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[traumess]

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So... anyone else super bothered that the term "hyperfixation" seems to have slithered its way into the vocabulary of your average internet user and now basically everyone is using it as a synonym for "obsession"?

Like I'm not going to blame individual people for not knowing any better (and besides some people might be neurodivergent and not know it... or they know but just haven't told anyone publically, which is their right) but the general phenomenon just upsets me.

Hyperfixation is an ADHD and autism specific term because our obsessions just ARE much more intense in general. Learning about what the term meant helped me understand why I could recite the entire Lion King film in two languages and why I literally dropped out of school after I started watching The X-Files because my obsession with the show consumed me to the point I couldn't do anything else. It helped me understand why, despite the fact that pretty much everyone had obsessions, other people's obsessions weren't downright debilitating like mine often were.

The way we function in this world differs a lot from neurotypicals (and other neurodivergent people with different disorders) and we need to have our own words to describe our symptoms and behaviors. It just saddens me to see that our experiences are time and time again ripped away from us and tweaked a little so they can be used as some "relatable", "quirky" memes that apply to literally everyone on this planet.

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That autistic / ADHD feel when you want to do… something.

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I’m literally “The Distancer” like this is blowing my mind 

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PSA

theres a new product by verzion called “hum” that allows your parents to track your car and places you go, if your parents are controlling like mine please check under your steering wheel to make sure that they havent installed this

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[Image: The cover of the anthology Knowing Why: Adult-Diagnosed Autistic People on Life and Autism, edited by Elizabeth Bartmess and published by The Autistic Press. The cover shows the bright and variously coloured silhouettes of six differently sized autistic people and a service dog waving and looking at the viewer. The group is diverse: one person is using a wheelchair, one is using a cane, one has dwarfism, and two have natural Black hair. The background is a dark grey, the letters in the title Knowing Why are in a rainbow of colours that match the silhouettes, and there is a watercolor-like texture throughout the cover. End of image description.]

Hi friends! Here’s an excerpt of my essay “Autistic Navigation of Chronic Illness, Mental Illness, and Healthcare”. You can read it, along with eight other insightful and interesting essays, in the anthology Knowing Why: Adult-Diagnosed Autistic People on Life and Autism.

(Trigger warning on my essay for ableism, medical abuse, and bad doctors.)

Some of the topics covered include recovery from burnout, the intersection of Blackness and neurodivergence, and what autistic use of technology looks like. It is available on Amazon in the US and Canada, in paperback and for Kindle. You can find other places to buy it here: link

Excerpt below the break :)

Afficher davantage

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Add “distress” to your pain scale

Pain scale? More like pain in the booty. No two people seem to read it the same way, and chronic folks tend to downplay their pain.

So here’s an idea: when asked to rate your pain, provide a number to rate your distress levels in addition to your pain levels.

Some examples:

“I’m at a 5 on the pain scale, but my distress is basically a 1 because this is my usual.”

“I’m at a 3 on the pain scale, but my distress is a 7 because this is new pain and affects a part of my body that’s very important to my work.”

It’s a great way to consider how your pain is impacting you—and to get a doctor’s attention where it’s actually needed.

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Honestly I think one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself is to separate your negative qualities from your identity.

Instead of saying “I’m lazy,” saying “I’ve made a habit of not doing work unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Instead of saying “I’m a bad friend,” saying “I haven’t communicated as much as I should with the people I care about.”

By being specific about your problems, and by framing it as an action that you are consciously either working on or ignoring rather than an unchangeable part of who you are, you allow yourself to accept your mistakes and work constructively on them instead of pretending they didn’t happen or wallowing in blaming yourself.

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Stop waiting to be ill enough.

You’ll never feel ill enough. There will always be a little voice in the back of your head whispering that you’re fine, really, you’d be okay if you only tried harder.

That little voice isn’t the voice of reason - it’s the voice of internalised ableism, and you owe it nothing.

Find someone who can help you. Apply for the benefits you need. Use the mobility aids that make your life easier. Give yourself a break.

You deserve it. You are ill enough. You aren’t faking it, you aren’t mooching. You’re surviving, and you deserve a round of applause.

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Normalize disabled characters in tv shows

Normalize disabled characters not having a job due to their disability.

Normalize disabled characters having their own story arcs and not just being there to develop an able bodied character.

Normalize disabled characters that are both mentally and physically ill

Normalize disabled characters having invisible illnesses

Normalize having more than one disabled character per show

Feel free to add

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People who believe that small children are proof that gender roles are natural are really on a whole other level.

A young child, using words she learned purely by mimicking the way others speak: I want to be a mommy when I grow up.

Y’all absolute Mensa candidates: Wow. This child is a blank slate. Completely unaffected by society. Guess lady-brains truly are the only explanation here, science deniers. 

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if abled people spent even half the amount of time supporting disabled people that they spend ‘calling out the fakes’ the world would be a much a better place for disabled people.

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autism problem #1328

arguments between early-diagnosed and late-diagnosed people about who had it harder 

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autism problem #1345

wanting to explain everything ever but being scared to talk to anyone for that long?????

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autism problem #1344

When being around people who are “more autistic than you” makes you feel like you have no problems, and being around people who are “less autistic than you” makes you feel like you could be them if you just tried harder 

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autism problem #1319

When you ask what a food is and the only reply you get is “just try it.”

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Abled people: *take away our healthcare so we can’t access treatment to possibly improve our conditions*

Abled people: *take away our benefits and force us into work we aren’t capable of and force us into poverty*

Abled people: *make buildings inaccessible*

Abled people: *take away our disabled parking spots and make it very difficult to get a blue badge/placard*

Abled people: *often don’t provide us with a disabled/accessible toilet*

Abled people: *police our disabilities and call us fakes for not fitting their ableist view of a disabled person*

Abled people: *refuse to hire us or refuse to accommodate our disabilities in the workplace*

Abled people: "Why don’t disabled people do more to contribute to society?"