YOU ARE THE REASON
Janaina Medeiros
@theartofmadeline
Today's Document
KIROKAZE
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2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
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@neurodivergent-alien
Growing up I thought i was an alien. Everyone knew this about me, but no one had bothered to tell me. Somehow everyone could tell and i didn't know what gave it away
Anyway, turns out I'm neurodivergent and went completely undiagnosed until now
In high school, one of my friends said they thought they had ocd. I felt this huge relief. Finally someone who could understand!
So one time, I'm talking about how much I struggled to get out of the house in the morning. Getting ready often involved hour-long ocd loops. On bad days, i remember brushing my teeth until my gums bled.
And my friend just stared at me, because he didn't have ocd "like that". Turns out, he didn't have ocd at all.
I never talked about my ocd again
okay this is possibly a long shot, but does anyone have any recommendations for a more autism friendly smoke detector/fire alarm?
My sister is autistic and very sensitive to loud noise. Our current alarm is quite loud and is extremely distressing. When it's gone off, my sister freezes in all the panic instead of trying to leave. So, the main concern is that, in case of a real fire, she will not be able to get out in time.
Has anyone out here found any alternatives that work for them?
My hopping tic has been making a comeback, and I hate it so much. It's not the most disruptive, but it's fairly awkward
Consequences of Selective Mutism
I grew up with selective mutism. If you met me today, it would be hard to believe. As an adult, I've started to notice little quirks left over from sm.
I'm not good with names. Frankly, it's because I never bothered with learning anyone's name before. I had no use for it. When i met someone new, i was seldom comfortable enough to speak around them. My communication was limited to gestures, so names were replaced by pointing. If i used someone's name it usually meant i trusted that person enough to speak. To this day, names feel deeply intimate to me.
I tend to sneak up on people. I still struggle to initiate conversation especially if someone can't see me. I frequently surprised my roommate because i didn't make any noise when i approached. When we had mice, I saw them more often then anyone because they didn't run as i entered the room.
Mispronouncing & Spoonerism. I suddenly found myself stumbling over words and mixing up syllables more often, especially in English. As someone with social anxiety, this was distressing at first. Of course, it was only natural that I made more mistakes. I was speaking more!
Consequences of Selective Mutism
I grew up with selective mutism. If you met me today, it would be hard to believe. As an adult, I've started to notice little quirks left over from sm.
I'm not good with names. Frankly, it's because I never bothered with learning anyone's name before. I had no use for it. When i met someone new, i was seldom comfortable enough to speak around them. My communication was limited to gestures, so names were replaced by pointing. If i used someone's name it usually meant i trusted that person enough to speak. To this day, names feel deeply intimate to me.
I tend to sneak up on people. I still struggle to initiate conversation especially if someone can't see me. I frequently surprised my roommate because i didn't make any noise when i approached. When we had mice, I saw them more often then anyone because they didn't run as i entered the room.
Consequences of Selective Mutism
I grew up with selective mutism. If you met me today, it would be hard to believe. As an adult, I've started to notice little quirks left over from sm.
I'm not good with names. Frankly, it's because I never bothered with learning anyone's name before. I had no use for it. When i met someone new, i was seldom comfortable enough to speak around them. My communication was limited to gestures, so names were replaced by pointing. If i used someone's name it usually meant i trusted that person enough to speak. To this day, names feel deeply intimate to me.
I think disability justice would be easier if abled people understood that being disabled is a mixture of all three of
I can’t do that without negative consequences
I can’t do that unless I have support for it
I can’t do that
and that trying to treat one of these as if it’s another one will get you nowhere.
Unconventional Autism Advice:
When I was in school, my classmates would frequently take my fidgets from me. If you find yourself in a similar situation, one phrase that has served me well is "That's been in my mouth."
Now, whether or not this statement was true, it still proved effective. Not only would they set my fidget down, but they weren't likely to take it again afterwards.
I was never assessed for autism, but was still raised as an autistic kid. My sister was diagnosed with autism with I was 6. At lot of the things my parents did to help my sister also benefited me. I grew up in an environment where I was well regulated, so it wasn't until my mid to late teens that my autism became apparent
The sheer amount of social skill games forced upon us as kids!
Let's play a card game:
Or maybe family board game night:
Sure, you can play a game on your ipad:
Oh and don't forget my favorite computer game:
I was never assessed for autism, but was still raised as an autistic kid. My sister was diagnosed with autism with I was 6. At lot of the things my parents did to help my sister also benefited me. I grew up in an environment where I was well regulated, so it wasn't until my mid to late teens that my autism became apparent
Something that helps
If you blurt out something that you thought would be funny but it comes across as insensitive, just quickly say, “I’m sorry, that was rude, what I meant was…”
If you say something in anger or frustration, take a breath and say, “I’m sorry, that was hurtful, let me rephrase…”
If you say something heartfelt, but it comes across as insincere or ironic, say “That sounds like I’m just saying it, but I’m being truly honest…”
If you accidentally tell the waiter “enjoy your meal” just laugh and say a quick “so sorry, my brain isn’t working today!” and you will most likely get a commiserating chuckle in return.
Most of the time, the other person will accept your apology with no harm done. Sometimes they even insist they understood what you meant the first time and clarification was not needed. At times, maybe they have a right to be upset, but it never hurts to apologize again so they know that you’re taking their feelings into account.
Repeat after me. It’s okay to be bad at conversation. Knowing how to apologize makes it easier.
Its not a sign of weakness to be able to apologize
Absolutely ice cold take that is still somehow, somewhere controversial:
People with Tourette’s deserve to be able to go to movie theatres, libraries, church and any other place where you’re expected to be quiet.
I have tourette's and I actually work for the public library!
I grew up going to libraries, and they have literally saved my life. When my tics got more severe in my teens, I started to avoid libraries. I worried my tics wouldn't be welcomed in the place that once had been my sanctuary
Working for the library was so healing. My first day running a kids' program was loud. I apologised profusely to the staff, but they told me it was fine
"We love hearing the kids! Libraries are meant to be enjoyed"
Libraries aren't just for books. They are a community hub that all should be able to access. I'm so sorry to anyone who's been made to feel otherwise. You'll always be welcome in my library <33
