Those videos of people "gentle parenting" other adults make me uncomfortable.

They all seem to put on the high-pitched voice and baby speak, and it makes me worry that people will think gentle parenting is just being condescending.

...I hope I'm wrong (1/10) Toning down the vocab and doing a sing-song-y voice can be developmentally appropriate for talking to very young children (2-5 years) regardless of parenting style.

But talking to older children (or even adults) in the same way, isn't gentle parenting, it's infantilization (2/10

Got my COVID and flu shots yesterday and it serves as such an important reminder of how neurodivergence impacts everything.

The shots have made my sensory systems go WILD today. Even everyday routine things are threatening to send me careening into sensory overload (1/ Feeling feverish and overwhelmed then impacts my executive functioning.

The energy to get started with things is so much harder to come by, and keeping organized and on task is even more of a struggle than usual (2/

ADHD impacts every part of our lives, even things that most non-ADHD'ers take for granted.

So... let's talk about how ADHD impacts our relationship with food. A thread (1/🧵) ADHD primarily impacts executive functions, including attention, impulse control, task initiation, working memory, and physical and mental organization.

Executive functions are a necessary part of just about all complex behaviours, including almost everything around food (2/16)

For a lot of ADHD'ers, burnout is a frequent unwelcome companion.

This is because being ADHD makes us more susceptible to burnout, and changes what burnout feels like, and what it takes to heal from it.

Let's talk about it. A thread (1/🧵) Burnout is a state of near constant exhaustion often coupled with a sense of ineffectiveness and negative perceptions of other people.

Burnout is more than stress or frequent overwhelm. People experiencing burnout generally don't feel like it goes away from short-term rest (2/25

Have you seen posts about how autism/ADHD "is the next step in human evolution" or similar?

That's Aspie Supremacy or ADHD Supremacy rhetoric.

Let's talk about what it is, why it's dangerous, and what we can do about it (1/🧵) Aspie Supremacy is the theory that autism, and specifically "aspergers" or "high-functioning autism," isn't a disability at all.

Instead, they argue these are biological and evolutionary advantages (2/17)

You know that feeling when you're going to buy something (such as a car) and then you just start seeing it everywhere?

Imagine having that with the most painful and distressing memory of your life. This is a trigger, and let's talk about it (1/🧵) Traumatic experiences leave lasting scars on our psyches.

These scars can take many forms, from intense dissociation, to callous dismissal, to extreme pain points (2/10)

Over the last couple weeks, I've noticed that my relationship with Twitter has changed in a pretty stark way, and I don't like it.

Twitter has always been a place were I could lose time if I'm not careful, especially marveling at wild takes I don't personally agree with (1/🧵) In the last couple weeks, however, the time I spend consuming content on this site has been majorly damaging to me.

I've found myself angry, upset, anxious, and scared far more than I used to and it's definitely impacting my relationship with other people and myself (2/8)

TW: Food, Intuitive Eating, Food Rules

Last night, I came across a TikTok about how intuitive eating isn't always a good fit for folks who struggle with interoception (such as autistic and/or ADHD folks), and that sometimes food rules are necessary. TW: Food

It felt like someone gave me permission to have the relationship with food that I know actually works for me.

I've known what I need my relationship with food to be like for a long time, but seeing someone else verbalize is still such a relief

Having ADHD changes our relationship with time. This shaky relationship with time can have major impacts on our lives, and it's more than just being late.

Let's talk about it. A thread (1/🧵) This strained relationship ADHD'ers have with time is called time agnosia (or sometimes time blindness).

Time agnosia can feel a lot of different ways, and for some people with ADHD, time can feel slippery, elastic, or inconsistent (2/13)

For a lot of people with ADHD, rejection, and even the potential of rejection, can feel like intense emotional pain. This is rejection sensitivity.

Let's talk about some strategies to ride that wave of rejection and come out the other side.

A thread 🧵 While the root of rejection sensitivity for ADHD'ers is yet to be understood, the result are often incredibly big, incredibly painful emotions.

The bad news is emotions, especially big ones, can make impulsivity more likely by increasing impulses and slowing inhibitions (2/18)

A lot of autistic and/or ADHD folks struggle when routines are disrupted.

For ADHD'ers, disruption can wipe the next steps of the routine from our mind. For autistic folks, disruptions can lead to rigidity, freezes, or worse. Either way it's dysregulating.

Let's talk about it🧵 Routines can be imagined as a series of steps where the first step starts the second, the second starts the third and so on.

The automatic nature of this process reduces executive functioning needs by reducing decision making and the demands on short-term memory

The way the world works is rarely the way that's best for autistic people. In order to survive, we often need to change how _our_ world works. This means accommodating ourselves.

Let's talk about some of the best accommodations I've given myself since realizing I'm autistic: 1) Respecting my sensory needs.

My sensory needs didn't magically change when I realized I was autistic. I always knew stores, cafes, & public venues were overwhelming.

I knew I couldn't handle microfiber, oily textures, or unplanned wetness.

What changed was my own shame

The myth that, if you find your one true passion, you are going to love your work and love your life, is particularly damaging to people with ADHD (1/🧵) ADHD'ers often have intense, all-consuming passions, but nearly always our passions change with little warning.

Being told that we just haven't found our true passion is teaching us to feel like we've failed every time we have a new passion or interest (2/5)

You know that "I have an important appointment later today... so I can't do anything until it happens" feeling?

Yeah... that's Waiting Mode.
Let's talk about how to get out of it (1/🧵)

[Paid content; editorial my own] Waiting Mode, coined by @semispeaking, involves a couple elements more common to neurodivergent brains.

At it's core, Waiting Mode is an attention regulation issue related to anxiety, but also involves time agnosia and struggles getting started (2/16)

https://twitter.com/semispeaking/status/1317168964070506498?lang=en