Okay, so I’ve seen waaaaaaay too many posts lumping autistics in with mental illness groups and it’s not cool because they are completely different.
Mental illness is the equivalent of a PC with a virus. It is a working computer with its own personality that the virus has attacked and affected in its own unique way. My depression and anxiety are not a part of me and I do not like them and they change the way I think/feel/act from my ‘normal’.
Autism is the equivalent of a Mac or Linux in a world of PCs. PCs think you’re defective because you appear to be a PC with a virus but in reality you’re a WHOLE OTHER OPERATING SYSTEM with all the strengths and weaknesses of any other, that just happens to be different from the majority of computers. But being a Mac is not a problem in the same way that being a PC with a virus can be a problem.
Macs can get viruses–autistics can have mental illnesses, and people with mental illnesses can be autistic. But the two are not synonymous. We do not have the same terminology or community or anything. This doesn’t mean that it’s not okay to learn how to cope with mental illness or even be proud of it.
Some people are treated for or recover from mental illness. You cannot change being autistic. You cannot treat being autistic. You cannot recover from autism.
You cannot spend a lifetime trying to turn a Mac into a PC. You should learn how to protect and love both Macs and PCs.
Fashion and technology converge for all the right reasons.
Clothing that can be worn backwards, frontwards, inside out… It is an alternative for Autistic youths – it has no tags or seams and won’t cause issues because it will be on correctly, no matter how they are put on. Spread the word! http://www.independencedayclothing.com/#!shop/c1ylq
As I told lipstick-autistic in an ask, I made an app for android to help me communicate when I’m non-verbal after a meltdown. After receiving positive feedback on the concept, I decided to publish it here and hope I can help other people who want to communicate with outsiders in situations where speech is impossible.
This is the opening screen of the app. It has a base text that explains to the person you gave your phone to that you can’t use speech and want to use this app to communicate.
Both the title and text can be adjusted in the settings(accessed with the Menu button on your phone or through the separate Settings launcher) to be whatever you want the person you give your phone to to know.
When the Continue button is pressed, the app continues to a bare-bones chat client:
(yeah, I didn’t really have a lot of inspiration writing a demo conversation)
I hope this helps some people(and I hope never having to use this).
I also find I can get SO from thinking too much, like brain-over-stimulation. Though that is kinda like audio input for me because of the way I think. After all, my go-to overload thought is “quiet please, make it stop”.
thank you for posting this, i needed it
This is wonderful and so needed
My last SO situation I had allodynia all over, and all the skin sensory input just destroyed my ability to think.
These images are meant for teachers, to help them understand the sensory issues that their autistic students may be dealing with, and to give them tips on helping their students manage these issues in the classroom. However, I think these could also be useful if you need to explain your sensory issues to other people, and to give them tips on how they can help you in general.
Quick shout out to neurowonderful! Who has been an excellent resource about autism and all around awesome person! Thank you so much for all that you do! I’ve learned so much from you as I’m sure so many more have!
Other person: I already explained to you that it’s hot in here!
Autistic person: The door is open!
Other person: Why do you have to repeat things all the time?!
Often when this happens, what’s really going on is that the autistic person is trying to communicate something, and they’re not being understood. The other person things that they are understanding and responding, and that the autistic person is just repeating the same thing over and over either for no reason or because they are being stubborn and inflexible and obnoxious and pushy.
When what’s really happening is that the autistic person is not being understood, and they are communicating using the words they have. There’s a NT social expectation that if people aren’t being understood, they should change their words and explain things differently. Sometimes autistic people aren’t capable of doing this without help.
So, if this is happening, assume it’s communication and try to figure out what’s being communicated. If you’re the one with more words, and you want the communication to happen in words, then you have to provide words that make communication possible. For example:
Other person: Do you want the door to be closed, or are you saying something else?
Autistic person: Something else
Other person: Do you want to show me something outside, or something else?
Autistic person: Something else
Other person: Are you worried about something that might happen, or something else?
Autistic person: Worried
Other person: Are you worried that something will come in, or that something will go out?
Autistic person: Baby
Other person: She’s in her crib, and the baby gate is up. Is that ok, or is there still a problem?
Autistic person: ok
Holy fuck.
This changes everything.
*leaves for reference*
I babysat an autistic kid for a few years, it’s hard to understand how their brain works sometimes but when you click, everything pays off. patience and love, my friends.
Also works for allistics (is that the right term?) with brain fog, and other neuroatypicals.
EDIT: I deleted my example because I felt like I hijacked the autism post which wasn’t fair of me.
Holding the Bowl 