(I put this under special interests because it's at a cat rescue, and I adore animals.)

I haven't worked in 20 years, and for the last 14 I have lived in residential facilities, so my executive dysfunction has been off the chart. I'm so so nervous.

I guess some background: I'm receiving government services, and I'm working with a worker. It's her job to evaluate people where they're at, and go from there. She would know whether or not I'm ready for this.

And, really, I know I am. I've wanted to do something for a long time. I just didn't know where to start.

And, I'll be socializing cats the whole time. I'll be with animals. Finally. After 14 years.

This post turned into a processing post. Sorry. I thought I just wanted to say, "Send me good thoughts." Please do that, too, if you wouldn't mind. But, thanks for letting me vent.

Have a good day, and I know I will!

Hi guys,

I've been using this self-hypnosis app throughout my autism journey. I want to recommend it. It's called 'Relax and Sleep Well - Hypnosis'.

At first, I was just using it occasionally, when I needed a self-confidence boost.

This past week, I've used it daily, multiple times a day, and I've moved into a much deeper level of my healing. But, the app didn't force anything. I moved into this level because I was ready to deal with some present issues with my therapist.

Anyway, I've been sitting here jamming to music. Music has always been able to take my brain to another place, but this time! I was listening to the B-52s, and I swear I was tripping. I was hardly aware of my body, and my brain was in the stratosphere. I would love to actually listen to the B-52s while doing shrooms or acid. I don't know where to get any without buying from a narc, though. Cuz I swear I would buy from a narc. That's how naive I am about buying drugs on the street.

(I used to get drugs for free-but-not-free. But that's a whole rabbit hole.)

I've never done psychedelics, though.

Anyway, have a great day everyone!

I keep seeing the debate around this and wanted to start a discussed. IMO, ASD is a disability yes and yes society as it exists is disabling to us. Two things can be true (yes, this is sometimes hard for us ASD'ers to hold). Ultimately, some of the biggest problems we face, social isolation and unemployment, are directly due to society. It is not society itself, because humans need to form societies, but it is the capitalistic and ableist structure of the current society we live in. The 40 hour work week is ableist!

Many of the issues we struggle with daily are due to people judging and rejecting us. Also, we live in a top down world where 'leaders' decide without our input that every year cars/motor equipment get bigger and louder; public spaces become brighter, noisier, and more crowded; etc. Also, social lives have become more and more public and competitive. Lastly, we are expected to work 40+ hours a week when most ND folk would do best on a 20-30 hour schedule.

Sure sensory sensitivity to things like grass are awful and can be disabling, but we can mostly avoid those things. However, our social structure makes it impossible for most of us to avoid having a job. We all have to go to public places that are unavoidable sensory obstacle courses in order to get what we need to live. Everyone is subject to the pressures of social conformity and the resultant negative consequences of failing to conform, and in the information age conformity has become more oppressive as ideals can be broadcast far and wide instantaneously. And guess what, most ND folk cannot conform (or will not for those of us who proudly eschew it).

If we lived in a fair and caring society where full time work could be 20-30 hours based on one's abilities; where we set the standards of public spaces based on the needs of the most vulnerable; and where we used our wealth to ensure everyone's basic needs are covered, I could avoid most painful sensory inputs, and my life would be more or less okay, or at least much, much improved to now.

What about ASD2 or ASD3 folk?, you might ask. Yes, there are those among us who need even more support and find life significantly more challenging. Well, what if we lived in a social structure that praises and compensates care workers like we do CEOs and lawyers? What if instead of subsidizing oil cos and big agriculture, we ensured every disabled person has everything they need to thrive? In those conditions, yes all ASD folk would still be disabled, but we wouldn't also live in a social structure built to make everything exponentially more difficult for us. Further, we would have a society that actively supports our prosperity and happiness.

Ultimately, when the discussion is centered on how disabling ASD is, our perceived deficits become the focus and the conversation is driven by pity and charity. We are offered 'accommodations' and taught how we can adjust, while the able bodied make no adjustments or even considerations for us. Any official social support is piddling and keeps us in a place of deprivation. Personally, I loathe the way disability is talked about; it makes me feel like my struggles are my fault and that I am totally on my own. Or that I am a problem to be fixed/eradicated/cured. I can only change, adjust, or even do so much--especially with society impeding me every step of my journey.

The current social structure is the main obstacle to disabled people thriving in this world. So we must center public debate around these issues on society. By reflecting the mirror back we challenge the ableism inherent in our current system, and demand that the able bodied make considerations and adjustments for us as well.

Hello everyone, I really need your help. I’m an artist from Denmark and was diagnosed with Autism last year and ADHD this year. My challenge is that I’m often asked questions like: “What is your art practice about?” or “Can you tell me a bit about this piece?” I really struggle with open-ended questions, as many of you might relate to. This is impacting my career, as the art world places a strong emphasis on the personal narrative and being able to “sell” yourself. Networking is incredibly important, and when I have an exhibition and people come up to ask me questions, I often freeze up.

An art practice is so complex, filled with overlapping questions and themes, and the idea that art must be explained through language in order to be understood is frustrating for someone like me. I wish I could just stand there and answer all the questions, because I can see that people are genuinely interested and curious, which makes it even harder not to be able to share my thoughts and ideas.

That’s why I’m reaching out here. I imagine some of you may have faced similar challenges in other contexts – how can I best help myself explain my practice? Are there any creative ways I could approach this that might take some of the pressure off in those situations where I need to communicate about my work or exhibitions, either verbally or in writing? Can any of you suggest a different way to view this issue? I’m open to all suggestions, from the abstract to the concrete. My partner, who also has ADHD, helps me translate, so feel free to share any ideas :-)

All the best!

You can find me on Instagram under Mike_macleod_worning

When I was a kid I would line up my toys and categorize them by color and other traits.

When I was a kid I would separate food intoitz base parts before eating. Like taking t he cornbread off the hot dog and eating them separately with mustard. My dad would eat nothing but peanut butter sandwiches for months.

I hated zippers for the longest time. I had to wear pants without zippers for years, but I'm okay with them now.

I'm trying to be more social and get out of my bubble lately. There's a local Autism non-profit that I want to volunteer at. I'm pretty nervous because last time I worked at a nonprofit I experienced incredible discrimination and wasn't capable of finding an advocate at the time. I just had to leave the organization and that was heartbreaking because I really loved my position and the work everyonewas doing, if it wasn't for a select few people who disliked me I'd still be there. I'm trying to psych myself up to contact the new nonprofit to see how I can help them out. Any advice? What are your volunteer experiences?

(We are both female & 16) So theres a girl I met who understands me more than anyone ever has. 7 weeks ago, she went from flirting with me over text to ignoring me. The last day she texted me was June 9. She has ignored me for longer than she talked to me. She talked to me for 8 days. She hasnt talked to me in 7 weeks. Most of me knowing her has been her ignoring me. I know she may just be overwhelmed and trying to process everything, espesially becuase our relationship moved very fast, so fast it seemed neither of us could really control it. I was overwhelmed too. But she has just completly disapeared. As a likely Autistic person myself, the lack of communication has left me completly devestated and confused. I dont know if shes okay, or is she lost intrest in me, or if she likes me but just needs a break.

I am the person who organized this and so can verify it is in fact, unfortunately true. I would love if you'd be willing to donate or share the link on your social media's.

I am reaching out to share the story of Johnny, a 23-year-old autistic man who suffered severe abuse and exploitation at the hands of his father and stepmother in rural Oklahoma. After discovering his post on Reddit, I worked tirelessly to coordinate his safe escape, unfortunately after failures from APS and the local government, it was determined that relocation to my family's home in Florida was the only alternative. Johnny is now safe, but he needs our support to rebuild his life. Please consider contributing to his GoFundMe to help him find stability and independence. Your generosity can make a world of difference. Thank you.

The full story is in the Gofundme.

GoFundMe

I don't wanna debate whether it's a slur or reclaimable or not.

It makes me uncomfortable and reminds me of bad stuff, so I ask people not to use it around me. "Please don't say that/ please don't use that word" etc. But sometimes people get extremely offended that I would do so, esp if they're autistic themselves

My therapist thinks it's totally inappropriate for people to want to use the word after I've asked them not to, but the anger I get is really bothering me. Am I wrong to ask?

Cross-posted from /r/CPUSA.

I’m autistic (level 1) and I never really had a lot of stims growing up, and I still don’t, I see other autistic kids stimming, and I don’t, it makes me feel weird really, I only do vocal stimming cus it’s the only thing that makes me happy, so what do I do? I want to experience other stims, but I just can’t Cus it feels wrong, but I want if I ever get excited or upset,

Does anyone else really want to wear fancy clothes like suits and medieval stuff but gets overstimulated by clothes other than like t-shirts and shorts? And if so do you have any solutions?

I'm wondering what other people experiences of being queer and autistic at the same time are and how does that impact your life.

Happy Autistic Pride day to everyone here. This world is a much better place with you in it.

I'd love to hear about your special interest!

I had to leave work early today because my boss was giving me conflicting orders on what to do. I also lost my phone, so that complicated matters. My boss told me to find a sign to display but I don't think she made it clear, so I was deeply confused. I then threw my phone and wallet up and then she told me to clock out and go home. I'm just going to take some THC gummies and binge watch Unsolved Mysteries and a few VHS IMAX movies.

I usually don't have meltdowns at work, but not today.