this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
331 points (97.4% liked)

Autism

6827 readers
8 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

We have created our own instance! Visit Autism Place the following community for more info.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts must be related to autism, off-topic discussions happen in the matrix chat.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it. Chat Room
  • We have a chat room! Want to engage in dialogue? Come join us at the community's Matrix Chat.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Cross-post from the inactive [email protected]

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It could be that you have developed a form of autistic mutism or social anxiety due to previous experiences. It could be quite helpful to seek a professional evaluation followed by therapy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m on it, but have to wait a year for the assessment. I have a counsellor, but they don’t specialize in autism or assessments. When I told them I suspect I have it, they basically just acknowledged that I was seeking an assessment and changed the subject. It’s hard to navigate processing this kind of new self knowledge alone, but I’m finding lots of helpful info online.

Also, what you said about assuming other people wouldn’t be interested is definitely a part of it for me due to a lifetime of having niche interests. Or sometimes I’ll also just assume that everyone knows the things I know, so it’s not worth bringing up. Many times I’ve heard people say things in conversation that other people around them are wowed / fascinated by and in my head I’m like “I knew that thing and also could have said that, but just assumed it was common knowledge and not worth discussing”. It’s like I just don’t have a good sense of which of the things I know would of interest or use to other people, so I just don’t say anything. Or that I lack enough self-esteem to think that my thoughts would be of value to other people if they don’t seem particularly novel or impressive or useful to me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I’m finding lots of helpful info online

Check out our Helpful Resources in the sidebar. Also, feel free to make any posts asking for info, clarification, or advice. Did community is especially helpful.

Regarding the 2nd paragraph, that sounds difficult. Perhaps you haven't found your people yet since it seems like you don't flow with them well. Have you tried finding groups of autistic people? I find that I flow well around autistic people, whereas I have more difficulty with allistic people since they are operating on another wavelength with different assumptions, expectations, and goals.