Ma'am thank you for doing the conservation research and work. You are an inspiration to all aspiring scientists, and what Mr Rogers meant when he said look for the helpers.
Do you have any advice on navigating school, work, friendships, and life as an autistic person?
Here are my biggest pieces of advice:
1) Listen to your body, recognize patterns, and give yourself extra time for burnout. If you are autistic, you’ll get burned out eventually. You know you better than anyone else, so look back and see when you typically get burned out, and schedule in extra time for that. For example, I know after Anime cons my battery is at 0 from all of the social interactions, so I always try to take the next day or two off as well.
2) Make sure you get job/school accommodations. Even if you think you won’t use them, get them anyway. Always have a fallback.
3) Don’t put yourself in situations where you know you are going to get upset unless you have to or actually want to. I know I get upset every thanksgiving. To avoid this, I no longer participate.
4) But don’t be afraid to try new things, even if you are worried you might get upset. You might, but you also might not, or more likely, you will find ways to alter the experience in the future to make it more enjoyable.
5) Keep stim toys on your desk at work
6) Make an effort to spend time/keep in contact with the people who want to spend time with you. I know it can be hard, but even just an occasional meme or a trip to the bookstore is helpful. And if you have issues staying in contact, be honest about that.
7) Check your mail. And your email. And your voicemail. I do not do these things but you should.
8) if people think your research is really niche and stupid, ignore them. Study what you like. Become an expert on your niche topic and become more important than them due to your expertise in said niche topic