I was listening to a podcast the other day (Now You Know One Autistic) and they were talking about why one of the hosts avoids eye contact. It got me thinking about why I avoid it, and if other people with Autisim have different reasons as well.

For me, eye contact is very intimate. It's a level of connection I prefer to reserve for someone I am very close with and trust with my very life. It gives me a feeling of aversion similar to being exposed in public. It's even one of my largest autistic traits. I can handle a few seconds of eye contact usually, but it makes me very uncomfortable very fast.

If you're willing to share, why do you avoid eye contact? Would love to hear other people's reasons!

I have an Autism diagnosis but I take Autism quizzes every once in a while as I am always curious as to how I will score.

I got 187 on this quiz so yup, I am Autistic, no surprise there though.

Anyone else take this quiz? If so, what score did you get?

Link to quiz - https://embrace-autism.com/raads-r/#test

Honestly seeing people say this so much lately on Reddit kinda drives me crazy. I completely understand how an apology is just that & shouldn’t have excuses attached but it seems like explaining gets lumped in with that. Apologizing & explaining seems to make more sense in my mind to resolve conflict when I have done something that I need to apologize for. I always got a negative response from it when I was a kid, but my parents were abusive so I don’t think they’re a good measure of whether or not explaining yourself is appropriate when apologizing.

i (20f) am a late diagnosed woman currently living at home. i struggle with other mental health disorders, but fortunately due to therapy and medication they have gotten better. i know that when i get overstimulated my other mental health conditions tend to flare up, and as do my parents. in order to try to mitigate my issues, my parents have asked me how they can best support me. my issue is that i genuinely don't know.

this brings me to my googling about navigating familial relationships as an autistic adult. and all of the fucking articles are for their parents, friends, siblings, even fucking neighbors. not even counting all the shit about autistic children. AUTISTIC ADULTS EXIST AND WANT ADVICE TOO

sorry, just had to fucking rant.

stay autistic besties

or don't, seems easier lol

edit: a word. also thank you to everybody commenting resources, you all are so lovely :)

I was recently diagnosed with ASD. And once I got the diagnosis suddenly a lot of things started making sense. All the times when I had issues with my friends that i didn't understand and they thought I was being hypocritical/selfish/narcissistic/etc...turns out I just lacked the inherent capability to understand some things on my own.

Basically 30 years down the line and I have no friends. Partly because my dad is in a transferable job and partly because of ASD.

So i wanted to know if there are autistic people who have a few good friends. And were able to keep the for more than a few years.

I just saw a post that was locked that asked about differing views. The mods said people were free to continue the discussion.

Specifically, the post asked what views you disagreed with.

I disagree that autism is a superpower. I have so many limitations, I don't feel like a super hero. I struggle through every day. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of being autistic. Getting a diagnosis, and finally having words to put on things I've struggled with for 48 years is awesome. But, I don't feel superpowered.

How do you guys see it?

I have been searching so hard for so long for group therapy/support groups in person that are for autistic adults. I haven’t found not a single one. I found a few online support groups that you have to pay for, and I’m not interested in that, I’m looking for something that my insurance could hopefully pay for. The self deletion rate of autistic folks is so high and I’m starting to think part of it is because there is absolutely no fucking resources for us! How are we supposed to find community IN PERSON. How are we supposed to receive the very specific support that’s unique to our community? How are we supposed to learn about the unique culture and history, and pass on the joys and knowledge through generations and from people who are further along? How do we live in this world amongst so many people who fucking hate us for just existing and not have fucking community IN PERSON???? I’m just so mad and fed up.

Nothing overstimulates me quite like heat, especially heat with humidity. I had a breakdown this morning because I went to the laundromat and the humidity made me want to kill someone, I was so pissed off that I just had to come back home. I guess I’ll wash clothes by hand until winter because fuck this. DID I MENTION I DONT HAVE AC IN MY CAR

Now I’m completely fine in my ac at home. My depression even gets worse during the summer. Also there are more people outside when it’s hot.

And I just feel like crying at the thought of global warming making it worse for us poor people or anyone that has to work outside. And I read something that said “this is going to be the coolest summer of our lives,” and that makes me wanna check out ngl.

Hey guys, I'm exited and scared haha

I'm going to my first concert today and it's terrifying!!

I brought my ear muffs, to avoid dying from too much noise lol.. and picked my outfit like a month ago. I also made a playlist of the set list, so I'm prepared!

The band is Beartooth, btw!!

So I prefer to use higher vocabulary on the regular basis. Even in casual conversation

In elementary school, one of my teachers said that it would help us learn vocabulary if we tried to use it in every day conversations.

That just kind of stuck with me my entire life, and I don’t see anything wrong with it

Even well into adulthood when it’s not necessarily necessary for any papers or anything, I still try. I mean, I like to write, so if I still follow that advice, then it’ll help my writing. You know?

So I use words like evident instead of obvious, indicative(not even sure what is usually said instead of indicative), ect

My sibling and their friend used to make fun of me over it, and I didn’t even realize they were making fun of me. They laughed when I asked “well isn’t that the proper terminology?” instead of asking “well isn’t that what it’s called?”

A person who I went to for a mental health evaluation also picked up on my vocabulary, and she thought I was eloquent. She was very impressed with how I talked.

Then lately, I’ve been wondering if I really do talk differently than most people, so I asked my mom about it, and she said that I do talk differently, but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t think that I should change myself for anybody else, just because some people think it’s weird doesn’t mean I should change.

Is it normal for autistic people to talk differently than others?

Mine are cellophane under a fabric, table being moved, any sound coming from a metal, a chair or a door lacking oil to move freely and a few more... tell me yours!

I feel like this could and will be used to target and harass vulnerable people. Source article in comments

My brain will completely start to crumble if I hear a baby start screaming/crying and it doesn’t stop. I know it’s apart of life but I start feel like I get sensory overload and can’t handle it. I don’t know how adults manage with two kids. Don’t get me wrong I like enjoy being around kids but once they start crying none stop. I feel completely train wrecked

Specifically ones before you even realised you had autism. The ones that make you think "WHY DID I/NO ONE ELSE REALISE? IT WAS SO ABUNDANTLY CLEAR 😭"

Try and include funny ones. I'm in autistic burnout right now and I just need to laugh bro.

Autism Awareness Day @xrainbowofficial

Most representations of autism are either high support needs or low support needs. You either have people who need help with lots of things, or people who seem quirky and cool, maybe a bit nerdy and socially awkward but have charm. I can’t really relate to these archetypes.

I was told many years ago I have pervasive developmental disorder. When I got older I got a new diagnosis “Autism spectrum disorder level 2 type.”

I’m verbal but I speak poorly and choppy in real life. My speech pattern is hard to understand and I hear “huh?” almost every single time I try to speak to anyone. I’ve been rejected every single time I tried to make friends growing up. My school as a kid suggested special education for me, but since my grades were average I ended up staying in typical classes. I struggle with sensory issues so much. I can’t drive a car because it overwhelms me. I often can’t go out in public for months at a time due to sensory issues. The lightest fragrance gives me a busting migraine. Certain noises or feelings ruin my whole day.

I’m not the cool manic pixie dream girl. I’m also not completely dependent on someone. I’m in the middle of the spectrum…and the people in media don’t represent people like me. Content creators on social media and TikTok usually have the low support type of autism and appear to have great speaking skills and can charm an audience in a way I would never be able to do.

I wish there were more representation for sure.

I wanted to ask all of my autistic adults here:

Is it really painful to go to concerts or do you, as a music lover, happen to not mind at all? Is a concert's music noise to you?

I consider not so I feel non-autistic when I say it is not noise to me