#askingautistics — Public Fediverse posts

Autism and lack of safety 🛟

Here are some things which, interestingly, are common in autistic people but can also be general indicators of anxiety or fear.

1. Difficulty distinguishing voices from background noise.

2. Digestion problems, sometimes culminating in IBS.

3. Strong attachment to routine and panic when it fails.

4. Persistent problems falling asleep or staying asleep.

There will be other things, I think 🤔 ... thoughts?

#AskingAutistics #Autism #Neurodivergent #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD

Autistic friends: what have you tried to recover from autistic burnout? Let me know in the comments!

#askingautistics #autisticburnout #burnout #burnoutrecovery

There are limits to what you can do. And those limits aren't necessarily a bad thing. They can provide structure, reduce overwhelm, enhance focus, offer clarity.

If you can only do so much: what matters most to you? What's busy work that doesn't have as much meaning or impact? What's within your current capability? What's one thing you can do today that will matter?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #Neurodiversity

I've suspected for a while that I'm probably on the spectrum. It seems to fluctuate, but for the past few days I've been experiencing something that sounds very much like what I understand autistic burnout to be like.

Tasks which should be simple (e.g.: feeding myself) become insurmountable obstacles. I'm exhausted all the time, and when it's at its most acute, communicating what I'm experiencing becomes impossible. I literally lose the ability to form coherent sentences.

Is that what this is? Do others experience this? And more importantly, has anyone found any kind of strategies to help manage/minimize it?

The best way I've found to deal with it is to simply disengage from everything until I manage to build up a spoon reserve again. Unfortunately, this does not exactly seem compatible with the responsibilities of adulthood.

#AskingAutistics

Edit: I realize that I may have given an incorrect impression in this post. I have experienced this before. It's just been particularly bad the past few days. It seems to ebb and flow.

In fact, I've had a term to describe this since high school. At the time, I had dubbed it a "neural meltdown".

Every time you say no to someone who wants something from you, you're also saying yes to something else.

What do you need to say yes to right now? Rest? Peace? Focus? A previous commitment?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity

What’s one thing you’re excited, intrigued, or have been dreaming about, that’s physically possible for you to do, and that you’ve been stopping yourself from doing?

I’d like to talk to that part of you that says you can’t. Why can’t you? Is there fear? A practical barrier? I’m asking without judgment or shame; it’s a genuine question.

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity

I’ve gotten a lot of advice over the years about taking breaks at just regimented time schedules, and that never has worked for me, but I can break larger projects into smaller pieces so that it doesn’t feel like I have to do the whole thing at once.

What advice have you gotten a lot that just doesn't work for you? Have you found any solutions that work better for your brain?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #ADHD #Neurodiversity

@stekopf
That is a good question and I already have an answer to that in my mind. I don't have the spoons left to write it down today, but I will try do that tomorrow.

#AskingAutistics

@TarkabarkaHolgy @therapeutin
If you don't specifically need a formal diagnosis, there are plenty of resources to help you decide for yourself whether you are neurodivergent or not. And it is also widely accepted in the community that self-"diagnosis" is perferctly valid (not everyone likes to use that term, too pathologizing). Myself and plenty of other people would be happy to point you in several directions if you like. You can also use the hashtags #AskingAutistics and #ActuallyAutistic for wider reach. :BlobCatSmiley:

And even if you do decide to get an official diagnosis at some point, this could be good to do in the meantime just for your own edification and peace of mind.

My fifth grader is going through a wringer, which will surely only increase next year, sixth grade, new school. He's undiagnosed-probably-definitely-autistic with a big tender heart. And certain kids (who used to be friends) are doing little things that cut him to the bone, probably(?) because they know they can get a rise out of him. I know what I did to survive school at his age, but I don't know my strategies were best.

How do you advise your kid so as to minimize normie-inflicted trauma and preserve the availability and tenderness of that beautiful ND heart? What strategies do you advise? How do you prevent hiding, masking, toughening and shame?

#actuallyAutistic #askingAutistics @autistics

If you stay small, don't rock the boat, don't shine, don't make waves, don't break out of the mold, stay in line with the way things are supposed to be:

Who doesn't have to change?
Who benefits?
Who gets off the hook?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity

Is there a way you can help people who are going through the things you've already come through?

The hard stuff you've worked on, healed, and can now deal with someone else's hard thing without being triggered or overwhelmed yourself?

That might be a way to use your experiences for a purpose.
#AskingAutistics

Infrasound (along with the effects of liminal spaces) could explain why people feel spooked in big old empty buildings like theatres, schools, hospitals, grand churches.

But... I find these spaces pleasant. Is there a subset that reacts differently to infrasound? It would explain the mixed results of infrasound investigations.

What might be the Venn diagram of that subset and #actuallyautistic #adhd #audhd folk? #askingautistics

Infrasound is my weighted blanket 😆

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/27/spooky-feelings-in-old-houses-may-be-caused-by-boiler-sounds-study-suggests

#AskingAutistics

Have you ever wondered why you don't always succeed very well in human society?

The ‘48 laws of power’ could go some way to explaining it!

A thread 🧵

1/10

(From the bestselling '48 Laws of Power’ by Robert Greene)

#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent

If you’re #Autistic and you’re in a situation where you’re working with, living with, friends with someone who is regularly hurting you, and you can’t figure out why, but there’s clearly a bad situation: I’m wondering, what is it about them that is creating this situation? 1/2
#AskingAutistics

What does the world need to learn from you that you know precisely because of the things that you’ve been through? Because of the shit that you’ve had to go through, because of the crap that you’ve endured?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity

#AskingAutistics

How would you describe your ordinary daily level of anxiety (if any at all)?

#Autism #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #AuDHD

"If we all worked under the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance." - Orville Wright

True in science, as well as personal growth. What have you been told is true that you've found out (or suspect) isn't?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity

I'm working to group and curate the massive collection of info I have on topics relevant to the later identified autistic journey, so it's easier to find and sort through. (Over 200 blog posts and 350 videos.)

Which topics are you interested in?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity #ND

What if you could talk to a version of yourself 20 years from now? What would they want you to know? What can they tell you that will help you right now?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity

One of the current diagnostic criteria for autism is a lack of imagination.

Would you say you lack imagination?

Whatever way you answer, I'd love to hear more detail - if you've time & inclination.

Reposts also appreciated ☺️

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #Diagnosis #Neurodivergent

In what ways do you find it difficult to function that neurotypicals often don't notice or think about?

#AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #Neurodiversity

#AskingAutistics

Anyone else with very sensitive feet that hate most shoe and sandal textures? For me it's because they feel sticky. What do you wear when it's too hot for socks?

I need to understand why masking is not sustainable in the long run.
The same way the french youtuber Za explains how the adhd meds work on the brain, I would like to really understand what makes masking exhausting, why it can't last.
I see it, I feel it, I don't understand it so I can't really heal from it.
Do you have any ressources on that topic ? French or english
#askingautistics

Je n'arrive pas à comprendre pourquoi, chimiquement, physiologiquement, le masking ne tient pas.
Je le sais je le vois je le vis mais je ne comprends pas ce qu'il se passe dans le corps ou dans le cerveau.
J'ai besoin de comprendre, comme quand Za explique le fonctionnement de la Ritaline versus les amphétamines dans le cerveau.
Avez-vous des ressources ? Fr ou en
#askingautistics