#middle support needs

[autisticdreamdrop]

it's a "visible" disability for a lot of mid to high support needs autistics but same for the autistics who have it as in "invisble" disability. we are all autistic. we are all valid.

[transbutchblues]

me : sharing an experience caused by my disabilities and explaining how able-bodied and neurotypical people have no idea how many things they are able to do and how many things are necessary in life because for them it’s easy/instinctive. adding that i’m extremely concerned because they often believe that i, a mostly able-bodied person (struggling with some chronic pain and fatigue but not needing mobility aids or anything like that) with neurodevelopmental disabilities, low/lower middle support needs, who struggle with all iADLs but no BADL, "cannot do anything at all" when i am actually very privileged in the disabled community so i worry about how they perceive people with higher support needs than me. explaining that me not being independent and being unable to do iADLs is far from being the most disabling thing out there, since many people cannot do any BADLs without help. using the comments "that’s not autism anymore you’re just completely unable to do anything" and "so you’re collecting every single disability right, there’s nothing you can do independently at all, that’s so hard for your caregivers/family" as the starting point to explain that.

random people : yes comments like these are so annoying !! people tell me "but you’re always tired/in pain" or "it’s not that bad" !! it impacts me a lot it’s awful

me : guys. that was not what i was talking about. ableist comments are bad and they also impact me negatively but the point here was material impact on life, how abled people do not have an understanding of abilities / disabilities and how that results in harming or neglecting disabled people.

[bee-ina-boat]

Being a middle support needs autistic is. Is weird.

My neeeds are always changing and i constantly feel like I'm not autistic enough because i don't experience certain things that others do. That just because the situation I'm in right now accomodates for me to have my alone time and take care of myself it feels like I'm not even middle support needs because i don't feel like I'm struggling 24/7

But that's not TRUE. the situation I'm in, my family takes care of most of the basics in the house. If i was put in an apartment on my own? I would not at all be able to live. My work is babysitting a couple of kids for only a small amount of time every week day where my mom isn't too far away and that's IT. I tried working a regular customer service job and i barely had to do anything and i still quit within the first 3 days because i couldn't do it. I literally couldn't freaking stand in a store making sure the shelves of a tiny area are neat for a small amount of time without having a meltdown in the bathroom.

I can't leave the house alone. I struggle with communication ALOT even though I can physically talk. my motor skills and spatial awareness suck ass. my brain is so so slow for most things and struggles to retain information or remember basic things. The only reason I passed highschool was because i was online schooled and i CHEATED. everyday tasks and keeping schedules feel impossible sometimes

And i have all these struggles etc. but i feel like i constantly have to justify my problems to myself. It feels like my brain is always downscaling what i experience because there are others who have it worse. But that's NOT HOW IT WORKS. Others who are higher support needs then me existing doesn't mean i have no problems!!!!

I'm so afraid that I'm gonna get told "youre not middle support needs." Because im polite during conversations (even though half the time i space out or say weird things or struggle to even put a sentence together) or because i wasn't diagnosed as a kid (despite missing the context that i WAS visibly autistic as a kid. My doctors just thought it was anxiety. Also afabs are less likely to get diagnosed anyway) or because "i don't look autistic" (what does that even mean??)

I'm just. Now that I've accepted i need this amount of support. I'm reaching a point where everytime someone shares there experience I'm just like "Im not as disabled as them so that means I'm not middle support needs" but it's a spectrum!!!! And everyone experiences different parts of it differently and i DONT KNOW why my brain can't accept that!! hHH

:[ bleh i wish my brain wasn't so mean sometimes ngl

Anyway if anyone else does experience this stuff, just know that while it's hard for us to accept. We are valid and we always will be..you deserve to get the support and help you need and if anyone tells you your experiences are lesser I'm gonna kick em, ilu

[autisticdreamdrop]

Since we are a mid to high support level system shoutout to the autistics that :

can't clean themselves correctly (+ too scared to ask for help)

can't wipe correctly (+ too scared to ask for help)

have a hard time dressing yourself  (+ too scared to ask for help)

have to be reminded to bathe

have to be reminded to wash your hair

have to be reminded to eat

have to be reminded to brush your teeth

have accidents

wet the bed

don't have great hygiene

[autisticdreamdrop]

yes there are low support need autsitic that use AAC/TTS and it's hard for them but this is for the mid to high supprt need autsitic cause there's not stuff about us so we have to make it ourselves. advocate for all autistic - Bug / Shane / Theo

[autisticdreamdrop]

fluctuating support needs, low, mid and high support needs autistic might need help with hygiene.

and this is okay. it's okay to need help. we need help, but can't get the full support now, but we are trying.

ask for help if you need it.

🧼 - Dreamdrop System

[autisticdreamdrop]

We need help and were embarrassed. We struggle so much to take on / off our clothes. We can't wipe ourselves correctly. We can't wash ourselves correctly. Showing / bathing is painful. Brushing our teeth is painful. Making food is painful and trigger us. We can't do our hair on our own. We need help.

Our mother would get mad with that support. She does our hair and washes it. We asked her how to type and wash. She won't want to help us wipe or wash us so we're gonna wait til we move out to get an aid that can help with these things. We'll try to tell our mental health team and get their ideas and support.

[aiviannest]

You know being someone who is autistic betweeen low and high support needs is really lonely sometimes. Like, I was late diagnosed like many low support need autistics, but I was never able to mask and was put into special education schools snce like P3/4 Because everyone could tell there something "wrong" and thus went through allot of turama via SE. like high support autistics. But in a very different way because I wasn't "that disabled" I just had "moderate learning difficulties". Which has become a running theme throughout my life.

As a child, I was the R word to the rest if the world, but in the top class at my SE school. I couldn’t tell left from tight or do even basic math in my head. But could devour books like no tomorrow and speak. But would cry at things easily and struggle to interact with people.

Bullied for being a "Spaz" but also bullied for being too smart and geeky.

Now as an adult I'm simultaneously too disabled to function notmally and yoo "normaI" for any real support. Ican't work,can just barely take care of myself. But have control over my life and able to make my own choices.

I am both privlaged to be able madk sometimes,but marginalised and ignored because my autism *is* disabling!

I can't find any help that is actually about my needs and not either parents infanstiling or other autistic peoplr downplaying how much it can effect.

I wish I wasn't in the middle, I wish people realised people with midddle support and low support needs exist and im just so tired.