AAC is awesome because it lets me express myself and do things that I couldn’t do before!!
Happy Autistic Pride Day!
Make hydration stimmy & fun.
Drink water from a bowl you hold,
instead of a glass.
It adds sights & sounds.
Floats my boat.
Ask for help before you need it.
Identify a common situation
that is likely to trigger meltdowns.
Tell someone you trust
what they can do to help you
avoid that,
or get safely through it.
They'll probably want to help
but it won't be obvious
(to anyone outside of your head)
how to do it.
April can be a difficult and triggering month for every Autistic. Here’s some advice on how to deal with it.
Allies/allistics are encouraged to boost!
People with disabilities are NOT burdens
acceptance is such a wimpy term. how about autism enforcement month
heya, can i get a promo? im a new suggestion blog, @autisticflirting! submissions are welcome, especially since ive just started!
absolutely! everyone, follow @autisticflirting!!
Better things are coming
Happy autistic pride day!!
Jeez I never knew why loud planes and motorcycles/cars revving up/trains always made me want to cry or at least made me very distressed until I learned about sensory issues
Yeah, sensory issues suck and it can definitely be confusing until you figure it out! Noise-cancelling headphones are a life saver tbh.
Yesterday, I made this post and I had a BRILLIANT idea!
You know those body stimming gifs and videos that have become really popularly in the autistic community? What if we started doing something like that, but with vocal stims/echolalia?!
Nearly all autistics do some sort of vocal stim. We repeat things we’ve heard from media, we mimic animal noises, we make odd sounds like beeps and honks and hums, and a lot more! But we don’t really get to hear anyone else do it but ourselves or if we are lucky, an autistic we know IRL. That kind of isolation can make us feel self-conscious and ashamed when we vocal stim because even if we know we all do it because it is talked about, we don’t know what it is really like for other people.
That has got to change and I’m starting it right here with myself. It is a little embarrassing to share what I sound like when I vocal stim, do echolalia, or communicate with noises, but that’s why I’m doing this because I know other autistics are embarrassed too! It’s important that autistics get to know all about and hear from a fellow autistic the vocal/echo phenomena that we do.
I just recorded this using the voice memo app on my Iphone, converted it to Mp3 using an online converter once the file was on my computer, and uploaded it on Tumblr using the audio post format. It was really easy! But you can also make a video of you doing it too. You don’t even have to show your face!!! Just draw a picture or write a note saying “These are my vocal stims” and have the video point at that while you “speak” in the background of the video.
I really, really want this to get spread around because of what a positive impact it will have on people and I desperately want other people to do it too! Please, please, please reblog this post even if you don’t vocal stim or don’t want to share your vocal stims, hearing this is a thing might help so many autistics!
If you do do this yourself, please tag it as #actuallyautistic and #vocal stimming or #vocal stim so I (and other autistics) can find your post and reblog it! LET’S MAKE THIS A THING PEOPLE AND SPREAD THE POSITIVITY!!!
If you do make an audio post of your vocal stims/echolalia, feel free to @ me in it or send it to me in DM! I would love to see it and I will definitely reblog it (as long as it doesn’t hurt my ears too much ^_^)!
So I’ve was diagnosed when I was 5. I’ve had anger problems since I was at least 10. I’m now 22. I just want to know if this is a common thing & if so. How can I prevent from being angry all the time? Not just angry but like. Murderous intent angry. Enraged. Whatever word you choose
I’m not sure if anger issues have a direct combination to autism, but it’s definitely possible for the two to be comorbid. If you can’t seek professional help, then you should start by identifying your triggers AND anything that may calm your anger down, even in the slightest. Avoid triggers and surround yourself with things that calm you down. If possible, try to find a place alone when you start to get angry. This may sound like ignorant NT advice, but there really are good videos, breathing exercises, etc. that help to calm down anger! Look around and see if any of that helps you!
I haven't been doing anything at all regarding my special interests because I'm scared of being bullied and I've been really depressed lately. But not doing anything with them is making my depression worse, so I'm in this loop I can't seem to break free from. I don't know how to not care if people bully me and I don't know if it makes sense that I'm too depressed to do anything with my special interests. Has anyone else ever been in a similar situation? Sorry if this is worded poorly.
Hey, I’m sorry about that! Maybe you could try to do stuff relating to them in private? It may be less fun, but it might be your best option :( This definitely isn’t an uncommon experience, so you’re not alone. Depending on what your special interests are, you could try to find a group of people (or just one person) online/irl that share your interests - they don’t necessarily have to be special interests to that person (but that would be nice)! Like if your special interest is some sort of media or pop culture you can try to get involved with the fandom, if it’s an area of study you can seek out research or maybe even start some sort of class about it if that’s accessible for you!
I have this issue I've been struggling with for 3-4 yrs where I constantly think about non-stop, things that make me angry and idk if it's an autistic but I assume it is bc I almost obsessively think about things. I will literally think about something from 4 months ago and be annoyed about it. I guess another factor into this is that my family members, especially my parent, is a toxic individual. I know there are coping mechanisms, like journals, but i dont think they help much.
Obsessive thinking is a general neurodivergent trait, one that can certainly apply to autism! As for coping mechanisms, if you’re unable to distance yourself from stressors/triggers, you might be able to try to add something positive to your life? Like, if you have a toxic parent, maybe you could try to find a positive support system somehow? I suppose it kind of depends on the exact details of your situation but it could be a good place to start.
Do it you have any tips on how to stop a harmful stim? I use self harm as a stim and I really want to stop, but it’s so hard. Do you have any ideas?
First of all, identify what triggers the stim. Is it stress? Sensory overload? Whatever you find the trigger to be, you should try to prevent it before it happens, if possible. For example, if you use harmful stims when you’re scared, then you should avoid scary situations as much as you can, or at the very least find other ways to cope with it (i.e. comfort objects)
However, that’s unfortunately not always possible, so another thing to do could be to find an alternative. Why do you use the stim? Is it so you can block out one bad sensory thing with another? Is it just how you deal with your emotions? This may be difficult to figure out, so it’s okay if you can’t! I know that most of us just stim without any type of motive behind it due to how natural it is for us, but some do stim with a ‘goal’, for lack of a better word, in mind.
Try to find something that gives you a similar sensation. Like for example, if your harmful stim is banging your head, you could maybe try shaking your head instead, tapping it, or something that is essentially a more mild and less harmful version of it. If you pick/poke at your skin, you could find something else to pick/poke (i.e. putty) or find a more safe skin-based stim like maybe pressing into your skin without hurting yourself.
There’s also a lot of general resources on how to stop self-harm in a lot of ND communities online, but because yours is Autism/stim based they may not all be helpful, but it probably couldn’t hurt to at least try to look into!
Don’t be too mad at yourself if you can’t replace the stim immediately - it’s natural behavior, and it’s difficult to stop!
Hi! I'm self-dx'd but on the path to official dx so I can get some support but I had a couple questions I have an awful habit of chewing/destroying any straw I use without even meaning to, is this common among autistic people? I know chew/stim toys exist but they just don't -feel- right And are speech impediments/slow speech common? If I'm interrupted I also tend to lose my entire train of thought :( I'd love to know if others experience this too! Thankyou for your blog ❤
Yeah, chewing straws is a really common stim! I personally do it!Speech impediments are common as well - sometimes there are comorbid speech disorders that occur along with the autism, and sometimes having a speech impediment is simply an autistic trait!