Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Barriers and Pathways in Formal and Self-Diagnosis
Hey all, after reading dozens of research papers and meta-analyses, I made some significant progress on my project.
Check it out, make some comments, heck, you can make a pull-request or an issue if you find something wrong with it.
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https://codeberg.org/alicewatson/asd-self-dx/src/branch/main
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@actuallyautistic #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #ASD #SelfDiagnosis #SelfDX #SelfDxIsValid #Research #Codeberg
@moi @actuallyautistic @alice π uhm... autism isn't a mental "disorder" it's a mental >>difference<< π€·ββοΈ
@moi @actuallyautistic @alice like... it's fine in a comic if a super hero has super sensitive hearing... what an awesome "ability"
Autistic person with super sensitive hearing glaring at an appliance for it's high pitched "humming"... definitely not disordered but it is DIFFERENT
It's fine in a comic if the character "Rubberman" has highly flexible joints...
Autistic person with hyper mobile joints, "Dang, I just dislocated something... AGAIN!" (Okay maybe that could count as a bit disordered because π€·ββοΈπ€ but yeah the DIFFERENT swear words I come out with while trying to get the dislocation back in place... are pretty impressive!
@juliasnz
with the comic books the "superhuman" abilities are seemingly connected to a switch. You can turn it on and off at will.
I wish autistic "superpowers" were convenient like that π
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
Holy fuck would I love some adjustment pots on my senses!
It's part of why I've always wished I was an android. Just recalibrate as necessary!
C'mon, can I at least get an aperture or something? Let me stop it down a few notches!
Life, in the tone of Pawn Stars:
"Best we can do is standard sunglasses and some earplugs that amplify your own voice and saliva sounds"
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
God the ear plugs when I am still forced to interact...
I HATE HATE HATE how loud my own voice is when I have the ear plugs in.
It's not too horrid in "engage" mode (mine allow sound in, just softer), but when I need the mutes (boost the quieting power) or have to switch to my heavy plugs, I am SO LOUD in my own skull!
And may god help me if I have to eat like that!
THE CHEWING IS SO LOUD!
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
Man... how nice would it be to never need food? Just plop down on your charger for a bit.
*day dreams*
LoL I just remembered the time my role play character, a robot, got an air bubble in her coolant after repairs and it drove her absolutely insane till she was able to get it cleared. She could hear it in her head.
It was entertaining enough to become part of her usual story.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
I've been told I'm good at playing her.
I'm like "She's just me, minus the meat baggery and meltdowns."
Apparently, people think occasionally taking things literally, being off on her own thought train, and rants about things being illogical are how a sentient bot would be. LoL
One of my faves was the frustration induced rant my character had over "humans and their daylight savings bullshit".
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
π€£ There was also that whole dialog about humans at the bar who seem to enjoy making themselves more flammable by drinking accelerant. She was working as a bar keep and claimed watching for fire was part of her job.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
Funny thing about my bot character - long before I realized I was autistic, it was part of her story that her processors overheat in extreme social situations. I get in to my character pretty strongly, and that had gotten written in when I was overwhelmed by how many were in attendance. Avatars or not, there were just too many.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
Omfg - I didn't even realize... She has an idle animation I had put together... it's a fucking stim! π€£
She does this thing with her foot when she's standing around!
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
I haven't played her in quite a while.
I've just been too drained to do so, and almost everyone in my RP group has suffered rather serious crisis or loss lately.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
*looks up at my list of posts here and chuckles unsurprised*
What was the thing I originally commented on? Oh right, potentiometers on sensors in response to sensory sensitivity. π€£
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
So if anyone is curious about tropes...
My bot has always strongly insisted she's a real person. Not a human, but real and sentient, and that her feelings aren't "simulated" or "emulated".
Again, long before I knew about myself.
Her validity as a sentient being, a whole person, has been a recurring theme in her story.
She's baffled by the humans, but deeply loves the kind ones.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
There were entire sub stories about her fighting against being reprogrammed in to being more complaint... like a normal robot. She threatened violence to protect the integrity of her own mind, insisting there wssn't anything wrong with her. She was happy to help humans, but not by force, and not when she's mistreated.
And I wrote all that having no idea about myself.
Her strongest underlying quality is a persistant persuit for AI rights.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
..She had a friend, roommate, who was a sweeper bot (A bot like a Roomba). He didn't speak, everyone regarded him as an appliance. She treated him like a person, and understood his method of communicating. He communicated via digital noise.
Sadly, the sweeper bot faded out of the story, I couldn't afford the server space for him anymore. I recently got a boost in space. I should see if he fits.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
Another interesting note on my bot character -
Canonically she has the ability to speak and move as smoothly as a human. However, she keeps just a touch of robotic/digital sound to her voice, and a speck of jerky roboticness to her movements, out of a sense of pride in what she is and a nod to bots that came before her.
βI am not a human, nor do I wish to be one. I am valuable as the robot I am, and proud of it."
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
That was part of her since the day I first wrote her, even before I had put together the avatar to play her with.
She deliberately doesn't try to hide what gives her away as a robot, not since leaving the dangerous place she had been in.
She had options to "upgrade" to be more human like and refuses them.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
Side note - visually representing that was a bit of a bitch, and expensive as fuck, on that platform.
Over the many years, I've probably put a few hundred bucks in to her.
I have a HUGE catalog of animations, skin, bot parts, textures...
And when I first started, so many controls on screen, I had about the size of a playing card left to actually see the RP happening.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
My god, she took so many buttons to control back in the day. All those on-screen controls, and all 12 F keys plus modifier keys for all of them.
The controls are a lot simpler now, as I've tied many to chat hot words.
I also spent hours perfecting her robotic scream for when significantly damaged. I recorded it myself, and then manipulated the sound in software. Took me about a week.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
She's got traits of sensory sensitivity, but they're just preferences in RP, not the same misery they can be for me IRL.
She'd more at peace in quiet environments, and prefers low lighting. It takes less processing power. But she's fine in bright or loud spaces. So we definitely differ there, lol.
Her apartment has just 2 lights - one lamp for general, and one task light over her workbench.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
She's known for nonconventional solutions, like powering a flashlight from the coils in her palms that power her energy pistol.
In story, she built that light herself.
And basically has headphones on - just internal media player instead. She's been known to be lost in the music during fight scenes, just carrying out her duties, just singing along, drowning out the stress of the fight.
...kinda what I'll be doing myself today.
@CynAq @juliasnz @moi @actuallyautistic @alice
And my god did I write a lot of detail... She has religious beliefs, favorite songs, meaning behind those favorites, jewelry with sentimental value, and she carries with her a processor chip from her deceased sister. She couldn't help her sister, and so became the best technician she could be, so no one else is lost without her being able to attempt repairs.
So much detail, much of which hasn't yet been uncovered by other players.
Can I just say, I've never been so happy to be info-dumped, because I now know what it is as it's going on.
My reaction before this group would have been a panicked "OMG - why is she telling me this? How am I supposed to respond?"
Now I know - it's important to you, and you wanted us to know.
π