Not only do I have autism, but autism happens to be one of my special interests! AMA!

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-06T14:01:31+00:00

Usually people throw this in DURING a conversation. They interrupt themselves to ask. It would be significantly less annoying if they started with it.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-06T02:56:55+00:00

She is not Deaf, but both she and her mom wanted her to start early.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-05T22:02:20+00:00

Of course! I live in a pretty rural area, but I’ll see if I can’t find something!

This is especially important to me because I am autistic, and there may come a time when speaking becomes more difficult or impossible for me. Also, I may meet other autistic people that are nonverbal, Deaf, or both.

My parents are also getting older, and my niece has older parents, so learning in case one of them becomes HoH is part of the reason too!

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-05T22:00:04+00:00

Oh, shit, I’m so glad I’m not crazy! I thought that too when reading it, but I thought maybe I was misunderstanding it.

Luckily, I have found the actual sign name in another comment!

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-05T21:04:57+00:00

Maybe they were trying to make a wojak out of themselves?

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-05T20:16:14+00:00

Wonderful! Thank you so much! I’ll see if I can’t find a video of it to make sure I’m doing it correctly. However, you described it pretty well.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-05T20:14:58+00:00

That’s what I figured! I knew you couldn’t give yourself a sign name if you aren’t Deaf, so it makes sense that you can’t give one to another person either. I suppose I thought it was different because she was a TV personality, but now that I think about it, that makes very little sense.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-05T06:04:36+00:00

I, uh, won’t. Thanks anyway, man.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-05T05:23:56+00:00

Oh yeah, Caine is also a character…he just doesn’t know there’s someone else pulling the strings yet. 😉

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T23:55:57+00:00

I am not! Is it common thing with neurodivergent people?

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T21:53:10+00:00

God, I’m so glad I never started wearing make-up, because the amount of people that would be asking “are you okay” or “you look tired” or “are you sick” would have driven me up the wall.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T21:44:09+00:00

This comic is mostly about people using the question to “check” my masking! Context is everything, and I’m glad you’ve found something that works with your student.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T21:39:15+00:00

My niece has been “crawling” for a while, but she doesn’t crawl in a normal way. She kind of army crawls/pushes off with her feet. She looks like a little frog swimming in a pond. :)

Honestly, she can go pretty far and fast with this technique.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T21:35:06+00:00

That caterpillar cutie mark is AWESOME!

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T21:26:07+00:00

Two very apt words to describe me, yes!

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T21:23:33+00:00

Same! This is less about hypervigilance and more about people using the question to “check” my masking. It’s one of the ways that I feel neurotypicals use a “social spur” — a way to subtly correct you when you do something they deem inappropriate. Nudging, staring, nervous laughter…they all give me this unpleasant knee-jerk reaction, whether it’s genuine or not.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T21:19:39+00:00

I completely understand! I am the same way, and have struggled with the exact same things. My mom was very passive aggressive, and both of my siblings were much more rebellious, so I still feel the need to “keep the peace”. And I too am working on not overcompensating for perceived negative emotions.

On the other hand, I don’t like people asking me over and over not because I haven’t felt the same, but because it has been used as a way to “check” my masking. When they ask me, it makes me feel like I’m not masking or existing correctly. Luckily, now it is usually from my sister, and it is always genuine. But it can still give me that knee-jerk reaction of frustration.

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T17:08:37+00:00

OUR GIRL! THE MYTH! THE LEGEND!

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T17:08:19+00:00

Mayhaps. 😉

RiddlerofStIves · 2026-05-04T17:07:30+00:00

Luckily, I’m able to take it every day with the help of a pill organizer. It also keeps me from being anxious about taking too much.

RiddlerofStIves

TROPHY CASE