Daily OpusEverything I write is freely rebloggable. Just keep the source and tell people about my books :D [Until I decide otherwise, my pronouns are Ze/Hir/Hirself. As in "Ze went to the shops to get hir medication hirself". Thank you for the respect.]
Original post, by he-fucked-a-tiger, can be found here. A few people found it difficult to read, so I sorted the traits into categories!
Patterns and Details
Tends to analyze everything constantly
Often has slower reaction times due to need for mental processing.
May obsessively collect, organize, count, categorize, or rearrange objects.
May find math and numbers easier to deal with due to logic and lack of objective answers.
May notice patterns frequently.
May be fascinated by words or song lyrics.
Tends to best remember/learn things in visual pictures (visual thinkers).
May have a remarkable memory for certain details, i.e., may find it surprisingly easy to remembers exact details about someone’s life.
Literalism
Often straightforward and practical in nature.
Tend to say what they mean. Are often brutally honest, coming off as rude when they do not mean to be.
Sense of humor sometimes seems quirky, odd, or different from others.
Often speaks frankly and literally.
Certain kinds of humor, such as sarcasm and metaphors, may be difficult to understand.
Escapism
Often gets lost in own thoughts and zones out (may display a blank stare)
May appear naive or innocent (despite not being so)
Finds comfort in escaping through imagination, fantasy, and daydreaming.
May have had imaginary friends as a child.
Escapism frequently used to relax or avoid overwhelming situations.
Straightforwardness
Prone to honesty, has difficulty lying
May struggle to understand manipulation, disloyalty, vindictive behavior and retaliation.
May be gullible and easily taken advantage of, misled, or conned.
May try to help, offer unsolicited advice, or formalize plans of action.
Can be confused when others ostracize, shun, belittle, trick, and betray.
May frequently second-guess oneself and ask a lot of questions before engaging a task or situation
Emotional Understanding
The emotions of oneself and others may seem confusing, illogical, and unpredictable.
Expects that by acting a certain way certain results can be achieved, but realizes in dealing with emotions, those results don’t always manifest.
Often has trouble identifying feelings in others unless they are extreme.
Trouble with the emotions of hate and dislike.
May have feelings of pity for someone who has persecuted/hurt her.
Situations and conversations sometimes perceived as black or white.
The middle spectrum of outcomes, events, and emotions is sometimes overlooked or misunderstood. (All or nothing mentality).
Socializing - General
May have feelings of confusion and isolation in relation to others
May observe and question the actions and behaviors of self and others continually.
Trained self in social interactions through readings and studying of other people.
Visualizes and practices how she will act around others and before entering various social situations.
Has a continuous dialogue in mind that tells her what to say and how to act when in a social situations.
May frequently reject or question social norms.
Socializing - Conversation and Communication
May use various noises to express herself rather than using words.
May have little impulse control when speaking
May accidently dominate conversation at times.
Often relates discussion back to self (sharing as a means of reaching out)
May feels as if she is attempting to communicate “correctly.”
Often struggles with and is confused by the unwritten social rules of accurate eye contact, tone of voice, proximity of body, stance, and posture in conversation.
Eye contact often takes extreme focus, which may lead an individual’s eye contact to be darting and insufficient, or over-the-top staring/glaring.
May have difficulty regulating voice volume to different situations. Is frequently observed as being either too loud or too quiet.
Conversation, specifically small talk, can be exhausting.
May have trouble focusing on/engaging in conversation that is not centered on one’s primary interests.
May have difficulty with back-and-forth conversation
As a child, it may have been hard to know when it was her turn to talk, may still be true as an adult.
Often finds the norms of conversation confusing.
May feel misunderstood and tend to over-explain/ramble in an attempt to compensate for possible miscommunication.
Perseveration
Often holds fixations, obsessions, and extreme interest in specific topics.
May have a tendency to over-share with friends and sometimes strangers
Often sounds eager or over-zealous at times.
Mimcry
Frequently imitates (takes social cues from) people on television or in movies.
Often highly adapted to social imitation.
May take criticism and judgement very personally
May frequently adapt her viewpoints or actions based on others’ opinions
Imitates others without realizing.
Chameleon-like in social situations. Often switches preferences and behaviours based on environment and other people.
Comorbidity
Often has comorbid conditions, such as OCD, anxiety, ADD or ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, etc.
Often has sensory processing disorder (sight, sound, texture, smells, taste)
May have dyspraxia (Poor muscle tone, lack of coordination and depth perception)
May have dyslexia
May have an eating disorder or food obsessions
May have been misdiagnosed or diagnosed with other mental illness or possibly labeled a hypochondriac.
May be incorrectly seen as narcissistic
May exhibit codependent behaviors.
May have trouble recognizing what she looks like and/or has slight prosopagnosia (difficulty recognizing or remembering faces).
Executive Dysfunction
Executive function is often a challenge
Learning to ride a bike or drive a car may be rather difficult.
Anything that requires a reasonable amount of steps, dexterity, or know-how can rouse a sense of panic.
The thought of repairing, fixing, or locating something can cause anxiety.
May have a hard time finding certain objects in the house, but remembers with exact clarity where other objects are.
Sensory Processing
Tends to drop small objects
May frequently engage in “stimming” (self-stimulation) i.e., flicks fingernails, flaps hands, drums fingers, rubs hands/fingers, tucks hands under or between legs, clenches fists, twirls hair, taps foot/shakes leg, sways side to side, spins in circles, bouncing up and down, rocking, etc.
Difficulty filtering out background noise when talking to others.
Difficulty sleeping due to sensitivity to environment
May struggle to relax or rest due to many racing thoughts.
May outwardly appear to have little investment in hygiene, clothes, or appearance, often prefers fast and easy methods of style.
Clothing style is likely more focused on comfort and practicality, especially in the case of sensory issues.
May possess a youthful appearance and/or voice.
Performing for the Public
Feels extreme relief when she doesn’t have to go anywhere, talk to anyone, answer calls, or leave the house.
Feelings of dread about upcoming events and appointments on the calendar.
Knowing she has to leave the house causes anxiety from the moment she wakes up.
The steps involved in leaving the house are overwhelming and exhausting to think about.
Must prepare herself mentally for outings, excursions, meetings, and appointments.
Question next steps and movements continually.
Often needs a large amount of down time or alone time.
May feel extremely self-conscious and uncomfortable in public locker rooms, bathrooms, or dressing rooms.
Tends to dislike being in crowded areas.
Sympathy and Empathy
May be highly intuitive to others’ feelings, although may not appear to react to them ‘correctly’ in social situations
Dislikes words and events that hurt animals and people.
May have had a desire to collect or rescue animals, usually in childhood.
Often holds great compassion for suffering.
Sometimes I doubt whether or not I’m really autistic, then I stumble across things like this, and it’s honestly so comforting to go through the list like ✔︎, ✔︎, ✔︎, ✔︎, …
….. Reading this and going “Yep, yep, yep, yep, fuck yes..”
These things are strangely reassuring.
check, check, check, does it count if I outgrew it, check, check, check, check…
It has recently been brought to my attention that the #WalkInRed campaign which was made to counteract Autism Speaks’ #LightItUpBlue campaign has changed their hashtag for 2016. The new hashtag is #REDinsted, a tag which the campaign leader(s) chose because it is more inclusive to people who can’t walk.
From what I’ve seen in many recent posts on Tumblr most people aren’t aware of this change and are still referring members of the public to the #WalkInRed tag, which is unlikely to contain much relevant information this year due to the fact that the people running the campaign are no longer using that tag. Now, I know that many people are going to find the transition to the new tag difficult, especially if they’ve already created posts or taken photos involving the old tag, but the transition will be much more difficult if it happens in the middle of April when someone mentions the tag change, so if people could reblog and signal boost this post to get the information it before April that would be great.
Note: I had no part in the making of the campaign or the change in tags, I’m just passing along the information. How you transition your posts, and even whether you transition them at all or not, is up to you; my recommendation would be to simply start transitioning your posts over to the new tag when you can, and not to worry about the posts you’ve already made.
Some tags which you may see being used in addition to #REDinstead are #LightItUpRed and #LIUR, but those tags are likely to be used less, so you may not see as much activity in them.
A federal lawsuit out of Kentucky has placed law enforcement in the
spotlight once again, raising concerns about overzealous disciplinary
policies carried out against special-needs students when they commit
minor infractions.
That is a hellishly uncomfortable position to be in - even if you’re hyper-mobile. This is fucking abuse.
Nah man it’s all good anyone can rebagel my posts unless I explicitly say otherwise in said post
10000000% this.
Autistes like me spend their entire lives learning how to pretend to act “normal”. Then nypicals either act shocked when we reveal ourselves or deny that we even have problems. Sometimes, they do both.
My ur-solution is to talk frankly and openly about my problems when they occur. And even then, it’s a fight.
True story- biggest and longest struggles are with my Beloved.
sciencehabit writes “Many physicians and parents report that their autistic children have unusually severe gastrointestinal problems, such as chronic constipation or diarrhea. These observations have led some researchers to speculate that an ailing gut contributes to the disorder in some cases, but …
Further evidence for the gut microbe theory of Autism…
(The image is an overturned tanker, a colossus in white, blue, and red on a blue, relatively calm sea. It is lying on its side. The puzzle piece logo and the words ‘Autism Speaks,’ in the characteristic font and shade of blue, have been Photoshoped onto the side. It is captioned ‘Your ship of fail Listeth, sire).
Please pass these things around when you see them. The Internet runs on rumors and self-fulfilling prophecies.
I’ve become pretty confident in my ability to assist adolescent Autistic/Aspergers students with superb verbal skills and mild-to-negligible behavior issues.
Student is now pretty good at sniffing out when others are teasing him under the guise of “just being friendly” and is able to tell them…
I’m not a teacher, but I am a mum of two kids on the ASD rainbow. I can tell you from experience that ASD manifests itself in ways as unique as each child. Therefore, improvisational skills are a fantastic advantage.
Some things that may help in the overall strategies:
1) Get the class on your side. Books like All Cats Have Asperger’s can be an introduction to ASD and how some behaviors of Aspergic kids can be found in the fully autistic. Explain Autism and how it can make life a little harder for those who have it. Just like any disability, knowledge is key to preventing bullying or exclusion.
2) Confab with a helpful parent/guardian. Given that the kid in question is scared of adults, you may be dealing with someone at the ‘beat it out of them’ level of ignorance somewhere in the home scene. Tact is a great helper when dealing with people who don’t understand ASD.
3) Make a safe space. For my youngest, who had meltdowns in the early years, I suggested and achieved a “soft corner” where my little girl could de-stress. It included a bean-bag, a cuddly toy, and a faux-fur pillow. Your little autiste (my term) may need a toy cubby or a similar one-kid space. Make it clear that this is X’s safe space and anyone caught invading it without permission is headed for time-out.
4) Have sensory aids. Lots of autistic kids have trouble with loud noises. I personalized a set of ear muffs, which I loan to the school for the times when the world gets too loud. You may have to work with the child on your own if the family is unhelpful. You can do lots with stickers, beads and a hot glue gun.
5) Set up a reward system. Positive re-enforcement works marvelously. If your kid isn’t a reader, then pictograms work as well. Prizes can be anything from stickers and stamps to safe sensory activities.
6) Know the time limit. If an autiste can only handle tasks in five-minute windows, work with it instead of trying to convince oatmeal to flow uphill. Yes, it means re-framing the tasks you set out for the whole class, and I won’t pretend it isn’t a pain in the anatomy… but it will make class time less stressful in the long run.
7) Know the warning signs. This is one only familiarity can help you with, alas. ASD kids have what I like to think of as an escalating chain of de-stressing behaviors (eg. Verbal stimming) that you can use to gauge whether or not it’s time to intervene(use the three D’s - Delay, Derail, Distract). There’s a huge difference between I’m dealing with this habits and This is starting to not be OK habits.
This is an awful lot not about books. I know. But I do recommend you get a hold of Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian by John Elder Robinson. If only for the marvelous word Nypical.
Oh, and avoid any material from Autism Speaks. They don’t speak for autistes, they want to eliminate them.
On the three D’s:
Delay: delay the oncoming storm with encouraging words, or telling them they can try ‘one more time’ before going to something else. Never make them feel ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ that the disturbing thing is disturbing them.
Derail: derail the chain of causation with something attractive (VERY dependent on the child in the situation) as a reward for ‘doing so well’ at whatever. You can even use verbal stimming for this if you can.
Distract: distract them from the distress with a different (and attractive) activity/object. Improvisation is definitely your friend. I once prevented a meltdown by singing about being scared and then being ‘a brave little girl’. It caused my elder child a lot of embarrassment, but my little autiste did not have a meltdown and that counts as a success.
And above all else - learn everything you can, then share everything you can. Be fully prepared to dumb it down if you have to. And if someone insists on ignorance, ask them if their ignorant strategies would work on any other disability. Then ask them how Autism is not a disability.
Winning the fight against ignorance is often the biggest battle.
No, I WOULD NOT recommend JER’s “Be Different” for a kid who’s been shamed or terrified into this level of insecurity.
That book might as well have been called “Why It’s Super Important for Other People Not to Think You’re Weird.” I couldn’t even get through the first part of it, it was that shaming and gross, and I’m an adult who thinks I’m fairly secure with myself.
More likely he needs to just know that he’s safe and accepted. OP, that he seems to see you as a safe person is a good sign. Is there any way that when he gets upset, he can just come to you, no questions asked?
It’s also important that adults don’t make him feel cornered or trapped. As long as he’s not in imminent danger, there’s no reason he should be having to run away from adults, because they shouldn’t be giving chase. I concur with the need for a safe space.
Also, the motion of rocking is soothing to a lot of autistic people. See if, when he runs to you, he likes being rocked back and forth.
And this might be the job of someone other than you…but I hope someone’s trying to figure out what’s going on at home for him. (Some “therapies” that parents subject their kids to for 20-30 hours a week in addition to school can be very overwhelming and psychologically abusive.)
Sorry, I meant to say that JER’s book is an OK tool for teaching adults what ASD can be like “on the inside” from someone who’s experienced it. Plus ‘nypical’ is a pretty damn cool word that doesn’t carry the shaming implications present in 'normal’.
I agree with everything you’ve said here, chavisory. Safe environment first, above all things.
I’ve become pretty confident in my ability to assist adolescent Autistic/Aspergers students with superb verbal skills and mild-to-negligible behavior issues.
Student is now pretty good at sniffing out when others are teasing him under the guise of “just being friendly” and is able to tell them…
I’m not a teacher, but I am a mum of two kids on the ASD rainbow. I can tell you from experience that ASD manifests itself in ways as unique as each child. Therefore, improvisational skills are a fantastic advantage.
Some things that may help in the overall strategies:
1) Get the class on your side. Books like All Cats Have Asperger’s can be an introduction to ASD and how some behaviors of Aspergic kids can be found in the fully autistic. Explain Autism and how it can make life a little harder for those who have it. Just like any disability, knowledge is key to preventing bullying or exclusion.
2) Confab with a helpful parent/guardian. Given that the kid in question is scared of adults, you may be dealing with someone at the ‘beat it out of them’ level of ignorance somewhere in the home scene. Tact is a great helper when dealing with people who don’t understand ASD.
3) Make a safe space. For my youngest, who had meltdowns in the early years, I suggested and achieved a “soft corner” where my little girl could de-stress. It included a bean-bag, a cuddly toy, and a faux-fur pillow. Your little autiste (my term) may need a toy cubby or a similar one-kid space. Make it clear that this is X’s safe space and anyone caught invading it without permission is headed for time-out.
4) Have sensory aids. Lots of autistic kids have trouble with loud noises. I personalized a set of ear muffs, which I loan to the school for the times when the world gets too loud. You may have to work with the child on your own if the family is unhelpful. You can do lots with stickers, beads and a hot glue gun.
5) Set up a reward system. Positive re-enforcement works marvelously. If your kid isn’t a reader, then pictograms work as well. Prizes can be anything from stickers and stamps to safe sensory activities.
6) Know the time limit. If an autiste can only handle tasks in five-minute windows, work with it instead of trying to convince oatmeal to flow uphill. Yes, it means re-framing the tasks you set out for the whole class, and I won’t pretend it isn’t a pain in the anatomy… but it will make class time less stressful in the long run.
7) Know the warning signs. This is one only familiarity can help you with, alas. ASD kids have what I like to think of as an escalating chain of de-stressing behaviors (eg. Verbal stimming) that you can use to gauge whether or not it’s time to intervene(use the three D’s - Delay, Derail, Distract). There’s a huge difference between I’m dealing with this habits and This is starting to not be OK habits.
This is an awful lot not about books. I know. But I do recommend you get a hold of Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian by John Elder Robinson. If only for the marvelous word Nypical.
Oh, and avoid any material from Autism Speaks. They don’t speak for autistes, they want to eliminate them.
On the three D’s:
Delay: delay the oncoming storm with encouraging words, or telling them they can try 'one more time’ before going to something else. Never make them feel 'bad’ or 'wrong’ that the disturbing thing is disturbing them.
Derail: derail the chain of causation with something attractive (VERY dependent on the child in the situation) as a reward for 'doing so well’ at whatever. You can even use verbal stimming for this if you can.
Distract: distract them from the distress with a different (and attractive) activity/object. Improvisation is definitely your friend. I once prevented a meltdown by singing about being scared and then being 'a brave little girl’. It caused my elder child a lot of embarrassment, but my little autiste did not have a meltdown and that counts as a success.
And above all else - learn everything you can, then share everything you can. Be fully prepared to dumb it down if you have to. And if someone insists on ignorance, ask them if their ignorant strategies would work on any other disability. Then ask them how Autism is not a disability.
Winning the fight against ignorance is often the biggest battle.
Hey guys, please reblog if you would like a book with an autistic main character.
I’m thinking of seeing if I could get my NaNoWriMo work published, and I would like to show any agents/publishers that there would be a market for such a book.
Past time for all autistics and parents of autistics to begin a class action suit against the Monsan-toe-rags and all others who profited by pushing “better living through chemistry”…
