You wound up here somehow. I kinda feel sorry for you.
106 posts
Okay so since this is getting some notice again I want y'all wonderful autistic people to know that ASAN is taking applications for their ACI (Autistic Campus Inclusion) program until Feb. 23!! It's for people who are or want to be autistic self-advocates in secondary education (grad school is good too). I learned so many fantastic skills and got a ton of incredible opportunities (I met JUDY HEUMANN and LOBBIED ON FREAKING CAPITAL HILL) And the best part for me was being part of a fully-inclusive (yes I mean that*) autistic space. I'm almost always in some state of dissociation and I was fully present for the whole week. It was absolutely amazing and I want everyone to know about it. If you're even a little bit interested please, please go check it out!!!!
https://autisticadvocacy.org/projects/education/aci/
*I can promise financial, physical, emotional accessibility etc. They encourage people of color and AAC users to apply, just as an example. Most of the people I met were LGBTQ+. I have really weird triggers and when I was suddenly no longer able to handle my dorm situation they made sure I was okay and found me a a new place. I had never had my needs respected like that before and it was life-changing. Please please apply.
Message me or tag me somehow if anyone needs to talk or wants more info on the post or autistic rights and advocacy in general. We're here and we're amazing. Much love and happy stimming 🌱
I don’t care if my blog’s not popular, if this post reaches one person it’ll be one more person helped. I just had a college class in abnormal psychology where the professor taught us that punishment is a workable and useful therapy to “treat” autistic symptoms such as head-banging, biting etc. What he neglected to tell the class is that those behaviors are forms of self-stimulation (aka stimming) which is necessary for most people with autism to regulate their sensory systems. Specifically the above destructive behaviors are forms of overload stimming, in which the person will turn to types of self-stimulation that blocks out whatever is causing them distress in their environment. For example, head-banging and biting cause pain and so the body is forced to process that instead of what’s outside, temporarily interfering with their perception of the world to give them a reprieve. To clarify: this behavior isn’t good, it’s dangerous. The solution is to replace the overload stims with healthier ones, let them remove themself from the situation, and give them coping mechanisms and plans so that next time they don’t have to get to overload levels of upset.
The solution is NOT to punish them for overload stimming. They are not exhibiting bad behavior, they are trying desperately to do what their body needs them to do. If you punish them and they stop overload stimming in response, it’s not successful learning: it’s abuse. They are not stopping because they ‘see the error in their ways,’ they are stopping because they are afraid of what you will do to them. All punishment works like that, but it is called for when the person does something wrong, not when they are working to do what their body needs because there is nothing wrong with that.
By the way, this is true for non-destructive types of stimming as well. Preventing any kind of stimming is abuse because it prevents people with autism’s bodies from working as they should. Instead stimming needs to be accommodated and respected or, if it absolutely must be stopped, immediately replaced with an equally effective option.
To recap: punishment is designed to stop bad behavior. Stimming is not bad behavior because it is an action that people with autism need to do to regulate their sensory systems. It is abuse to punish someone without cause. Therefore it is abuse to punish someone for stimming. Instead find non-destructive stims and solutions that solve the problem without the damaging consequences.
*p.s. if someone is overload stimming they’re already really upset. don’t make it worse. it’s common sense and so easy to do if you care about that person.*
Ok so this post is extremely long and I put it all together for my blogs Feeling sad page but as I don’t have a huge amount of followers I realize so many people are not seeing this information so I’m posting it here too!
alternatives without harming yourself:
holding/squeezing ice.
splashing your face with water.
getting a rubber band and snapping it against your skin (this could hurt, though it’s better than other ways that people usually choose to self-harm).
take a hot shower or bath.
eat something sour. it will take your mind of the urge. (lemon, sour lollies)
massage where you want to self-harm.
get a red pen or red paint and draw/paint over where you usually self-harm.
remind yourself as to why you shouldn’t do it. (scars, harms organs, leave memories etc…)
describe what you are feeling. (is the urge/pain in your chest, fists, legs, arms, head).
killing yourself will not help. it is not a solution.
you have your whole life ahead of you. you have so many more years that you can accomplish things in. for example;
having a family.
getting married.
to watch the sun rise.
to watch the sun set.
to save someone else’s life.
finish school.
get your dream job.
to laugh.
to smile.
to go camping.
travel to new places.
to wake up every morning to the person you love.
friends.
family.
to keep that promise you made.
to accomplish a goal.
to meet your idol.
to listen to new music.
theme parks.
video games.
chocolate.
to be able to look back and say “i made it”.
what you’re going through is temporary.
in case you need to hear this:
you are loved.
you are wanted.
you are needed.
you are beautiful.
you are handsome.
you are important.
you are not alone.
you are okay.
you are strong.
you are worth it.
you are smart.
you are not a failure.
you are useful.
you are going to be okay.
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Asexual meme of the month: loving and supporting their bisexual brethren unconditionally
are we just going to collectively sleep on this interaction?
So I used to have a Russian friend who had a pretty thick accent and like a lot of Russians tended to eschew articles. She would say things like “Get in car.” And stuff.
Well one day this asshole who had been kind of tagging along with us asks her why she talks like that because it makes her sound dumb and I still remember her response word for word.
“Me? Dumb? Maybe in America you have to say get in THE car because you are so stupid that people might just get in random car, but in Russia we don’t need to say that. We just fucking know because we are not stupid.”
Obviously I want you to take care of your pets and make sure they get food and fresh water on a regular basis, but cats being huge drama queens and screaming hysterically at you and acting like they’re tragic famine victims who haven’t eaten in weeks and are about to drop dead from starvation right mcfuckin now, because you’re 10 minutes late feeding them is always going to be one of the funniest things to me
I rewatched Black Panther and I'm so sad. Sadder than I've ever been from a movie, I'm crying again hours after it's over. I can't stop thinking about how at the end Wakanda swoops in and starts to make things better for African-Americans. It's implied that things are going to improve there but it's not real. Everything that Killmonger lived, proved and died for still exists in real life and no one can come in and fix it. It just hurts and will keep on hurting. The debts of suffering last forever and the deserved level of improvement will take so long. I can stop thinking about the movie to not be sad, but I can't turn off the injustice and pain Black America faces that the movie is really about. And honestly I'm glad that I can't stop being sad about it, because I don't think you can begin to really grasp an issue until you feel the emotions that it calls for about it. Knowing that I'm closer to better understanding helps me do better work, and I can't wait to be more helpful.
Moral of the story: fiction is a great medium to deliver truths and get people to care about them properly. And that white people like me have a lot of work to do to make things better and we have to get moving now.
Today’s mood: Ned in the ‘trying food from The Trump Grill’ video
fuck_prospit.jpeg
You know it was probably for the best the Terezi was some recluse who lived in the woods and ate live squirrel meat because if she actively participated in society with other teals they would have fucking necked themselves
me thinkin abt how perry the platypus is Often referred to as an egg laying mammal, even in his theme song:
Hey soooooo in Beauty and the Beast the rose in the glass case represents a race against time so like is Rudy dying
Oh my
Wow
Oh, Rudy
Of course
Toby, dear Lord.
Guys, I am so in love with this ship now.
i’m pretty sure “cats and humans can never have a bond as strong as a dog and a human” is just code for “i’ve never even tried to treat a cat correctly in my life”
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=44185707
Aw, this is cute.
“Great to see you again.”
“yeah, it’s real nice, isn’t it? especially considering i’ve never met you before.”
That's so opposite to what he usually said but a lot of what he said flips so 🌌
“I wrote a lot of sweet, happy melodies this time, but the songs aren’t really happy. But you can pretend they’re happy.”
Elliott Smith
MEEEEEE
autistic culture is having your hands or pockets full of small found objects every time you go anywhere.
Thank fuck
Hozier on Instagram, when asked about his opinions on bones.
hozier, emerging from the forest with a fresh bowl of oatmeal and new music: this ones for gays who love dirt
Hi my autistic ass loves YouTube Darkmode™ and that's all I've got
Current state of existence:
Thank god for John Mulaney, because “That’s exactly what I thought you’d say, you dumb fucking horse” is incredibly satisfying to hiss at the news.