Honestly, I became so much more powerful after I started refusing to be embarrassed by my special interests past or present. I did not dedicate years of my life to this thing, devote like 90% of my thoughts to this thing, and love it so hard it hurts just to feel embarrassed by it now. I love twenty one pilots! And doctor who! And fnaf! And I'm not gonna feel bad about it because I deserve the happiness they bring me.
*cups special interest gently in my hands* thank you
*doesn't stim for a while* oh I must be faking my autism
*goes a while without any hyperfixations or special interests* oh I must be faking my autism
*successfully socializes* oh I must be faking my autism
*understands a sarcastic comment* OH I MUST BE F-
Common myth: “neurotypicals don’t stim”. This is actually false. Neurotypical people do stim, it’s just usually in a slightly different way. Common stims that you might notice a neurotypical doing include: nail biting, hair twirling, leg bouncing, foot tapping, pen biting, skin picking, knuckle cracking and more. These are stims that go unnoticed most of the time because they are so common. Autistic people’s stims are usually more noticeable. Stims you might see autistic people doing include: hand flapping, rocking, echolalia (repeating words or phrases), head banging, excessive blinking, spinning in circles and more. Stimming is not an exclusive autism trait. It’s the short term for “self-stimulatory behaviours” which every human being does in one way or another. It’s a completely normal way of regulating emotions. I’ve seen some people saying “neurotypicals don’t stim, they fidget” but fidgeting is actually a form of stimming.
The reasons why a neurotypical stims is usually different to why an autistic person does, however, the reasons can be the same. Stimming can help in stressful situations where anxiety levels are high. You’re more likely to notice a neurotypical person stimming when they are particularly anxious, for example in an exam or a job interview. Autistic people stim as a way of expressing emotions, for example we will stim when we are happy or excited, not just when we are anxious. Autistic people frequently experience sensory overloads and stimming helps to calm us down.
I find it ironic and hypocritical when neurotypicals make fun of autistics for stimming when they literally stim too. My parents will comment on my stimming when my mum is sat there biting her nails and my dad is bouncing his leg and picking his skin. How are my stims wrong and their stims right? Before you judge an autistic person for stimming take a look at yourself because I can guarantee you stim in one way or another. Let’s normalise and embrace stimming because not only is it beautiful, it’s incredibly important. Suppressing stims can be detrimental to our mental health.
Embrace the stim! No matter how big or small! All stims are valid!! 🤗🤗🤗
I've always thought that if neurotypicals just tried hand flapping, they'd like it but noooo, they've gotta insist that stimming is weird even though they do it too.
disabled/impaired people receiving accommodations is not "special treatment," it's leveling the playing field. support is not an unfair advantage, or a privilege. needing accommodations is like being in a race and having to carry a bag of bricks while everyone else is carrying nothing. it's only fair to lighten the load so we can at least have a chance to cross that finish line.
if you’re autistic, or otherwise neurodivergent, please know it’s completely okay to leave the table early, refuse hugs from relatives, take five minutes, or anything else you need to do to cope over the holiday season. all the stimulus from so many events over this period can feel so overwhelming, but you can get through this. I hope the new year brings many wonderful things for you
If only I had the strength to refuse hugs
How do I comfort people as an autistic person?
Like if someone tells me about a problem they're having, it makes the most sense to me to try to fix it. But that usually just makes it worse when there isn't an obvious solution. I also do the classic autism thing where I give personal anecdotes to try to relate their problems to mine.
Like, just saying "I know how you feel" sounds empty to me so I feel the need to explain a situation where I felt similar to prove that I know what they're talking about, which makes it seem like I'm making it about myself.
Anyways, I looked up how to comfort people online and it said to "be there for them" and other vague things like that. I honestly don't know what that means. Is it like being available for them to talk if needed?
If that's the case, won't I just have the same problem if they need to talk to me about this again? Is that even what it means to be there for someone in the first place?
*daydreams about infodumping to people instead of actually doing it*
wait wait wait wait wait wait w a i t
Do you mean to tell me that that is the reason I did that.
Remind yourself that if someone in your life doesn’t accept you being autistic then they’re not worth your time or effort. You deserve to be accepted and appreciated by everyone.
