@actuallyautistic
After being here some time now and reading the accounts of those recently diagnosed, whether officially or self, as autistic, there does seem to be a difference sometimes between those of us diagnosed later in life and those earlier. I think, in so many respects, it's how much you see it as a burden, a life struggle and a hurdle, that will always be there and how much that knowledge impacts you and has to be dwelt with. It just seems to me that the older you are, the more likely you are to see it as far more of a relief than a burden.
That is because so many of us have spent our lives as if in one of those dystopian nightmares we can all have now and again. Where nothing is as it seems. Where you wander a world that seems as if it should be familiar, but where nothing is where it should be, or does what it should do. Where the people you meet in it seem as if they should be someone you know, but then are something completely different. Where you are lost, even though you feel you should know the way, where things change without warning, forever trapping you in an unsolvable maze.
But then suddenly it's as if you've stepped out of that nightmare and into a dream. A golden beautiful dream where we stumble upon something that feels like home. Not a perfect home, not our real world home, but nevertheless something that feels more like home than anything ever has or could. That is what a diagnosis can feel like to us all. Finally finding a home. The difference being that the longer you've spent in the nightmare, the more the dream can come as a relief and the more you can ignore just how much work needs to be done on that home.
Dear, Mastodon. Thank you.
Back in June I asked yβall to help me find work. And you did. Your likes and boosts helped me secure a new position that I started today.
As the Lead Product Designer for BookNook, Iβll be helping to bring equitable access to learning. That will bring me joy.
Yβall are badass and I bow to you.
@JeremyMallin @actuallyautistic
People complain about the way I sit - they say it causes sympathy pain in their bodies, but mine is fine with it. Even in a chair, I often sit with one leg folded under me. I'm a decade older than you, and the only difference to when I was young is that the folded leg goes to sleep faster than it used to. I've learned to stand and walk on a floppy foot I can't control until it wakes back up.
π
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I'm an outlier. My strengths/quirks make me a good fit for niche jobs with a small supply of candidates. I just acknowledge that I'm an outlier, and my personal experience doesn't reflect the opportunities available to the general public.
Morning all, back with my news hat on, what global stories would you like to hear about on the radio tomorrow morning? Let me know, please, as some of these might actually make it on air - this is my first attempt to get set up prompts for a programme on Mastodon. π On twi it was routinely easy to find excellent experts to explain certain topics - i think masto will fare not worse, fingers crossed π
The problem I run into again and again is that my mode of empathy is to relate it to something I've experienced. That comes across as narcissistic.
@theautisticcoach @actuallyautistic Most people who tell you their problems are looking for you to express empathy, not for you to propose a solution.
@PatrickWirth @UnknownOutrider @Claire @PatternChaser @benjamincox @ScruffyDux@fosstodon.org @actuallyautistic
I impressed a former boss beyond all reasonable bounds when I interrupted his rant about the stupid. clumsy, criminally negligent, worthless movers who had broken the feed tray on a (very expensive) printer and told him that I was actually the one who broke it.
@UnknownOutrider @Claire @PatternChaser @benjamincox @ScruffyDux @actuallyautistic
Two questions.
Do you notice a big difference in written communication as compared to direct face to face with NTs?
Are there certain people you can communicate with at a MUCH higher rate of exchange ? Like a simultaneous info dump that feed off each other?
btw my nickname in the house is captain tangent and the info dump glee and 'honesty to a fault' is very familiar.
@PatrickWirth @UnknownOutrider @Claire @PatternChaser @benjamincox @ScruffyDux @actuallyautistic
Q1. Definitely
Q2. Definitely. Communication with people highly interested & knowledgeable about the subject of the conversation is at a really rewarding level.
And, yeah tangential connections that other people can't recognize or understand are a specialty π€£π If people let me explain >>how<< the stuff is connected they get it... but π€·ββοΈ Most people aren't interested in how connected / inter-related stuff is...
Watch from the very beginning of the "racial brawl" and you see it was *everyone* against maga racists. Making it white vs. black is just them trying to divide us. MAGA RACISTS are the enemy of ALL DECENT FOLKS, ALWAYS. #montgomery #fascism #alabama #solidarity
My inner dialogue has drastically changed. Thatβs what my late dx did for me. I donβt have this unkind internal voice like I used to have. A kinder me is speaking now. A forgiving me voice. How life changing inside my own mind that is. From the inside outβ¦beautiful change that does not scare me for once. #gratitude #autism #adhd #differentnotbroken #internalvoice
@Momgoth @dukeoffailure @actuallyautistic
It makes complete sense, to me. Remote they get small snippets of me, through e-mail (which I can re-read, edit, and re-write as many times as I need before I send) or when I'm being "presentable" in remote meetings, but can relax the rest of the time. They see what I do, not who/what I am, and I'm not overwhelmed trying to figure out what they really meant when they said...
@dukeoffailure @actuallyautistic Iβve worked in office with teammates who I just barely got along with, and at home for the past 3 years. I, weirdly, feel more like Iβm connected to my team when Iβm not forced to be physically there with them. If that makes sense.
So... me. Work in aerospace, more space, not as much aero. Can fix my own car, choose not to. Can fix the random appliance of your choice. Hardcore introvert in person, which is why I love online. Lifelong science fiction fan. Read constantly. Scalzi is my favorite author, because he mixes exactly the right amount of snark into his writing. Together with a guy 30+ years, married since it was legal. Own a home in CA and don't plan to leave unless I immigrate to another country.