#actually-autistic — Public Fediverse posts

If you're autistic and becoming more aware of the sensory input that regularly overwhelms your system, there's a lot happening inside you and much of it probably feels unfamiliar.

And when something is unfamiliar (even when it might be actually a positive thing) just the unfamiliarity of it can feel close enough to feeling bad that it's easy to mix them up. 1/2

#ActuallyAutistic #Sensory #Interoception #BurnoutRecovery

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 1048 , Thursday 10/09/2026

Thursday started earlier than I hoped, next door still not having moved yet & also not having learned to be a bit more considerate of a morning!

Managed to dig some spoons from behind the couch, or somewhere, & got some of the bigger jobs done.

The fridge has been cleaned to within an inch of its life both inside & out.

I also get the plinth heater its annual service - I always try to do it before we put the heating back on each autumn / winter & while it doesn’t get too dirty if done regularly the cottonwool buds I used to clean the narrow blades of the fan were evidence that it is a job that needs doing.

Finished the day off with a romp thru the Starfield, I’m learning about ship building in between missions and trial & error is the name of the game here!
Still I now have fast access to the outside from the cockpit now & I have started to build a workshop in the back of my ship. I have decided to be a nomad this time around & live out of my vessel.

Final Thoughts.

I have an invite to join in a multi-player game,but even though it is with people I know well I am … not at ease with the prospect. The last time I tried it was too much in the end & I have not the energy to interact with others at the moment. This year has taken its toll.

Still there is always next year!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

I have peopled so much today! :blobcat0_0:
I wisely skipped department breakfast to conserve energy for group activities we had in the team. That was from 13:00 to about 20:00. I am glad I took part, as the team was complete and it probably would have alienated me to miss it. For being a work thing it was also pretty fun, but my goodness am I tired now.
I have retreated to my dark room, put ear plugs in and am having some tea. :pixel_battery_0:
#ActuallyAutistic

An autistic meltdown isn't "bad" per se.

It's also not good, at all.

Let's not moralise them.

It's a reaction - like a sneeze.

They can be traumatic and violent.

They can put us in danger.

They're scary.

But they aren't a BEHAVIOUR.

"Behaviour" implies choice.

It implies something to be managed and corrected.

A meltdown is an alarm.

It means needs went unmet for long enough that your system ran out of quieter ways to say so.

The world spends its energy silencing our alarm instead of asking what set it off in the first place.

#ActuallyAutistic @autistics

Healing grief may seem a long ways away. This anthology featuring #ActuallyAutistic and #neurodivergent authors explores the impact of and the ways of healing grief in our lives.

https://books2read.com/grief

💙📚♾️♿
#SpoonieAuthor #CripLit

@autistics #ActuallyAutistic

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbsyx9pxXfh/

The goal of recovering from autistic burnout isn’t to get back to that past version of yourself who could do more. The goal of recovery is becoming a new version of yourself 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮. 1/2

#AutisticBurnout #BurnoutRecovery #Burnout #ActuallyAutistic

Since I have been diagnosed I find showering much more difficult. I used to wash virtually every day, now I basically do it twice a week, or maybe every 4 days,and only then from a sense of shame.
#Autism #autistic #neurodiverse @autistics #AutisticBurnout #ActuallyAutistic

GitHub changed the layout of their open PR page and it’s like the day my coworkers switched my desk at work and I had to go home early. #ActuallyAutistic

If some kind Canadian E transferred me $35, I'd be able to make it until next week, which is fed disability check day. 🥺💕

etrans: [email protected]

#BlackMutualAid #MutualAidRequest
#BlackMastodon #queermutualaid
#HelpFolksLive2026 #Queercrowdfund
#disability #disabilityaid #actuallyautistic #DisabilityCrowdFund #MutualAid

@[email protected] @[email protected] @MutualAidVisibility @anarchomutual @blackfedi

Vegan nuggets are the G.O.A.T. for us plant based autistic people. #vegan #actuallyautistic

I just dont feel like posting about my autistic experiences.

I'd rather put them into my art.

Ya know?

#actuallyautistic

I have been telling my dad about my programming adventures for like the past 6 months every so often, and I just realized that my dad didn't even know what I meant when I said I was making a template language 6 moths ago. So I said, "Well a template language is a type of language like PHP you know?"

Dad: "No."

I have been explaining this for the past 6 months not realizing my dad was too embarrassed to ask what I meant. I also find it funny that my dad used to have a job involving lots of programming/cybersecurity and he dose not know about PHP, which is infamous in both worlds. Hmmmm, I wonder why? Maybe it has something to do with being embarrassed to ask questions?

I then asked what he thought about it and he said something like, "It seems like you put a lot more effort into this then I realized, but like, I don't even know how you decided you wanted to do that."

Two things:
1. I have been telling you about this for the past 6 months what did you think I wasn't putting in effort???
2. You're the one who took me to get diagnosed with Autism when I was little??? Also even if you didn't associate that, you've known me my whole life???

(My dad dose have Mastodon, so if you are reading this (although you probably are not), I am not mad lol. I was just shocked you never asked any clarifying questions.)

#actuallyautistic #programmers

I'm autistic. Here's what happened to us this week.

- Scottish police used Tasers on children in custody 43 times in one year. Ten of those childran had learning disabilities or autism. A government watchdog says stop. Police Scotland says it will "consider" the recommendation.

- A nonverbal autistic 5-year-old drowned in South Carolina. Warrants allege her parents removed her safety tracker before the trip... then misled searchers about where to look.

- Brazil is considering a bill that goes beyond hiring quotas. It would require employers to change how workplaces actually function for autistic workers. The catch... disclosure still carries real risk.

Plus a dozen more stories that hit where we live.

If your child can't explain what's wrong during a crisis... if keeping a job means hiding who you are... this isn't abstact policy.

This is the week we just lived.

What does this fight look like where you live?

https://johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/p/divergent-times-september-39-2026

#ActuallyAutistic #DisabilityRights #Neurodivergent #MentalHealth #Autism #Psychology

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 1047 , Wednesday 09/09/2026

Wednesday started early with a decent session at the gym.

Did some work tidying up the garage this morning then went adventuring in Starfield this afternoon.

Final Thoughts.

Not a bad day a few more spoons today.

I really need to get my act into gear & chase the guy from the tool charity. Not heard back from the email I sent yet.

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@autistics
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

If you've reduced most of the stress in your life but still feel stressed and can't explain why...

Or if you're frequently exhausted, have trouble functioning, melt down or shut down, have low energy, or are feeling tired or sick, get headaches, or avoid daily tasks, and have eliminated or explained everything you can figure out, and there's still something... -->

#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Autistic #Neurodiversity

You ever have one of those epiphanies that come from realizing something derived from bits of seemingly unrelated information in your head, but then suddenly realize that they are all pieces of a same puzzle? It's that weirdness that you had all the pieces and didn't even realized that they all fit together. I just had that.

It struck me listening to the song Angels of the Dark by Blutengel. I usually interpret it as a song about vampires even though nothing in it that explicitly says that. The song is about feeling lost, alone, afraid and in pain, and hence looking for a better life. The singer then offers you a "better life" by joining them in the dark; sounds a lot like a typical vampire seduction.

But describing this person's situation, about looking for a better life, I found myself nodding along. Then came the line "The only price you have to pay is leave this world behind". Normally that makes me think of "the world of the living" because again, vampires, but this time was different. Lately I've been reading more about autistic burnout, and one of the key takeaways is that recovering from it is not about getting back to the life you had, because that life is what led you to burnout in the first place. It's about adopting or creating a new life, one that is compatible with your neurology, your true self.

That's why this line struck me differently this time. The world I need to leave behind is the neurotypical life I was trying to live, trying to be something I am not. This is the reason for all (or at least most of) the pain, fear, and other problems I have. So looking at it this way, the song could be about neurodivergence, not necessarily vampires at all.

But wait, couldn't it be both? I'm not saying that NDs are vampires, but as I just happened to write in a post recently, many of us end up identifying with aliens, animals, or *other fictional creatures*. I included the last one because I know an autistic person who identified with fairies when they were young. But vampires are fictional creatures too, and I've been big on them since I was a kid. One of my favorite role playing games is about playing the part of a vampire.

So could not then it be that my attraction to vampires has been my neurodivergence expressing itself all along? Then I remembered how some time ago I made a list of comparisons between autistic people and vampires:
- vampires sleep in coffins: this would shut out light and noise and be a great retreat for autistic people (I myself use blackout curtains and a sleep mask with earphones to listen to things like thunder storms, sounds I like rather than ones I don't)
- vampires sleep during the day: again, less light, noise, and people makes night more sensory friendly for autistic people. Plus many of them I know happen to just be naturally nocturnal and sleep better during the day (myself included).
- repelled by garlic: many of us have all sorts of sensory sensitivities, including smell and taste
- drinking blood: analogy for having a restricted diet, even having to 'hunt around' for food you can stand
- supernatural senses: often we sense things others don't

Again, I'm not saying that autistic people are vampires, just that vampires make a pretty good analogy for being different even though superficially the same. I just hadn't put it together like this before (even though it's right in my own profile name 🤦 ). So in learning to deal with my burnout, I have to learn how to live this other life and not the one other people live. I must join the Angels of the Dark.

#ActuallyAutistic @autistics

Technical difficulties defeated, 25 minutes behind schedule.

Now for the other problem: Bart, a Globex Super Villain Car, and the mission that thoroughly defeated me last week: 'Set to Kill'

https://twitch.tv/ElMagnificoGames

#SimpsonsHitAndRun #ActuallyAutistic #VTuber

I'm hyped for some reason and I don't exactly know why... I didn't take anything unusual aside from a coffee...

Like I can't stay still? I have no idea what's going on. Physically I'm feeling awful.

Maybe it's the #SSRI medication kicking in? Finally after over a week? So far it's only made me miserable with various side effects. The worst thing is that I'm on holiday now and now is really not the time for me to feel physically unwell.

#autism #actuallyautistic

@autistics #ActuallyAutistic example of a typical conversation with a passive aggressive allistic at work…

ME: How do we send first class and certified mail from the office?

THEM: While sending typical mail from […] is an easy task, there isn’t a standard process for certified mail at […].

…note the "easy task" never defined in the rest of their email…

…and last time said passive aggressive allistic was asked this they referred the asker to me…

#ButImNotBitter

[P] "Sanctions againat illegal Israeli settlements—founded upon war-crimes and genocide—hurts Jewish people in Britain!"

Does it? How? The two aren't related. This is more of a far-right position because genocidal racism against brown people is in vogue for the far-right. It seems any Jewish person who isn't cartoonishly evil also disagrees with this odd claim. Gosh, imagine that! Whatta big surprise.

#psychology #actuallyautistic #israel #uk #genocide #zionismiswhitesupremacy #ethniccleansing

request for music player developers on behalf of #ActuallyAutistic people (or, okay, maybe just on behalf of me?)

consider putting in an option to specify the number of seconds to pause between tracks. because otherwise, for some albums, i have to stop every so often so that my emotions can catch up…

FYI, I like a lot of posts so people feel validated. I don’t boost (except from my photography account) because most of us have boosts turned off anyway. I don’t comment mich because I’m autistic and it’ll come out wrong or be misinterpreted.

#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD

Religious trauma is very real for many neurodivergent people. One reason is because a lot of congregations describe chronic illness and disability in itself as demonic possessions that can only be helped with repentance and intense religious practice.

After a decade and a half of trying, seeing no results, and this rhetoric ramp up, I threw my hands up (not in the Pentecostal charismatic sense) and said "I'm done."

#actuallyautistic #ChristoFascism