#actuallyautistic

Excerpt from my latest newsletter installment. Discussion the risk that RFK Jr. Presents to Autistic people.

https://www.davidgrayhammond.co.uk/p/rfk-jr-is-one-of-the-biggest-threats

#Politics #GlobalPolitics #ActuallyAutistic #autism #neurodiversity

Some relevant reading, for those interested:
https://neurolaunch.com/autism-obsession-with-truth/

#ActuallyAutistic #Truth #Honesty #Autism #Neurodiversity #AutisticBrains

If you've not read the short novel Convenience Store Woman yet, please do. There is so much pleasure to be found in what may look to others as a very modest life.

This interview shows its author, #SayakaMurata , as Exactly as I had imagined her to be. Knows all about living as an alien in a world that objectifies her body. Just ordered all her others in translation from our wonderful local library.

Recommend her work, esp for my #ActuallyAutistic pals

@actuallyautistic

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/19/marriage-feels-like-a-hostage-situation-and-motherhood-a-curse-japanese-author-sayaka-murata?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Only answer this poll if you're also #ActuallyAutistic - please refrain from answering if you're not autistic - thank-you.

Do you always know when someone isn't being completely truthful with you & have you experienced gaslighting from the ones that you knew weren't being fully honest?

#Trust #Honesty #AutisticSpideySense #Gaslighting #Autism #AutisticIntuition

@actuallyautistic

I had a emotional moment this week when I acknowledged some internalized ableism I didn't realize I still held.

I was talking to a friend post-fixation and I told them I was working on restoring my self care routines, including journaling and taking care of some important chores "I wasn't able to do" while I was fixating.

I believe it's important to acknowledge that when my brain is in full-on obsessive hyperfixation mode, I'm literally _not able_ to do things I don't want to do.

Despite acknowledging that, I'm still finding the ableism whispering in my ear: sure, you can sit at your desk for 12 hours working on things that interest you, but you can't make a simple phone call?

Just make the phone call then get back to your fixation. How hard can it be?

---

To be honest, I found it incredibly difficult even to feed myself. I was living on toast and peanut butter, bowls of granola, and prepackaged dinners for over a week.

The only things that got me away from my desk were the bathroom, sparsely eating, and my obligation to my dogs. And, occassionally but not always, sleep.

#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #Hyperfixation

Quickie personal hat project. Made it, using a Brother SE1900 sewing & embroidery machine. The hardest part was pinning the hat firmly. The actual embroidery itself was fast since it was done by a machine.

#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #PersonalCreations #NotFlirtingJustAutistic #neurodivergent #Quirky #Crafty #Embroidered #Queisms #PersonalSayings #ThingsIveMade #hat #BaseballCap #Autism #PSA

A quickie 6min video on what it's like to have face-blindness.

My experiences with it are pretty similar to the narrators.

This may be helpful for any @actuallyautistic #ActuallyAutistic people who struggle with this and want a little help in giving a sense of what it's like to the people in their lives.

https://youtu.be/v9JHFU3XWhw

Diary of an AuDHD Squirrel. Day 539 , Saturday 19/04/2025

Up at 07:30 because lie ins are not what we do. Went down & made breakfast & did some minor chores.

Mrs S had suggested that we have a ‘Last of Us’ fest today & into tomorrow & I have to admit it wasn’t hard to agree with that plan.

17:45 I am becoming (stop it!) a grouchy old git. Mrs S insists on having tea at around 6pm, like we’re children. I’m rarely ready to eat this early but she insists.
There is no argument I can make that will sway her so we eat when she wants.

Sometimes the urge to drop the ‘married person’ mask is nearly overwhelming, but that would not end well, I just need to bite my li[p & last till Tuesday, I can do that right? Right?

In the mean time ‘The Last of Us’ is a brilliant series, I would recommend it to anyone who likes vaguely horror stuff.

Final Thoughts.

Sometimes I wish I was single & back living with or at least near my family, I’m a natural loner but there are limits. I wonder what life would have been like if I had remained on my own.
Now I’m so dependent on others, I wanted to try & change last year but failed miserably, I think I aimed for the unattainable & also initially aimed for something that I now know is not what I want.

I want independence, but the road there is filled with obstacles that I am simply not well enough to tackle at the moment - hell I can barely leave the house let alone keep down a job & keep a roof over my had.

By living with someone for 25 years or more I’ve a) lost the skills & b) become soft & reliant.
I have to mask all the time when we’re both at home, it is exhausting! I have to put so much energy into not responding to triggers. Sometimes when it gets too much I fail & have to resort to coping strategies.

I manage to cope most of the time though & I guess that, now I’m going out more, I am slowly regaining some of what I had before fighting EDF the other year brought me too my knees. I won that battle but at enormous cost to my mental health.
I am far from strong enough to cope on my own, much as I hate to admit that & I hate myself for being so weak. 99% of my efforts to reach out for external help have come to naught, resources being stretched so far that those that are not an immediate threat to themselves or others are deemed to be safe with minimum effort on the part of the professionals involved.

This is not me reaching out for help or sympathy, simply letting my mind leak into the void.

Day by day until the last day I guess.

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫶

@actuallyautistic
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Say what you want about RFK Jr. but he knows how to drag you into his game. Next he will claim that the Earth is flat and the whole internet will be on fire, posting evidence of the Earth actually being round. And guess what: HE will be called an idiot.

@actuallyautistic

#actuallyautistic #autism

@marionline @ActuallyAutistic

Once upon a time (about 60 years ago) the two plush tigers looked the same. They were made by Dardenelle in central California. My grandmother had the one on the right and gave him to be when I was about two and very ill. Baby me was hard on "Rusty" and when I was five Grandma did her best to reskin him, embroider on new facial features and give him a new tail.

About three years ago after about forty years of searching I found a pristine version, which I've named "Rustless."

#ActuallyAutistic #AutismAcceptanceMonth

Day 19 - Do you have a favourite plush toy? Let's share cute images!

#actuallyautistic @ActuallyAutistic
#AutismApril #actuallyautistic
#autismacceptancemonth
#AutismAcceptanceMonth

@herissonrose @donni Buy a month's worth of comfy socks. #ActuallyAutistic

Bears repeating...

I'm autistic.

I'm not the product of a #vaccine. Born 1953. Received exactly 1 vax pre-K, DTP. NEVER got MMR.

Flagrantly autistic from birth.

@RFKjr, I was not born to be fixed. Or pitied. Not even studied...

I was born to raise hell on your ass.

#ActuallyAutistic style.
.

@actuallyautistic @actuallyaudhd @actuallyautistic

When you allow yourself to do less, or to do it in smaller bits or not to the full extent that you want, you’re starting to build a trust with yourself that you’re going to be able to do things.

You’re teaching your nervous system that it’s going to be okay in the future, by knowing when it is too much to do.

#ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #AuDHD #BurnoutRecovery

This kind of chart is really good for me. Being in my 40s with no official diagnosis (yet) I’m often satbilwithninpoater syndrome because I can do X. Being presented with the idea that it’s not an either or scenario is very helpful.
#ActuallyAutistic

Image credit - Autism_sketches on Instagram

What are the ethical considerations of restrictive practice?

https://www.davidgrayhammond.co.uk/p/the-ethics-of-restraint-and-seclusion

#ActuallyAutistic #autism #EndRestraint #neurodiversity #disability

@undefined_variable
After my diagnosis I learned of the offensive artificial distinction between "high functioning" and "low functioning" and the untrue statements about empathy. I also read message boards where "aspies" expressed outrage at being associated with other autistic people.
We need solidarity.
#ActuallyAutistic

@godpod @trendytoots I am #actuallyAutistic and autistic minds usually make up their own mind in stead of blowing with the majority of non thinkers.

I’ve come to believe that the systems and processes that we are expected to live by eg school, work, social activities, are all designed for the average person; someone with average intelligence (don’t question just do!) with average social skills (don’t be a recluse it’s weird!) and with average goals, morals and hobbies. Those of us who are neurodivergent are above or below average in all of those areas, and are done with being forced to live averagely.

#actuallyautistic