Things you learnt about autism since joining forums

[Misty Avich]

I'm sensitive to pain in general. I felt all my covid vaccines and said "ouch" each time. When I get a cold all the symptoms feel so painful. I am physically unable to have PAP tests because the feel of anything going up there feels like I'm being pierced in two and it's frighteningly agony for me.
Although I can function in heat, I don't like wearing too many clothes, which is why I hate the health & safety crap when it comes to working in summer, I'd rather my legs be vulnerable to being scratched a little (which is unlikely anyway, given what I do) than have my body overheat from the sun. I don't think workplaces should expect physical workers to wear long trousers all through the hot weather unless they're astronauts.
I can feel nauseous when I've really hurt myself, like when a rat bites me in a painful place. Jeez, that hurts. It feels like a stapler being stapled through your finger.

So I'd say my general physical pain response is normal, but I am sensitive to pain, if that makes sense.

 

[Boogs]

unless they're astronauts.

I have thoughts of NASA astonauts space walking in shorts!

 

[Seladon]

I have misophonia and I'm also easily startled (I call it "my nerves"), and some extreme low or extreme high sounds can hurt my ear drums (I'm more sensitive to loud high-pitched sounds and quieter low-pitched sounds).

This is so crazy, me too! I even start complaining about "my last nerve" if there's too much audial stimuli that I didn't want or expect going on haha. Alarms, crying or coughing, sudden crashes and door slams are the worst.

That said, if it's sound I'm choosing and controlling, I have no problem with that. In fact, sometimes in stressful times, certain loud or bassy types of rhythmic music really help settle me down.

Low startle points were flagged to me in my assessment as a strong marker for ASD. If someone sneaks up on me or 'scares' me as a joke, I get extremely shocked, freaked out and upset--my dad (probably autistic, undiagnosed) still does it now and then, despite me asking him repeatedly not to.

 

[jsilver256]

I don't really have that but it is one of the things I was asked about during my diagnosis, so yes, it is a known autistic trait.

You're kidding. I used to come up with random suffixes and count how many words in the alphabet had that suffix. All the time. Constantly. Since I was a kid.

E.g., buck, duck, luck, muck, puck...

 

[jsilver256]

I find flickering and flashing lights extremely disturbing and have to turn away from them. I learnt many years ago how to turn off gif animations in my web browser because they make a lot of the internet inaccessible to me.

it is good to know we're normal.

 

[DrBadStrings]

Another thing I was surprised to learn since joining forums is that many autistics drink alcohol and smoke weed. I don't know why but I always thought autistic people were too moral for that and less likely to get involved with peer pressure.

Recovering alcoholic myself. 9 months now. Only learned about the autism while I was in a rehab facility. Explained the decades of self medicating with booze to cope.

And while I no longer drink I do enjoy cannabis and video games after work.

 

[DrBadStrings]

E.g., buck, duck, luck, muck, puck...

Truck, stuck, chuck, canuck, struck

 

[UFO]

I've never seen an autistic complain about motion sensitiveness.

When I began to use sunglasses, I realized that it was a huge quality of life improvement. Not because I am sensitive to bright lights, but because I really find contrasts disturbing (this applies to my music taste as well: I just hate bands like System of Down because their sound does not stay stable). With sunglasses bright white and dark black turns to bright brown and dark brown, which is more tolerable, especially when walking in forest during sunny summer day (flickering of light and shadow while walking among the trees... Urg...).

I have also returned to school during my late years (after 25 years in my current profession, I felt a need for a change), and I realized that I always choose front seats. Not because I am a super achiever and want to be a teacher's pet, but because otherwise I have a lot of moving and swinging heads with different hairdos and shirts in front of me...

Contrasts, especially when combined with a movement...

I'm not even sure it's an autistic behaviour as such, but sometimes I start thinking in rhymes.

Hmm... If a stereotypical autist is fixated with patterns and likes strong associations between things, wouldn't rhymes be just appropriate way of communication?

 

[Boogs]

it is good to know we're normal.

No! please!! Not normal!!! Anything but normal!!!!

 

[Boogs]

decades of self medicating

This seems a common theme among some autistic people.
It would be interesting to get some stats on that, and in particular, how frequently it happens before being aware of being autistic verses how many only self medicate after diagnosis, and also by age range and age when diagnosed.

Hmm... If a stereotypical autist is fixated with patterns and likes strong associations between things, wouldn't rhymes be just appropriate way of communication?

Well this would seem pretty likely, and for me I run on schemas and data patterns, and the connections within and between them, but only expressed in words within my conscious awareness, so the words are more than just important, no words no me in essence, or no ability to express myself at all (I wonder if anyone would notice? ).

And as I make logical structures in my subconscious based in the input and output of words in the conscious I can only express all that grand richness in words, so the wordplay, puns, rhymes, etc, are the closest I can come to being creative in any kind of 'artistic' fashion (rather than the art of constructing things of function).

But whether that's not something non-autistic people can have a talent for seems unlikely, and most are far better than anything I could produce, or at least able to be appreciated by many. So I wondered whether the rhyming is a broader ability across the general population and it's more what I do with it, how I apply it and for what, that reflects the autism?

 

[Seladon]

I just hate bands like System of Down because their sound does not stay stable).

Tbh I think for most ASD people it’s either extreme

Because I for one go feral for weird time signatures and proggy, jazzy or operatic harmonies & melodic phrasing, they do something so nice to my brain and synapses. Back in the day I was the only Millennial kid in my school & college who was massively into Dream Theater, Pharaoh Sanders and les Florissants. In school I even played in the student jazz band for a couple of years, though I may have been the worst technical player and improviser there, just vibing and running on chaos perhaps I do have AudHD despite what my assessor said lmao

However, that’s not to say I dislike more ‘stable’ song structures—my other favourite genre are blues, funk, hip-hop/90s rap and house/big beat/trance, which rely on a lot of repetition and formula. The only predictable music I can’t stand is current day pop, and I don’t think this has to do with the stability of that sound (perhaps it’s samey production? Or auto tune? Something very off about 90% of it)

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

All I heard was how we must raise money to fix it, did not know they were talking about people like me. I did not know I required fixing.

 

[Jonn]

Another thing I was surprised to learn since joining forums is that many autistics drink alcohol and smoke weed. I don't know why but I always thought autistic people were too moral for that and less likely to get involved with peer pressure.

I am one of those old-fashioned "traditional" aspies.
It came as quite a surprise to discover how prevalent mind-altering substance ingestion was in the autistic community.

The Truth of the situation has been assimilated.

 

[Misty Avich]

I am one of those old-fashioned "traditional" aspies.
It came as quite a surprise to discover how prevalent mind-altering substance ingestion was in the autistic community.

The Truth of the situation has been assimilated.

Apparently many autistics do it to self-medicate. But I think doing things like that only makes problems worse in the long run. Also sometimes alcohol and drugs can change your personality into someone unpleasant. I have full-blown anxiety disorder and get bouts of depression but I don't feel that intoxicating my body with illegal drugs or alcohol is going to self-medicate my problems away. What I do to escape is listen to audiobooks and colour, or listen to audiobooks and sleep. Okay I do sometimes take an antisickness pill at night to enjoy the side effect (drowsiness) but it's bought from the pharmacy and my doctor told me it's fine to take one every now and then when stressed.
I steer clear from alcohol or street drugs because I have severe emetophobia, so if there's even the tiniest chance I might get sick then I avoid it altogether.

The effects on alcohol and street drugs aren't only harmful to your body but can also be harmful to others around you emotionally. That's why I really do have an aversion to people taking the drugs/alcohol life, sorry to say. But each to their own I guess.

 

[Jonn]

Self medication is prevent among many.
I remember discovering at about age 10 (give or take) there were things called drugs that changed how your mind worked. Even at that age and ignorance, I immediately wanted to try them! I can't remember my thoughts on the matter but it's telling I wanted to change my thought patterns even back then.

I never dallied with Mary, Amy, or any other in the gang, but I did experiment with alcohol once to see what all the fuss was about.
I drank a 1/3 of a bottle of Bacardi (with Coca Cola).
I couldn't smell Bacardi for two years after that.

Needless to say, once was enough for me.

Also:
Alcohol "tastes funny" and is too expensive.

 

[Jonn]

Apparently many autistics do it to self-medicate. But I think doing things like that only makes problems worse in the long run.

Agreed.

Also sometimes alcohol and drugs can change your personality into someone unpleasant. I have full-blown anxiety disorder and get bouts of depression but I don't feel that intoxicating my body with illegal drugs or alcohol is going to self-medicate my problems away.

Some drugs inspire bouts of schizophrenia in certain individuals, I have read.
Pass...

What I do to escape is listen to audiobooks and colour, or listen to audiobooks and sleep.

Sleep is very important, I have found.
R.E.M. sleep helps with sorting out emotional problems to a large degree.

These days, I heavily focus on emotional stability.
Ruminating in my "Happy Places" is very effective for me.

 

[Misty Avich]

Agreed.


Some drugs inspire bouts of schizophrenia in certain individuals, I have read.
Pass...


Sleep is very important, I have found.
R.E.M. sleep helps with sorting out emotional problems to a large degree.

These days, I heavily focus on emotional stability.
Ruminating in my "Happy Places" is very effective for me.

Might explain why I do cope from day to day. Sleep is very important to me. That's why I can't bear it when my partner is too drunk, because his behaviour interferes with my sleep, as I'm unable to relax because he keeps laying in very awkward positions, snoring so loud that even earplugs don't block it out, and when he gets up in the night he slams doors. Then after a bad night's sleep I find it difficult to function the next day, as in get myself motivated to do anything.

 

[Outdated]

Apparently many autistics do it to self-medicate. But I think doing things like that only makes problems worse in the long run.

It depends on how you look at it. I developed social skills and had a social life that many here find difficult to imagine. (yes Jonn, like Alvin Purple revisited) For me that simply would not have been possible without alcohol.

A dozen schooners of beer a night was pretty average, plus the half dozen or so stubbies I'd drink while at work. On a big night I'd drink that and a full bottle of scotch. I never got hangovers and I also never developed an addiction, when I was by myself it wasn't often that I felt like a drink.

Now that I'm older and don't feel the need for a social life my drinking is very rare and I've lost my tolerance for alcohol, 3 cans of cider and I need an afternoon nap.

 

[Seladon]

Might explain why I do cope from day to day. Sleep is very important to me. That's why I can't bear it when my partner is too drunk, because his behaviour interferes with my sleep, as I'm unable to relax because he keeps laying in very awkward positions, snoring so loud that even earplugs don't block it out, and when he gets up in the night he slams doors. Then after a bad night's sleep I find it difficult to function the next day, as in get myself motivated to do anything.

You have my full sympathy, that sounds so awful and hard on you. Your partner sounds very inconsiderate. Is it possible for you to confront him or dialogue with him safely about the effect his drinking has on your sleep and your life? If not, this could be red flag behaviour.

If I had to not only live with and a deal with a man every night, but a drunk one who was messing with my beauty sleep, I'd have a h0micide record.

 

[Outdated]

If I had to not only live with and a deal with a man every night, but a drunk one who was messing with my beauty sleep, I'd have a h0micide record.

I was always a happy drunk and never aggressive, but disturbing my sleep is an entirely different matter. People never do that to me twice.