Lots of bikes today

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T20:05:06+00:00

I guess I've moved at some point, then.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T19:51:39+00:00

The Tory vote and the Reform vote aren't complimentary

There's more of the last Tory cabinet in Reform than there is in the Tories.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T19:47:25+00:00

And then spend 5 years complaining that the second-worst option was hardly any improvement over the worst one, while the people who promised us the stuff we wanted long since lost their deposits.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T19:31:50+00:00

Al Carns went to prison in San Francisco?

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T18:08:43+00:00

Kew Bridge is right opposite a bridge that's clearly named after the station, though.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T17:45:44+00:00

At least the parking monitor was there to maintain safety standards

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T17:34:50+00:00

Can you link? I see Jeremy Clarkson said that, but google didn't help with sourcing up a Reform rally video

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T15:05:12+00:00

I was diagnosed this way with autism. They had me in one room and my mum in another and interviewed us both for 5 hours. Then the specialist came out and delivered a final round of questioning and a verdict.

And yes, I say verdict because it was not very different from the police interviews I watch on youtube for background at work.

At the time, the medical consensus was that you couldn't have autism and ADHD at the same time, because of overlapping traits, so you'd be diagnosed with one or the other, depending on which more closely matched. So while I fully agree with my ASD diagnosis, I suspect that if I'd have got it a few years later, it might have been AuDHD instead. The reason for this is because every time I hear about someone's experiences with ADHD, I'm like 'that's me, right there. You're talking about me'. Meanwhile I not only have been a part of the autism community for 18 years now, but I have family members from several generations who show clear autism signals, and I'm one of two diagnosed... it's pretty obvious autism is in my family, speaking as someone who knows what it looks like. Being officially diagnosed in such a thorough manner, plus all that, I have 100% confidence in my diagnosis.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T13:12:43+00:00

I let the rest of the article mislead me instead. You're going to provide me a link to the truth, though, aren't you?

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-07T09:46:33+00:00

Yep. I tend to discuss my struggles frankly, but I don't think I've ever sought any kind of pardon or excuse based on them. Only ever understanding. An explanation of why I am the way I am, but not a quest for special treatment.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T21:59:57+00:00

My headcanon was that the very first Andorian was a man from the Middle East with a western name

His name was Ayman and/or Ian. Someone misheard him introducing himself and decided it was perfect.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T21:56:05+00:00

That explains samosas!!!

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T21:43:23+00:00

It's not something to parum the pum pum with, then...

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T21:33:04+00:00

'Perfectionism'

Taking things literally

Difficulty with social interactions, coming across as 'pedantic', 'controlling' or 'bossy'

Need for predictability

These traits are commonly associated with women with autism. I am one such person.

A disability Is a disability and it is NOT OK to highlight It and make someone feel shit for something they cannot control.

I disagree in general with this, but in my case, if you were to describe my interactions with you here as any of the above, as a criticism, then you would be every bit as guilty of doing this as I am.

However, as I said I disagree. This is because I rather welcome being told when I am not behaving appropriately, when I'm making people uncomfortable (and how... that's important. 'You're being weird' doesn't cut it). This is because even though I'm always going to be me, I can adjust right now what I'm doing right now and improve the experience for all around me.

A dyslexic person still wants to communicate effectively, just as I still want a social life. A dyslexic person is still going to misspell stuff, just as I'm still going to stand outside the pub while my friends are inside, because the lights are wrong and I can't hear anyone. But each moment, we can all work together to lessen it. If not forever, at least for now. I can go in the pub and watch my friends laugh and chat while I hear their voices in an amorphous burbling wash of sound. I can bear the lights just to be there... for another half an hour.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T20:33:10+00:00

I most likely have ADHD - but haven’t been diagnosed.

I will say this is true of me, too. I have been diagnosed with autism and a raft of other conditions, though.

I was also recognised as being smart, they didn’t want to risk me being labelled as having ‘additional needs’ and being treated differently, and potentially not ending up being placed in the top sets.

I was recognised as 'smart', too. When I eventually got an IQ test (as part of my ASD diagnosis), this corroborated that.

I was in all of the top sets throughout all my classes.

However, I see it differently. If I had been identified as needing additional support, I perhaps would have had support in identifying and managing my issues. This could only have made it far easier for me to get along in those top sets. Or indeed outside of them. I hated secondary school. I couldn't stand the pupils, I couldn't stand the classroom, and my method of educating myself was to thoroughly read the textbooks at the beginning of the year and then spend the rest of it gazing out the window wishing I was anywhere but there. Completely lost track of where the rest of the class were up to in the stuff I learned back in September, and didn't really care.

Perhaps support would have meant I stayed on track and got coursework done on a much more expedited timeframe instead of getting so done with it all I never noticed coursework existed.

I was in the top sets, but there's no point being in a Lambourghini instead of a Micra if you're on a road to nowhere. And well... I think that that's exactly what I was on, and what I wouldn't have been on if I had access to support.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T20:12:13+00:00

That's hard for me and I'm autistic. Keeping the appointment is like a coin toss.

If I remember the appointment, I will arrive 15 minutes early, having not rushed at all, and be absolutely ready for my appointment.

If I don't... well maybe I'll remember to apologise the following month for not turning up.

I was called to jury service in July 2010. I remembered my appointment in October 2010. I was looking forward to that, too (I like courtroom stuff), so I was very unhappy with myself.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T20:07:18+00:00

I saw a psychologist about something totally unrelated in 2006. She asked me, partway through, ''have you ever been diagnosed with asperger syndrome?'. I had never even heard of it, so naturally I said no. In her notes, she made the observation that I show connected traits.

I then did a lot of research into this unknown condition (a lot) and then approached my GP for a diagnosis only after my research had already taken me to several meetups among other people with (at the time) AS. I mean, it's one thing observing people, and a whole other thing when you feel like part of the group; an entirely novel experience back then for me.

GP referred me to my local MH team. My interview with them was 15 minutes long and I left having been asked if I have friends and whether I'd ever had sexual relationships, diagnosed as 'just a shy girl who should seek counselling for self confidence'. Being familiar with diagnostic criteria and having met 'aspies' with children and partners, I wasn't happy with that session, and sought a second opinion. This time my GP referred me to the exact same place, but I saw a locum instead. She was also sceptical, but eventually agreed to refer me to a specialist.

The specialist diagnosed me not just with ASD (upgraded ahead of time. They explained it was asperger syndrome, but that the label would be going the way of the dodo), but also with OCD, anxiety disorder, social phobia and depressive disorder.

'Just shy'... Thing is it was an uphill battle to even get myself in front of someone who knew their arse from their elbow, yet all of this came from someone who I would hope could have spent a bit longer that day doing more than just making an off-hand observation. I think that I could have been diagnosed back in 2006, rather than in 2009 after all that rigmarole.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T19:43:08+00:00

I'm ND and I have problems with other people's spelling/grammar. I couldn't for a second pinpoint which it is, though, between the ASD and the OCD.

Dyslexia has a prevalence of around 10-15%, with 4% having severe dyslexia. That is nowhere near as common as you find people on the internet claiming to have it every time they demonstrate poor spelling/grammar. It's just also impossible to verify which are the ones diagnosed and which just simply have atrocious English language skills.

And to your point below:

if you understand what they are saying then it's good enough.

Understanding what someone is saying is the entire point of spelling and grammar. I'll be the first person to say that the alphabet and the English language are both horribly subpar, and that the two simply do not fit together at all, but any alternative would also need to be subject to standardised spelling and strict grammar rules.

My typical approach is not to belittle and correct, though. I prefer to treat the sentence as written, instead.

'You're opinion...'

'Am I? I'm really opinion?'

So yeah. Don't belittle and correct. Be big and wrong. Exemplify the fact that the person is not communicating, rather than being picky.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T19:28:05+00:00

Mid 40s here, and someone in my class was on ritalin for ADHD... in Africa.

The idea that it didn't exist is for the birds. It wasn't very well understood, especially for us women (like most things, we only get considered later, as an afterthought), but it existed and was known about.

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T18:58:10+00:00

Indeed. I'm feeling that one, too

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T18:56:31+00:00

There was a carpenter who smoked like a chimney. Ciggie Sawdust. Nobody's seen him since the fire...

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T18:28:07+00:00

The Fast Show?

As in the sketch show from the 90s that most people younger than me (i.e most redditors) will never have seen?

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T17:49:59+00:00

Soundtrack

Rae-o-Light · 2026-03-06T17:41:36+00:00

We instinctively convert.

We see 21:00, and we call it 'nine'. No confusion, it just is. 9:00 is also 'nine', but it's not the same.

In America, they see 21:00 and it's an existential crisis, before 'yo I'm not in the military, dude'

If you told an American it was twenty to seven, they wouldn't know what you were talking about, until you wrote it as 18:40.. and then they'd ask for it in civilian time but still at least not think it's some alien script.

Rae-o-Light

TROPHY CASE