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They stayed mostly the same, experience wise, but as an adult I can make more choices myself. And I have more experience about what causes issues and what I should avoid in general.
I however still have issues with loud noise, itchy clothing, bright light and too much touch. But as an adult I can just buy (or sew) the clothing I can tolerate, I can wear noise cancelling headphones and wear sunglasses and just don't touch people and pretty much nobody can force me to do otherwise.
Hey, let's talk shop. I can sew a lotta stuff when my hands a good (I hand sew because machines overwhelm me - le sigh!) but I have wanted to so, so, so badly sew some clothing for myself. But I can't ever seem to figure out what kind of fabric I want to work with. And none of the stuff I find in stores ever seems to be the right stuff to makes tops with. Maybe bottoms, not tops for sure though. So you mind passing on some of your shared-knowledge on this? Cause I am mad curious!
Also, I really like that you stated you can choose how you interact with the world. That's really sound and absolutely true. You get to have more control, and so it helps you feel safe. I wonder if we could translate this in a way that could aid younger people? I am not sure though, because kids do require structure. But perhaps not ABA levels of "do it enough times and it'll just stick" hyper-vigilance =/!
I dig your vibes though =)
To be completely fair, I picked up sewing recently as a new special interest and I'm still in the learning phase.
I prefer pure cotton (or linen or other cotton based fabrics like viscose or modal) and then the fabric you choose depends on how thick it needs to be and if it should be elastic (jersey, sweat) or not (eg. standard woven dress shirt fabric, denim, canvas,...). I buy most of my fabric online as I don't like interacting with people, but going into stores definitely has advantages in that you can touch the fabric.
I only machine sew (unless hand sewing small parts is kinda necessary). My fine motor functions are pretty bad (probably autism related), so I got a cheap standard sewing machine and a used serger from eBay.
So far I've made a hoodie, some tops/t-shirts, some underwear ( didn't come out very well tbh, had not the right fabric) and I've changed some store bought jeans and t-shirts to fit me better.
Check out freesewing if you're interested, there are lots of neurodiverse people on their discord server who can help you and the website can create sewing patterns for your sizes.
That's the catch for me too. I grab mine from Bobbie Lou but I can't touch the fabric and sometimes they come to me and even if they're marked they surprise me in texture or by weave. I used to grab a lot in the store pre-pandemic. But I really never felt anything I wanted to turn into a shirt. I want that buttery smooth stuff. I once had a rayon shirt that was lighter than a breeze that tore to shreds when my gal's skate belt ended up in the wash. I was thinking going that direction, because as it stands I wear only cotton. And it's okay, but it's pretty utilitarian. And that softness, oh that softness. That's the stuff dreams are made out of.
I am probably going to hand-sew for life. I've thought about it a handful of times. a) I get immense pleasure from the act of hand -> THING (as in whatever I created with my hands) but b) Idk. I mean so many women in my life all could sew that way. And did. My best bud of a hundred years (who I've seemingly lost touch with as of late maybe due to drugs...=/) could sew like a machine. He tried to give it a go with me but I just didn't follow. I just don't have that *thing* that drive for learning it anymore. I figured however something comes out, as long as I did it I'm happy. And I've sewn a ton of things for myself but I def am the queen of wabi-sabi.
Yooo, I didn't even think about underwear! That's brilliant! Also being a professional shortie, hemming is a lifesaving skill. I think I heard of read someone once say - what's the difference between celebrities and you if you bought the same shirt. That the celebrity gets all their clothing tailored. So if you can do your own work, you're probably out here looking great for it too.
Big thanks for the site. Eyeballs the pacos @_@!!!!! I am like a moth to the flame right now. Thanks again =)~
Worse, but I think a big part of that has been giving myself the space to have those sensory response moments, and just like understanding myself better, being more patient with myself, stuff like that.
Being true to yourself is 10/10 the way to go even if it causes things to get worse I think. Cause then at least you can figure out what you've been hiding with masking and just unapologetically do the opposite from here on out.
I do better with light-based over-stimulation than I did in my early 20s, but I have a lot more trouble with sounds. There's a retailer here in Japan that has its store music (loud), various TVs and other devices playing separate ads at the same time at high volume, and just people noise that leads to a cacophony that triggers my fight-or-flight. I can't go in there for long without noise-cancelling headphones. My brain I think tries to listen to everything at once and can't separate things out leading to issues; I hear them all so I can't listen to or discern any one of them (which is a more general issue I have that gets worse as I get older trying to hear people over any background noise).