I've been reminded tonight that I have missed 4 of my family members funerals because I didn't want anyone else in my family to die. I've spent the last week quietly asking people to wear a mask so no one else dies, particularly my friend with diabetes, who initially.. 1/9 Didn't wear a mask. I've had to explicitly ask my group of friends, 2 of which are healthcare workers, to mask during this vacation. One now only masks if it says immunocompromised or cancer on a patient's chart. Not all the time anymore. (No external factors have changed). 2/9

I genuinely cannot believe that for so many autistic people, we have had to deal with awful sensory experiences for DECADES, and the only answer I get from neurotypical people who don't want to wear a mask, after asking multiple times, is "I don't want to" - 1/9 Oh ok, we are accepting that answer as valid now?! Why wasn't that an acceptable answer for me for years?!! Why did I have to go to the grocery store or wear a dress when I "didn't want to" and it caused horrible distress?!

Why do neurotypical people except themselves 2/9

So many allistic people think that if autistic children struggle in their family's environment that they "can't be independent" when 80% of the problem is that the autistic child has been *forced to live in the family's sensory environment* in the first place. 1/4

https://twitter.com/SNeurotypicals/status/1797280640003670166

As an adult I don't have to have the TV on at all times, I don't have to empty the dishwasher super loudly, I don't have to use a loud vacuum, and I can decide when to use the washer/dryer. I don't have to have all the lights on, or eat certain things at certain times. 2/4

Trying to write this autism philosophy paper really has me thinking about autistic neurology. It seems like autistic people are simply affected more easily by things. For example, there's research showing it's hard for NTs to solve problems or talk while making eye contact.

1/11 And in situations of duress and extreme overwhelm, neurotypical people likely might stim or yell or show "extreme" behaviors. Part of me thinks autistic "behavior" is from having our senses turned up X100 compared to NTs and then being forced to live in a society of NTs..

2/11

The really interesting part to me about ABA is that there's an assumption that autistic people are somehow more robotic and less human,

but the act of manipulating autistic children into "being more human" actually turns them into compliance robots.

1/4 If a kid (any kid) is taught that if they say "Hi how are you?" and every time they do that, they get a reward, then here's what they don't learn:

1. Why people say that
2. Why anyone would be motivated to say that
3. That they should do things without getting a reward.

2/4

When you're an autistic person you have to take neurotypical people's comforting lines of "I'm sure it'll be fine" with a giant mountain of salt, especially when it comes to social interactions and how you'll be received. I always get friendly-tricked into believing it. 🤦 Sometimes I want to reply, "I appreciate that you are trying to comfort me but I'm not sure you understand the totality of my reality in social situations. I will at some point inherently say the exact wrong thing to get people to dislike me and will have no idea this occurred."

I know people talk about disability tax, and tonight I'm thinking about the autism tax: Having to stock up on processed/pre-made food because you never know when you're not going to be able to eat a different cooked meal. I keep seeing all these finance people telling others to stop spending so much money on groceries and people respond with "oh we can do that" but all of the high-priced items are things I need to fall back on, like cereal and frozen food and smoothies because food sensitivities.

CW eating, food

Disabled people shouldn't have to be ashamed of what they can or cannot eat.

Sometimes I live off of cereal, microwavable mac and cheese, and pre-bought smoothies.

For cooked meals that I like to eat, sometimes I don't finish my food (a lot of times).

1/5 There is a ridiculous amount of shame built up in autistic people particularly for not eating/liking/trying/finishing food and I just had this thought tonight of, "Oh, all of those things are made up" [and the points don't matter].

2/5

So since you have this huge platform, where you can help people combat anti-trans bills that are being passed right now & make people aware of the high assault, murder, and suicide rates of trans people..

You're going to do that now right? Cause you're a trans ally? Make change?

https://twitter.com/MightyKeef/status/1623117913027760129

There's this whole idea that if you can't make a HUGE impact immediately that advocacy doesn't matter.

This is a person who literally could help make change to actually be an ally, and has decided that it's more important to make a video on a hot topic instead.

Let's talk about food consistency and instant gratification!

My spouse was nice enough to pour my cereal for me yesterday. I eat cereal that has dried strawberries in it and he told me today that he gave me extra yesterday.

Well, I didn't have the heart to tell him..

1/6 Breakfast is my one consistent meal each day, especially on workdays. It's easier for me to eat all my cereal if each bite is consistent.

I actually would prefer to have less strawberries one day if it meant that each day had about the same ratio of cereal to strawberries.

2/6

There is a huge obsession with assuming doctors and psychologists are perfect superhuman beings who know all and can fix everyone,

and as someone who is autistic, has a sleep disorder, and acquired a permanent physical disability that took 2 years to diagnose,

That's a lie. 1/2 I also say this as someone who has both close family and relatives who are fancy doctors (4-5 of them).

No, I promise you they are just people, and they'll readily admit that themselves if you ask them (I can't say most other doctors will though). 2/3

Self-diagnosis is an absolutely reasonable thing to do especially for autistic adults - because most of them will do more research than a person doing the diagnostic assessment (the person who diagnosed me said this),

and... [continued]

1/5 no one is going to walk up to you at 20, 30, 60 years old and tell you you're autistic and validate your experiences.

Likewise, rarely does any psychologist do so either, even for autistic adults who go to therapy or see doctors regularly.

2/5

I've been seeing a lot of late-identified autistic people processing their neurotype recently,

and it's reminded me that about 70% of that processing for me was about unlearning shame for being myself.

1/9 It's processing memories and then realizing that things were not "your fault" or not even "someone else's fault" but were painful and suppressed your natural self nonetheless.

For me the hard part was acknowledging that *I* was the one who put pressure on myself.

2/9

If you have met one neurotypical person, you have met one neurotypical person.

#NeurotypicalAwareness Oh my apologies, the correct terminology is:

If you have met one person with neurotypicalism, you have met one person with neurotypicalism.

#NeurotypicalAwareness

Oh look actually everyone has a different interpretation of people's facial expressions. It's almost like tests made to assess autistic people's "theory of mind" and "empathy" are full of crap -

washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/… Hmm it's so interesting that none of the researchers singles out one set of participants and calls them deficient or bad at reading social cues.. wonder why that is..

“The study suggests that it could prove problematic in everyday life when people interpret facial expressions"

There's also a phenomenon where people genuinely believe they're significantly less likely to get infected by COVID from their friends and family.

It makes absolutely no sense. But I've seen people believe this.

I really don't know why. Is it because they want to believe it?

https://twitter.com/makeupartist524/status/1605682399077363712

I know there is not a strict NT/autistic line to be drawn here,

But I do think being autistic has helped me see through the media BS that everything is fine just because people want to believe it. It's like I can see through the veil or something.

& it really pisses people off.

I once explained to someone that even a relatively non-traumatic event but a *jarring* one continually replayed in my head visually 10 times in 3 days without my consent and I wonder if this is a specifically autistic thing or neurodivergent thing or what?

1/6

https://twitter.com/AutisticGothic/status/1599155466239516672

Any stimulus either has a delayed emotional processing (esp. something like pain) or I actually experience that sensation multiple times after it happened.

Examples -
Someone bumping into me & didn't hurt.
Touching something that almost burns.
Ear pain from loud sounds.

2/6

[SPOILERS]
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I have such complicated thoughts about Wednesday Addams in that new show. I don't see her as unmasking, but using her "ruthlessness" as a shield.

There's a clear childhood arc where she gets deeply hurt and "vows never to cry again."

1/9

https://twitter.com/hannaweeen/status/1599255701699710977

[SPOILERS]
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Basically she experienced a traumatic bullying event where it was so painful, realizing how cruel people can't be to others because they're different, and went "I'm going to pretend to be what other people already see me as in the first place."

2/9

This is 100% true. Absolutely.

However, unfortunately this comment is most often used by allistic people to then negate whatever an autistic person's point of view is.

I don't ever hear this phrase for other disabilities, like for blind people or Deaf people or people with TBIs

https://twitter.com/AlsJaneTherapy/status/1599410545379065857

I wonder if that is because allistic people have so co-opted what autism is seen as in our society that this became a phrase to dispute autistic voices in the 1st place. I don't know if that's true, but I do find it so very strange that I never once heard this about anything else

Sometimes I see people posting photos from conferences with a bunch of science grad students and professors and I just want to yell "But why aren't you wearing masks?!!" I didn't realize that ableism and incompetent government and CDC messaging could override people's basic understanding of airborne viruses and their long-term consequences.

There's been a big misunderstanding by allistic people in my life when there's a loud noise that they cause & I reflexively say "ow!" because the sound physically hurt.

What they don't realize is that I even do this when *I* make a loud noise, like tonight with a baking sheet >< Me explaining this to allistic family: "You don't understand, I yell -at myself- when this happens too!"