#actuallyautistc — Public Fediverse posts

Read from the library Friendship Skills For Neurodivergent Adults. The author is autistic. She gives some good steps for making friendships, how to categorize friends, and how our brain works. a lot of the definitions I found interesting and agreed with.

In no way does she promote masking or keeping relations with untrustworthy or abusive people. It's all about finding your tribe.

Gave me some things to think about concerning my journey with friendships.

https://carolinemaguireauthor.com/book-bonuses/

#actuallyAutistc #neurodivergent

Where are my scientists?

And what is the scientific practice that can drive you up the wall?

During the academic part of my career, I often found myself wondering why exact sciences are not in fact that… exact.
Maybe it’s my autistic drive to unearth the reason for anything and everything, maybe it was my autistic sense of justice, and maybe I was what the hegemony calls “autistic folks being too literal”

But seriously, can you really get too literal with science?

Not to mention: can people please just get ahead on their own merit instead of “borrowing” ideas from defenseless grad students?

In the latest episode of my Podcast, The Autistic Rant Hour, you can find out about my epic struggle against “commonly used values”, variables that pretend to be constants and less than fair competition. Some I won, some I lost, and all I explain in great detail.

Dr. Mary Sims, host of Clinical Misfits, a sister-podcast that was launched at the same time as mine on the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, joins me on this extra-nerdy ride, and makes sure I’m not the only one who gets what I’m even talking about.

For science shenanigans, surprise woo-woo intermissions, a bunch of nerdy laughs and a secret message from my cat Merlin, find Episode 5 of the Autistic Rant Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

See here for online player and human-proofread transcripts:
https://prepped.to/podcasts/autistic-rant-hour

#ActuallyAutistc
#Science
#Podcast
#Exact_SCIENCE
#Autistic

@autistics

Where are my scientists?

And what is the scientific practice that can drive you up the wall?

During the academic part of my career, I often found myself wondering why exact sciences are not in fact that… exact.
Maybe it’s my autistic drive to unearth the reason for anything and everything, maybe it was my autistic sense of justice, and maybe I was what the hegemony calls “autistic folks being too literal”

But seriously, can you really get too literal with science?

Not to mention: can people please just get ahead on their own merit instead of “borrowing” ideas from defenseless grad students?

In the latest episode of my Podcast, The Autistic Rant Hour, you can find out about my epic struggle against “commonly used values”, variables that pretend to be constants and less than fair competition. Some I won, some I lost, and all I explain in great detail.

Dr. Mary Sims, host of Clinical Misfits, a sister-podcast that was launched at the same time as mine on the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, joins me on this extra-nerdy ride, and makes sure I’m not the only one who gets what I’m even talking about.

For science shenanigans, surprise woo-woo intermissions, a bunch of nerdy laughs and a secret message from my cat Merlin, find Episode 5 of the Autistic Rant Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

See here for online player and human-proofread transcripts:
https://prepped.to/podcasts/autistic-rant-hour

#ActuallyAutistc
#Science
#Podcast
#Exact_SCIENCE
#Autistic

@autistics

@tomkindlon also a torment for those of us who are #actuallyAutistc with smell or taste sensory sensitivities.

@tomkindlon also a torment for those of us who are #actuallyAutistc with smell or taste sensory sensitivities.

CW: mental health, self-harm, checking out

On Thursday the Mental Health Services episode of my podcast The Autistic Rant Hour went online. And then I got a phone call from my mother’s cousin, a beloved elderly family member, where he heartbreakingly informed me of the passing of his 27 year old eldest grandson. It was self-inflicted and preceded by a lifetime in the Mental Healthcare system of a North-European country, with all the available resources at his disposal. I‘ve never met my first cousin twice removed, may his memory be a blessing, and I very barely know his father. So I cannot tell you whether he, like Rey, the wonderful guest on the podcast’s Mental Health Services episode, was also a misdiagnosed autistic person who got the wrong treatment for his condition, no accommodations, and often suffered extremely harmful neglect. Maybe he had a totally different mental struggle, maybe he did get the treatment he needed. I have no way of knowing. All I do know is that on his computer, his father found a document detailing the research he conducted regarding the recovery rate of people with the condition he was diagnosed with and about the kinds of help he could expect from Mental Health Services in his country. He came to the conclusion that his only way was the way out, and started planning his escape from life on a weekend off the ward he had coming.

Rey Rissanen, my guest on The Autistic Rant Hour’s 4th episode, was thankfully luckier. After years in and out of therapy and psych wards, they realized they were in fact, autistic, rather than depressive with a borderline personality disorder. This helped them understand that all their efforts to recover by following the prescribed treatment did not fail because they were a terrible person nor a terrible patient, but because they got the wrong diagnosis and the wrong treatment, if they even got any treatment at all. They learned to advocate for themself and figured out how to shape their life in a way that would enable them to pursue goals such as moving and attending university. There, they will also know how to request the accommodations they need and seek appropriate help in case of trouble.
Such a future was not to be for the family member we have lost, and we are left to mourn and wonder why.

I would like to dedicate this episode to his memory, and hope that those of you who need to hear a story of hope rather than despair, can get that from this episode. Whether you choose to listen to it or not, please know that there might be an explanation to your plight that Mental Health professionals are often woefully misinformed about, and that if you feel your treatment is failing, it might very well not be because of your shortcomings, but that of the system. Figuring out what is at the root of your suffering can make a world of difference and help you forwards and upwards. I hope you and your loved ones who may be struggling right now can find hope in this message, and maybe give yourself a few more years to try and figure this out before making any irreversible decisions.

You are very welcome to share your experiences with Mental Health Services on this thread, but please remember to add content warnings. Also please keep in mind that neither I nor most of the people reading this can give you professional help, so in case of emergency, please contact your local crisis center and try to advocate for your needs as best you can.

You can find The Autistic Rant Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s a link to the podcast on Aut2Aut’s website, where you can find a human-proofread transcript: https://prepped.to/podcasts/autistic-rant-hour

#ActuallyAutistc #MentalHealth #misdiagnosis #selfharm #AutismAwareness

@autistics

CW: mental health, self-harm, checking out

On Thursday the Mental Health Services episode of my podcast The Autistic Rant Hour went online. And then I got a phone call from my mother’s cousin, a beloved elderly family member, where he heartbreakingly informed me of the passing of his 27 year old eldest grandson. It was self-inflicted and preceded by a lifetime in the Mental Healthcare system of a North-European country, with all the available resources at his disposal. I‘ve never met my first cousin twice removed, may his memory be a blessing, and I very barely know his father. So I cannot tell you whether he, like Rey, the wonderful guest on the podcast’s Mental Health Services episode, was also a misdiagnosed autistic person who got the wrong treatment for his condition, no accommodations, and often suffered extremely harmful neglect. Maybe he had a totally different mental struggle, maybe he did get the treatment he needed. I have no way of knowing. All I do know is that on his computer, his father found a document detailing the research he conducted regarding the recovery rate of people with the condition he was diagnosed with and about the kinds of help he could expect from Mental Health Services in his country. He came to the conclusion that his only way was the way out, and started planning his escape from life on a weekend off the ward he had coming.

Rey Rissanen, my guest on The Autistic Rant Hour’s 4th episode, was thankfully luckier. After years in and out of therapy and psych wards, they realized they were in fact, autistic, rather than depressive with a borderline personality disorder. This helped them understand that all their efforts to recover by following the prescribed treatment did not fail because they were a terrible person nor a terrible patient, but because they got the wrong diagnosis and the wrong treatment, if they even got any treatment at all. They learned to advocate for themself and figured out how to shape their life in a way that would enable them to pursue goals such as moving and attending university. There, they will also know how to request the accommodations they need and seek appropriate help in case of trouble.
Such a future was not to be for the family member we have lost, and we are left to mourn and wonder why.

I would like to dedicate this episode to his memory, and hope that those of you who need to hear a story of hope rather than despair, can get that from this episode. Whether you choose to listen to it or not, please know that there might be an explanation to your plight that Mental Health professionals are often woefully misinformed about, and that if you feel your treatment is failing, it might very well not be because of your shortcomings, but that of the system. Figuring out what is at the root of your suffering can make a world of difference and help you forwards and upwards. I hope you and your loved ones who may be struggling right now can find hope in this message, and maybe give yourself a few more years to try and figure this out before making any irreversible decisions.

You are very welcome to share your experiences with Mental Health Services on this thread, but please remember to add content warnings. Also please keep in mind that neither I nor most of the people reading this can give you professional help, so in case of emergency, please contact your local crisis center and try to advocate for your needs as best you can.

You can find The Autistic Rant Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s a link to the podcast on Aut2Aut’s website, where you can find a human-proofread transcript: https://prepped.to/podcasts/autistic-rant-hour

#ActuallyAutistc #MentalHealth #misdiagnosis #selfharm #AutismAwareness

@autistics

Next up on the patriot songs for America is a true outsider Simon Hyatt

https://youtu.be/drRYtccye4Q
#americana #pop #outsiderMusic #neurodiversity #actuallyAutistc

Next up on the patriot songs for America is a true outsider Simon Hyatt

https://youtu.be/drRYtccye4Q
#americana #pop #outsiderMusic #neurodiversity #actuallyAutistc

About 3 months ago I noticed something odd: when I chewed something hard on the left, my preferred chewing side, it sometimes caused a piercing pain that went right down my backmost lower left molar. So I went to the dentist. I have a nice dentist. When I went to see him for the first time, I was wearing my sunflower lanyard, and he asked me what invisible disability I was wearing it for. When I said I was autistic, he asked me how he could accommodate me, and I said I was very light sensitive, so I'd be wearing my yellow protective glasses during our session. He didn’t raise an eyebrow, and he did make sure that the terrible light dentists usually blind me with was pointed at my mouth, not my eyes. I never realized that was an option! Mind = blown! And also, before each step, he told me what he was going to do and the kind of noises and tactile experience it would cause. The guy’s a total gem 😻 (is what I think about what should probably be just standard practice in an autistic-friendly world).

So when I went to him with the weird intermittent tooth-ache, he knocked on the tooth and blew some air on it, warning me in advance and then asking me what it felt like. I said it was nothing compared to eating a nut with that tooth. He took an X-ray, and showed me the image on his screen. There was nothing there. So he said he thought it might be a gum inflammation and sent me home with some specific mouth-wash. He said to come back if it was still going on in a month or two. I did the mouth wash routine he recommended, which my gums did appreciate, but to no avail, toothwise. So 6 weeks later I was back in his chair. He looked at the X-ray again, repeated the whole tapping, air-blowing, gum-checking routine, and told me that he couldn’t see anything, but would I please get a longer appointment at the desk, and come back for him to remove a filling I had on that tooth, so he could look under it. I did that, and two weeks later I went to that longer appointment, where he took the old filling out, and to his utter astonishment, found a massive cavity going straight down, on the next tooth over where the two teeth met. He told me he was shocked that such a large cavity hadn’t shown on X-Ray, and went on to perform the necessary two fillings.

I thanked him for not just sending me home because the cavity hadn’t shown on X-Ray. “Not every dentist would believe me something was actually wrong and start digging around in there,” I said. He then confessed that if it weren’t for that old filling indicating something had previously already been afoot over there, he would have in fact sent me home without treatment. Had he done that, the cavity would have no doubt turned into a root canal. I know, because I have two of those from when teeth just didn’t hurt that much until the damage was already too bad for a filling. I guess my interoception of tooth cavities just isn’t the same as other folks’. I’ve also been known to walk around for a month with bone fractures orthopedic doctors couldn’t see on X-Ray. And to be sent home by medical professionals who just didn’t seem to be able to figure out what was wrong with me. And this is what the 3rd episode of my podcast The Autistic Rant Hour is about: Medical Gaslighting. Or as I like calling it: We’ve Run All the Tests and there’s Nothing Wrong with You.
In this episode I’m joined by Simo_tier (pronouns: it/they), a multimedia artist and activist I got to know on a local queer autistic meetup it organizes. Together we share some anecdotes about all those times we went to the doctor only to be met with disbelief, ignorance, discrimination and sometimes plain incompetence. We discuss the notorious pain scale, misdiagnoses, missing tests and wrong prescriptions, compounded discrimination of multiply marginalized patients, and the real life and death outcomes of everything autistic people have to endure when seeking medical services, including that moment when you just can’t deal with it all anymore, and don’t even seek those services.

I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with medical care, and whether you have some autistic life-hacks that make things better.

You can find The Autistic Rant Hour wherever you get your podcasts, or see here for links, player and transcripts: https://prepped.to/podcasts/autistic-rant-hour

#ActuallyAutistc #MedicalGaslighting #misdiagnosis #DentalCare #Podcast #Podcasting

@autistics

About 3 months ago I noticed something odd: when I chewed something hard on the left, my preferred chewing side, it sometimes caused a piercing pain that went right down my backmost lower left molar. So I went to the dentist. I have a nice dentist. When I went to see him for the first time, I was wearing my sunflower lanyard, and he asked me what invisible disability I was wearing it for. When I said I was autistic, he asked me how he could accommodate me, and I said I was very light sensitive, so I'd be wearing my yellow protective glasses during our session. He didn’t raise an eyebrow, and he did make sure that the terrible light dentists usually blind me with was pointed at my mouth, not my eyes. I never realized that was an option! Mind = blown! And also, before each step, he told me what he was going to do and the kind of noises and tactile experience it would cause. The guy’s a total gem 😻 (is what I think about what should probably be just standard practice in an autistic-friendly world).

So when I went to him with the weird intermittent tooth-ache, he knocked on the tooth and blew some air on it, warning me in advance and then asking me what it felt like. I said it was nothing compared to eating a nut with that tooth. He took an X-ray, and showed me the image on his screen. There was nothing there. So he said he thought it might be a gum inflammation and sent me home with some specific mouth-wash. He said to come back if it was still going on in a month or two. I did the mouth wash routine he recommended, which my gums did appreciate, but to no avail, toothwise. So 6 weeks later I was back in his chair. He looked at the X-ray again, repeated the whole tapping, air-blowing, gum-checking routine, and told me that he couldn’t see anything, but would I please get a longer appointment at the desk, and come back for him to remove a filling I had on that tooth, so he could look under it. I did that, and two weeks later I went to that longer appointment, where he took the old filling out, and to his utter astonishment, found a massive cavity going straight down, on the next tooth over where the two teeth met. He told me he was shocked that such a large cavity hadn’t shown on X-Ray, and went on to perform the necessary two fillings.

I thanked him for not just sending me home because the cavity hadn’t shown on X-Ray. “Not every dentist would believe me something was actually wrong and start digging around in there,” I said. He then confessed that if it weren’t for that old filling indicating something had previously already been afoot over there, he would have in fact sent me home without treatment. Had he done that, the cavity would have no doubt turned into a root canal. I know, because I have two of those from when teeth just didn’t hurt that much until the damage was already too bad for a filling. I guess my interoception of tooth cavities just isn’t the same as other folks’. I’ve also been known to walk around for a month with bone fractures orthopedic doctors couldn’t see on X-Ray. And to be sent home by medical professionals who just didn’t seem to be able to figure out what was wrong with me. And this is what the 3rd episode of my podcast The Autistic Rant Hour is about: Medical Gaslighting. Or as I like calling it: We’ve Run All the Tests and there’s Nothing Wrong with You.
In this episode I’m joined by Simo_tier (pronouns: it/they), a multimedia artist and activist I got to know on a local queer autistic meetup it organizes. Together we share some anecdotes about all those times we went to the doctor only to be met with disbelief, ignorance, discrimination and sometimes plain incompetence. We discuss the notorious pain scale, misdiagnoses, missing tests and wrong prescriptions, compounded discrimination of multiply marginalized patients, and the real life and death outcomes of everything autistic people have to endure when seeking medical services, including that moment when you just can’t deal with it all anymore, and don’t even seek those services.

I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with medical care, and whether you have some autistic life-hacks that make things better.

You can find The Autistic Rant Hour wherever you get your podcasts, or see here for links, player and transcripts: https://prepped.to/podcasts/autistic-rant-hour

#ActuallyAutistc #MedicalGaslighting #misdiagnosis #DentalCare #Podcast #Podcasting

@autistics

For decades the narrative went something like this: I'm too naive and gullible, so people often have to correct my naive assumptions.

Result: I overcompensated and became a tad too suspicious.

Now I'm older, have gone through cancer and masking is often not an available option. Which somehow made me realize that the narrative was wrong. I wasn't naive - as in lacking information or simplifying things. I just focussed more on known similarities than differences.

#ActuallyAutistc

For decades the narrative went something like this: I'm too naive and gullible, so people often have to correct my naive assumptions.

Result: I overcompensated and became a tad too suspicious.

Now I'm older, have gone through cancer and masking is often not an available option. Which somehow made me realize that the narrative was wrong. I wasn't naive - as in lacking information or simplifying things. I just focussed more on known similarities than differences.

#ActuallyAutistc

A coworker just sent me something and asked if that's ok with me. I responded as quickly as I could and said the thing is fine.

Then the coworker said an image had been missing that would be added shortly. I did not react.

Today the coworker sends the exact same thing plus the image and asks again if that's ok with me.

Sigh. I wished they could have waited and sent the thing only once, with the image. Efficiency, people. It's a thing. It saves spoons & time.

#ActuallyAutistc

A coworker just sent me something and asked if that's ok with me. I responded as quickly as I could and said the thing is fine.

Then the coworker said an image had been missing that would be added shortly. I did not react.

Today the coworker sends the exact same thing plus the image and asks again if that's ok with me.

Sigh. I wished they could have waited and sent the thing only once, with the image. Efficiency, people. It's a thing. It saves spoons & time.

#ActuallyAutistc

Presenting: The Autistic Rant Hour

I'm launching Aut2Aut's first #ActuallyAutistic podcast on June 22, 2026 on the Autistic Culture Podcast Network. You'll be able to find it wherever you get your podcasts.

In the meantime, read my latest blogpost to find out what this network and podcast are about, what it was like to create the first 6-episode series, and how you can join the network with your own podcast, or who knows, become my editor. And of course, an invite to the network's online launch party: https://prepped.to/blog/presenting-the-autistic-rant-hour

Here's my trailer, see transcript in the description:
https://youtu.be/BBc8tycpR4E

Spoiler alert: I don't like podcast trailers! So I don't blame you if you rather read the blogpost instead.

@autistics #podcast #ActuallyAutistc

Presenting: The Autistic Rant Hour

I'm launching Aut2Aut's first #ActuallyAutistic podcast on June 22, 2026 on the Autistic Culture Podcast Network. You'll be able to find it wherever you get your podcasts.

In the meantime, read my latest blogpost to find out what this network and podcast are about, what it was like to create the first 6-episode series, and how you can join the network with your own podcast, or who knows, become my editor. And of course, an invite to the network's online launch party: https://prepped.to/blog/presenting-the-autistic-rant-hour

Here's my trailer, see transcript in the description:
https://youtu.be/BBc8tycpR4E

Spoiler alert: I don't like podcast trailers! So I don't blame you if you rather read the blogpost instead.

@autistics #podcast #ActuallyAutistc

A pretty worthwhile article IMO about the challenges of being neurodivergent in Japanese culture.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/06/12/japan/science-health/neurodivergent-autism-japan-health/?pnespid=8larj4rn5k.g4fw.urorsaqz7bwur3epwlqnele17revz9qkrw3srmu7_g2zyhfkaw40wwwx

#actuallyAutistc

A pretty worthwhile article IMO about the challenges of being neurodivergent in Japanese culture.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/06/12/japan/science-health/neurodivergent-autism-japan-health/?pnespid=8larj4rn5k.g4fw.urorsaqz7bwur3epwlqnele17revz9qkrw3srmu7_g2zyhfkaw40wwwx

#actuallyAutistc

The joy of autism by Sarah Hendrickx

"Yes, we’re in a world of our own: for the autistic mind, it’s a place of intense curiosity, deep focus and sensory delight"

(...)

"I should note that the following celebration of autistic delight does not negate or trivialise the very real and often disabling experience of living as an autistic person in a non-autistic world"

https://aeon.co/essays/why-being-autistic-can-be-a-lot-of-fun

#ActuallyAutistc #AuDHD #autistic #ASD #autism #autisticjoy #joy #curiosity #fun #SarahHendrickx #focus

The joy of autism by Sarah Hendrickx

"Yes, we’re in a world of our own: for the autistic mind, it’s a place of intense curiosity, deep focus and sensory delight"

(...)

"I should note that the following celebration of autistic delight does not negate or trivialise the very real and often disabling experience of living as an autistic person in a non-autistic world"

https://aeon.co/essays/why-being-autistic-can-be-a-lot-of-fun

#ActuallyAutistc #AuDHD #autistic #ASD #autism #autisticjoy #joy #curiosity #fun #SarahHendrickx #focus

I’ve realized recently that I tend to use up my executive function bandwidth at work, and at home I can barely executive function. Is this an autistic thing? #ActuallyAutistc

Are there any good books (or articles) explaining how neurotypical people think/behave that are intended as explainers for neurodiverse people? I'll ask #ActuallyAutistc

*written material preferred, but if you think a video is the best explainer for this topic, I guess I'll have to watch

Are there any good books (or articles) explaining how neurotypical people think/behave that are intended as explainers for neurodiverse people? I'll ask #ActuallyAutistc

*written material preferred, but if you think a video is the best explainer for this topic, I guess I'll have to watch

@Susan60 So at the same time I found I had to suppress at least part of that to fit in and not make everybody believe I'm totally crazy either. But when you're constantly busy with regulating and dosing your non-verbal signs of emotion what you're not doing is allowing to feel your raw, unfiltered, true feelings, the good and the bad. You're doing this long enough, you become a husk, a shell, a machine performing for others, but not really taking part in your own life. 4/4 #actuallyAutistc

@Susan60 So at the same time I found I had to suppress at least part of that to fit in and not make everybody believe I'm totally crazy either. But when you're constantly busy with regulating and dosing your non-verbal signs of emotion what you're not doing is allowing to feel your raw, unfiltered, true feelings, the good and the bad. You're doing this long enough, you become a husk, a shell, a machine performing for others, but not really taking part in your own life. 4/4 #actuallyAutistc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWwRzcG8-g #actuallyAutistc #AuDHD

Well that's the news I've been waiting for. @lornaslater has taken Edinburgh Central for @ScottishGreens. I'm very pleased; she's the only genuinely inspirational member of #Holyrood in this generation, in my opinion.

Hopefully a future #FirstMinister.

Also, although Angus Robertson would make a fine ambassador for Scotland, we do not need yet another machine politician.

#ScotPol
#ActuallyAutistc

(#Green gain from #SNP)

Well that's the news I've been waiting for. @lornaslater has taken Edinburgh Central for @ScottishGreens. I'm very pleased; she's the only genuinely inspirational member of #Holyrood in this generation, in my opinion.

Hopefully a future #FirstMinister.

Also, although Angus Robertson would make a fine ambassador for Scotland, we do not need yet another machine politician.

#ScotPol
#ActuallyAutistc

(#Green gain from #SNP)

@rmblaber1956 @autistics on one hand: of course!
On the other, I don't think anyone has the right to accept or not accept me. At the very least they should respect me, regardless of neurology.

Did you not agree with the arguments I raised in my blogpost?

#ActuallyAutistc

@rmblaber1956 @autistics on one hand: of course!
On the other, I don't think anyone has the right to accept or not accept me. At the very least they should respect me, regardless of neurology.

Did you not agree with the arguments I raised in my blogpost?

#ActuallyAutistc

I hate living in a society where lying and pretending are part of the social norm. It's so exhausting! No wonder, I am an "introvert". I need time alone to be able to "drop my guard" and actually relax and recharge. How I wish we could all be honest with each other, without having to fear rejection or abuse. #ActuallyAutistc

I hate living in a society where lying and pretending are part of the social norm. It's so exhausting! No wonder, I am an "introvert". I need time alone to be able to "drop my guard" and actually relax and recharge. How I wish we could all be honest with each other, without having to fear rejection or abuse. #ActuallyAutistc

Please, this active "anti-moderation" at #Facepunch needs way more attention! I was just banned by staff for asking for #Moderation in their community!

I have also been silently lurking, mass reporting users who violate #Discord TOS in their server the past week. (so many!)

I was banned right after the first image,
devultj: "get fucked mate"

No warning or asking for what evidence I had. These people are abusers! 🚨

#Abuse #Toxic #Sbox #Garrynewman #Garry #ActuallyAutistc #sandbox #drama