I Feel Like The Infantilisation Of Autistic People In The Eyes Of Science And Psychology Really Stunts

i feel like the infantilisation of autistic people in the eyes of science and psychology really stunts them when it comes to talking about some of the issues that come from being autistic in a world built for nt people. like i dont think ive ever seen substance abuse rates discussed wrt autistics because thats an “adult problem” and the public at large has an image of autistic adults as overgrown kids, despite the fact that almost every other autistic adult ive met has had a history of substance abuse issues at least partly in response to the stress of existing in the world as an autistic person. like if youre constantly beset on all sides by stress and sensory overload of course youre going to gravitate towards drugs and alcohol and things that smooth over those sharp edges, make socialising easier, etc…

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.

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

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

this man is having a blast on twitter

I’m looking into autism for myself, and I think I may be autistic? The thing is I don’t really see enough like… examples when it comes to meltdowns or shutdowns or missing social cues. So off it’s not too much trouble… could you maybe share some experiences so I have a better idea??

Certainly! Followers are totally okay to give their own examples, because these can be very individual.

Social Interaction Difficulties:

Not understanding how to perform small talk

Listening/eaves dropping in on other people's conversations in order to create scripts in your head so you can act out successful interactions

Same as above, but learning conversation through books or TV/movies

Getting exhausted from conversations or navigating social situations

Needing days or weeks to recover after social interaction.

Anxiety over interaction because you don't understand how to do it and you dread the exhaustion and the mental leaps it's going to take to do it. This is different to social anxiety, where you dread messing up or being seen as incompetent.

Difficulty holding conversations. You may trail off mid-sentence, talk continuously so that the other person feels like they can't respond, or struggle to listen and respond to the other person.

Difficulty making or keeping friends. May also not be able to define what a friend is.

Low eye contact or no eye contact.

No vocal tone (monotone) or improper vocal tone to what is being said (this can also be due to other reasons other than social difficulties).

No body language or incorrect body language (also can be due to other reasons).

Meltdowns:

Can be sudden or a slow build up

Sensory input can suddenly feel too intense or painful

Often accompanied by an intense need for the input to stop

Stimming often increases. If standard stims don't help, more aggressive stimming may be used such as self-harm, screaming or full body movements such as running back and forth

Has no end goal other than for the sensory input to stop.

Communication is limited and the person may not be in control of their actions.

Some people may be able to hold back meltdowns, but this is very bad for their mental health as the damage continues and they are not able to release the pent up energy.

Sensory input may include: noise, lights, smells, touch, taste, delayed emotional responses, inability to communicate effectively, delayed sensory input (the build up happened mainly before the current moment) or sudden input.

May be accompanied by a time of "reset" (also called a shutdown) where you don't move or respond.

Shutdowns:

As in meltdowns, but no outward signs are given.

Often described as "an internal meltdown". Many Autistics describe these as worse than a physical meltdown, as no relief is given from stims and those around you may be unable to attend to your needs to remove the input.

I die every time I see this! Fives delivers that line PERFECTLY. It was nice knowing you Kenobi. 🤣