Thread by @stand_for_all

Thread: I use a lot of different things to help me appear "normal", for want of a better word, while also being comfortable and feeling safe being #actuallyautistic, which occasionally get confused with deliberately trying to look a certain way. 1/

This can have the unfortunate effect of some people thinking that I am essentially putting on a "performance". Well, I guess I am in a way, but not for attention. It is to try and fit in as best I can. 2/

I wear waistcoats, pretty much every day. They feel comfortable, they mean I don't have to worry about higher function tasks like ironing my shirt, more importantly for me though, they help to calm my anxiety by acting as a kind of deep pressure therapy. 3/

I have a beard, not because of style, as anyone who has seen it will know, but because shaving can be a sensory nightmare, it acts as stimming aid, through stroking it, and it helps me feel like I am covering my facial expressions, or lack thereof. 4/

I carry a Zippo lighter, and will even when I finally quit smoking, because it acts as a great stimming aid, without being overly noticeable as being one when in professional situations. 5/

The point is you don't always know why #Actuallyautistic dress, act or look the way they do. We each find our own individual coping mechanisms and it can be quite hurtful when we are ridiculed or attacked for doing them. They are there to "protect" us at the end of the day. 6/