#autistic traits

[neuroticboyfriend]

Shoutout to people who speak "overly formally." You deserve to express yourself in whatever way feels most natural and fulfilling for you. The way you speak isn't pompous, annoying, or mockable; it's just how you communicate, and there's nothing wrong with that. Your voice adds creativity and diversity to this world, and I think that's amazing.

[snakeautistic]

The autistic urge to rub my face against every soft thing that I see

[zebulontheplanet]

I think people are greatly misinterpreting my post about autism being watered down (click for link)

I am not at all saying that if you have autism then don’t identify as having autism. That isn’t what I’m saying. And for those who do, im sorry that you took it that way.

And for those of you who think my post is an attack on lsn autistics, then kindly reread my post and fuck the fuck off cause that is not at all what I am doing.

My post is talking about the people who are trying to turn autism into nothing but a social identity, and believe that it should be JUST an identity. I see countless times people saying that autism is “just a social construct” and people should identify with autism if they feel that that social identity fits them, instead of looking into the actual dsm5 and other sources to figure out if they’re actually autistic.

I’ve seen time and time again that people shouldn’t seek out diagnoses for autism because it’s just a social construct and “you don’t need a diagnosis” completely undermining the people who do need a diagnosis and steering people into the complete wrong direction if they feel like they need accommodations, help, support, etc.

This isn’t at all saying I don’t believe in self diagnosis, I do believe in it whole heartedly. But I don’t believe in people identifying as autistic because they simply “relate” to the quirky parts of it. You need a lot more than relation. You need to actually be it. Yes, you can absolutely relate to autistic traits, look into it and boom, realize you’re autistic. But people who simply relate to the quirky features and watered down features of autism are not helping anything with the newer stigmas of autism.

Autism has been watered down, and saying it hasnt is completely unacceptable. I get asks and comments weekly telling me that the way I experience autism isn’t autism because I experience it drastically different then the new “faces” of autism, which are primarily low support needs, late diagnosed people. That isn’t an attack on them! But I’ve talked endlessly about how the community can change and there’s no doubt about that. The community is being watered down. Autism is being watered down. They are forgetting those of us that have more profound autistic traits. It needs to stop, and we need to keep having serious discussions about it.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Things I didn’t realise were part of being autistic

Neurodivergent_lou

[donniesexceptionalmind]

My autistic signs you may relate to...

I can feel my skin & I hate it TM

randomvoicelossinthemiddleofthedayfornoapparentreason.mp3

Ignoring sensory stress because having fun & then: meltdown

Turn. The. Lights. Off. Or I will bite your head off.

*loading*

Am I thirsty? Is this thirst?

What is this sensation TM ?

"Are you okay?" "Yeah" *has a meltdown minutes later*

*disappears for days because SPECIAL INTERESTS*

"I have this theory that I am not from this planet, here are...."

*restarting*

[awoefulstudent]

Hello everyone!

My name is Amina and I am a BSc Psychology with Honours student at the University of Hertfordshire. I am also the principal researcher of a study that aims to investigate whether judging category relatedness within semantic memory can be influenced by the level of typicality the items have alongside whether high versus low autistic traits have any effect on the performance of different types of processing.

I am currently taking volunteers for this online study. Any adults aged 18 to 65 can volunteer and you do not need an official Autism diagnosis to take part.

In the study, you will be given an item/ definition/ scenario at the top of your screen and will have to decide which of two following words match best to that using your keyboard. After that is completed you will be given the RAADS-14 questionnaire to complete.

It will take roughly 15 minutes to complete. However, a maximum of 30 minutes is given for the entire study to be completed including the information sheet, consent form, debrief sheet, and the “breaks” given (which are just for momentarily resting your eyes and hands), otherwise I cannot use your data. Please note that this study cannot be completed on a mobile phone or tablet, it must be done on a computer/laptop as the keyboard is required for the study’s completion.

You can completed this study at anytime until 23:59 GMT on Friday 1st of March here:

https://research.sc/participant/login/dynamic/0D915D45-8D85-44F9-9B63-376AF0C70573

This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee at the University of Hertfordshire and is also being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Nicholas Shipp.

Your participation is very important for this study and is very much appreciated.

Thank you for your time!

Many Thanks

Amina

EDIT: Study is now no longer taking participants!!! Thank you all who took part and spread the word of my study, it definitely means a lot to me 💟

[thecommunalfoolboy]

Just found out about the humans are space orcs thing you all got going on here and I wanna know how many of u guys finally realized u think humans are so strange bc ur autistic

[clangrogu]

Characters Who are Autistic, Because I, an Autistic Person, Said So (Animated Edition Pt. 2)

*gifs not mine*

Bruno Madrigal (Encanto)

socially awkward

special connection with animals

difficulty maintaining eye contact

his gift of prophecy gives autistic pattern recognition vibes

is shunned by his family/community for being different (this causes him to self-isolate)

direct communication style

stimming

has a special interest

anxious

doesn’t feel useful to his family (i hate how familiar this feeling is)

takes up the role of the “observer”

there’s a literal wall between him and other people (as opposed to the metaphorical wall autistic people often feel separates them from others)

humour is misread & observations/statements are misinterpreted

hernando & jorge could be a form of masking

has routines & rituals

as an autistic person, the mistreatment bruno faces is sadly relatable

Huey Duck (Duck Tales)

has a special interest

likes planning, order & organisation

resistant to change & new things

afraid of the unknown

stimming

experiences meltdowns & sensory overstimulation

infodumps

dietary issues (in this case sugar)

difficulty with creativity/imagination

has a comfort item

anxious

dislikes rule breaking

relies heavily on facts

Ferb Fletcher (Phineas & Ferb)

largely non-verbal (when he does speak it’s usually a few words to a sentence or two)

those few words are usually a loosely related or a completely unrelated fact

and it’s always direct/matter-of-fact

has a special interest

neutral facial expression

hyperfocuses

seems to be misunderstood by those around him (with the exception of phineas)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How to Train Your Dragon)

socially awkward

special connection with animals (in this case dragons)

doesn’t fit in with his community/peers

is misunderstood by those around him

special interests

stimming

imaginary full-on, in depth conversations with himself

Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls)

has special interests

infodumps, hyperfocuses & hyperfixates

stimming

difficulty with social interaction

shown to have some sleep & hygiene issues

easily overwhelmed/overstimulated

anxious/nervous

feels like the odd one out (until ford comes along. ford is also autistic btw)

loves lists

[themaskedlady]

[mental-illness-bingo]

Struggling with transitions isn't always externalized in the form of a meltdown. Here are some examples of things (from an autistic former early childhood teacher) that also count as struggling with transitions.

Note: I'm including things to do with adult transitions and childhood transitions here. Examples and explanations are given in italics.

Trying to politely decline to transition - sometimes, this may include lying about your wants/needs or not even realizing you want or need something because your brain isn't processing that information during the stress of a transition; "Becca, it's time for snack." "No thank you, I'm not hungry."

Undetectable self-harm behaviors - digging nails into palm, "itching" when you aren't itchy, internally degrading yourself, biting cheek or tongue, holding breath until you can't anymore. Self-harm during transitions is a common and valid struggle, even if you didn't try to use it as leverage to avoid the transition.

Undetectable stimming to regulate (very healthy!) - especially with objects that have a similar texture to one from the previous area or material

Slow or stuttered transitions - Starting to move on, but repeatedly having "just one more thing (you) forgot" or physically walking away slower possibly while staring at the previous area or material

Verbal shutdown (total or partial) during or immediately after transitions - this could be part of a more overall shutdown or exist on it's own

Fixating on the previous task/area/material - may show by excessively talking about the previous task long after others have moved on for example trying to tell everyone about your cool lego building or even showing them pictures of it (taking pictures is good coping mechanism for moving on from a toy) long after everyone stopped playing with or talking about legos, or if you were moving from legos to drawing, wanting to draw a picture of legos

Keeping materials from the previous task - if you were playing with legos, but have to clean up, you might keep some to build with or even a single lego on your person somewhere as a comfort. In larger/life transitions, you may refuse to get rid of something long past when it is socially acceptable (such as an ex's shirt) or taking something "strange" such as a piece of trim or a scrap of wallpaper from a previous house.

Brain fog, fatigue, disorientation, and/or dissociation during and/or immediately after a transition

Internal emotional distress during/immediately after transitions - due to autistic issues with emotional regulation, these emotions may last the rest of the day if not supported because of bottling up the emotions

Executive dysfunction post-transition - especially if you don't usually struggle with it or weren't before the transition

When going to bed, insomnia is an extremely common presentation of struggling with transitions

Feel free to add on! Preferably in the text of the reblog rather than in tags so I can reblog this with your additions, but either works!

I also want to specify that not all of these are harmful or negative responses to transitions. If you do these things and they help you without hurting anyone, that's fine! This is just to help give you the language to get help as needed because it's much easier to get help if you say "I struggle with transitions because of my autism" than "I'm struggling right now but I'm not sure why".

[silly-centipede]

"___ doesn't make you autistic!"

You're right, individual traits don't make someone autistic. It's the combination of several traits that make them autistic.

Saying something is an autistic trait is not saying it can't exist outside of autism, but rather that it is a common trait among those with autism.

It's the same with all neurodivergency. It's not the individual traits that make someone have bipolar disorder or DID or Depression. It's the combination of them.

And if we start looking at it this way, we can all have a better understanding of how these things operate in relation to each other

[piccalillydon]

[snakeautistic]

Any other autistics love climbing and perching on top of unusual stuff? I’ve always been someone who misuses playground equipment since I was a young kid and I really enjoy climbing things that are not meant to be climbed, even now. I would do it even more if it was more socially acceptable. I like being able to find a new vantage point and I guess use the environment around me in an unconventional way.

It’s pretty much one of the only ‘physical’ activities I like- maybe because being able to scale something feels a lot more rewarding to me than lifting a heavy weight or running so hard my lungs feel like they’re about to burn up.

[brain-n-body-in-disarray]

I love how I implied in my last post that reading the Swedish dictionary is a treat, like, unironically.

Allistic people are like "reading the dictionary is a punishment".

No. Dictionaries are great. The regular one is amazing. The synonyms one is fabulous. Foreign language dictionaries are stupendous.

I'm telling you, reading the dictionary is a treat. Stop using it as a threat.

.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

…why…

Life in an Autism World

[donniesexceptionalmind]

AUTISTIC PEOPLE ARE BETTER AT NESTING THAN AUTISTIC MICE!!!

Any fellow autistic will know what I mean:

Getting in your favourite spot with all your favourite belongings nested around you. Lots of pillows, plushies & blankets. Comfortable lights. Noise-cancelling headphones with music. Some beverage (tea, coffee, water). A same food.

And you are ready to stay this way for the whole day.

THIS IS AUTISTIC NESTING & it provides comfort & safety.

This study has a 0-5 point scale to rate how good autistic mice are at non-marternal nesting. Spoiler: they get the score 1.

✨️ 1. ✨️

Score 1 means: mouse has created a primitive nest, mostly flat & contains almost the whole flat paper tissue

In contrast: Score 4: mouse has successfully created a complex hooded nest, including walls that create a ceiling and a single opening as the entrance.

This is hilarious. /lh

I am SO BETTER AT NESTING than them.

THIS will be my new conversation starter & NO ONE can STOP ME.