Autistic Lauren 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️
I'm an autism advocate, I'm trans, and I have an obsession with SpongeBob.
- Asking autistics, do you ever struggle with transitions between activities? (E.g. standing up to get a drink after sitting down)
- Asking autistics, what's a "helpful" suggestion that made things worse?
- Asking autistics, what's something non-autistic people think is easy but is actually exhausting?
- People say autistic people overthink things, but so often we get in trouble for speaking directly whilst others look for/assume hidden meanings that weren't there in the first place
- Asking autistics, what's one "innocent" question people ask that feels invasive?
- People be like "Can't you just forgive and forget about the trauma? Look, the one who traumatised you is already over it"
- It's "Screaming Saturday" here. Got a thought of any kind that you just need to scream into the void? Do it here in the comments!
- Autistic masking. It's like when you're eating something you absolutely hate, but have to pretend you like it to spare the feelings of the cook. Only this time you have to do it all day every day
- Me: Why do we have to do things this certain way? NTs: Omg are you questioning the way I run things?? >:( Me: .... No I'm literally just asking so I can understand better, why are you mad?
- "Autistic people may avoid eye contact" Yeah but sometimes we can also give TOO MUCH eye contact. I try my best but I never know the right amount to give, so I feel like I end up staring into their soul
- People will seriously call you all sorts of names without issue and then only say "you shouldn't live by a label" the moment you say you're autistic
- Face reveal!
- Autistic food aversion isn't just about taste. It can be texture, the food it's surrounded by, contrasting flavours and sensations etc
- "How can you hate loud noises yet have your headphones on a high volume?" Because I can control the volume of my headphones and choose what I want to listen to, but I cannot control the volume of external noises nor choose to just turn them off
- In a way, autistic infodumping can kinda be a compliment. If I infodump about a special interest to someone, it means "I feel safe and comfortable enough around you to be myself"
- I don’t know if anyone else would agree, but the feeling of sensory overload, I'd say it's akin to how you feel when everybody talks to you at once and you're trying to process what everyone is saying. Only the feeling goes all across your body
- When taking maths test, I always thought it was strange they'd include questions asking me to explain how I calculated my previous answer. As long as I got it right, who cares? I'm shit at explaining my thought process anyway
- If I don't greet you when you enter the room, I'm not trying to be rude. I just suck at remembering a lot of social norms and often only process what I should have done once it's too late
- If you're one of those people who truly "don't mind LGBT+ folk, but hate that it's pushed down your throats", maybe you should direct your anger at those trying to silence us completely. We have to be louder because those people are also being loud
- Asking autistics, do you ever experience echolalia?
- Routines and schedules to autistic people can be like a tower of Jenga. It's made of little things that all fit together, but any changes can knock the whole thing down if not done carefully
- Doing nothing doesn't mean I'm suddenly available to hang out or do a favour, it means I'm doing nothing. Let me rest
- Asking autistics, which autistic traits do you NOT relate to?
- You know what I hate? When you finally start doing something to better yourself, and suddenly the people who encouraged you to do it start chastising you for not doing it sooner instead of acting supportive
- Person: (treats a disabled person the same way they would anyone else) The Media: LOCAL HERO DOES AMAZING CHARITY WORK FOR A POOR INNOCENT SOUL!
- Asking autistics, what's the weirdest reason someone has given you for why you can't be autistic?
- "I wouldn't have said it if I knew they were autistic!" Maybe you just shouldn't have said it at all then 🤷♀️
- People will seriously say they want to help autistic people and then go on to bully and mistreat those they deem as "weird"
- One time I made a post about autistic people being "too honest", and some neurotypical people in the replies thought I meant "using honesty as an excuse to be an asshole", when I literally just meant how we overshare.
- If that doesn't show the difference between how neurotypicals and autistics communicate, I don't know what will
- Learning neurotypical behaviours as an autistic is like being in a play without a script, observing the other actors to get the gist of it. Then you think you get it right, but everyone in the audience looks at you weird for mispronouncing a word, despite other actors mispronouncing it too
- Why do autistic people get overwhelmed in crowded spaces? Often it's not just the lack of space or the noise, but because there's so much visually going on that we cannot filter out, so it sends our minds into overdrive
- In the past we put on headphones on public transport so nobody else would have to hear our music These days we put on headphones on public transport so we don't have to hear what everybody else is blasting
- Imagine trying to get to an appointment on time, but the building has no access for non-staff members. Still, they choose to blame YOU for not being able to attend the appointment over making the place accessible for everyone This is what it's like being autistic
- One thing that seriously bothers me about modern internet is that we're really lacking places where we can truly tune out negativity. There aren't many places anymore for people to "escape" to when people just want to forget about the bad stuff
- Asking autistics, have you ever had people who knew nothing about autism try and explain your own autism to you?
- We should have the term "resting confused face", because apparently people often feel the need to explain things to me when I 100% got it the first time
- Reposted by Autistic Lauren 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️[Not loaded yet]
- "If you can mask your autism, you don't need any support" Well, just because someone with a broken leg and no crutch could in theory perform for others for hours without a break, that doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so
- People seem to think that if an autistic person can speak, they must just be "quirky" or "socially anxious" We can still have violent meltdowns We can experience autistic burnout We can have shutdowns and struggle/lose the ability to speak What you see on the surface is just that - the surface
- What sucks is that when you're overstimulated, regular noises can suddenly feel too loud. But it's kinda hard to explain to others as many won't get it if they aren't neurodivergent themselves
- It always bothers me when non-autistic people tell an autistic person they're "not autistic enough to talk about autism issues" By their own flawed logic, they shouldn't be able to talk about autism either then
- What a disabled person says: "I can't do this thing due to my disability." What non-disabled people hear: "I can do this if I put in effort." What the disabled person actually means: "I can't do this thing due to my disability."
- That autistic moment where you start to panic or meltdown after a routine scheduled event doesn't happen when it's supposed to. And even though you know there's likely a logical reason, your mind starts thinking What if they forgot? What if it doesn't happen? Now the whole day is ruined!
- This is my cat Remi, she always stands on top of the microwave and stares at me like this whenever she wants treats Say hi to Remi
- People who try to spread autistic positivity don't do it because autism "doesn't affect them that badly". Often these are people trying to take back control after being told there's something "wrong with them" their whole lives, and wanting to help others who've been led to feel the same
