ActuallyAutistic Wiki - User contributions [en]

YouTube

2023-08-23T13:27:36Z

ZoeB: Added another YouTuber's channel

== YouTube Accounts ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/c/neurowonderful Amythest Schaber]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/AspergersfromtheInside Autism From The Inside]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@fosteronthespectrum foster on the spectrum]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/HolisticAutistic Holistic Autistic]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/KsanaLes Ksana Les]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/neurodivergentme neurodivergent me]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/NeurodivergentRebel Neurodivergent Rebel]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/PurpleElla Purple Ella]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@thethoughtspot222 The Thought Spot]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/YoSamdySam Yo Samdy Sam]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@disabled.autistic.lesbian Sydney Zarlengo]

== YouTube Videos ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1AUdaH-EPM Why everything you know about autism is wrong]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4vurv9usYA What's it really like to have autism]

{{Template:Resources}}

[[Category:Autistic culture]]

YouTube

2023-08-19T11:18:51Z

ZoeB: /* YouTube Accounts */ Added two more good accounts

== YouTube Accounts ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/c/neurowonderful Amythest Schaber]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/AspergersfromtheInside Autism From The Inside]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@fosteronthespectrum foster on the spectrum]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/HolisticAutistic Holistic Autistic]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/KsanaLes Ksana Les]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/neurodivergentme neurodivergent me]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/NeurodivergentRebel Neurodivergent Rebel]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/PurpleElla Purple Ella]
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/YoSamdySam Yo Samdy Sam]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@disabled.autistic.lesbian Sydney Zarlengo]

== YouTube Videos ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1AUdaH-EPM Why everything you know about autism is wrong]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4vurv9usYA What's it really like to have autism]

{{Template:Resources}}

[[Category:Autistic culture]]

Scripting

2023-08-05T15:40:05Z

ZoeB: I've imported an article on the subject I wrote today. Feel free to revert, rewrite it, etc.

'''Scripting''' is a prepared response in a conversation.

It can be a useful workaround for those of us who can't easily encode [[Pragmatics|pragmatics]], such as [[Implication|implicatures]] and [[tone of voice]], by simply borrowing a known-safe combination of words, inflections, and even gestures.

It can also help to avoid adding to all the chaos, by repeating a reassuringly familiar phrase. It may even serve as a [[Stimming|stim]], actively countering that chaos.

== Quoting ==

This may or may not be the same thing as [[Echolalia#Delayed_echolalia|delayed echolalia]].

I pretty frequently quote films, TV shows, and occasionally audiobooks.

When talking to autists with a shared popular culture, expressing yourself via a quote can be a convenient and fun shorthand.

When talking to allists, I probably used to see it as a safer way of trying to get my point across. When forming my own sentences, I'll inevitably forget to intonate my voice. When quoting, in contrast, I'll simply quote verbatim (as much as my memory will allow), complete with the original inflections. I think I must have imagined this would be more likely to succeed, as pragmatics like tone of voice are generally pretty important to allists, perhaps moreso than the actual text itself.

However, it's probably worth bearing in mind that fiction is specifically designed to show us larger-than-life characters who are often antagonistic for the sake of drama, or mistaken for the sake of comedy. While audiences are entertained by what characters say in the context of fiction, this may not translate so well to a real conversation.

I've probably also been overlooking how context-specific pragmatics are, and how each conversation I have with someone in real life is likely a very different context to the original source of the phrase I'm quoting.

== Memorising "correct" responses to allistic questions ==

Many of us often get into trouble for taking allists' questions at face value, and answering them accordingly.

A classic example is "Hi, how are you?" It turns out that when an allist asks this question as a sort of greeting, they do ''not'' sincerely want to know how you are, despite literally asking you that. There's a subtext at work that it's supposed to be interpreted as a sort of generic "Hello" instead.

They generally won't mind the response "Hi", even though it ignores the textual content of their question completely, but ''will'' mind you actually telling them how you are.

Often oblivious to this subtext, we eventually learn through trial and error, and observation, that the "correct" response to this question is something along the lines of "Fine thanks, yourself?" So we remember that this particular call has this particular response, and fight the urge to answer the actual question honestly and directly.

== Planning and simulating upcoming conversations ==

It's pretty common for us to prepare for a phone call, meeting, appointment, or other upcoming conversation by planning out and simulating all the likely branches the conversation might take. That way, when the conversation actually happens, we already have a prepared response ready for many plausible nodes, although personally I never remember mine and inevitably end up ad libbing them anyway.

I'm not sure if this is related to rumination, monotropism, or most likely, warranted social anxiety. I do know that back when I naïvely tried to educate bigots online, I'd end up simulating such conversations in my head, an inner dialogue with various points and counterpoints, especially in the shower, without intending to.

I eventually, rather belatedly, realised that bigots don't want to be educated, and don't want you to answer their questions. They only ask them in order to imply an incorrect answer as subtext, not to learn the correct answer as text. I think my mental health vastly improved once I finally realised I didn't owe them my time, effort, or knowledge.

[[Category:Autistic communication]]

Drawbacks of diagnosis

2023-06-20T14:27:04Z

ZoeB: /* UK */ Yikes

{{Comment|If anyone can think of a better name for this article, feel free to change/suggest it.}}

{{Comment|Some places '''restrict the rights of formally diagnosed autistics'''. This article is meant to list those places and give details.}}

== New Zealand ==

If you have high support requirements, this will likely affect your ability to migrate to New Zealand.<ref name="NZ Immigration">[https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/76350.htm A4.10 Acceptable standard of health (applicants for residence)] ''New Zealand Immigration'', 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/17/my-stepson-autism-new-zealand-refused-residency-asd "My son's autism meant he was refused New Zealand residency -- so we're leaving"] ''The Guardian'', 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/new-zealand-denies-entry-to-autistic-daughter-of-immigrant-couple "New Zealand denies entry to autistic daughter of immigrant couple"] ''The Guardian'', 2022</ref> In particular, those with chronic health issues, including severe developmental disorders, will be considered to have an "unacceptable standard of health" if their condition is predicted to cost the healthcare system >$41k NZD<ref name="NZ Immigration" />. The calculation of this number does not take into account the individual's ability to pay for care through the private health system<ref name="NZ Immigration" />, and so cannot be circumvented through private wealth. Autistic children are additionally assessed for their likelihood of accessing New Zealand's special education services; again, the ability to access private health services is not taken into account<ref name="NZ Immigration" />.

== UK ==

Those with "learning disabilities" including Autism and Down Syndrome were either given<ref>[https://www.hsj.co.uk/coronavirus/unprecedented-number-of-dnr-orders-for-learning-disabilities-patients/7027480.article "'Unprecedented' number of DNR orders for learning disabilities patients"] ''Health Service Journal'', 2020</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/13/new-do-not-resuscitate-orders-imposed-on-covid-19-patients-with-learning-difficulties "Fury at 'do not resuscitate' notices given to Covid patients with learning disabilities"] ''The Guardian'', 2021</ref> or offered<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/26/children-learning-disabilities-offered-do-not-resuscitate-orders/ "Children with learning disabilities offered 'do not resuscitate' orders during Covid pandemic"] ''The Telegraph'', 2021</ref> "Do not resuscitate" orders during the first and second COVID waves.

You may be reported to social services.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/autismUK/comments/14e9rqb/uk_parents_dont_get_yourself_diagnosed_as_autistic/ UK Parents - don't get yourself diagnosed as Autistic] ''Reddit'', 2023</ref>

== United States ==

{{Comment|To research and add: it [https://www.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/comments/12rc4mm/if_youre_in_the_us_unless_you_have_a_really/ looks like], in the US, an autism diagnosis may affect your health insurance rate, and be used as an excuse to deny you medicine if you're trans.}}

=== Illinois ===

There is a "special needs database"<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/autism-special-needs-database-lost-missing-children-app-police-tool/ "Special needs database in Illinois]</ref> that, while it may be helpful in some cases (such as if a minimally-speaking child disappears), others may not want to be included in such a database.

== References ==

<references />

Things we need good names for

2023-06-08T12:19:39Z

ZoeB: Added some more terms from https://www.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/comments/143rae6/autistic_radar/

Autistic culture is still growing up, so there are still a lot of '''things''' in our lives that we don't have '''good names''' for yet.

; ADHD (Kinetic Cognitive Style): Some of us don't like how this name is inherently pathologizing. It's also not a good fit with [[Identity-first language]].

; Autistic + ADHD: This is a frequently occurring neurotype combination and it wants a good name. [[AuDHD]] is sometimes used, but it's not in common use and has all the same problems that [[ADHD]] has.

; Autistic Radar (Autdar / Autidar / A-dar / Asperception / Spectrumeter / Suspectrum): The ability of an autistic person to recognize another autistic person. Like gay people have gaydar, but for autistic people.

; Mostly for late-dx folks – That moment when you remember something from your childhood and for the first time you can see it with the knowledge that you were autistic and suddenly it makes so much sense.
: This is a lot like a ''flashback'', but it's also like a ''retcon'' in that it recontextualizes the memory and allows better understanding from a new perspective. ''Retropiphany'' (a portmanteau of "retroactive epiphany") is an early favorite.

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

Things we need good names for

2023-06-08T10:37:50Z

ZoeB: Noted term I've seen bandied about, e.g. at https://stimpunks.org/glossary/kinetic-cognitive-style/

Autistic culture is still growing up, so there are still a lot of '''things''' in our lives that we don't have '''good names''' for yet.

; ADHD (Kinetic Cognitive Style): Some of us don't like how this name is inherently pathologizing. It's also not a good fit with [[Identity-first language]].

; Autistic + ADHD: This is a frequently occurring neurotype combination and it wants a good name. [[AuDHD]] is sometimes used, but it's not in common use and has all the same problems that [[ADHD]] has.

; Autistic Radar (Autdar / Autidar / A-dar / Suspectrum): The ability of an autistic person to recognize another autistic person. Like gay people have gaydar, but for autistic people.

; Mostly for late-dx folks – That moment when you remember something from your childhood and for the first time you can see it with the knowledge that you were autistic and suddenly it makes so much sense.
: This is a lot like a ''flashback'', but it's also like a ''retcon'' in that it recontextualizes the memory and allows better understanding from a new perspective. ''Retropiphany'' (a portmanteau of "retroactive epiphany") is an early favorite.

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

Drawbacks of diagnosis

2023-04-19T11:30:56Z

ZoeB:

{{Comment|If anyone can think of a better name for this article, feel free to change/suggest it.}}

{{Comment|Some places '''restrict the rights of formally diagnosed autistics'''. This article is meant to list those places and give details.}}

== New Zealand ==

If you have high support requirements, this will likely affect your ability to migrate to New Zealand.<ref name="NZ Immigration">[https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/76350.htm A4.10 Acceptable standard of health (applicants for residence)] ''New Zealand Immigration'', 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/17/my-stepson-autism-new-zealand-refused-residency-asd "My son's autism meant he was refused New Zealand residency -- so we're leaving"] ''The Guardian'', 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/new-zealand-denies-entry-to-autistic-daughter-of-immigrant-couple "New Zealand denies entry to autistic daughter of immigrant couple"] ''The Guardian'', 2022</ref> In particular, those with chronic health issues, including severe developmental disorders, will be considered to have an "unacceptable standard of health" if their condition is predicted to cost the healthcare system >$41k NZD<ref name="NZ Immigration" />. The calculation of this number does not take into account the individual's ability to pay for care through the private health system<ref name="NZ Immigration" />, and so cannot be circumvented through private wealth. Autistic children are additionally assessed for their likelihood of accessing New Zealand's special education services; again, the ability to access private health services is not taken into account<ref name="NZ Immigration" />.

== UK ==

Those with "learning disabilities" including Autism and Down Syndrome were either given<ref>[https://www.hsj.co.uk/coronavirus/unprecedented-number-of-dnr-orders-for-learning-disabilities-patients/7027480.article "'Unprecedented' number of DNR orders for learning disabilities patients"] ''Health Service Journal'', 2020</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/13/new-do-not-resuscitate-orders-imposed-on-covid-19-patients-with-learning-difficulties "Fury at 'do not resuscitate' notices given to Covid patients with learning disabilities"] ''The Guardian'', 2021</ref> or offered<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/26/children-learning-disabilities-offered-do-not-resuscitate-orders/ "Children with learning disabilities offered 'do not resuscitate' orders during Covid pandemic"] ''The Telegraph'', 2021</ref> "Do not resuscitate" orders during the first and second COVID waves.

== United States ==

{{Comment|To research and add: it [https://www.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/comments/12rc4mm/if_youre_in_the_us_unless_you_have_a_really/ looks like], in the US, an autism diagnosis may affect your health insurance rate, and be used as an excuse to deny you medicine if you're trans.}}

=== Illinois ===

There is a "special needs database"<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/autism-special-needs-database-lost-missing-children-app-police-tool/ "Special needs database in Illinois]</ref> that, while it may be helpful in some cases (such as if a minimally-speaking child disappears), others may not want to be included in such a database.

== References ==

<references />

Stims

2023-04-12T17:16:30Z

ZoeB: Credited the artist as well as the author

A partial list of [[stimming|stims]]:

* Biting your lips* (try gum or chewelry!)
* Bouncing your leg up and down
* Chewing gum
* Chewing purpose-built chewelry
* Chewing the inside of your cheek* (try gum or chewelry!)
* Chewing your hair
* Clenching your fists
* Coughing or clearing your throat
* Dancing
* Digging your nails into your skin
* Doodling
* Eating seeds
* Feeling textures, e.g. stroking a soft fabric
* Fidgeting with a small object, string, etc.
* Hair twirling
* Hand flapping (not the only stim in the world, but a good one!)
* Hard blinking
* Head scratching
* Humming
* Jumping
* Knitting
* Knowling (organising and lining up objects, especially after disassembling them)
* Lip popping (making B or P style sounds)
* Listening to a song, instrumental track, or field recording
* Listening to a sound (e.g. dropping a button or dice on a book)
* Moving your head from side to side
* Nail biting
* Pacing
* Picking your nails
* Picking your skin* (try tearing paper!)
* Placing something heavy on your chest, stomach, or lap (e.g. books, or a weighted blanket)
* Playing a musical instrument
* Pressing your arms against your chest or stomach for pressure
* Repeating a mantra, either internally or externally
* Rocking back and forth
* Rubbing your feet together
* Rubbing your hands together
* Singing
* Smelling things
* Spinning
* Staring at something gently moving -- fairy lights, distant city lights, ocean waves, a lava lamp, a watch, etc
* Swinging your arms around
* Tapping or flicking your fingers
* Tearing paper
* Teeth grinding*
* Tongue clicking
* Walking on your tiptoes
* Wriggling your toes

&lowast; You might want to consider trying out other stims, to try and replace these ones. It should be easier if you stick to the same sense.

Note that stimming in general is perfectly healthy, a sensible response to too much or too little stimuli, and nothing to be ashamed of.

== External links ==

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AutismTranslated/comments/11lyiye/not_complete_but_exhaustive_list_of_stimming/ "''Not'' Complete but ''Exhaustive'' List of ''Stimming''"]
* [https://twitter.com/Girl_Unleeshed/status/1646055315341733889 "Do You Stim?"] by [https://twitter.com/Girl_Unleeshed @Girl_Unleeshed] & [https://twitter.com/StarriiDreams @ StarriiDreams]

[[Category: Stimming]]

Stims

2023-04-12T17:05:42Z

ZoeB: /* External links */ Pretending it's a title for simplicity's sake...

Stims

2023-04-12T17:04:46Z

ZoeB: Added external links

A partial list of [[stimming|stims]]:

* Biting your lips* (try gum or chewelry!)
* Bouncing your leg up and down
* Chewing gum
* Chewing purpose-built chewelry
* Chewing the inside of your cheek* (try gum or chewelry!)
* Chewing your hair
* Clenching your fists
* Coughing or clearing your throat
* Dancing
* Digging your nails into your skin
* Doodling
* Eating seeds
* Feeling textures, e.g. stroking a soft fabric
* Fidgeting with a small object, string, etc.
* Hair twirling
* Hand flapping (not the only stim in the world, but a good one!)
* Hard blinking
* Head scratching
* Humming
* Jumping
* Knitting
* Knowling (organising and lining up objects, especially after disassembling them)
* Lip popping (making B or P style sounds)
* Listening to a song, instrumental track, or field recording
* Listening to a sound (e.g. dropping a button or dice on a book)
* Moving your head from side to side
* Nail biting
* Pacing
* Picking your nails
* Picking your skin* (try tearing paper!)
* Placing something heavy on your chest, stomach, or lap (e.g. books, or a weighted blanket)
* Playing a musical instrument
* Pressing your arms against your chest or stomach for pressure
* Repeating a mantra, either internally or externally
* Rocking back and forth
* Rubbing your feet together
* Rubbing your hands together
* Singing
* Smelling things
* Spinning
* Staring at something gently moving -- fairy lights, distant city lights, ocean waves, a lava lamp, a watch, etc
* Swinging your arms around
* Tapping or flicking your fingers
* Tearing paper
* Teeth grinding*
* Tongue clicking
* Walking on your tiptoes
* Wriggling your toes

&lowast; You might want to consider trying out other stims, to try and replace these ones. It should be easier if you stick to the same sense.

Note that stimming in general is perfectly healthy, a sensible response to too much or too little stimuli, and nothing to be ashamed of.

== External links ==

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/AutismTranslated/comments/11lyiye/not_complete_but_exhaustive_list_of_stimming/ "''Not'' Complete but ''Exhaustive'' List of ''Stimming''"]
* [https://twitter.com/Girl_Unleeshed/status/1646055315341733889 "Do you stim?"] Leesha Left Eye

[[Category: Stimming]]

Ask and guess cultures

2023-01-31T15:32:11Z

ZoeB: Added second link and a smidge of context

'''Ask and guess cultures''' are two different ways of talking: directly, and indirectly.

Essentially, some people would rather directly say what they need and hear what other people need, and are fine with a blunt rejection; other people prefer to spot and drop hints, to spare everyone embarrassment. Either method is fine, but the two clash.

A very common autistic trait is being unable to encode and decode linguistic [[pragmatics]] (such as [[tone of voice]] and [[body language]]), including [[Implication|implicatures]] (hints). Those of us with this trait are Ask culture, not by choice, but because we lack the ability to unconsciously encode and decode pragmatics.

[https://ask.metafilter.com/55153/Whats-the-middle-ground-between-FU-and-Welcome#830421 An Ask MetaFilter comment] explains the differences between Ask and Guess cultures, possibly coining the terms. They're expounded upon by [https://medium.com/redhill-review/navigating-ask-and-guess-cultures-in-a-modern-world-30b167f8ab09 a Medium article].

Main Page

2023-01-03T09:48:54Z

ZoeB: /* Communication and miscommunication */ Added link to pragmatics article; moved related links to belong to it

Welcome to the '''ActuallyAutistic Wiki'''! This is a community-driven guide to all aspects of autism, allism, and helping build bridges between neurotypes. It emerged recently from the #ActuallyAutistic community on Twitter.

== About this wiki ==

* '''Everyone is welcome to contribute to this wiki!'''
* You can '''edit any page''' without even having an account. Just hit the 'Edit' link on any page (including this one!). ''Important privacy note'': editing a page without having an account or without being logged in will show your IP address publicly in the changelog/history of a page.
* The number one rule of wiki editing is to be bold. '''Go ahead – make changes — even large rewrites of big topics'''. Other people can correct any mistakes you make, so have confidence, and give it a try!
** If you disagree with what someone else has put, please consider adding a [[Help:Style guidelines#Comments|note of disagreement]] and what you think/would do after that section, especially if it could be something that varies by country or even situations or if you want to change it to/from an absolute (such as job interviews or eye gaze)
* None of the content here is sacred. Please just make changes, even to articles on 'major' topics! Some of the articles are just starter content or from a particular person's perspective. Earlier versions can always be restored if necessary. '''These are all collaborative documents'''.

== How to contribute ==

* Here is a [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page short guide] on how to create a new wiki page from scratch! Please check first whether a similar page already exists to avoid duplicates.
* Here are some of our [[Help:Style guidelines|style guidelines]] if you're unsure about formatting etc. But '''don't worry or overthink too much about "getting things right"''', these are not "hard rules" – and everything can be edited, formatted & moved later without issue anyway! :)
* Please remember that '''links are CASE SENSITIVE'''. When linking to a missing page, whichever case you use will be created when someone follows the link and makes that new page. Linking to existing articles is case sensitive for every letter ''except'' the first one. Lowercasing or capitalizing a letter other than the first one will break the link / not link to the page you want. Please read [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links this guide on links] if you want to use them!
* Do you have some '''feedback, questions or suggestions''' about this wiki project? Feel free to add them [[Talk:Meta|here]]!

== Meta ==

* [[Community guidelines]]
* [[Help:Style guidelines|Style guidelines]]
* [[Talk:Meta|Feedback, questions and suggestions]]

* Looking for stuff to do, but unsure where to start?
** [[Please help these pages]]
*** [[Add stuff here please]]
*** [[Review please]]
** [[special:AllPages|View all pages]]
** [[Special:Categories|View all categories]]

== Terminology ==

=== Acronyms ===

* [[ADHD|Kinetism (ADHD)]]
* [[Overlapping neurotypes|AuDHD]]
* [[DCD]]
* [[EDS]]
* [[SPD]]
* [[ND]]
* [[Neurotypical|NT (Neurotypical)]]
* [[MH]]
* [[Special interest|SpIn/SpInt]]
* [[Rejection sensitive dysphoria|RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria)]]
* [[Positive Behavior Support (PBS)]] (What's that?)
* [[Augmentative and alternative communication|AAC]]
* [[Applied Behavior Analysis|Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)]]

=== General ===

* [[Autism]]
* [[Neurodiversity]]
* [[Neurodivergence]]
* [[Neurotypical]]
* [[Pathological demand avoidance]]
* [[Allism]]
* [[Society]]

* [[Executive dysfunction]]
* [[Hyperfixation]]
* [[Hyperfocus]]

* [[Infodumping]]
* [[Stimming]]

* [[Neurokin]]
* [[Neuropeer]]
* [[Identity-first language]]
* [[Person-first language]]

* [[Spoon theory]]

=== Autism specific ===

* [[Monotropism]]
* [[Inertia]]

* [[Masking]]
* [[Mirroring]]
* [[Scripting]]

* [[Meltdown]]
* [[Shutdown]]
* [[Autistic burnout]]

* [[Special interest]]
* [[Autistic joy]]
* [[Echolalia]]
* [[Parallel play]]

* [[Ritual]]
* [[Routine]]
* [[Safe foods]]

=== Other ===

* [[Grok]]
* [[Highly Sensitive Person]]
* [[Justice sensitivity]]
* [[Late diagnosis]]
* [[Rejection sensitive dysphoria]]
* [[Savant]]
* [[Miscellaneous terms]] - for similar/confusing terms and definitions that probably better in one place rather than multiple short articles

=== Outmoded terminology ===

While many autists have moved away from these terms, some continue to use them to describe their experience. Please remember that people may have complex reasons for the words they choose, and that differences in vocabulary are okay. In short, while it's important to understand how these outdated terms play to most autists, it's also not helpful to police other people's word choices.

* [[Asperger syndrome]]
* [[Functioning labels|High- and low-functioning]]
* [[On the spectrum]]
* [[Autism spectrum disorder|Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)]]

== List of Autistic traits (incomplete) ==

Not every autistic person necessarily has many of the traits listed below, but these traits do tend to show up more often in autistic people than in non-autistic people.

=== Core autistic traits ===

* [[Autistic empathy]]
* [[Sensory sensitivity|Hyper-senses & hypo-senses]]
* [[Preference for certainty]]
* [[Routine]] / [[Ritual]]
* [[Special interest|Special interests]]
* [[Stimming]]

=== Autistic nonverbal communication ===

* [[Eye contact|Eye contact avoidance]]
* [[Flat affect]]
* [[Flat facing]]
* [[Being an "old soul"]]

=== Autistic verbal communication ===

* [[Accent mimicry]]
* [[Bluntness]] [[Direct]]
* [[Selective mutism|Conditional Mutism]] [[circumstantial or situational mutism]]
* [[Difficulty lying]]
* [[Monotone voice]]
* [[Reframing]]
* [[Verbal footnoting]]
* [[Nonspeaking]]
* [[Phone calls|Phone call avoidance]]
* [[Wordplay]]
* [[Aphasia]]
* [[Auditory processing disorder|Auditory processing difficulties]]
* [[Infodumping|Preference for infodumping]]
* [[Thinking in pictures and struggling to articulate said picture into words]]
* [[Autistic speech prosody]]

=== Gender and sexuality ===

* [[Gender]]
* [[Autigender]]
* [[Autism and LGBTQ+]]
* [[Peritiosexual]]
* [[Neuroqueer]]
* [[Xenogender]]
* [[Asexuality]]
** [[Demisexuality]]
* [[Aromanticism]]
* [[Aplatonicism]]

=== Imperatives and neurological ===

* [[Resistance to bias]]
* [[Dissociation]]
* [[Irrational fears, neurological]]
* [[Divergent stress triggers]]
* [[Divergent touch needs]]
* [[Ethical fearlessness]]
* [[Experiential recreation]]
* [[Gullibility]]
* [[Inability to intuit the "point of diminishing returns"]]
* [[Intense world theory]]
* [[Median (plurality)]]
* [[Nonlinear contradiction response]]
* [[Pattern recognition]]
* [[Preference for certainty]]
* [[Prosopagnosia]]
* [[Plurality]]
* [[Susceptibility to trauma]]
* [[Sympathetic animism]]
* [[name? Willful Sensorium Override]]

=== Familial ===

* [[Autistic relatives]]
* [[Multigenerational disability]]

=== Memory ===

* [[Atypical autobiographical and episodic memory]]
* [[Emotion memory imprinting]]
* [[Childhood amnesia]]

=== Psychological ===

* [[Cat empathy]]
* [[Empathy#Hyper-empathy|Hyper-empathy]]
* [[Empathy#Hypo-empathy|Hypo-empathy]]
* [[Preference for animation]]
* [[Preference for autistically coded characters]]
* [[Gravitate towards other neurodivergents]]
* [[Hyper-phantasia]] empathising with inanimate objects.

=== Physical ===

* [[Arthritis]]
* [[Autistic baby face]]
* [[Hypermobility]]
* [[Toe walking]]

=== Traumagenic Autistic traits ===

* [[Over-apologizing]]
* [[People pleasing]]
* [[High mortality rate]]
* [[Irrational fears, logical]]
{{Comment|(Contradiction...?) --[[User:Fochti|Fochti]] ([[User talk:Fochti|talk]]) 18:56, 26 August 2022 (UTC)}}
{{Comment|No, they are logical fears that are irrational out of context of ND.}}
{{Comment|I think the page could be titled differently then, it sounds very ambiguous/unclear to me? --[[User:Fochti|Fochti]] ([[User talk:Fochti|talk]]) 18:56, 26 August 2022 (UTC)}}
* [[Social anxiety]]
* [[Pathological demand avoidance/pervasive drive for autonomy]] [[extreme demand avoidance]] the following description is purely hypothetical and not composed in consultation with the adult PDA community: the combination of Autism and ADHD driving a non-stop rollercoaster ride of fight or flight responses (the autism wanting routine and the adhd wanting spontaneity) feeding the need to claw back control, reducing the brains capacity to regulate and rationalise likely resulting in crashes and observable ‘extreme reactions’ to what may be perceived as minor events. (This is what I am currently working on as part of my MA in Autism).

=== Additional Autistic traits ===

* [[Comorbid interference traits]]
* [[Overlapping Autistic traits]]

=== Comorbidities ===

* [[ADHD]]
* [[Allergies and Sensitivities (See also MCDs)]]
* [[Anxiety]]
* [[Apraxia]]
* [[Bipolar disorder]]
* [[Borderline personality disorder|Borderline/EUPD]]
* [[Complex post-traumatic stress disorder|CPTSD]]
* [[Depression]]
* [[Dysautonomia]]
* [[Dyscalculia]]
* [[Dyslexia]]
* [[Dysgraphia]]
* [[Dyspraxia]]
* [[Eating disorders / ARFID]]
* [[Ehlers-Danlos syndrome|EDS]]
* [[Hypermobility]]
* [[Hyperlexia]]
* [[MCDs: Mast Cell Diseases / Disorders including forms of MCAS, HaTS and Mastocytosis]]
* [[Obsessive-compulsive disorder|OCD]]
* [[PMDD Premenstrual Dysphoria Disorder]]
* [[PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder]]
* [[Stress Incontinence]]

== Information and sensory processing ==

=== Information processing differences ===

* [[Aphasia]]
* [[Auditory processing disorder]]
* [[Dyslexia]]
* [[Dyspraxia]]
* [[Dyscalculia]]
* [[Dysgraphia]]
* [[Hyperlexia]]
* [[Misokinesia]]
* [[Misophonia]]
* [[Prosopagnosia]]
* [[Synesthesia]]

=== Senses ===

Many autistics have differences in their senses, such as maybe hypersensitive to sound but hyposensitive to smell. These articles should try to document examples of both types as well as potential ways to compensate.

* [[Auditory perception|Hearing]]
* [[Gastro-intestinal problems]]
* [[Interoception]]
* [[Pain]]
* [[Proprioception]]
* [[Sensory overload]]
* [[Sensory sensitivity]]
* [[Synesthesia|Synesthesia]]
* [[Olfactory perception|Smell]]
* [[Gustatory perception|Taste]]
* [[Tactile perception|Touch]] (texture, temperature)
* [[Vestibular perception]]
* [[Visual perception|Vision]]
* [[Aural sensitivity to electronics]]

== Autistic survival guide ==

=== Allistic sociology 101 ===

* [[Society]]
* [[Ableism]]
* [[Gender]]
* [[Gossip]]
* [[Group dynamics]]
* [[Peer group]]
* [[Phatic expression]]
* [[Saving face]]
* [[Small talk]]
* [[Social power]]
* [[Social contract]]
* [[Social status]]

==== Culture-specific differences ====

* [[Ask and guess cultures]]
* [[High and low context cultures]]
* [[Peach and coconut cultures]]

=== Psychology 101 ===

* [[Alexithymia]]
* [[Anger]]
* [[Anxiety]]
* [[Defence mechanism]]
* [[Depression]]
* [[Empathy]]
* [[Imposter syndrome]]
* [[Learned helplessness]]
* [[Overthinking]]
* [[People pleasing]]
* [[Rumination]]
* [[Social anxiety]]
* [[Theory of mind]]
* [[Trauma]]
* [[Trauma bonding]]
* [[Trauma response]]

=== Neurology 101 ===

* [[Overlapping neurotypes]]

=== Communication and miscommunication ===

* [[Common sense]]
* [[Double empathy problem]]
* [[Getting coffee]]
* [[Literal interpretation]]
* [[Multi-channel communication]]
* [[Pragmatics]]
** [[Body language]]
** [[Eye contact]]
** [[Facial expression|Facial expressions]]
** [[Tone of voice]]
** [[Implication]]
* [[Responding to "How are you?"]]
* [[Social cue|Social cues]]
* [[Idioms]]

=== Office and work dynamics ===

* [[Corporate buzzwords]]
* [[HR interviews]]
* [[Job interviews]]
* [[Meetings]]
* [[Networking]]
* [[Team building / work socials]]
* [[Water cooler]]

=== Dating and relationships ===

* [[Autistic love languages]]
* [[Online dating]]
* [[Neurodivergent relationship|Neurodivergent relationships]]
* [[Neurodivergent sexuality]]

=== Accommodations and support ===

* [[Augmentative and alternative communication|AAC]]
* [[Autism passport]]
* [[Clear instructions]]
* [[Hidden disabilities sunflower]]
* [[Noise-cancelling headphones]]
* [[Support networks and organisations]]

=== Diagnostic journey ===

* [[Formal diagnosis]]
* [[Overlapping neurotypes|Multiple diagnoses]]
* [[Questioning]]
* [[Research]]
* [[Screening tools]]
* [[Self-diagnosis]]

=== Mental health ===

* [[Difficulties with mental health services]]
* [[Depression]]

== Autism "research" and "therapy" ==

Mainstream research on autism is often problematic in various ways.

* [[Autism Speaks]]
* [[Autism stereotypes]]
* [[Bias]]
* [[Deficit model]]
* [[Functioning labels]]
* [[Ethics of autism research]]
* [[History of autism]]
* [[The pathology paradigm|Pathology paradigm]]
* [[Stigma]]
* [[Applied_Behavior_Analysis|Applied behavior analysis]]
* [[Violence against Autistic people]]

== Resources ==

=== Media ===

* [[Books by Autistic authors]]
* [[Podcasts by Autistic creators]]
* [[Autistic representation in fiction]]
* [[Symbols of Autism]]

=== Social media ===

* [[Instagram]]
* [[TikTok]]
* [[Tumblr]]
* [[Twitter]]
* [[YouTube]]

=== Autistic culture ===

* [[Autistic public figures]]
* [[Autistic artists]]
* [[Jokes about Autism]]

=== Articles and threads ===

* [[Articles]]
* [["Am I Autistic?" Guide]]
* [[Autism without trauma]]
* [[Non-derogatory DSM-5 diagnosis criteria for Autism]]
* [[Signs you might be autistic]]
* [[Accidentally open secrets regarding Autism]]

== Unsure about where to put something? Just put it here! ==

* [[Things we need good names for]]

Pragmatics

2022-12-30T11:46:04Z

ZoeB: Imported one of my articles from my notebook site. It could do with being made less personal and more general.

<blockquote>Her lips said "No," but her eyes said "Read my lips."</blockquote>

— Niles Crane, ''Frasier'', 1997

'''Pragmatics''' are things you say and do that change the meaning of what you're saying. They're a major component of how [[Allism|allistic]] people [[Communication|communicate]] with each other:

* Linguistics
** Semantics (what you're saying)
** Syntax (how you're saying it)
** Pragmatics (modifications that alter the meaning)
*** [[Implicature|Implicature]] (hints and indirect speech — people will think you're implying things you're not, and expect you to work out what they're implying)
*** Relevance
*** Nonverbal communication
**** [[Clothes|Clothes]]
**** Distance
**** [[Tone_of_voice|Intonation]] (tone of voice)
**** [[Body_language|Body language]]
***** [[Eye_contact|Eye contact]]
***** [[Facial_expression|Facial expressions]]
***** Gestures
***** Posture

A common [[Autism|autistic]] trait is to not unconsciously encode and decode pragmatics. While others pick up these (often culturally specific) unwritten rules via osmosis, the rest of us have to work them out manually and perform them consciously, if we manage to infer them at all.

As you might expect, many of us naturally communicate using direct speech with little to no [[Intonation|intonation]], [[Facial_expression|facial expressions]], or [[Eye_contact|eye contact]]. This purely semantic communication is just as valid as communication modified with pragmatics. Autistic people who don't encode or decode pragmatics can talk to each other just as easily as others can — perhaps even moreso, as we strive to remove ambiguity.

The issue is with inter-neurotype communication. A semantic talker like myself trying to talk to someone who's using pragmatics will lead to a lot of miscommunication, through no-one's fault:

# If we can't ''decode'' pragmatics, we're often oblivious to their implied actual message
# If we can't ''encode'' pragmatics, we're often oblivious to our implied message we're inadvertently sending

As a result, many of us are missing a lot of what allistic people are trying to communicate to us, and we're accidentally communicating near-random things we don't mean or want to convey.

If people call you emotionally cold, or you wish they would just say what they mean, the chances are you're not unconsciously encoding and decoding pragmatics like allistic people are.

If there have been times when you remember saying something, and every allistic person in the room remembers you saying something else (the same something else, they all agree), then they're very likely remembering what you inadvertently ''implied'', not what you actually said.

For example, I tend to enthuse about things, but often forget to smile or intonate my voice, so people often think I'm complaining. It's pretty jarring for me to express my excitement about something, and then for the other person to reassure me that it's OK and nothing to be upset about.

It's frustrating to be frequently misinterpreted as overly negative, even by those I love. I can only imagine the effect it's had on people I'm less familiar with, such as those who decide whether to hire or promote me.

Sometimes I play it safe by repeating a known exact phrase with accompanying intonation and mannerisms I observed earlier, spoken by a favourite character in a film or on a TV show. This is known as [delayed echolalia](Echolalia.html#Delayed-echolalia). But as it's context-dependent, even that can backfire.

In order to appease allistic people, we often have to force ourselves to consciously emulate them. This exhausting task is known as [[Masking|masking]]. It's asking a lot of someone to insist they emulate things like intonation, facial expressions, and eye contact all at once, and often the ability to keep track of the conversation itself has to be sacrificed as a result, defying the whole point.

I'd therefore recommend that allistic people try to acclimatise themselves to communicating with unmasked autistic people. It would be nice (and far less exhausting) if you met us at least half-way on this one.

[[Category:Communication]]

ADHD

2022-12-09T16:25:35Z

ZoeB:

{{Stub}}

'''ADHD''' ('''a'''ttention '''d'''eficit '''h'''yperactivity '''d'''isorder), also known as '''kinetism''', is a type of [[Neurodivergence|neurodivergence]]. Autistics are more likely to also have ADHD/ADD than the general public. This combo is sometimes referred to by the community as [[AuDHD]].

== Kinetism ==

{{Comment|? coined the term "Kinetism" to refer to ADHD in the same vein that "autism" is an informal term for ASD.}}

{{Comment|I'm so sorry! I forgot your name 😓}}

{{Comment|The idea of the term -- an informal term for ADHD -- is nice, but it is not only not widely known, but many ADHDers don't think it's a great term to describe their neurotype. - [[User:MrPedroBraga|MrPedroBraga]] ([[User talk:MrPedroBraga|talk]]) 21:03, 25 October 2022 (UTC)}}

[[Category:Neurotypes]]

[[Category:Stubs]]

TikTok

2022-12-06T16:58:04Z

ZoeB: /* Accounts */ Note some good TikTok accounts by and for Autistic people

== Accounts ==

* [https://www.tiktok.com/@ceresmar @ceresmar]
* [https://www.tiktok.com/@ellaellaw @ellaellaw]
* [https://www.tiktok.com/@genericartdad @genericartdad]

== Hashtags ==

{{Comment| Not sharing hashtag lists with other platforms for the moment. Please add some TikTok hashtags here. See [[Twitter]] for example hashtag list format.}}

{{Template:Resources}}

[[Category:Autistic culture]]

Drawbacks of diagnosis

2022-11-30T13:06:20Z

ZoeB: Added info about migration to NZ, with citations

Echolalia

2022-11-14T09:46:44Z

ZoeB: Judging by https://www.reddit.com/r/AutismTranslated/comments/yuncgk/cant_stop_trying_to_translate_things_into_spanish/

<blockquote>Echolalia... echolalia...</blockquote>

'''Echolalia''' is the repeating of words or sounds heard. This can be immediate or delayed. An example of immediate echolalia could be meowing back at a cat. Delayed echolalia can be part of [[Scripting|scripting]], or for fun.

== Immediate echolalia ==

''Immediate echolalia'' is repeating a sound, word, or phrase right after hearing it. It could be anything from a single word to a whole sentence. Some people even translate what they hear into another language.

== Delayed echolalia ==

{{Comment|More detail please!}}

[[Category:Autistic traits]]

== Echolagia ==

''Echolagia'' is when you repeat what you heard internally, rather than out loud.

Echolalia

2022-11-12T14:27:20Z

ZoeB: TIL it's not just me!

<blockquote>Echolalia... echolalia...</blockquote>

'''Echolalia''' is the repeating of words or sounds heard. This can be immediate or delayed. An example of immediate echolalia could be meowing back at a cat. Delayed echolalia can be part of [[Scripting|scripting]], or for fun.

== Immediate echolalia ==

''Immediate echolalia'' is repeating a sound, word, or phrase right after hearing it. It could be anything from a single word to a whole sentence.

== Delayed echolalia ==

{{Comment|More detail please!}}

[[Category:Autistic traits]]

== Echolagia ==

''Echolagia'' is when you repeat what you heard internally, rather than out loud.

Stims

2022-11-10T15:44:20Z

ZoeB: Add more examples of visual stimming

Sensory sensitivity

2022-11-10T15:41:47Z

ZoeB: /* See also */ Clarify; add interoception and emotions (I'm increasingly suspecting the latter's built onto the former)

{{Stub}}

[[Autism|Autistic]] people are often '''hypersensitive''' or '''hyposensitive''' to certain sensory stimuli. Different senses may be affected in different ways.

== Hypersensitivity ==

{{Comment|Definition, examples}}

== Hyposensitivity ==

{{Comment|Definition, examples}}

== See also ==

* [[Sensory overload]]
* [[Auditory perception]] (sound)
* [[Gustatory perception]] (taste)
* [[Olfactory perception]] (smell)
* [[Tactile perception]] (touch)
* [[Visual perception]] (sight)
* [[Interoception]] (internal -- thirst, hunger, etc)
* [[Alexithymia]] (emotions)

[[Category:Senses]]
[[Category:Stubs]]

Things we need good names for

2022-10-28T15:11:38Z

ZoeB: As per https://www.reddit.com/r/AutismInWomen/comments/yfheuz/comment/iu3pkhi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Autistic culture is still growing up, so there are still a lot of '''things''' in our lives that we don't have '''good names''' for yet.

; ADHD: Some of us don't like how this name is inherently pathologizing. It's also not a good fit with [[Identity-first language]].

; Autistic + ADHD: This is a frequently occurring neurotype combination and it wants a good name. [[AuDHD]] is sometimes used, but it's not in common use and has all the same problems that [[ADHD]] has.

; Autistic Radar (Autdar / Autidar / A-dar / Suspectrum): The ability of an autistic person to recognize another autistic person. Like gay people have gaydar, but for autistic people.

; Mostly for late-dx folks – That moment when you remember something from your childhood and for the first time you can see it with the knowledge that you were autistic and suddenly it makes so much sense.
: This is a lot like a ''flashback'', but it's also like a ''retcon'' in that it recontextualizes the memory and allows better understanding from a new perspective. ''Retropiphany'' (a portmanteau of "retroactive epiphany") is an early favorite.

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

Things we need good names for

2022-10-24T19:47:43Z

ZoeB: As per https://twitter.com/autienelle/status/1584263503837208577

Autistic culture is still growing up, so there are still a lot of '''things''' in our lives that we don't have '''good names''' for yet.

; ADHD: Some of us don't like how this name is inherently pathologizing. It's also not a good fit with [[Identity-first language]].

; Autistic + ADHD: This is a frequently occurring neurotype combination and it wants a good name. [[AuDHD]] is sometimes used, but it's not in common use and has all the same problems that [[ADHD]] has.

; Autistic Radar (Autdar / Autidar / Suspectrum): The ability of an autistic person to recognize another autistic person. Like gay people have gaydar, but for autistic people.

; Mostly for late-dx folks – That moment when you remember something from your childhood and for the first time you can see it with the knowledge that you were autistic and suddenly it makes so much sense.
: This is a lot like a ''flashback'', but it's also like a ''retcon'' in that it recontextualizes the memory and allows better understanding from a new perspective. ''Retropiphany'' (a portmanteau of "retroactive epiphany") is an early favorite.

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

Autism passport

2022-10-21T11:56:50Z

ZoeB: /* Netherlands */

An '''autism passport''', in its most general form, is a card or form with specific information about an autistic individual. Its intended purpose is to quickly communicate important information about the behaviour of the autistic person or the accommodations that they need to a teacher, employer, general practitioner, nurse, etcetera.

== Autism passports by country ==

=== Netherlands ===

The Dutch website [https://www.autismepaspoort.nl Autisme paspoort] offers an autism passport that is specifically designed for children. The child's parents/guardians fill out a long questionnaire about the child, ideally together with the child's teacher. From this, the website extracts a one-page information sheet that lists important information about the child, including:

* The extent of the child's sensitivity to different sensory inputs.
* Stims that are often used by the child.
* Behaviours of the child that indicate that they are suffering from sensory overload.
* Measures that can be taken to help reduce the child's sensory overload.

Another example are the flyers 'Gesprek bij de huisarts' and 'Gesprek bij een arts/specialist/zorgverlener' from the [https://www.fann-autisme.nl Female Autism Network of the Netherlands (FANN)]. These flyers are meant as a tool for autistic people to prepare themselves for a visit to their general practitioner's, or another medical specialist. The flyers consist of two parts. The first part lists questions that help the autistic person to verbalise what medical help they need, what questions they need to ask the specialist, and what the desired outcome of the consult is. The second part is a checklist, which the autistic person can use to quickly communicate to the medical professional what accommodations they need. For example, they can indicate that they:

* Have difficulty understanding metaphors.
* Are hypersensitive to (sudden) noises.
* Are hyposensitive to pain.
* Have difficulty describing the severity of their symptoms.
* Need the medical professional to ask them if all their questions are answered to their satisfaction.

They then send this part to the medical professional in advance, so that they can prepare themselves for the visit also.

Pathological demand avoidance

2022-09-24T09:49:53Z

ZoeB:

'''Pathological demand avoidance ''' ('''PDA''' for short) refers both to the trait of entrenched demand avoidance and a broader neurodivergent profile which includes other traits, and fits the DSM-5's autism spectrum disorder classification.
The PDA profile is characterised by entrenched demand avoidance that was present from birth, high need for personal control, high ambient anxiety, interest in people which may be obsessive, using creative and/or social strategies to avoid demands, fondness for novelty, propensity for role-play and/or fantasy.
There is much confusion about what PDA is (for example, see the entry added for PDA in the traumatic autistic traits section in this wiki). The confusion about what PDA is comes partly from the fact that little research has so far been carried out, and partly from many people assuming it's only the trait it's named for. However, adults who identify as PDA do so strongly.
This entry has been written by an adult who actually identifies as PDA in conjunction with the adult PDA community.

Noise-cancelling headphones

2022-09-24T09:49:26Z

ZoeB:

'''Noise-cancelling headphones''' (and related noise reduction headphones) can be useful aids for sensory issues related to audio and noise.

They're great for use in crowded spaces and loud environments (festivals, malls, schools, concerts, etc). They are also great for sleep and focus for studying.

A variety of different kinds exist, dependent on design, decibel level, comfort level, and other factors.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

2022-09-24T09:48:57Z

ZoeB:

The '''Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes''', abbreviated '''EDS''', are a collection of often disabling inherited collagen defects which lend to weakened connective tissues throughout the entire body. Some involve insufficient collagen formation, others malformation of the collagen molecules, and /or of elements of the extra-cellular matrix in which collagen is formed up, lending to weaker tissues. Most are caused by known [https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Single-Nucleotide-Polymorphisms single point mutations] or genetic defects also called "SNPs".

(Initial author's note: this seems like a good spot to include a note about the [https://www.autism.org/researchers-have-identified-a-relationship-between-ehlers-danlos-syndrome-and-autism/ prevalence in the autistic] population here, or maybe one paragraph down.)

This leads to all manner of body-wide issues, including - but not limited to - things like fragile or stretchy skin, frequent subluxations, frank dislocations, clumsiness, easy bruising, aneurysms, hernias, prolapses, CCI, CCA, tethered cord, incontinence, keloid scars, atrophic scars, myopia (nearsightedness), tendinitis, weak cartilage (early onset Osteoarthritis is common), chronic pain with no obvious/easy explanation in the absence of co-occurring auto-immune diseases, fibromyalgia and much more. (Source?)

As of September 21, 2022 there are currently 14 formally recognized types, of which [https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/eds-types/ 13 were described] in the 2017 nosology put out by [https://ehlers-danlos.com The Ehlers-Danlos Society] (TEDS). [https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/a-new-type-of-ehlers-danlos-syndrome-discovered/ The 14th type] was recognized later in 2018, so is not yet in the formal nosology.

All but the most common type, hypermobile EDS, abbreviated "hEDS" have known genetic markers that can be tested for when suspected. [https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/pdf/2017-FINAL-AJMG-PDFs/Tinkle_et_al-2017-American_Journal_of_Medical_Genetics_Part_C-_Seminars_in_Medical_Genetics.pdf Hypermobile EDS] remains a clinical diagnosis to date.

Additionally, a new diagnostic category called the [https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-hsd/ Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders] or "HSD" was invented by TEDS under the 2017 nosology. This category has been intended to be a catch all for the many patients who show several signs of a form of connective tissue disorder, but none clearly matching any of the other similar Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue (HDCTs) like Marfan Syndrome or Osteogenesis Imperfecta or Loeys-Dietz Syndrome, nor any of the rare forms of EDS.

But further, they do not tick off enough boxes on the [https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/heds-diagnostic-checklist/ arbitrary set of criteria] for hEDS published in 2017.

Scientists are working hard around the world as of 2022 to try to uncover the gene(s) and or epigenetics that may lie behind the apparent familial hypermobile type of EDS (hEDS). The Norris Lab at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have fingered a gene based on one large family's presentation they have studied. Other studies are underway, but none have proven fruitful yet. It is also unclear if hEDS is purely genetic, and or possibly poly-genic. Many more SNPs and causes may well be uncovered as science progresses. (Sources to come.)

EDS

2022-09-24T09:48:33Z

ZoeB: Redirected page to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

#REDIRECT [[Ehlers-Danlos syndrome]]

Noise-cancelling headphones

2022-09-24T09:48:02Z

ZoeB:

Noise canceling headphones (and related noise reduction headphones) can be useful aids for sensory issues related to audio and noise.

They're great for use in crowded spaces and loud environments (festivals, malls, schools, concerts, etc). They are also great for sleep and focus for studying.

A variety of different kinds exist, dependent on design, decibel level, comfort level, and other factors.

Main Page

2022-09-24T09:47:09Z

ZoeB:

Welcome to the '''ActuallyAutistic Wiki'''! This is a community-driven guide to all aspects of autism, allism, and helping build bridges between neurotypes. It emerged recently from the #ActuallyAutistic community on Twitter.

== About this wiki ==

* '''Everyone is welcome to contribute to this wiki!'''
* You can '''edit any page''' without even having an account. Just hit the 'Edit' link on any page (including this one!). ''Important privacy note'': editing a page without having an account or without being logged in will show your IP address publicly in the changelog/history of a page.
* The number one rule of wiki editing is to be bold. '''Go ahead – make changes — even large rewrites of big topics'''. Other people can correct any mistakes you make, so have confidence, and give it a try!
** If you disagree with what someone else has put, please consider adding a [[Help:Style guidelines#Comments|note of disagreement]] and what you think/would do after that section, especially if it could be something that varies by country or even situations or if you want to change it to/from an absolute (such as job interviews or eye gaze)
* None of the content here is sacred. Please just make changes, even to articles on 'major' topics! Some of the articles are just starter content or from a particular person's perspective. Earlier versions can always be restored if necessary. '''These are all collaborative documents'''.

== How to contribute ==

* Here is a [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page short guide] on how to create a new wiki page from scratch! Please check first whether a similar page already exists to avoid duplicates.
* Here are some of our [[Help:Style guidelines|style guidelines]] if you're unsure about formatting etc. But '''don't worry or overthink too much about "getting things right"''', these are not "hard rules" – and everything can be edited, formatted & moved later without issue anyway! :)
* Please remember that '''links are CASE SENSITIVE'''. When linking to a missing page, whichever case you use will be created when someone follows the link and makes that new page. Linking to existing articles is case sensitive for every letter ''except'' the first one. Lowercasing or capitalizing a letter other than the first one will break the link / not link to the page you want. Please read [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links this guide on links] if you want to use them!
* Do you have some '''feedback, questions or suggestions''' about this wiki project? Feel free to add them [[Talk:Meta|here]]!

== Meta ==

* [[Community guidelines]]
* [[Help:Style guidelines|Style guidelines]]
* [[Talk:Meta|Feedback, questions and suggestions]]

* Looking for stuff to do, but unsure where to start?
** [[Please help these pages]]
*** [[Add stuff here please]]
*** [[Review please]]
** [[special:AllPages|View all pages]]
** [[Special:Categories|View all categories]]

== Terminology ==

=== Acronyms ===

* [[ADHD|Kinetism (ADHD)]]
* [[Overlapping neurotypes|AuDHD]]
* [[DCD]]
* [[EDS]]
* [[SPD]]
* [[ND]]
* [[NT]]
* [[MH]]
* [[SpIn/SpInt]]
* [[RSD]]
* [[Positive Behavior Support (PBS)]] (What's that?)
* [[Augmentative and alternative communication|AAC]]
* [[Applied Behavior Analysis|Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)]]

=== General ===

* [[Autism]]
* [[Neurodiversity]]
* [[Neurodivergence]]
* [[Neurotypical]]
* [[Pathological demand avoidance]]
* [[Allism]]

* [[Executive dysfunction]]
* [[Hyperfixation]]
* [[Hyperfocus]]

* [[Infodumping]]
* [[Stimming]]

* [[Neurokin]]
* [[Neuropeer]]
* [[Identity-first language]]
* [[Person-first language]]

* [[Spoon theory]]

=== Autism specific ===

* [[Monotropism]]
* [[Inertia]]

* [[Masking]]
* [[Mirroring]]
* [[Scripting]]

* [[Meltdown]]
* [[Shutdown]]
* [[Autistic burnout]]

* [[Special interest]]
* [[Autistic joy]]
* [[Echolalia]]
* [[Parallel play]]

* [[Ritual]]
* [[Routine]]
* [[Safe foods]]

=== Other ===

* [[Grok]]
* [[Highly Sensitive Person]]
* [[Justice sensitivity]]
* [[Late diagnosis]]
* [[Rejection sensitive dysphoria]]
* [[Savant]]
* [[Miscellaneous terms]] - for similar/confusing terms and definitions that probably better in one place rather than multiple short articles

=== Outmoded terminology ===

While many autists have moved away from these terms, some continue to use them to describe their experience. Please remember that people may have complex reasons for the words they choose, and that differences in vocabulary are okay. In short, while it's important to understand how these outdated terms play to most autists, it's also not helpful to police other people's word choices.

* [[Asperger syndrome]]
* [[Functioning labels|High- and low-functioning]]
* [[On the spectrum]]
* [[Autism spectrum disorder|Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)]]

== List of Autistic traits (incomplete) ==

Not every autistic person necessarily has many of the traits listed below, but these traits do tend to show up more often in autistic people than in non-autistic people.

=== Core autistic traits ===

* [[Autistic empathy]]
* [[Sensory sensitivity|Hyper-senses & hypo-senses]]
* [[Preference for certainty]]
* [[Routine]] / [[Ritual]]
* [[Special interest|Special interests]]
* [[Stimming]]

=== Autistic nonverbal communication ===

* [[Eye contact|Eye contact avoidance]]
* [[Flat affect]]
* [[Flat facing]]
* [[Being an "old soul"]]

=== Autistic verbal communication ===

* [[Accent mimicry]]
* [[Bluntness]] [[Direct]]
* [[Selective mutism|Conditional Mutism]] [[circumstantial or situational mutism]]
* [[Difficulty lying]]
* [[Monotone voice]]
* [[Reframing]]
* [[Verbal footnoting]]
* [[Nonspeaking]]
* [[Phone calls|Phone call avoidance]]
* [[Wordplay]]
* [[Aphasia]]
* [[Auditory processing disorder|Auditory processing difficulties]]
* [[Infodumping|Preference for infodumping]]
* [[Thinking in pictures and struggling to articulate said picture into words]]
* [[Autistic speech prosody]]

=== Gender and sexuality ===

* [[Gender]]
* [[Autigender]]
* [[Demisexuality]]
* [[Autism and LGBTQ+]]
* [[Peritiosexual]]
* [[Neuroqueer]]
* [[Xenogender]]

=== Imperatives and neurological ===

* [[Resistance to bias]]
* [[Dissociation]]
* [[Irrational fears, neurological]]
* [[Divergent stress triggers]]
* [[Divergent touch needs]]
* [[Ethical fearlessness]]
* [[Experiential recreation]]
* [[Gullibility]]
* [[Inability to intuit the "point of diminishing returns"]]
* [[Intense world theory]]
* [[Median (plurality)]]
* [[Nonlinear contradiction response]]
* [[Pattern recognition]]
* [[Preference for certainty]]
* [[Prosopagnosia]]
* [[Plurality]]
* [[Susceptibility to trauma]]
* [[Sympathetic animism]]
* [[name? Willful Sensorium Override]]

=== Familial ===

* [[Autistic relatives]]
* [[Multigenerational disability]]

=== Memory ===

* [[Atypical autobiographical and episodic memory]]
* [[Emotion memory imprinting]]
* [[Childhood amnesia]]

=== Psychological ===

* [[Cat empathy]]
* [[Empathy#Hyper-empathy|Hyper-empathy]]
* [[Empathy#Hypo-empathy|Hypo-empathy]]
* [[Preference for animation]]
* [[Preference for autistically coded characters]]
* [[Gravitate towards other neurodivergents]]
* [[Hyper-phantasia]] empathising with inanimate objects.

=== Physical ===

* [[Arthritis]]
* [[Autistic baby face]]
* [[Hypermobility]]
* [[Toe walking]]

=== Traumagenic Autistic traits ===

* [[Over-apologizing]]
* [[People pleasing]]
* [[High mortality rate]]
* [[Irrational fears, logical]]
{{Comment|(Contradiction...?) --[[User:Fochti|Fochti]] ([[User talk:Fochti|talk]]) 18:56, 26 August 2022 (UTC)}}
{{Comment|No, they are logical fears that are irrational out of context of ND.}}
{{Comment|I think the page could be titled differently then, it sounds very ambiguous/unclear to me? --[[User:Fochti|Fochti]] ([[User talk:Fochti|talk]]) 18:56, 26 August 2022 (UTC)}}
* [[Social anxiety]]
* [[Pathological demand avoidance/pervasive drive for autonomy]] [[extreme demand avoidance]] the following description is purely hypothetical and not composed in consultation with the adult PDA community: the combination of Autism and ADHD driving a non-stop rollercoaster ride of fight or flight responses (the autism wanting routine and the adhd wanting spontaneity) feeding the need to claw back control, reducing the brains capacity to regulate and rationalise likely resulting in crashes and observable ‘extreme reactions’ to what may be perceived as minor events. (This is what I am currently working on as part of my MA in Autism).

=== Additional Autistic traits ===

* [[Comorbid interference traits]]
* [[Overlapping Autistic traits]]

=== Comorbidities ===

* [[ADHD]]
* [[Allergies and Sensitivities (See also MCDs)]]
* [[Anxiety]]
* [[Apraxia]]
* [[Bipolar disorder]]
* [[Borderline personality disorder|Borderline/EUPD]]
* [[Complex post-traumatic stress disorder|CPTSD]]
* [[Depression]]
* [[Dysautonomia]]
* [[Dyscalculia]]
* [[Dyslexia]]
* [[Dysgraphia]]
* [[Dyspraxia]]
* [[Eating disorders / ARFID]]
* [[Ehlers-Danlos syndrome|EDS]]
* [[Hypermobility]]
* [[Hyperlexia]]
* [[MCDs: Mast Cell Diseases / Disorders including forms of MCAS, HaTS and Mastocytosis]]
* [[Obsessive-compulsive disorder|OCD]]
* [[Plurality]]

== Information and sensory processing ==

=== Information processing differences ===

* [[Aphasia]]
* [[Auditory processing disorder]]
* [[Dyslexia]]
* [[Dyspraxia]]
* [[Dyscalculia]]
* [[Dysgraphia]]
* [[Hyperlexia]]
* [[Misophonia]]
* [[Prosopagnosia]]
* [[Synesthesia]]

=== Senses ===

Many autistics have differences in their senses, such as maybe hypersensitive to sound but hyposensitive to smell. These articles should try to document examples of both types as well as potential ways to compensate.

* [[Auditory perception|Hearing]]
* [[Gastro-intestinal problems]]
* [[Interoception]]
* [[Pain]]
* [[Proprioception]]
* [[Sensory overload]]
* [[Sensory sensitivity]]
* [[Synthesthesia|Synesthesia]]
* [[Olfactory perception|Smell]]
* [[Gustatory perception|Taste]]
* [[Tactile perception|Touch]] (texture, temperature)
* [[Vestibular perception]]
* [[Visual perception|Vision]]
* [[Aural sensitivity to electronics]]

== Autistic survival guide ==

=== Allistic sociology 101 ===

* [[Ableism]]
* [[Gender]]
* [[Gossip]]
* [[Group dynamics]]
* [[Peer group]]
* [[Phatic expression]]
* [[Saving face]]
* [[Small talk]]
* [[Social power]]
* [[Social contract]]
* [[Social status]]

==== Culture-specific differences ====

* [[Ask and guess cultures]]
* [[High and low context cultures]]
* [[Peach and coconut cultures]]

=== Psychology 101 ===

* [[Alexithymia]]
* [[Anger]]
* [[Anxiety]]
* [[Defence mechanism]]
* [[Depression]]
* [[Empathy]]
* [[Imposter syndrome]]
* [[Learned helplessness]]
* [[Overthinking]]
* [[People pleasing]]
* [[Rumination]]
* [[Social anxiety]]
* [[Theory of mind]]
* [[Trauma]]
* [[Trauma bonding]]
* [[Trauma response]]

=== Neurology 101 ===

* [[Overlapping neurotypes]]

=== Communication and miscommunication ===

* [[Body language]]
* [[Common sense]]
* [[Double empathy problem]]
* [[Eye contact]]
* [[Facial expression|Facial expressions]]
* [[Getting coffee]]
* [[Literal interpretation]]
* [[Multi-channel communication]]
* [[Responding to "How are you?"]]
* [[Social cue|Social cues]]
* [[Tone of voice]]
* [[Idioms]]
* [[Implication]]

=== Office and work dynamics ===

* [[Corporate buzzwords]]
* [[HR interviews]]
* [[Job interviews]]
* [[Meetings]]
* [[Networking]]
* [[Team building / work socials]]
* [[Water cooler]]

=== Dating and relationships ===

* [[Autistic love languages]]
* [[Online dating]]
* [[Neurodivergent relationship|Neurodivergent relationships]]
* [[Neurodivergent sexuality]]

=== Accommodations and support ===

* [[Augmentative and alternative communication|AAC]]
* [[Autism passport]]
* [[Clear instructions]]
* [[Hidden disabilities sunflower]]
* [[Noise-cancelling headphones]]
* [[Support networks and organisations]]

=== Diagnostic journey ===

* [[Formal diagnosis]]
* [[Overlapping neurotypes|Multiple diagnoses]]
* [[Questioning]]
* [[Research]]
* [[Screening tools]]
* [[Self-diagnosis]]

=== Mental health ===

* [[Difficulties with mental health services]]
* [[Depression]]

== Autism "research" and "therapy" ==

Mainstream research on autism is often problematic in various ways.

* [[Autism Speaks]]
* [[Autism stereotypes]]
* [[Bias]]
* [[Deficit model]]
* [[Functioning labels]]
* [[Ethics of autism research]]
* [[History of autism]]
* [[The pathology paradigm|Pathology paradigm]]
* [[Stigma]]
* [[Applied_Behavior_Analysis|Applied behavior analysis]]
* [[Violence against Autistic people]]

== Resources ==

=== Media ===

* [[Books by Autistic authors]]
* [[Podcasts by Autistic creators]]
* [[Autistic representation in fiction]]
* [[Symbols of Autism]]

=== Social media ===

* [[Instagram]]
* [[TikTok]]
* [[Twitter]]
* [[YouTube]]

=== Autistic culture ===

* [[Autistic public figures]]
* [[Autistic artists]]
* [[Jokes about Autism]]

=== Articles and threads ===

* [[Articles]]
* [["Am I Autistic?" Guide]]
* [[Autism without trauma]]
* [[Non-derogatory DSM-5 diagnosis criteria for Autism]]
* [[Signs you might be autistic]]
* [[Accidentally open secrets regarding Autism]]

== Unsure about where to put something? Just put it here! ==

* [[Things we need good names for]]

PDA

2022-09-24T09:46:50Z

ZoeB: Redirected page to Pathological demand avoidance

#REDIRECT [[Pathological demand avoidance]]

Pathological demand avoidance

2022-09-24T09:46:23Z

ZoeB: ZoeB moved page PDA / pathological demand avoidance to Pathological demand avoidance without leaving a redirect

PDA refers both to the trait of entrenched demand avoidance and a broader neurodivergent profile which includes other traits, and fits the DSM-5's autism spectrum disorder classification.
The PDA profile is characterised by entrenched demand avoidance that was present from birth, high need for personal control, high ambient anxiety, interest in people which may be obsessive, using creative and/or social strategies to avoid demands, fondness for novelty, propensity for role-play and/or fantasy.
There is much confusion about what PDA is (for example, see the entry added for PDA in the traumatic autistic traits section in this wiki). The confusion about what PDA is comes partly from the fact that little research has so far been carried out, and partly from many people assuming it's only the trait it's named for. However, adults who identify as PDA do so strongly.
This entry has been written by an adult who actually identifies as PDA in conjunction with the adult PDA community.

Social anxiety

2022-09-12T09:08:50Z

ZoeB: Tentatively added category

Social Anxiety is the fear of being perceived and therefore judged as you really are. It can lead to a compulsory masking to prevent the very feared judgement.
But when you can't mask anymore due to fatigue and exhaustion of faking your true Self, others will notice the change in your mood and etc, and might talk about it behind you, wondering what's going on.
To those who have difficulty to identify social cues and understanding context, this situation can increase social anxiety, therefore leading to a shutdown or a meltdown, selective mutism or things like that. And it can be a very painful, endless circle of triggering each other - yours and of people that are around you, because they can't understand what's going on. (if they are allistic or NT, it can be even worse, leading to them backlashing and bullying you... so be careful in this situations).

Some ways to cope with it that might help:
- Move, Take Action. Shake your body, walk, talk to someone you trust with your heart, body and mind (if you haven't any, you can record an private audio in somewhere far away, drink a cup of water, write it down, all your thoughts and anguish. Shake it off, do whatever needed to regulate yourself, your emotions, your sensorial needs, etc.
- Go to a safe place if you can - bathrooms are great! But if you are in a bathroom that is near the people that may be talking about you it can trigger even more social anxiety!!! (very specific but it happened to me a lot) So be careful!!
- Go home!! you can leave the place and the context that is bringing you pain, no worries nor fear of what others might think, specially in this case.

If you truly care about the people around you and feel they care about you too in other context, it can be helpful to both of you to talk about it. Not right away. You can take your time to regulate your emotions first, don't rush to meet others need fastly. Be gentle with you.

Craft your own way. Experiment. What i wrote can not serve you and your needs. Find your own way to cope and learn with anxiety itself - which need is not being met? for example.
------------------------
And here, the DSM - note that it can be a little confusing or too generic.
**Social Anxiety Disorder (DSM 5 - 300.23)**:

1. A persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be embarrassing and humiliating.
2. Exposure to the feared situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a situationally bound or situationally pre-disposed Panic Attack.
3. The person recognizes that this fear is unreasonable or excessive.
4. The feared situations are avoided or else are endured with intense anxiety and distress.
5. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situation(s) interferes significantly with the person's normal routine, occupational (academic) functioning, or social activities or relationships, or there is marked distress about having the phobia.
6. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting 6 or more months.
7. The fear or avoidance is not due to direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., drugs, medications) or a general medical condition not better accounted for by another mental disorder...
-
https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/dsm-definition-social-anxiety-disorder

[[Category:Trauma responses]]

Scripting

2022-09-12T09:08:11Z

ZoeB: Added note, for someone more knowledgeable than me to implement

Scripting is the repetition or reciting of lines from movies, television, books, or words other people have said. Scripting is often used as a form of communication by autistic people, and can also be employed as a stim for enjoyment or help with sensory regulation.1

font/biography: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/scripting-autism/

{{Comment|Can we clarify how this differs from [[Echolalia|delayed echolalia]]?}}

[[Category:Autistic communication]]

Procrastination

2022-09-12T09:05:16Z

ZoeB: Added small but useful stub roughly based on this tweet: https://twitter.com/urlocalgaybian/status/1552410722436792320

'''Procrastination''' is when you put off a task on purpose, because you choose to. If you're trying desperately to start the task but you ''can't'', that's not procrastination, it's [[executive dysfunction]].

Template:Stub

2022-09-07T13:17:59Z

ZoeB: Use Unicode smiley face

<blockquote style="background-color: #F1FAFF; border: 1px solid #003C5D; color: #003C5D; padding: 0 20px;">
This page or section is a stub. Perhaps you can help add something to it? 😊
</blockquote>

Dedicated interest

2022-09-07T13:17:04Z

ZoeB: Added more rough structure

{{Stub}}

A '''special interest''' (often abbreviated to '''SpIn''') is a deep and abiding curiosity and fascination about a particular topic. The topic could be anything, and could range from a very broad field, such as physics or ocean life, to as narrow a subject as a single species of mushroom or an individual episode of a cartoon.

Special interests often come and go over a person's lifetime and may last [[Hyperfixation|a few months]] to many years. Some people have several special interests at a time while some have only one, and sometimes special interests that had faded away can come back and be a central focus again.

== Terminology ==

As some find the term "special interest" somewhat patronising, especially when applied to adults, there are a few alternatives: '''Autistic area of expertise''' ('''AAE''').<ref name="james-smith" />

{{Comment|Any others? I always used passion, vocation, and obsession before realising I was autistic...}}

== Distinction from hobbies ==

What distinguishes a special interest from a plain interest or a hobby is its intensity and the distinctive way a person interacts with it. A special interest draws your attention so strongly that you feel like you never get tired of it. You want to spend time on it every day; you might wake up thinking about it and still be thinking about it as you fall asleep. You might go looking for more information or reread your favorite passages about it whenever you get a free moment. It may be an important part of how you organize your understanding of the world, a framework you relate all your other knowledge to. It may fill you with a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness to engage with it, and you may feel frustrated and overwhelmed by the world when you have to spend too much time away from it.

== Hyperfixations ==

{{Comment|What's the difference between a hyperfixation and special interest?}}

See also: [[hyperfixation]]

== Importance ==

Special interests are often a source of great [[Autistic joy|joy and fulfillment]] in life for Autistic people, and it's important for Autistic well-being to engage with and encourage them. Some people build careers around their special interests, but that's not the only way to make a place for them in your life. Special interests that no one else understands, that you pursue only for your own satisfaction, are every bit as valuable. Spending time on special interests can be a good way to relax and get some relief from an overwhelming world. And bringing joy is enough reason to celebrate their existence.

== Bias in autism research ==

As doctors and scientists originally only looked for autism in white boys, they incorrectly believed — and sometimes still believe — that special interests can only be in things like trains, planes, and math. It's just as common for people to have special interests in horses, literature, and art. It's not about ''what'' you're interested in, so much as ''how deeply'' you're interested in it.

== Examples ==

{{Comment|Let's add a few varied examples of special interests, emphasising how it's not ''just'' stereotypical ones such as trains (although that's fine too), preferably with off-site links to photos of people's collections.}}

== References ==

<references>
<ref name="james-smith">[https://www.quora.com/What-s-the-difference-between-hyperfixation-ADHD-and-a-special-interest-autism/answer/James-Smith-4601?ch=10&oid=247287365&share=e201ddd5&target_type=answer James Smith on Quora]</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

[[Category:Stubs]]

Dedicated interest

2022-09-07T13:00:52Z

ZoeB: /* Importance */

{{Stub}}

A '''special interest''' (often abbreviated to '''SpIn''') is a deep and abiding curiosity and fascination about a particular topic. The topic could be anything, and could range from a very broad field, such as physics or ocean life, to as narrow a subject as a single species of mushroom or an individual episode of a cartoon.

Special interests often come and go over a person's lifetime and may last [[Hyperfixation|a few months]] to many years. Some people have several special interests at a time while some have only one, and sometimes special interests that had faded away can come back and be a central focus again.

== Distinction from hobbies ==

What distinguishes a special interest from a plain interest or a hobby is its intensity and the distinctive way a person interacts with it. A special interest draws your attention so strongly that you feel like you never get tired of it. You want to spend time on it every day; you might wake up thinking about it and still be thinking about it as you fall asleep. You might go looking for more information or reread your favorite passages about it whenever you get a free moment. It may be an important part of how you organize your understanding of the world, a framework you relate all your other knowledge to. It may fill you with a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness to engage with it, and you may feel frustrated and overwhelmed by the world when you have to spend too much time away from it.

== Importance ==

Special interests are often a source of great [[Autistic joy|joy and fulfillment]] in life for Autistic people, and it's important for Autistic well-being to engage with and encourage them. Some people build careers around their special interests, but that's not the only way to make a place for them in your life. Special interests that no one else understands, that you pursue only for your own satisfaction, are every bit as valuable. Spending time on special interests can be a good way to relax and get some relief from an overwhelming world. And bringing joy is enough reason to celebrate their existence.

{{Comment|Some ideas for additional stuff that might go into this page:}}

* Difference between a special interest and a hyperfixation
* Problems with autism research and stereotypes only acknowledging certain types of interests as special interest, e.g. trains, planes, math = autistic; horses, literature, art = somehow not autistic
* A few varied examples of special interests, emphasising how it's not ''just'' stereotypical ones such as trains (although that's fine too), preferably with off-site links to photos of people's collections

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

[[Category:Stubs]]

Dedicated interest

2022-09-07T12:57:36Z

ZoeB: Please revert if I'm wrong, but I think in this instance "relax" is just as accurate as "regulate emotions", and sounds less clinical/scary to newcomers

{{Stub}}

A '''special interest''' (often abbreviated to '''SpIn''') is a deep and abiding curiosity and fascination about a particular topic. The topic could be anything, and could range from a very broad field, such as physics or ocean life, to as narrow a subject as a single species of mushroom or an individual episode of a cartoon.

Special interests often come and go over a person's lifetime and may last [[Hyperfixation|a few months]] to many years. Some people have several special interests at a time while some have only one, and sometimes special interests that had faded away can come back and be a central focus again.

== Distinction from hobbies ==

What distinguishes a special interest from a plain interest or a hobby is its intensity and the distinctive way a person interacts with it. A special interest draws your attention so strongly that you feel like you never get tired of it. You want to spend time on it every day; you might wake up thinking about it and still be thinking about it as you fall asleep. You might go looking for more information or reread your favorite passages about it whenever you get a free moment. It may be an important part of how you organize your understanding of the world, a framework you relate all your other knowledge to. It may fill you with a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness to engage with it, and you may feel frustrated and overwhelmed by the world when you have to spend too much time away from it.

== Importance ==

Special interests are often a source of great [[Autistic joy|joy and fulfillment]] in life for Autistic people, and it's important for Autistic well-being to engage with and encourage them. Some people build careers around their special interests, but that's not the only way to make a place for them in your life. Special interests that no one else understands, that you pursue only for your own satisfaction, are every bit as valuable. Spending time on special interests can be a good way to relax and get some relief from an overwhelming world. And bringing joy is enough reason to celebrate their existence.

{{Comment|Some ideas for additional stuff that might go into this page:}}

* Difference between a special interest and a hyperfixation
* Examples of special interests
* Problems with autism research and stereotypes only acknowledging certain types of interests as special interest, e.g. trains, planes, math = autistic; horses, literature, art = somehow not autistic

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

[[Category:Stubs]]

Autistic joy

2022-09-07T12:54:23Z

ZoeB:

Autistic people tend toward being extra sensitive, sometimes to a point of being unable to control our emotions, when things don't go right, clothes don't fit right, it is suddenly super suffocatingly hot (see interoception), etc.

We might feel miserable and overwhelmed over what others might consider minor issues.

However, it stands to reason we are also capable of experiencing incredible depth of feeling in other ways, including joy!

Please add your personal examples below. :)

== Examples ==
These may be personal or generic examples. Naturally, some may find the following distressing rather than joyful.

* The amazing bliss you can generate by running your feet back and forth over freshly changed bed sheets, coupled with the joy of getting into bed after a long day of masking!

* The joy of finding good information on one of your [[special interest]]s.

* Seeing an insect or bird you've never seen before and watching in rapt attention as it does whatever it does. Then going home and trying to find out everything about it --[[User:Fire Eider|Fire Eider]] ([[User talk:Fire Eider|talk]])

{{Comment|I, Fire Eider, decided to put my name there since its a personal example and I'm okay with my name being there. If anyone else wants to do so, put three of these ~}}

What I wish my elder Aspie self had been there to tell my young Aspie self, so I'm telling it to you

2022-09-07T10:08:59Z

ZoeB: I read too many gaming magazines in the '90s...

# Social life is not going to be what makes you feel happy and secure. Find something else that makes you feel good, that is reliable and makes sense to you, that is available, that feels safe and fun. For me that's books and writing, and one-on-one relationships.
# Groups are not the thing. Nor are they required. You don't have to socialize in groups.
# If people turn you down 3 times, stop asking. Even if they have an excuse, even if they claim that they totally want to hang out. They probably don't want to. If you stop asking and they DO want to hang out, they will hit you up.
# If people exclude you, don't answer, don't invite you, don't talk to you anymore, or whatever other kind of weird passive-aggressive distancing behavior, do not ask them why or start a whole big conversation about how it makes you feel and what you thought and try to get them to explain themselves. They're just not that into you. Peace out and do your own thing.
# You are not the problem. Or at least, you are not the only problem. The other people, even purportedly 'normal' people, are also all kinds of messed up. They may not be ASD, but like as not they are dealing with anxiety, depression, abusive relationships, weird upbringing, drug abuse, surviving trauma, financial stresses, body image problems, health problems, etc. This is not a world where there are aspies and then a bunch of normal stable people who know everything and do everything right. Each and every one of us is struggling.
# Do not decide who to trust based on a priori reasoning processes. Watch Brené Brown's video on what trust consists of and follow the instructions. Be careful with your trust until you have seen somebody establish a pattern over six to nine months at least.
# Do not decide who is your friend based on a priori reasoning processes either. 'They helped me' or 'They chat with me all the time' or 'They gave me compliments' does not mean somebody is your friend. Plenty of people, women especially, do that stuff with people they straight up despise, just because they feel obliged to or they want to create the identity that they are extremely nice and kind people. Watch the rest of their behavior and double check. Do they say nice things about everybody? Then it just cancels out and the fact that they say it to you is meaningless. A person is your friend if they volunteer to spend time with you, initiate getting together, ask you questions about yourself, express affection, respect, and admiration, and show up when you ask for help and likewise ask you for help.
# Respect your own feelings. Do not override your feelings of rejection, awkwardness, discomfort, or hurt by thinking 'I only think that because I'm ASD, therefore that feeling should be ignored.' Doing so is dangerous and violent to yourself. If you feel awkward, figure out how to take care of your feeling kindly. If regular dates suck for you, find people who are up for a date which is in a format you can deal with, such as a game or a task or a specific activity that you find comforting.
# Be extremely kind, generous, encouraging, and affirming of yourself. YOU are responsible for giving yourself all of those things. Do not mutilate yourself trying to get those things from others. That's not healthy, even for NT folks, and for us it's absolutely masochistic. Keep the majority of your attention on yourself and your needs. Do things that are fun and feel good.
# Most of it is bullshit. Most of the narratives and scripts we are offered are trash. You don't have to go along with them. 'I'm ASD so I am going to struggle with relationships' is a script. Write your own damn script. A less violent, hateful, and stigmatising script. For me it's something more like 'I'm ASD so most people are going to be disabled in their capacity to connect with me and understand me. I should therefore be cautious towards others and very gentle with myself, and I should treasure those people who have figured out how to do it.'

Sending out love to all of you. Be loyal to yourselves. Be proud of who you are. Nourish and bless who you are. ''You are good''.

— [https://www.reddit.com/r/aspergirls/comments/vuddhb/what_i_wish_my_elder_aspie_self_had_been_there_to/ Equivalent-Pea-6676]

[[Category:Hints and tips]]

What I wish my elder Aspie self had been there to tell my young Aspie self, so I'm telling it to you

2022-09-07T10:07:37Z

ZoeB: Copied with permission

Difficulty lying

2022-09-05T19:32:40Z

ZoeB:

Many of us have '''difficulty lying'''.

Autistic people often have a strong sense of justice and/or truthfulness. This can make lying difficult, painful, or impossible, even if it is a harmless "white" lie (such as saying you liked something you didn't) or a beneficial lie (such as in a job interview).

The need to tell the truth can naturally create difficulties for autists that many [[Allism|allistic]] people may not experience. Despite these difficulties, however, autists may take pride in their truthfulness, as it is hard to argue for a less truthful world.

[[Category:Autistic communication]]

Autistic speech prosody

2022-09-05T13:38:26Z

ZoeB: Added category

{{Comment|TODO: create page on differences in speech prosody between autistic people and neurotypicals.<ref>[https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0269637 Cross-linguistic Patterns of Speech Prosodic Differences in Autism: A machine Learning Study]</ref>}}

{{Comment|My take on that paper was it sounded like Cantonese's intonation was more explicit and thus easier for us to learn, compared to English which has more ''im''plicit rules for intonation that we don't always pick up on or remember to do. It'd be nice to read more on this! [[User:ZoeB|ZoeB]] ([[User talk:ZoeB|talk]])}}

[[Category:Autistic communication]]

Autistic speech prosody

2022-09-05T13:37:06Z

ZoeB: Added note

Proprioception

2022-09-05T13:24:18Z

ZoeB: Tidied, added structure, noted as stub, added external link to video

{{Stub}}

'''Proprioception''' is one of the senses, also known as kinaesthesia. It is your body's ability to sense its location, movement and action.

If this sense is out of balance then we experience instability leading to volatile emotions/mood swings, poor coordination, poor posture, inability to focus, sleep difficulties and reduction in fluidity of speech.<ref name="angela-hansen" />

The body's natural response to this is to self regulate through vocal and physical behaviours (self stimulatory behaviours or "stimming").<ref name="angela-hansen" />

== Proprioceptive hypersensitivity ==

=== Workarounds ===

== Proprioceptive hyposensitivity ==

=== Workarounds ===

== Proprioception-based stims ==

See also: [[stims]]

== References ==

<references>
<ref name="angela-hansen">[https://sonoransunpediatrictherapy.com/2017/11/16/what-is-proprioception-and-why-is-it-important/ What is Proprioception and Why is it Important?] Angela Hansen, November 16th, 2017</ref>
</references>

== External links ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wujr5XeJI8 "Vestibular and Proprioceptive Hyposensitivity"] Holistic Autistic

[[Category:Senses]]

Vestibular perception

2022-09-05T13:22:27Z

ZoeB: Added external link to video

Your '''vestibular system''' tells you which way up you are. When it doesn't match your vision, your unconscious thinks you've been poisoned and makes you nauseated.

== Vestibular hypersensitivity ==

Basically, a lot of motion sickness.

=== Workarounds ===

== Vestibular hyposensitivity ==

=== Workarounds ===

== Vestibular-based stims ==

* Dancing
* Moving your head from side to side
* Spinning

See also: [[stims]]

== External links ==

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wujr5XeJI8 "Vestibular and Proprioceptive Hyposensitivity"] Holistic Autistic

[[Category:Senses]]

Communication to make people feel emotions

2022-09-05T10:20:17Z

ZoeB: Imported some minor tidying from my local copy

Apparently [[Allism|allistic]] people often — perhaps even mostly — '''communicate to make the listener or listeners feel certain emotions''', not to share information.<ref name="make-feel" /><ref name="dee-newtsoda" />

This is important to bear in mind, as speaking to actually convey information might have the unintended side-effect of making people feel emotions. Not only that, but it's so intuitive to allistic people that saying what you said would cause the emotion they felt that they'll assume you made them feel that way on purpose, ''even if you explain to them that it wasn't intentional'', because it's seen as "obvious" that it would have that effect.

This could easily lead them to believe you made them feel bad on purpose, then came up with an implausible lie (that you had no idea that would happen) to pretend you didn't. If you can't lie, explaining that won't help, because again, such a claim sounds implausible to them.

Conversely, an allistic person might "helpfully" tell you a comforting [[white lie]] instead of telling you a painful truth, to try to cheer you up, or to avoid upsetting you in the first place. As with other things (such as simplifying things by telling you ''roughly'' what time it is, for instance), they see this as a favour rather than as deception or frustrating.

This is one of those instances where a lot of patience, understanding, and credulity is required from all involved.

== References ==

<references>
<ref name="make-feel">''The Field Guilde to Earthlings'', Star Ford, pages 78-79 and 105-106</ref>
<ref name="dee-newtsoda">[https://twitter.com/erikaheidewald/status/1369043383239372800 Twitter thread] Newtsoda Dee</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Allistic communication]]

Identity-first language

2022-09-04T10:41:30Z

ZoeB:

{{Stub}}

An example of '''Identity-first language''' is saying "I am autistic" rather than "I have autism". The latter is [[person-first language]] and is generally disliked by the Autistic community.<ref>[https://www.verywellmind.com/should-you-say-person-with-autism-or-autistic-person-5235429 Identity-first vs person-first]</ref><ref>[https://autisticnotweird.com/autismsurvey/ The Autistic Not Weird Autism Survey] Out of 7,491 Autistc people surveyed in 2022, 76% preferred "Autistic person", whereas only 4% preferred "person with Autism". 15% were fine with both, and 5% preferred neither or didn't answer.</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Miscellaneous terms]]

== References ==

<references />

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

Person-first language

2022-09-04T10:39:58Z

ZoeB: Added citation

{{Stub}}

Examples of '''person-first language''' are "he has autism", "a child with autism", and "they are on the spectrum". This phrasing is generally disliked by the autistic community, who prefer [[identity-first language]].<ref>[https://www.verywellmind.com/should-you-say-person-with-autism-or-autistic-person-5235429 Identity-first vs person-first]</ref><ref>[https://autisticnotweird.com/autismsurvey/ The Autistic Not Weird Autism Survey] Out of 7,491 Autistc people surveyed in 2022, 76% preferred "Autistic person", whereas only 4% preferred "person with Autism". 15% were fine with both, and 5% preferred neither or didn't answer.</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Miscellaneous terms]]

== References ==

<references />

[[Category:Autistic paradigms and terminology]]

Alexithymia

2022-09-03T17:44:44Z

ZoeB:

<blockquote>Something happens and I'm head over heels</blockquote>

— Tears for Fears, "Head Over Heels", 1985

There are two distinct phenomena called '''alexithymia'''. One is an issue with discerning which [[Emotion|emotions]] you feel, known as ''cognitive alexithymia''. The other is the inability, or greatly reduced ability, to viscerally ''feel'' emotions in the first place, known as ''affective alexithymia''. (Perhaps it should be renamed to something like ''visceral hyposensitivity'' or ''emotional hyposensitivity'', for accuracy and symmetry.)

[[File:Pnas.1321664111fig02.jpg||Various images showing outlines of a stylised human body. Within each one, different body parts are shown as blue (cold), red (hot), or black (neutral), symbolising how different emotions make you feel. I'm not clear on whether this involves your unconscious sending adrenaline to specific parts of your body somehow, but that's what it looks like. For example, anger apparently energises you, especially in your hands, while depression apparently does the opposite, especially to your arms and legs.]]

If you think these body maps of emotions make sense and aren't especially noteworthy, then you probably don't have either alexithymia. If you think they're helpful at explaining which emotion you're feeling, then you probably have cognitive alexithymia. If you think they're some kind of alien-looking thing that someone just made up, then you probably have affective alexithymia.

== Cognitive alexithymia ==

<blockquote>
(Hi, I might have this. I tend to feel generically "good" or "bad" and I have to think really hard and use context clues to narrow it down to something more specific. But other times I feel good/bad without noticing until later, like if someone points it out or I start behaving in a more extreme way.)
</blockquote>
-- Unregistered user

== Affective alexithymia ==

If you have affective alexithymia, you still ''have'' emotions, you just don't consciously ''feel'' them as if they're happening to your body. You still react to them physiologically, and can infer from that what you must be "feeling". This is similar (and possibly even related)<ref name="pm-clarifying-the-relationship" /> to how you infer things like when you're hungry if you have [[Interoception#Interoceptive hyposensitivity|interoceptive hyposensitivity]]. Perhaps it is most accurate to say that people with affective alexithymia experience emotions ''unconsciously'', but are consciously "blind" to them.

For example, I don't listen to depressing music anymore, because I don't want to be depressed. I can describe depression as not wanting to do anything, feeling that nothing matters so there's no point to anything, and not especially wanting to go on. I don't like how that feels, but as with all emotions, I don't literally ''feel'' it in my body.

Conversely, listening to upbeat music I like makes me want to bop along with it, which I can similarly infer means that it makes me happy. Ambient music can calm me down. But again, I don't feel these emotions in my body. Music never gives me chills.

I can read someone's hate speech against a minority group I'm in (and look forward to the day it's no longer uncritically published in national newspapers), notice that I'm [[Stimming#Unconscious stimming|stimming]], and realise that I should stop reading it as it's clearly making me very uncomfortable. I just don't ''feel'' uncomfortable. I have to infer it, even if I'm having such an extreme emotional response that it's making me stim. This might explain why people commended my "patience" trying to educate bigots. Thankfully, I've since learned to stop reading such things, for the sake of my mental health.

When I think about leaving the house, my anxiety makes me use the bathroom more due to my fight-or-flight response, but again, that's not a feeling, it's an observation. The closest I get to ''feeling'' an emotion is getting a very specific not-quite-headache when I cry.

When I see a cute creature, I involuntarily smile. This isn't part of my [[Masking|masking]]. I have no poker face. When I watch good comedy, I involuntarily laugh and, if it's good enough, even sweat. These are pleasant "feelings", and I really should seek them out more often. I just don't ''feel'' them in my body. I can tell what emotion I'm experiencing the same way ''you'' can tell which emotion I'm experiencing, by looking at my involuntary actions. I can feel myself smiling or laughing, and as they say, it's good to laugh.

In stark contrast, when most people talk about their feelings as if they're happening to their body, this is apparently a rare occasion on which they're ''not'' speaking metaphorically.<ref name="pm-bodily-maps-of-emotions" /><ref name="pm-maps-of-subjective-feelings" /><ref name="pm-bodily-sensations-in-social-scenarios" /> Even the word ''feelings'' was, in hindsight, a subtle clue that they're literally ''felt''. Similarly, when people talk about feeling something ''viscerally'', they're talking about literally feeling it in their viscera — their internal organs.

Shockingly, some — perhaps even most — people might be able to literally feel emotions as some or all of the following:

* Blood running cold
* Burning desire
* Burning rage
* Butterflies in their stomach
* Colour draining from their face
* ''Falling'' in love, head over heels
* A feeling in their bones
* Going weak in their knees
* Goosebumps (which you can see forming)
* A gut feeling
* Heartache
* Heartwarming
* A heavy heart
* Lighthearted
* A lump in their throat
* Muscles tensing
* Pressure
* A punch to the gut
* A shiver down their spine
* A sinking feeling
* Skin crawling
* Stomach churning
* A weight off their shoulders

Some people might even ''see red'' when angry or ''feel blue'' when depressed, perhaps suggesting a mild emotional-visual synaesthesia.

I always assumed people used to think the heart generated emotions because they could feel it pumping faster when they're excited. Perhaps there's more to it than that, and it does feel to a lot of people like their heart is where they feel things like love. No wonder it's the symbol for love.

Alas, my weekend spent researching alexithymia online didn't yield many conclusions. I'm not ''entirely'' sure if what I experience counts as that or not. But terminology isn't the point. If this is how you perceive your emotions, I'd like to reassure you that you're not alone.

== References ==

<references>
<ref name="pm-bodily-maps-of-emotions">[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3896150/ Bodily Maps of Emotions]</ref>
<ref name="pm-bodily-sensations-in-social-scenarios">[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6559636/ Bodily Sensations in Social Scenarios: Where in the Body?]</ref>
<ref name="pm-clarifying-the-relationship">[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8668127/ Clarifying the Relationship Between Alexithymia and Subjective Interoception]</ref>
<ref name="pm-maps-of-subjective-feelings">[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140475/ Maps of Subjective Feelings]</ref>
</references>

== External links ==

* [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1224728/ Interoceptive Sensitivity and Self-Reports of Emotional Experience]

[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Senses]]