ScottinSoCal 🇺🇦 🕊 🏳‍🌈 @ScottSoCal@computerfairi.es

@dbc3 @rabia_elizabeth@mefi.social @actuallyautistic

"I had zero interest in climbing the corporate ladder. I cared about what projects I did"

Exactly this. I love what I do, and what other people do with the things my company makes. Getting promoted would take me away from that, and then it would just be a job, like any other job.

@actuallyautistic

Speaking of autistic traits - does anyone else shred the upholstery if you're in a car that squeaks or rattles? I can't buy a car if it has anything like that, and if one develops I'll track it down and refasten it, lubricate it, or replace it.
Patterns of noise I can handle, but random noise just tap dances on my last nerve.

@melindrea @Tooden @Pathfinder @TheAutisticTooter@autistics.life

The eye contact thing I knew about myself, because I spent years training myself to look people in the eye (which can also be a problem, when you're described as "intense").
I was told I came across as dishonest, because I didn't do eye contact.

@actuallyautistic

The hyperfocus thing can be a real benefit. I restored a 1978 Mercedes 450SL - a car I knew nothing about, except it was cute, and I wanted it. By the time I was done I was the forum subject matter expert for the Bosch D-Jetronic mechanical fuel injection system, the suspension, and the vacuum system (door locks, HVAC, a bunch of stuff).

#ActuallyAutistic

@Pathfinder @TheAutisticTooter@autistics.life @actuallyautistic

Ah! That's another one - those repetitive movements. I was sure I didn't do anything like that, then I got into a fraught situation at work, and I started rubbing the ends of my fingers together, and clicking my fingernails. I do it whenever I'm stressed.

@somecat @actuallyautistic

This is pretty specific, and niche. At work, one of the things I do is create End Item Data Packages. Something that fully documents the provenance and processing done on a contractual deliverable assembly. From the source of the components, the qualification testing, the processing, the validation testing, all of it coming together to make a "Pass" and my signoff. I like watching all that come together, building a complete history of this one, unique build.

@TheAutisticTooter@autistics.life @actuallyautistic

Speech issues. When I'm just talking with people I know, and I'm comfortable, talking is easy, so I figured that was my baseline, and the rest was anomaly. But I realized those people are very few and far between, and most of the time I'm tongue-tied.
An exception is the training I did at work, but it's a subject I know well, feel completely confident in, and can field just about any question. So that's definitely a one-off.

@Pathfinder @doggle @actuallyautistic

I started wearing polarized sunglasses, because the sun reflecting off car windows is perfect for starting a migraine, for me.

@rabia_elizabeth@mefi.social @actuallyautistic

I've never read an article that has identified so many things I relate to.

@MicheleV_AK

The "banning guns won't work" people sure seem to think banning books is effective.