. Set a reminder on your phone calendar, your computer calendar, your email calendar, on a sticky note on your wall, and in your physical diary. No chance of forgetting something if you do that, because you can't miss all of them.

Take some time to figure out your grocery list. What do you typically need in a month? Make a printout of that grocery list and keep it on your fridge and your phone, along with a monthly or weekly calendar reminder to go grocery shopping. Before you head out check what you still have plenty of and preemptively check it off on your phone list so you don't accidentally buy too much of something.

Keep a "what's in my fridge" log on your fridge. It makes you more aware of what's in there, how long it's been in there, and whether you should throw it out or eat it or leave it. Keep a chart of how long foods hold in the fridge beside that log. The log lists what is in the fridge, when it went into the fridge, when the product seal was broken, and the expiry date of the product. No more moldy fridge food.

Miscellaneous:

Assign care tasks to another task that's already a regular habit. Keep your morning meds by the kettle, and make taking out a dose part of the process of making your morning coffee. Pick a task you do daily at work, usually in the morning, and assign wearing your glasses to that task. I need my glasses to proofread the print dummies because the font isn't very friendly, so I accidentally got into the habit of making putting on my glasses part of the proofreading process. Brushing teeth is part of makeup. Showering is part of getting dressed. It's easier to complete these tasks if I don't view them as seperate tasks, but rather as steps in a different task that comes more naturally to me.

I keep sticky notes and pens in my car, as well as in my purse when I use it, so I can make notes of things when I need to. Car care notes go on stickies when I notice the need, then I'm reminded of it every time I'm in the car. I typically don't even have to read the note, I see that there is one and usually remember what it was about. This helps me remember what I need to do to maintain my car, because I have gotten in an accident and forgotten about it and drove around with a warped front fender for a month. I currently have a sticky note to get my tire pressure checked when I go home from work tonight on my dash.

That's all I have but TL:DR allow yourself to meet your needs without shame, no matter how strange or childish they seem, and find loopholes to your behavior for the best outcome for your health, safety and productivity. Like I said in the intro it took me 10 months to figure out these, so don't be afraid to take the time to figure out what works for you. It'll be absolutely worth it.

[sprinkleofquirk]

My first attempt at a movable “tracker” visual aid/prompting type bracelet

This one is for morning/evening routine and includes getting dressed, brushing teeth, brushing/combing hair, and eating breakfast/dinner

Let me know what you think and where I can improve!

(And apologies for the shaking- I tried my best but I have a slight tremor 🫠)

[ashmaenas]

Ash's guide to getting shit done (aka how I survive. Kinda).

Disclaimer: This is just stuff that (mostly) works for me. I can't make any promises that your type of brain worms are the same as my brain worms. They may be a totally different species.

Music. I find that I am very music motivated, and I can kind of hack my brain into doing certain things by listening to a Specific type of music every time I do them. For example, every time I want to clean I listen to 50s music and my brain goes 'Ah yes, you should be mopping the floor around about now.' It's very effective when I actually remember to do it.

Clothes. In much the same vein as music, wearing outside clothes tells my brain it's time to be Alert. Again, it only works when I remember to do it.

Starting step. This one is a bit dubious because the beginning is the hard bit, but with some activities (like showering) I'll do an easy action (getting naked in the bathroom) and my brain will kick into the correct mode for that activity. This works maybe... 40% of the time, but that's still better than nothing.

Doing something else. Occasionally, I simply Can't Do The Activity but I'll have enough spoons to at least do something. In that case, I'll just trick my brain into being productive by incentivising it with organising stuff. So I may not be able to study but I will be able to compile resources for every topic I need to research based on the syllabus. It's not what I needed to do, but it will make my life easier later on.

Half ass it. The perfectionist in me hates doing this, but doing something badly is still better than not doing it at all. I've reframed this as 'doing the bare minimum is still doing it' and this method helps me with things like basic hygiene, cleaning, studying, eating ect... When I have next to zero spoons. An example would be that a sink bath isn't as effective as a shower, but at least I'll feel a bit cleaner.

Have someone watch me Do The Thing. This doesn't work if they tell me to do the thing because then my brain goes "Well, now I'm not doing it," and everything is difficult, but if I voluntarily have someone in the room then it makes it easier for me to do tasks. Sometimes. Unless I was already in the zone. Then my brain says no again. It's kind of a hit or miss but it may work for you.

Turn on the Big Light. I actually don't recommend this one, because I don't recommend that other people voluntarily cause themselves distress in order to get things done, but it is a last resort for me. Turning on the big light makes me feel a bit like a rabbit being hunted for sport. Namely, stressed and alert. This helps me get tasks done because the quicker I do them, the quicker I can turn the light off. On one hand, it is effective. On the other hand, it's horrible. 10/10, would not recommend.

Disguise it as something fun and automatic. Confession: at this point the only exercise I get is late night bedroom dancing and skipping (to music) with a skipping rope I made out of an old bathroom robe sash and a shoelace. I'll listen to danceable music and the urge will be there, so I fulfil it and get some Movement™ in at the same time. It works because it's something I'd do anyway, but it's also beneficial.

If you're the type of person who can just do things easily without having to have a hundred different strategies to wrangle your brain into submission then you're probably a bit confused right now. To that I say, don't worry about it!!

Go get a snack with the convenient cues your body sends you when you need to eat, and get started on that minor task that you won't spend all week in a state of procrastination paralysis and terror about.

If you're like me and everything is difficult (except sometimes the things that everyone else finds difficult—either that or except some super niche skill that is not regarded as useful by society) then I'm proud of you for making it this long and I hope you found at least one of these useful. Feel free to reblog with your own strategies for Doing Tasks and surviving life (seriously. Anything helps).

[spacefinch]

I used the Dark Souls font generator to make some achievement screens for doing everyday tasks. Whenever I do one of the tasks, I send the appropriate PNG to my mom via text message. (Neither of us actually play Dark Souls.)

Feel free to use any of these!