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theautisticcoach , 13 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

how do my autistic comrades combat loneliness?

@actuallyautistic

pathfinder , 17 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

@actuallyautistic

I often describe myself as a minimal speaker. It's because whilst I can speak, unless seriously overwhelmed, I vastly prefer not to. In large part, this is because the effort of speaking, and it is, more often than not, a real effort for me, rarely seems worth it. Since realising I am autistic, I have come to realise why this could be and also why communicating on here is so much easier and not just because it's text, because I struggle with that elsewhere too.

Language, whether text or verbal, is communication. Whether that be communicating thoughts, or feelings. Expressing emotions, or ideas. It is the medium and not the source. The source is where these things are coming from and it is what shapes our use of the medium and therefore in large part the assumptions we make about how others are using it and therefore the likely success of any communication.

Enter the double-empathy theory and the general acknowledgement that autism is a fundamental difference in the ways in which our brains work, often exampled by describing it as a different operating system. It means that whilst I am using the same language to talk with allistics, how we're both using it, the ends and purpose, even the nature of the information being transmitted, can often be fundamentally different.

An example I have used, is to compare it to a foreign language speaker with a reasonable understanding of the local language, but having to work incredibly hard to keep up with a conversation and having to constantly check their translations and whether or not they were making the right replies and not offending anyone. But to be truly accurate, you would also have to add in a cultural divide, a root level difference in the expectation and assumptions they are making about life and how this was also shaping their communication.

This, I think, is why speaking has always been so hard for me. Why it's always been so much of an effort and often without point. It's not that I am speaking a foreign language, or that my words themselves can't be understood. But that the information I am attempting to convey and the intended purpose of that information, is so far out of phase with the expectations of those around me, that miscommunication, confusion and the all too familiar fallout becomes almost inevitable. It's also why speaking here is so much easier.

Effective communication is more than just using the right words, it's about realising the intent and purpose behind those words. About understanding where someone is coming from as much as what they are trying to say. And that, as the saying goes, takes two to tango.

#Autism
#ActuallyAutistic

chevalier26 , 25 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic Someone mentioned "odd" sleep schedules the other day; I think I finally experienced a good dose of the "odd."

Went to bed Sunday night around 1:30 AM, slept until 2:00 PM somehow. Tried to go to bed Monday night at 1:30 AM but was wide awake. Decided to stay up until sunrise because why not, there was no point in trying to get sleep. Still wide awake, I thought taking a shower at 5:30 AM would be productive.

I am still wide awake and it is now 6:24 AM 😂

danamcfarland , 26 days ago to bookstodon group

"If bees were scientists, they might marvel at the color we know as red, which they cannot see and which they might call 'ultrayellow.'"

#SundaySentence is from An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong

@bookstodon

AnAutieAtUni , 29 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

Anyone else finding Mastodon very slow to load sometimes? Do you know what causes it?

I’m using the ‘Ice Cubes’ iOS app, not sure if it’s that.

Or could it be the instance I’m on? Could that would make any difference?

My internet is pretty fast: 840 Mbps download / 100 Mbps upload (tested this just now via the same device I’m having issues with Mastodon on).

@actuallyautistic

theautisticcoach , 1 month ago to ActuallyAutistic group

What’s the biggest myth about autism that my #ActuallyAutistic comrades have come across in the course of their self-advocacy?

#AskingAutistics @actuallyautistic

theautisticcoach , 1 month ago to ActuallyAutistic group

We need to talk more about mental health in the #ActuallyAutistic community.

What topics specifically should be addressed more openly?

@actuallyautistic