Unurdness Abounds @rivetingreticence - Tumblr Blog

to blame your racism on your autism is counter intuitive and reverses progress the autistic community has been making for years.

skopostheorie

your autism is a part of you. it is not some part of your brain you can just scoop out, or something someone put in there and made you the way that you are. it is you. there is no point where autism ends and your brain begins. it is just as much a part of you as your natural abilities and weaknesses are, your memories, your hair colour and your height.

that is why saying things like, "i know he's in there somewhere" about your autistic child is bad. a child hasn't been stolen from a parent by the autism monster, having autism IS what makes their kid who he is. you all seem to be able to grasp that much.

so when people say, "yes, well, a trait of autism is to say horrible things sometimes! it's just a part of our inability to understand social settings!", it's just ridiculous. yes, sure it does. and that's why you have to take responsibility for it. because "autism" is not seperate to you. your autism did not say a racist thing at the dinner table, YOU did. because you are autistic. denying this is directly reversing progress, the fight by all your autistic siblings-in-arms and those autistic people who came before you who have been fighting to be seen as who they are. the idea that autism is seperate to us is literally rhetoric people use to argue that we can be "cured".

so don't use your autism as an excuse. it is you. you said that. work on yourself.

skopostheorie

yes! i would be really grateful if white autistic people reblogged it and/or took it into account, actually.

primordial-fungus-monolith

Think about this quote like all the time and how it really undermines so much shit in capitalism

pretentiouslimericks

Image transcript:

“But what will you do with the lazy man, the man who does not want to work?” inquires your friend.

That is an interesting question, and you will probably be very much surprised when I say that there is really no such thing as laziness. What we call a lazy man is generally a square man in a round hole. That is, the right man in the wrong place, And you will always find that when a fellow is in the wrong place, he will be inefficient or shiftless. For so-called laziness and a good deal of inefficiency are merely unfitness, misplacement. If you are compelled to do the thing you are unfitted for by your inclinations or temperament, you will be inefficient at it; if you are forced to do work you are not interested in, you will be lazy at it.

End transcript

wlfgrrl

rivetingreticence

yay, 3 out if 4! 😬

smolalpacacutie-deactivated2021

Change Your Reactions To Autistics

Campaign being run by Amaze Victoria, here are three videos plus a link to their website to help change your reactions.

Here's the website to Amaze

Australians can pledge to change their reaction to autistics, and everyone can learn more about us!!

autctopus

#wearenotconfused is trending on twitter because jk rowling decided to use autistic trans people as an example of trans people going too far and making everyone trans. another claim that autistic trans people can’t know who we are, because we’re too easily confused and too easily misguided by the evil transes. as a trans man — someone who is targeted by terfs not as an enemy but as a potential ally if only they could convince me i was corrupted by the trans cult, which erases my reality as a trans person and is yet another way trans men are infantilized — and as an autistic person — which further removes agency — i feel i have to say something about this.

i refuse to be used as an argument against trans women. my autism does not make me a voiceless pawn who anyone can move around the chessboard to their whims. surprise surprise, autistic people know how to use the internet and we won’t stand around and let ourselves be used as a gotcha. and autistic trans men (who were referred to as “autistic girls who want to transition” in rowling’s tirade) will stand in solidarity with our trans sisters. i’m so happy to see all the autistic trans people come out of the woodwork with this tag to dunk on her. go check it out if you want to see some strong words and cool selfies.

autie-j

So I thought I'd share AWNs response to jk Rowling.

https://awnnetwork.org/awn-condemns-jk-rowlings-anti-trans-and-ableist-comments-against-trans-women-autistic-trans-youth-and-other-trans-people/

Like many of our community members, AWN is dismayed and disappointed to learn about JK Rowling’s most recent transmisogynistic comments about sex and gender. Among other comments, Rowling claimed that she would march in support of trans people if trans people experienced discrimination. As the leading autistic organization of autistic women (both trans and cis) and trans people of all genders, AWN condemns in no uncertain words the entirety of Rowling’s tweets and her blog post that attack and undermine trans women, trans men, and trans nonbinary people.

Many of our AWN leadership, staff, and volunteers are trans, and we know that autistic people as a whole are much more likely to be transgender in all possible gender identities, including as trans women and transfeminine people. We therefore know very personally the extreme discrimination, prejudice, hostility, and violence that trans people suffer every day – especially trans women who are Black or Native, who do sex work, who are in prison, and/or who are immigrants. The fact that Rowling chose to use her past experiences as a survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence as a reason to question the validity of trans women’s experiences deeply saddens us, and further demonstrates her alignment with TERF ideology. Untold numbers of trans women have been victims and survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence, often because they are trans.

Further, we are horrified to learn that Rowling has chosen to double down on her initial statements by questioning whether or not autistic children are being manipulated into falsely believing that they are transgender. Such statements, commonly made about autistic children who were assigned female at birth, rely on ableist beliefs about autistic people’s incompetence and presume that cisgender and neurotypical people know us better than we know ourselves. AWN is encouraged that larger numbers of children – both autistic and nonautistic – are willing to explore their genders today, than were in decades past. This demonstrates the power of community support and affirmation for multiple gender identities and expressions, and for people who are questioning and exploring their own sense of gender.

ablednt

Hey so I've seen it happening a lot and am by far not absolved from it myself but

White autistic and neurodivergent people we need to stop weaponizing our neurodivergency against people of color

Having hyperempathy does not absolve us from needing to actually listen to people of color when they talk about the oppression they face

Having low empathy does not mean we get to opt out of caring about and being compassionate for people of color.

Not understanding social cues does not mean we are exempt from unlearning any racist behaviors and micro-aggressions we perpetuate

Being autistic and/or neurodivergent does not mean we aren't capable of racism, that we were not raised to be racist by white society.

Many right leaning groups target privileged autistic people because we tend to be easier to manipulate due to our not picking up on red flags and our empathy levels being often an extreme.

Listen to people of color over your own comfort because being neurodivergent does not suddenly mean we don't experience white privilege or fragility.

unabashedlyseveresandwich

If you are an adult who identifies with the concept of Gifted Kid Syndrome and:

You have an unusually intense reaction to the concept of rejection, whether personal, professional, or academic

You have consistent trouble meeting deadlines

You have big dreams and ambitions that are completely achievable, but you consistently can’t take steps toward achieving them and you don’t know why

You procrastinate, like a lot

You like video games, like a lot

You switch seemingly at random between binge watching your favorite shows for absurd lengths of time or not being able to sit down and focus on them unless you’re doing something else at the same time

You cannot for the life of you keep your living area clean and organized

You struggle with substance dependencies, whether with alcohol, tobacco, weed, harder drugs, or even just caffeine

You struggle with texting/calling/emailing back, even for people you care about deeply and/or even for important deadlines

Please, please, please consider seeking out an ADHD evaluation.

I’m not a psychiatrist or any kind of a medical professional, but personally I can’t help but notice how many elements of what I was perceiving as personal failures before my diagnosis stem directly from my executive dysfunction. Meds and an adequate support system can make a world of difference!

Just some advice from your friendly neighborhood nonbinary-mom-friend blogger!

leesacrakon

...these are all seriously signs of ADHD?

You’re kidding

sunrisingblue

Not even a little bit.

blazeeblake

As someone who has recently started treatment for ADHD after literal decades of the stuff on that list (like, everything but substance dependency), do yourselves all the favors and look into it. Also, lighten up on yourselves, because this has nothing to do with inadequacy or failure.

lollibeepop

Love Yourself (even if sometimes others have to do it for you)

catchymemes

prof-grace-aspen

This is the best description I’ve heard for this method, I always thought it was bullshit because I never heard a description that actually explained how to do this other than “tap your head 20 times”.

I have anxiety-induced hissing, which sounds/feels different from sound-induced tinnitus (which I have also experience). Sound-based tinnitus actually sounds like you’re “hearing” something in your ears, whilst the hissing I have feels like it’s “inside my head”, if that makes sense. But this technique still helps!!

re-bee-key

OH MY FUCKING GOD IT WORKED!

Ive had tintinis my whole life and its just… fucking gone. What the fuck

afallenwolf

I just tried this! I think it seriously works!

chuckyzoopa

This has been added on the reddit thread and I think this might be useful here as well, since you can actually see the method demonstrated:

coralsaysthings

rebloop to save a life

rivetingreticence

Serious question to anyone who may have insight into this: would this work for auditory hallucinations as well? My mother has a lot of trouble with those due to schizophrenia and I would love to be able to help her with this. Is there any danger to trying this with her?

#tinnitus #schizophrenia #auditory hallucinations #hallucinations

mentallychill-ill

Shout out to the fellow autistics out there that :

Blast music in the car until the speakers are about to blow but as soon as a light is buzzing 3 rooms down the hall everything is too loud

Get so excited about their special interest they cant even infodump

Have worn the same jacket for the past 3 years despite holes in the sleeves

Find ways to insert their special interest into school projects and papers if they can

Have days where they want tight tight hugs and other days where if they are touched they will instantly vanish into meltdown

Have fluctuating levels of empathy

Want to have a career that isnt “meant for autistic people” and having to be your own support

Know what they want to say but cant get the right words or people don’t understand.

Have to say “what” more often than “hi”

Get fascinated by the smallest details around them that other people pass

Are still trying to accept their own autism and not repress behaviors they’ve learned to repress

Adults who got diagnosed late and are relearning their whole lives in a different light

Who exist everyday as themselves in a world of typicals and ableist

I am at a loss.

Everything hurts and I'm so exhausted. And yesterday, another specialist gave up on finding out what's wrong after my tests for inflammatory and rheumatic diseases, and fibromyalgia were all negative.

My sisters are having a similar problem, with many similar symptoms. They are now looking into EDS, because they're all three hypermobile.

I'm definitely not hypermobile. If anything, I'm the opposite. So I guess that rules out EDS. But I'm not sure what's left, honestly. Maybe I just have to live with the idea that a bunch of unrelated issues are making me miserable and there's nothing I can do about it.

I really don't know where to move from here.

#chronic pain #chronic fatigue #diagnosis #eds #ehlers danlos syndrome #probably not #but maybe someone can help

captainsblogsupplemental

geekremix

Data was an artist on a level organics cannot achieve and I appreciate him.

ayellowbirds

it continues to astonish me how much Data is proof of neurotypical writers being unable to conceptualize an actual lack of emotion. As an autistic viewer, i always found him deeply, profoundly emotive, driven by passionate interests and deep bonds, with a strong sense of personal identity. But the text of the show constantly affirmed that none of that was true, that he didn’t feel anything—which, of course, made it all the more absurd that he wanted to feel, because someone who was truly lacking emotions shouldn’t feel the pangs of desire to feel them.

we constantly see Data exploring creative pursuits, immersing himself in different art forms and cultures, while his organic (and especially human) crewmates mostly entertain themselves at the holodeck and other such diversions. How many times was Data’s exploration of an art used in an attempt to convince the audience that he didn’t understand, that he couldn’t feel, when neurodivergent viewers could immediately see a sympathetic attempt to learn a new skill by someone who was inexperienced in it?

Data’s appreciation of a unique poetic form from an ancient nonhuman culture is presented for absurdity, while the series tells us it’s perfectly normal that a bunch of space explorers want to play at Robin Hood (what, were there no other great works of storytelling between the point of timeline divergence and the start of TNG? That’s centuries!)

archosaur-automaton

As a fellow autistic Star Trek fan, Data has always held a special place in my heart. His drive to be more human, his constant desire to understand the human experience resonated with me as a child and young adult who also struggled to be human in the way others demanded of me, to feel and display emotion and to fit in with the society in which I was immersed without standing out like a sore thumb. Data’s earnest attempts at understanding and communicating and fitting in with others, and the frequency with which people got upset or frustrated with him for not being like them reflected my own experiences trying to emulate the behavior of those around me but never quite getting it right. It took me a long time of wrestling with the contradiction between Data’s obvious desires and feelings, and stated “lack of emotion” before I came to a satisfactory answer. Obviously, Data possesses emotions. What he does not seem to possess, however, is a good way of talking about his emotions, of naming and processing sensations and making sense of them. There’s so much within him that he doesn’t understand and can’t articulate; he can’t cross-reference and compare one feeling to another, give it a name and refer back to it. In other words, Data is deeply alexithymic. He doesn’t know how to connect his behaviours to what he feels inside, how to make the connection and understand the relationship between one and the other. As someone who, in the midst of a deeply distressing and unsafe childhood, could only muster up “calm” or “okay” or “i don’t know” in response to any inquiry about my emotional state, who understood emself in terms only of “angry” and “not angry”, my favorite android’s quest to comprehend his own mind and heart (his oh-so-very-big and beautiful heart, my sweetest of mechanical darlings) and make sense of himself was desperately necessary. And seeing that he had friends, companions, loved ones and meaningful relationships with people who desired his company and included him in their community without condition, was also necessary. I love Data.

captainsblogsupplemental

I actually… love this

solitarelee

dubiousculturalartifact

i once wrote an entire academic paper with the central thesis of ‘everyone is kind of a dick to Data and it honestly kinda reflect how people treat neurodiverse people, which is also why we neurodiverse people relate to him so hard’

oboe-youdidnt

the original post was missing a line, so here’s the full poem!!

haunted-hideaway

His poetry is good. Fight me.

madlori

I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS

“AN ODE TO SPOT” IS FREAKING GENIUS FIGHT ME

gaycatwizard

This reminds me of a very specific interaction he had at one point, I believe with Picard. Picard (or whoever it was) commented on how good he was at playing the violin. Data then brings up that he’s only so good because he took the best parts of each of the best players’ styles. He mentions that about his art, as well, that he lacks an “imagination” and can really only paint things he can see. He wonders aloud to Picard if that makes him unoriginal or “not good”. Picard disagrees.

Doesn’t add much, but I think it brings attention to the fact that neurodiverse people tend to think of things differently and solve problems in different ways. We come to similar conclusions (a completed work), but through wildly different means. Just because yours is different doesn’t mean it isn’t valid.

I also personally believe that Data is the single best character in all of Star Trek and deserves to be recognized for it. Some of this goes out to Brent Spiner for playing the part so well, but at the same time, it’s Data himself.

mikkeneko

People in other versions of this post have pointed out some mitigating factors to this apparent snub: that Riker (and possibly other crew members?) were suffering from sleep deprivation, that they showed up to support him despite being not particularly interested in his poetry. But the above comment reminded me of something else that I think factors into the situation at play.

The rest of the crew encouraged Data to try his hand at poetry, or at painting, and it formed part of his journey to self-discovery through arts. But the thing is, Data wasn’t the only member of the crew who was encouraged to try their hand at art.

Riker played the trombone. Picard took up painting. Data wrote poetry. All the members of the crew were encouraged to pick up and try different forms of art, in part because they were stuck on the ship together for long periods of time, but also because of the kind of show that Star Trek wanted to be and the society that Star Trek wanted to portray.

The crew of the Enterprise are not soldiers, or merchants, or surveyors. They are explorers and scientists and more than that, they were encouraged to explore their own creativity and artistic outlets because that is the sort of thing the Federation and their society values. They were encouraged to pursue art *even when they were not particularly good at it.* Picard wasn’t very good at painting, and there was one conversation with Data where Data pretty tactlessly tells him so. Art is encouraged for its own sake, for the enjoyment and growth of the people who practice it, not just because it could generate value or profit for themselves or others.

The Enterprise in TNG is always portrayed kind of like a small traveling city, more so than the Enterprise in TOS but less than Deep Space Nine in DS9. They are not just a crew, they are a community, and one of the ways that is expressed is that they support each other in AMATEUR explorations of the arts. People show up to Data’s poetry readings not because he’s a master poet, or because they’re particularly good at judging poetry either, but because supporting each other in their hobbies is what friends do. And it doesn’t have to be good, because none of them are experts, but they’ll encourage each other’s artistic endeavors anyway. Because people make art, even if it’s not very good art, and it’s worth making.

qhronophobia

adhd gothic

you want to watch a movie. you put it on. two hours have passed. you haven’t watched the movie. there are five new tasks in front of you. you want to watch a different movie.

there is an object in your hand. it is extremely important you don’t lose it. you look down. there is nothing in your hand.

you don’t know your friend’s name. you’ve been friends for months. they just told you their name. you do not know their name.

your friend doesn’t laugh at your joke. why didn’t they laugh? do they hate you? they assure you otherwise. you know they are lying. did they ever like you?

someone asks you what you just said. did you say something? you said so many things. you said nothing. you said everything.

there is something you’re forgetting. you check. you check again. there is nothing you’re forgetting. there is something you’re forgetting.

you had something to say. you can’t remember. it was important. wasn’t it? you can’t remember.

there is a task that needs to be done. it should take ten minutes. you check the clock. it’s been five minutes. you check the clock. it’s been two days.

what-even-is-thiss

Who gave you this summary of my week

awesomlyautistic

What would you say is the Universal Autism Experience?

rivetingreticence

Frustration.

We may have it for different reasons, but I have never met a fellow autistic person who wasn't extremely frustrated - especially with neurotypical people, but also sometimes with ourselves, with our sensory issues, with our difficulties.

But also: joy.

Because I think many of us, if not all of us, have a much easier time genuinely and fully enjoying things that we like than many NT people (if they let us).

#autism #actuallyautistic

theomnipresentone-deactivated20

hey it would be great if people could reblog this

mainstreaming

people love to share “Cute” videos of “DEAF BABY HEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME/DEAF MOTHER HEARS HER KID’S VOICE FOR THE FIRST TIME” and everyone lavishes praise on auditory verbal therapists and everyone is so fucking glad that we might soon Cure deafness with the wonders of science and everyone thinks that deaf people with an opposition to any of this are just a product of Barbaric Deaf Culture Bullshit

meanwhile if you’ve ever spoken to any of those kids who were mainstreamed when they were 20 and had the mental capacity to comprehend and express how they felt about it all, way after all of those cute videos were long forgotten and they were gone from any sort of public eye, you’d notice a similar narrative

unrelenting trauma

you talk to nearly any mainstreamed kid who couldn’t integrate quite as well as the wunderkind that had a hearing problem that hearing aids could help and you’ll find out that they leave linguistics classes with haunted eyes that turn to tears because they can no longer handle hearing anyone deliberately enunciate sounds without reacting like they’ve been smacked and shaking as they desperately wish they could leave the room

it doesn’t matter if their Integration was formal or not, you talk to a grown mainstreamed person and more often than not they’ll tell you they can’t handle soundless videos anymore because the impulse bred in them to never Not Hear gives them panic attacks when something like that shows up (ps if you can recognize that a video has no sound you might want to start tagging it. the only reason i don’t is because i can’t fucking tell adequately at this point)

the kids who, when their moms (#mumblr) saw them removing their hearing aids (did you know that doctors often turn those things up so high that adults have reported their ears hurt on those settings?), had their hearing aids strapped to their heads; the kids who didn’t get to have a true choice between sign language and Being Fixed because their parents would never let them (and if any hearing parents get the idea that they can get around this i hope you realize that in a society that demonizes sign language like ours actually does under the veneer of caring about deaf people a 3 year old will never not be pushed away); the kids whose parents just thought they were doing well enough as is or could try harder and that would solve it all; these kids do not come out of this emotionally unscathed. they come out of this nervous wrecks who feel like crying anytime they have to ask someone too many times to repeat themselves.

auditory verbal therapy groups aren’t smarter about deaf issues, kinder about deaf issues, than deaf people. they create actual fucking little meme images where they don’t simply talk about the “necessity” of punishing deaf kids for failing, they laugh about it amongst each other.

these people willingly use information from the foundation named after the guy whose name was deeply associated with oralism, who didn’t want deaf people to intermarry to “keep the gene pool clean”, to tell everyone about how deaf kids are fine without sign language thanks to the wonders of auditory verbal therapy. they post shit like this.

people who have been mainstreamed spend the rest of their lives regretful that they’ve been kept away from other deaf people their entire lives, regretful that they’ve never learned sign language and instead have their language skills fried because they completely rewired themselves, hyperfocusing, to be able to hear just the people around them so they’d stop being yelled at, finally. they become more and more emotionally fragile around anything that makes them feel like they’re back to being lectured about how they say things funny or don’t understand sounds.

mainstreaming is fucking evil and the only reason you consider “fixing” it to be a good outcome for us is because you refuse to listen to any grown deaf people that didn’t come out of this golden

tldr: if you’re wondering why sharing “DEAF BABY HEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME” videos is bad and why deaf people hate you for it is because you are celebrating the very ideology that will lead to that kid being a regretful emotional wreck when they can finally understand “oh wait what i was actually given was a bunch of complexes to force me to pretend i’m functioning most of the time”

deaf-studies

I genuinely hate those videos, and this is a damn good explanation of whyz

hoh-hufflepuff

I hate that I used to really like those videos. I’m HoH and before I ever took an ASL class, learned about Deaf Culture, decided to be a Deaf Educator/Interpreter, got my own hearing aid and realized it’s not perfect and not a quick fix, I used to like these videos a lot. Now I cringe when I see my hearing friends sharing them and shake my head that I ever did the same.

starwritandsuchthings

I’m on spectrum for autism, and I gotta say, I was raised and socialized to think these videos were cute –

But this list of traumas is so bone rendingly familiar. This? This is so familiar. My brothers and sister in the deaf community, thank you for putting it into words, so I can articulate on your behalf. Intersectionalism is important. Thank You.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Unurdness Abounds