@miaoue@neurodifferent.me cover
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

miaoue

@[email protected]

was a techie in a previous life. now a professional medical mystery and a cat from outer space. also @miaoue

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

yourautisticlife , to ActuallyAutistic group
@yourautisticlife@mast.yourautisticlife.com avatar

@actuallyautistic

"It’s past time to stop using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test"

I did part of the test a while back, mostly as a joke. I was watching a YouTube video in which an autistic person was showing pictures from the test.

This article makes a convincing argument as to why the test is complete bullshit.

Any "professional" who uses it to decide if someone is autistic is a fraud. Same if they use it to prove that autistic people lack of theory of mind.

https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/its-past-time-to-stop-using-the-reading-the-mind-in-the-eyes-test/

miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@yourautisticlife i have never understood what is meant by "theory of mind" and suspect that the term is used to mean too many things. in particular, i don't see how the eyes test represents an analogous task to simpler theory of mind tests like the Sally-Anne task for small children. they seem like entirely different concepts to me.

it's not just me, this paper also argues that "theory of mind" is not well defined and that most tests for it are testing different things. https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619896607 seems prudent to first figure out what we actually mean by "theory of mind" before we go around claiming some people don't have it.

@actuallyautistic

Susan60 , to ActuallyAutistic group
@Susan60@aus.social avatar

I nearly didn’t listen to this episode, because I’ve never had an eating disorder, but it’s almost more about identity & addiction & autonomy than eating disorders, and is fascinating as a result.
@actuallyautistic

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/divergent-conversations/id1662009631?i=1000655158496

miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@Susan60 as someone who has had an eating disorder, i see that as very much what eating disorders are "about"! at least for me personally. and i want to thank you for linking this episode, because it meant a lot to me to hear from someone with similar experiences, who was misunderstood and mistreated in similar ways. it's one of those things i wish we talked about a lot more in ND communities.

@actuallyautistic

theautisticcoach , to ActuallyAutistic group
@theautisticcoach@neurodifferent.me avatar

What does “unmasking” mean to my comrades?

@actuallyautistic

miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@Jobob i would also guess it's nothing to do with how you look. i'm also told i am scary, and i'm an extremely tiny and not at all imposing, colorful, expressive and generally silly person, absolutely nothing scary about me appearance-wise. i think i'm getting the "scary" label because that i obviously don't conform to societal norms and some people take that as inherently threatening. unfortunately there's not much i can do to put them at ease. if they've decided people are either normal or scary, well, i can't convince them i'm normal, therefore, i'm scary.

@roknrol @calofost @theautisticcoach @actuallyautistic

pathfinder , to ActuallyAutistic group
@pathfinder@beige.party avatar

@actuallyautistic
@actuallyadhd

After joining a post by Niamh Garvey (hopefully a successful link to it below) about whether she had adhd as well as autism, I have spent the last couple of days contemplating this idea for myself as well.

I am still not entirely convinced, but I am beginning to suspect that I might well be in this situation as well. After watching a number of YouTube videos from those with both autism and adhd and reading up on adhd, I can see a number of things that point on that direction certainly, although I'm not entirely convinced.

I have always been aware of the near overwhelming urge to either interrupt people, because there is something I want to say and if I don't then, then I know there is a more than a reasonable chance that I will forget what it was. I also have a tendency to want to finish people's sentences. Both of these things though I have taught myself to resist. Even though I feel a great deal of discomfort doing so. I am also more than aware that I can forget what I was saying, or thinking, halfway through a sentence. That digging through the trash to find the package with the instructions on, that I only just threw away after reading, is not uncommon. As is failing completely to understand or remember the instructions someone just gave me.

But then, my short term (working) memory is basically non-existent. But, I'm also aware that this is a fairly common problem for autistics and even before I realised I was autistic, I built up systems to help myself deal with this. As well as with my general forgetfulness. Lists, memory aids, even making the route out of my flat a trip hazard to make sure I don't forget to take something with me. Also, I live alone and essentially there is a place for everything and everything has its place. Not foolproof and I have lost things in a very small flat that I still haven't found. But generally speaking effective.

I struggle to start tasks, especially tasks that I have no real interest, or desire to do. Being interested in something has always been my main motivator. But eventually, I can normally force myself and work my way through things, especially if I know they are necessary. Knowing I have this problem is also why I hate leaving things to the last moment. I know that I am more than capable of doing that if I allow myself, but also that the stress from doing so is nearly overwhelming, even if it can be motivational. As is the stress of clutter. Not the organised clutter that is my flat, where I know where everything is, as in somewhere in that pile over there, but the clutter that builds up eventually and begins to feel as if it is out of control.

Novelty is a factor in my life. Or, boredom, rather. Because sooner, although far more likely later, I will grow bored with routines, or things like safe foods, and need to change them. Many of my interests also seem to suffer from a similar threshold. A certain point where I lose interest and no longer feel any need to maintain them, even though this might make me feel guilty about giving up on them. In fact, I hate boredom and I have always needed a certain amount of new things to watch, or discover and to be actively doing stuff, if only in my head. And whilst I have never thought of myself as being particularly spontaneous or impulsive. I am, within certain limits of self-control. There is a rationality that often has to be appeased that gives me a sense of control. I have also taken stupid risks and great risks. But rarely beyond what I knew was necessary, or to my mind, at least, controlled to a point.

I can be easily distracted, by random thoughts or by, (well obviously not squirrels, I mean who would be? but, oh, oh, there's a butterfly) things. But not always to the point that I'm not at least marginally still aware of what I should be paying attention to. Letting myself wander whilst maintaining at least a marginal awareness is an old trick of mine. I have always been a fidgeter, but that's also how I maintained concentration. Feeling the overwhelming need to move, has always seemed to me to be anxiety driven, or is the way I focus and think. In fact, movement for me has always been as much about settling and regulating myself, as it has been compulsive.

As I said, there are certain things that seem to fit, even if they also seem to have been effected and possibly modified by my autism. I would love to hear your thoughts.

https://beige.party/@[email protected]/112390279791932822#

miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@Zumbador i very much agree. the previous diagnostic categories, where a person could have either autism or ADHD but not both, were holding back our understanding of how they are connected. now we have some studies even suggesting that the majority have some traits of each, and exclusive autism or exclusive ADHD are in the minority. Neurodivergent Insights wrote about this on "Misdiagnosis Monday" which was mentioned earlier in these groups: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/misdiagnosis-monday/adhd-vs-autism

as for what categories we should have instead, i think of it as a many-dimensional space with all sorts of traits measured on its dimensions/axes, and what we now call "autism" and "adhd" designate overlapping regions of that space. so, one united spectrum in a sense, but a brand new one, since i don't believe one condition should be considered a subcategory of the other. maybe in the future, we will look more at individual traits and their intensities, rather than package a bunch of loosely related traits into one condition and say you either have all of it (100%) or you don't have any of it (0%).

@pathfinder @actuallyautistic @actuallyadhd

pathfinder , to ActuallyAutistic group
@pathfinder@beige.party avatar

@actuallyautistic

Autistic brains be stupid. Well, obviously not stupid, they just seem to work, or not work, in mysterious ways.

The main one that has always got me, about mine, is that I have no memory for sound, absolutely none. I can't remember a song, or a sound. I can't remember what my parents sounded like and none of my memories carry, for want of a better word, a soundtrack. I can remember what I was thinking and what others were saying, but not hearing them say it, nor any other sound. I also don't dream in sound, at least as far as I know. All my dreams are silent.

And yet, and it's a big yet. I have an excellent memory for voices and sounds. Like many autistics I have near perfect pitch, at least when I'm hearing others sing, or music playing. Just don't ask me to reproduce it, because I can't. If I meet someone I haven't met for a while, then I will almost certainly not recognise their face, or remember their name, but there is a very good chance that I will recognise them from their voice. I am also very good at detecting accents. Even the slightest hint of one in, say, an actor pretending to be an american, will get me searching Wikipedian to see if I am right about their actual nationality.

So, if I can tell the sound of a Honda CBR engine two blocks away, or a voice, or an accent buried deep, I must have the memories to compare against. And yet... nope.

So, as I said, autistic brains be stupid.


miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@clacke i am not sure whether this question can be usefully addressed based on current research about memory in autism, because it is all so unclear still and points in conflicting directions. impaired episodic memory is a common finding, but regarding the rest, i don't think we have concrete findings yet.

Wikipedia has a decent summary that links to many studies. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_and_memory

@actuallyautistic @pathfinder

AnAutieAtUni , to ActuallyAutistic group
@AnAutieAtUni@neurodifferent.me avatar

Just got back from visiting an event at my uni that was held in a building’s atrium.

It was hot, bright, crowded, full of anxious students and just Too Much. I’ve been back an hour and I still haven’t calmed down and got the overload out of my system.

It was just a fraction of the size that my traditional graduation ceremony will be in July. It will be held in a similar but much larger building with many, many more people, masses more sound and noises and movement and chaos.

I’ve never been so relieved to wait 25 years to REJECT a dream: since my teens I dreamed of graduating by walking across a stage… and I’m so fcking relieved to have opted to Graduate In Abstentia. I am a genius. Thank f** for that.

Side note: my university were going to try to hold a quieter version of the traditional graduation event just like the one that made the UK news: Relaxed Graduations at Nottingham Trent University. There was a lot of positive movement in the second half of last year. I heard they’d definitely do it for the winter graduations (just gone), and someone else said they’re definitely doing it this summer. But now, I think they actually haven’t done anything more. So glad I wasn’t waiting and depending on that. I’d be devastated. Many staff also wanted this - many also have disabilities and/or are neurodivergent. So it’s a let-down for everyone.

@actuallyautistic

miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@AnAutieAtUni i didn't go to my graduation either. i had a convenient excuse though: the uni i graduated from (not my original one) was all online and i had already moved far away before my graduation, so it would have been terribly inconvenient. i'm sure i could have made it there if i really wanted some fancy so and so to shake my hand on stage in front of a noisy crowd but that sounds like hell to me. i had my diploma shipped instead 😂

it's your hard work and your achievement, so you should celebrate your graduation in any way you like. including not at all!

@actuallyautistic

miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@AnAutieAtUni hah... i suppose they have been to enough graduations for a lifetime!

@actuallyautistic

catswhocode , to ActuallyAutistic group
@catswhocode@mastodon.art avatar

@actuallyautistic I tend to overanalyze everything - it can be useful but it also gets overwhelming some days :blobfoxlaughsweat:

miaoue ,
@miaoue@neurodifferent.me avatar

@housepanther @GreenRoc @catswhocode not me, i think the right amount and other people are underthinking /hj

@actuallyautistic

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • kbinchat
  • All magazines
    •