Can you relate? What are some of your interoception-related struggles? This is one of those things that silently mess up my moods and coping mechanisms, and I'm not aware of it until I'm too uncomfortable to do something about it. Due to lack of interoception feedback, I experience A LOT of unnecessary pain due to not recognizing toileting cues, eating past the point of fullness, and not drinking enough water. When it comes to pain, here's a fun anecdote (not actually fun at all): my pain tolerance is super high (really, super high) to the point that one time my stomach was literally (LITERALLY) rotting due to severe infection and I was perfectly fine. The doctor couldn't believe I was in such an awful state when they did the surgery. He kept saying, "but you seemed fine! You should've been in excruciating pain!" I didn't know I was Autistic then, and sure as hell would've been helpful to know since it can be incredibly dangerous for us if we don't know we are in pain when we actually need medical assistance.
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#autism#autismawareness#autistic#autisticadults#actuallyautistic#actuallyautisticadult#autisticartist#autismo#autisme#autistas#mujeresautistas#aspergers#aspie#aspergerssyndrome#neurodivergent#neurodiverse#autismlife#autismparents
Can you relate to this? It IS true that these differences in communication often make us experience difficult times and misunderstandings with people. The point of this post isn't to ignore that or pretend they don't happen because they do, and they are tough to deal with. I want to point out, though, that when we allow ourselves to understand our differences… truly understand and unpack them, we see them from a more neurodiversity-affirming perspective and become less defective. We are not immune to thinking and feeling the same way society thinks and feels about neurodivergent ways of existing (that is "defective," "disordered," "strange," etc.), so I think that when we unpack these things, we can let go of a lot of shame and guilt that may come as a result of feeling "inadequate" around people. Are we really being neurodiversity-affirming if we continue to put all the blame for confrontations and miscommunication problems on the neurodivergent person?
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#autism#autistic#actuallyautistic#autisticadults#autisticteens#autismo#autista#mujeresautistas#aspie#aspiegirl#aspergers#aspergerssyndrome#aspergerslife#neurodiversity#neurodiverse#neurodivergent#autismmoms#autismdads#autismparents#autismmomsrock#autisticselfadvocacy#autismpride#redinstead#autismrights
Can you relate? Do you find it easier to communicate this way? The more I talk to Autistic people, the more I notice that we do this and I find it so so deeply wonderful, despite not always being well-received. I can understand it might be frustrating to be discussing something with someone and have them say “oh, it’s like in that Spider Man movie when…” or have them respond to a message with a song or a movie scene but these strategies are just as valid as actual words when they are used to help us communicate what we are feeling, as close as we can. If anything, they are better as the alternative is often not saying anything at all because we don’t know how to articulate how we feel and nothing seems to cut it. The point of this post is to bring light that, yes, sometimes it’s a “deficit in communication” from our end (I hate they put it that way) but other times it’s really just lack of willingness to listen “neurodivergently” from the other person.
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#autism#autistic#actuallyautistic#autisticadults#autisticteens#autismo#autista#mujeresautistas#aspie#aspiegirl#aspergers#aspergerssyndrome#aspergerslife#neurodiversity#neurodiverse#neurodivergent#autismmoms#autismdads#autismparents#autismmomsrock#autisticselfadvocacy#autismpride#redinstead#autismrights