matthewtoad43

autism101 , 12 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

Did you know?

Some U.S. states have registries and laws requiring that mental health professionals and physicians register autistic clients. They can be fined, disciplined, or lose their license if they don't report.

#ActuallyAutistic @actuallyautistic

image: NDDoH

matthewtoad43 , 12 days ago

@autism101 @anomaluridae @actuallyautistic Well the paper says the reasons are:

• Plan for policy and services.
• Monitor the prevalence of a disorder.
• Link individuals to services and resources.

And maybe that's true.

But given the occasional but increasing political weaponisation of autism, especially in the intersection with trans rights, but also sometimes in other areas, we should be aware of this, and resist any attempts to weaken our medical privacy.

18+ yourautisticlife , 2 months ago to ActuallyAutistic group

@actuallyautistic

If you had asked my opinion about death at the end of 2023, I would have told you that I felt a fair amount of anxiety at the thought that one day, I'll die.

Okay...

However, I've found over the past few months that this anxiety has lessened. Right now, I don't feel any anxiety at all.

I'm not sure what to make of this.

I do prefer my current chillness, for sure. Death is inevitable, right? Why mar my current experience of life by worrying about death?

This seems logical, but it is not logic that brought me my current chillness. I don't know what did it, actually.

:catthinking:

#ActuallyAutistic

18+ matthewtoad43 , 2 months ago

@GreenRoc @yourautisticlife @actuallyautistic It's partly a matter of how confident I am that it is a long way off.

Fear of death is useful when you're doing something risky and need to get out of that situation. For instance attempting to climb something that can't be safely climbed. But that's a short term stress response, like the fight/flight/fawn/freeze response; short term, fear is a superpower... or a tool of oppression. But long term it is different (though still a tool of oppression).

Medieval horror mongering to put the fear of hell into people is not helpful and thankfully I've escaped from religion.

However, it's quite likely that when I do die, it will be bloody awful. It's not the death, it's the dying. And the people I care about left behind. And the work left undone.

It's partly linked with the question of calibrating your own selfishness. How much does my survival matter, in various senses, versus my values? Again that's mostly a matter of desperation. For example, if running out of money is a long way off, I can afford to be picky about jobs - even though a longer stretch of unemployment is bad in the long term. So it's another form of procrastination - but it can get mixed up with values.

I disagree about grief though. I have certainly experienced grief, in various forms, for people, though not always people.

Ilovechai , 2 months ago to ActuallyAutistic group

#autism #neurodivergent #mentalhealth
@autisticadvocacy @actuallyautistic @actuallyaudhd

"Sometimes an autistic person may behave in a way that you wouldn't immediately link to sensory differences. A person who finds it difficult to process everyday sensory information can experience sensory overload, or information overload. Too much information can cause stress, anxiety, and possibly physical pain. This can result in withdrawal, distressed behaviour or meltdowns."
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/sensory-differences/sensory-differences/all-audiences#:~:text=Sometimes%20an%20autistic%20person%20may,anxiety%2C%20and%20possibly%20physical%20pain

18+ matthewtoad43 , 2 months ago

@Ilovechai @autisticadvocacy @actuallyautistic @actuallyaudhd NAS are not always helpful as they are primarily a parents and carers of autistics organisation. But this seems reasonably thorough. I'd like some views or resources from people who have more substantial sensory issues than me though.

The point about clumsiness often being a result of sensory issues is interesting, I just assumed comorbidity with dyspraxia.

Certainly office noise can be an issue. The usual answer is of course to wear headphones and listen to music, but of course I accuse myself of reducing my productivity by doing that, and it still leads to awkward social situations. Calibrating the amount of interaction in offices is a pain.

Restricted diets aren't necessarily all that bad, unless you also have to restrict them for other reasons, e.g. worrying about your health, having to get food on the run, veganism, allergies, reflux (also a common comorbidity), other medical conditions... In other words, while it's not necessarily the most important thing, it can still be a major pain in practice. It can also be a significant problem socially, whether dating or group socials.

My relationship with touch has changed over the years. I do have issues with wool, but the main thing is hugs. For many years I would reject hugs. Sometime in my 30s I figured out that I actually enjoy hugs. Then Covid happened. 😐