885572 - .

D. The disturbance is not better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder (e.g., excessive worries, as in generalized anxiety disorder; preoccupation with ap- pearance, as in body dysmorphic disorder; difficulty discarding or parting with posses- sions, as in hoarding disorder; hair pulling, as in trichotillomania [hair-pulling disorder]; skin picking, as in excoriation [skin-picking] disorder; stereotypies, as in stereotypic movement disorder; ritualized eating behavior, as in eating disorders; preoccupation with substances or gambling, as in substance-related and addictive disorders; preoc- cupation with having an illness, as in illness anxiety disorder; sexual urges or fantasies, as in paraphilic disorders; impulses, as in disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct dis- orders; guilty ruminations, as in major depressive disorder; thought insertion or delu- sional preoccupations, as in schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders; or repetitive patterns of behavior, as in autism spectrum disorder).

Can you talk about the difference between autistic and non-autistic “insistence on sameness”?

I wear slight variations of the same clothes every day, I eat the same things over and over, I never want to watch new movies or tv shows or read new books, as a child my parents Could Not get me to try new foods outside of my specific preferred foods… my mum says I was “just never open to new things”.

But I can handle change/the new, even if I don’t like it. If I had to wear different clothes tomorrow I wouldn’t like it but I could function. New foods are harder than that but as long as they’re not lumpy/slimy I can try them now…

What do you think?

Each autistic experience of "sameness" is different because it highly depends on the why. Some routines or sameness are because of sensory issues, others may be due to anxieties or mental safety.

NT sameness may be because it's easier, comfortable or just enjoyable. Autistics can also experience this.

Major key difference is that autistics can experience great distress if things are changed without notice or not enough time given.

Examples:

Eating the same food: autistic may do so because it's the only foods that are safe for their sensory needs. A NT just likes that food.

Travelling the same route home: autistic may do this because it's a guaranteed way home with no surprises. They will struggle with detours. A NT just knows it takes them home. Why change?

Wearing the same clothing: an autistic may do this because of sensory issues or difficulties understanding fashionable trends. These clothes help them survive day to day. An NT may do it because "is their fashion".

And depending on your level of sensitivity in that area, you may be able to handle changes more easily than an autistic who struggles.

I have low oral/taste sensitivity. So I samefood, but will have no to low distress if I had to eat something slightly different (as long as it's on my safe food list).

But, I have high sound sensitivity, so going to a new shop and finding out I don't have my noise cancelling headphones may put me into shutdown.

Another autistic may struggle with the opposites to me.

Source ~ Twitter OMGImAutisticAF

"My whole life, I enjoyed big family gatherings but also would have to go run off and hide somewhere quiet by myself for awhile and get away from it all. I never knew why I needed to get away from the people I wanted to be around. Now I know it was sensory overload."

…

anngunnfoto

it:s an explanation of why i like shinobu from chihayafuru & the peripheral people / moving-object that pop up sometimes 

lain iwakura

Falling Through Dreams.

Some apps that helped me with ADHD functioning/adulting.

TL;DR at the end!

EDIT: I still heavily struggle with keeping up with everything and it can be overwhelming, but I'm trying to figure it out and hoped that this could be some help for you guys.

I made it look overwhelming with all the colors, but I promise that they're a lot more accessible and easier to use than it seems. Edited for accessibility on August 6th.

📋 1. There's an app called TickTick

It has...

🍅 a built in POMODORO (with customisable timers, a strick mode with an app and site blocker, and a whitelist),

⏱️ a TIMER that you can set on specific tasks or subtasks,

📅 it has a CALENDAR,

📚 LISTS, TAGS, an Eisenhower-matrix, Kanban Board,

🤩 you can endlessly CUSTOMISE it with colors and emojis,

🚩 you can set PRIORITIES and set the lists to show the items SORTED BY date or priority or name or custom, etc.,

🏡 you can create SECTIONS within the lists too,

📮 you can set NOTIFICATIONS that POP UP ON YOUR SCREEN giving you the option to start a timer, postpone it for later, check it off, or skip it.

📈 You can create both SUBTASKS and checklists for your tasks, and it shows a tiny PIE CHART with the prescentage completed. It also shows how many days are left.

- With school tasks, I've listed everything I had to get done for the exam and added all the information and details, e.g. for all my readings, I included the link/where to find it in the library, the pages I had to read and the number of pages for quick access.

- To make it more fun/gamify the process, I added a little emoji (e.g. a waterdrop 💧 or a colored book 📙) before the name of the thing I have just completed and e.g. a bucket 🪣 or river 🌊 or plant 🌱 for the raindrops, or a bookshelf 🗃📚 emoji for the books, and as I complete an item, I collect the books/drops, etc. in there.

For example:

✉️💌📧📦🗞 >> 📬📮

🌧💧 >> ☔️ or 🌊 or 🪣 or 🌱 or 🪴

📕📙📔📗📘📖📚📒📑📜 >> 🗃🗄📚

🌟🌙🌠🪐🚀🌕☁️ >> 🌌

Etc.

🪣 2. Then there's Tody!

🧹 An app for HOUSEWORK,

🙌 it REJOICES when you complete a task,

💦 it puts little SPLASHES on the area where there are tasks to be done

🙆 you can set "EFFORT LEVEL",

✉️ it also sends you a NOTIFICATION

and meassures how dirty one thing might be based on the last time you cleaned it.

You can RESET it.

🍽 3. Then there's WonderFridge!

It's an app to keep track of the CONTENT of your fridge and pantry, it has plenty of beautiful ILLUSTRATIONS for every sort of drink or food. It keeps track of the EXPIRATION DATES of foods and sends you NOTIFICATIONS so you can eat/use them up before they go wrong.

🕑 4. Then there's Boosted!

Boosted is a very SIMPLE app, originally created to MEASURE the time spent on different projects and their subtasks. I personally use it to break down tasks in the moment and do a speed run doing them as fast as I can. (Especially when I'm about to hit a deadline.)

🐦 5. Then there's Finch!

Finch is an adorable SELF-CARE app in which

you hatch a LITTLE BIRB and as you do your tasks, you give them ENERGY to go, explore and every day come home with a new thing explored, CHAT with you about it and GROW a little.

💡It has TASK SUGGESTIONS,

📓 a built in JOURNAL with or without prompts,

❤️‍🩹 breathing and grounding exercises, an S.O.S. mental first aid box,

⏲️ timers, reminders, lovely messages,

🤗 acts of kindness, and many more.

You can also group your tasks into JOURNEYS.

🙂 6. Then there's Daylio!

Daylio is a very SIMPLE JOURNAL/DIARY to KEEP TRACK OF THE DAYS ('cause I rarely remember what happended yesterday or which day did something happen.) You can set up little BUTTONS for activites, moods, symptoms, the weather, or anything you fancy and just tap over the ones that fit the day. You can also freely ad text, photos, or create a sound entry.

It's fully customisable (even the colors and moods) and makes you plentiful of different STATISTICS so you can check long term tendencies. It's super useful for monitoring mental health.

⏳️ 7. There's also Tiimo

Tiimo was developed by and keeping in mind the needs of neurodivergent people. In it you can set up routines and tasks with their duration and an emoji (they have a beautifully colored emoji set!). You can schedule your tasks at a specific time or set them "to do anytime" and set them to repetition. Once the scheduled time comes you get notified and the app starts a visual timer (even if you don't start the task...) and once done, you can check it off.

TL;DR

TickTick is a cool to-do app where you can make colorful lists, tag tasks and it helps you sort them by priority. Tody is a chores app that measures the dirtiness and is happy for you when you complete a task. Wonderfridge is an app where you can keep track of your food and their expiration dates and has nice icons. Finch is an adorable self-care app where a little bird grows with you and that suggests you self-care activities. It is a 100% mental illness/disability/neurodivergency friendly. Boosted helps you break down tasks and measures time. Daylio is a low-effort diary to keep track of the days, especially useful if you have memory issues. It makes statistics too so you can see how a thing might affect your mood. And Tiimo, a visual timer for tasks and routines.

-------

I hope I could help some!

If I made any typos, let me know!

*friendly salutes* Until next time! 🫡