Oh. My. FORCE. How Did I Not Notice That?

Oh. My. FORCE. How did I not notice that?

Wait, so the the original four are pretty obvious, but where do Echo and Omega fit into this? I mean, Omega could be April (clueless but fiesty at the beginning, eventually becomes one of the badasses), but I'm lost on Echo. Also, any ideas for AZI and Gonky?

The realization that Crosshair is the Raphael of the family just hit me like a train

yall. i see a lot about masking, and i just wanted to ask that, well personally, i dont mask. and i feel like thats weird because i keep hearing how, it feels like everybody else is in some form masking?

i dont even know what masking entails, what it is, i only know some very few information that it is like, well one is wanting to touch stuff but dont? idk, i just, if i wanna touch something, i touch it. but im not obsessively touching stuff. i dont like, stim either, in the autistic way, im sorry if that came across as rude i just wanna say i dont do it because of autism, i do it because of my severe anxiety. i only do stuff, crossing arms, twisting foot, idk how to explain it, if im stood still, i will like, bend my foot so it looks like it might break but it wont lol...etcetc, are those even stims? they dont sound like it now that i wrote some down haha, because i have severe anxiety and i feel like im gonna pass out and vomit when im out of the house. i have a whole ass YEAR left until i begin my cbt therapy. i dont even know if thats gonna help, i tried it before years ago but pretty much gave up because i felt it didnt do anything and im depressed af and have zero motivation. because im never gonna get better anyways. i had a nurse telling me that too ages ago and i still remember it because he was all like "so im not supposed to tell you this because its private information about me, but you'll never get better from this. this is a lifelong issue you'll have to deal with for the rest of your life, because i have it too" real comforting when you just told that person you wanna kill yourself because you suffer so bad. i feel like he wants me to kill myself so they'll rid a troubling annoying person. but anyways!

oh yea! another one is forced eye contact, i dont do that either haha, i look up people in the eye, or in the middle, and then if i dont wanna, i dont. so im sure i dont mask and is that normal? is there anybody else out here that dont either?

yall, a list of various ways of masking would be appreciated so i know whether i am or not, even though im preeeeeetty sure that i do not.

thank you. and i hope you have a good week.

I'll answer this in parts.

1 - Autistic masking is the conscious and unconscious act of pretending to be neurotypical.

Conscious versions of this are things like practicing conversations, practicing facial expressions in a mirror, watching others communicate so that you can mimic them. However, unlike neurotypicals or allistics (non-autistics), at no point do we feel comfortable or confident in doing these performances. It's exhausting and we're very aware of our actions and other's actions.

Unconcious versions of masking are those that are drilled in to us either by society, family (on purpose or not), bullying etc. These include forcing facial expressions, forcing eye contact, forcing vocal tone, holding back or permanently repressing stimming, ignoring special interests due to mocking or bullying, enduring adverse sensory experiences etc. These are often enforced from infancy and we may not even be aware we're doing it. But we are aware we're exhausted from tasks others are not.

Unconcious and conscious masking mix and match. They're fluid, and not everyone experiences the same versions.

2 - Not every autistic masks. Higher needs may not mask, intellectual disabilities may prohibit it, and supportive families may never enforce it. Some autistics grow up and refuse to mask any longer. And many different versions of this, too.

3 - Everyone stims. Stimming is any repetitive behaviour that is used to modify external or internal input via a soothing behaviour. Autistics and many other NDs simply do it a lot more and have more variety. So, yes. If what you described is done in order to add input or block out input, it's stimming.

4 - Not all Autistics struggle with eye contact. Whilst clinicians use it as this big indicator, it's really not.

5 - Lastly, that nurse who spoke to you in that moment of need was a complete ass. Anxiety is difficult, but it's not the end of the road. If CBT therapy didn't help, it may be that you need a modified version, or try something different all together. There are many different therapies and avenues. There is hope, you just need to figure out what road is yours.

if you want to actually truly support autistic rights, you need to accept the fact that many autistics will forever and unchangeably be wildly socially incompetent, and this does not make them bad or dangerous.

Now that's some REAL high Fives.😆 My kinda guy.🍃😏

this man is having a blast on twitter

Saw your asks were open! Don't burn yourself out with answering, please.

So, a thing I've heard sometimes is autistics having a low "mental age". Both from people in my school* and more influential sources that make out autism as a tragedy. As small news articles and ableist teenage boys aren't the best sources, I'm asking you! Do (some) autistic people actually have "lower mental ages" or is that a complete myth?

("I wish I had autism so I could also get benefits." "Dude, do you want to be four years old for the rest of your life?" That type of thing.)

This is very factual, but with a major caveat: it's not the mental age. It's that we don't adhere to social norms and will continue to enjoy or act in ways seen as younger.

I collect stuffed animals and have a toy box full of colouring books and stim items. I also don't dress my age and wear jeans and Disney t-shirts.

Not all Autistics do this. Some act older than they are. Some have intellectual disabilities that NTs deem as "child like" (they're not... They're adults with intellectual disabilities. Not an adult with the mind of a 4 year old.)

So, yes. But with lots of reasons.