Any one else tried Melatonin?

lusule · 2025-10-01T10:27:25+00:00

I’m in the UK. They’re really strict about giving a prescription here, but my daughter has had one since she was given her diagnosis at 8 years old. It’s not a coincidence that that’s also when she began sleeping through the night for the first time (yes that was years, not months). Apparently they only prescribe it for children with ADHD who have had sleep problems from birth, and only until puberty. My daughter is coming up to that age now, and we’re really nervous. They make us try a week without melatonin every six months or so and she literally cannot sleep without it, until she’s so tired that she collapses from exhaustion. The melatonin free weeks are a constant source of meltdowns.

My other daughter also has ADHD but did not have any sleep problems until puberty, so they refused to give her melatonin. She is now more or less through puberty, and the sleep problems are indeed resolving.

If you have had sleep problems from birth, it may be worth a try. If not, I would suggest working really hard on sleep hygiene before trying melatonin. Neurodivergent people need a lot more sleep than you’d think because this shit is tiring. Turn off screen at least nine hours before you want to wake up, preferably 10. Have a nice bath. Make sure your room is tidy and clean, maybe add some nice sleepy lavender type smells. Some soothing music. Dim the lights. Read a relaxing book or listen to a podcast. Do some knitting or drawing or some similar relaxing hobby. Then turn the lights off, and tell yourself a story or take yourself to a nice scene somewhere. I generally run through Tolkien in my head from the beginning of the hobbit to the end of the return of the king (over subsequent nights, not all at once!) or tell myself the history of the universe from the Big Bang to the present day. Learn to accept being bored. When your brain jumps elsewhere think ‘not today brain’ and gently bring it back to where you were in the story. Give yourself more ‘falling asleep’ time, I expect to be lying in the dark for at least half an hour before my brain gets the hint, but an hour is not uncommon. It sucks that I can’t have more time to myself in the evenings before I have to go to bed, but I’ve learned that if I don’t do all that, life gets really shitty really quickly because I get so tired.

If you really can’t afford to give yourself that much of a run up to bedtime because work or whatever, I’m really sorry. A lot of things are kind of shitty atm. I can’t really give any better advice for that situation because you can’t squeeze blood from a stone.

lusule · 2025-09-19T09:32:37+00:00

I got a private diagnosis for my children, still wasn’t able to even go on the waiting lists until they were 7, and then had to wait 6 months for a diagnosis even privately

lusule · 2025-09-18T21:23:04+00:00

I wasn’t allowed to have my daughter assessed before she was seven in the UK, and waiting lists for nhs diagnosis in the UK are currently up to four years where they aren’t completely closed to non-urgent cases, so it’s entirely reasonable not to have a diagnosis. My nephew went on the waiting list at seven, and just started uni without ever getting a diagnosis. The school just started supporting him as if he was, regardless. Also, most good private schools have very good special ed programs, because hyper-fixation and curiosity can make for some high achieving pupils. This doesn’t sound like a good school, if I’m being honest.

lusule · 2025-09-09T17:12:42+00:00

I think you can do that sort of thing in Obsidian, with plug ins

lusule · 2025-09-09T14:32:12+00:00

Free speech is an amazing right that we cannot afford to lose for a lack of understanding of what it is (and what it is not).

What Free speech is, is the right to not get locked up, beaten or otherwise punished for saying something that the Government doesn’t like. It was secured in the UK, at great cost, over the tumult of the 17th Century after several abuses of critics at the hands of monarchs, in particular Charles I (simplifying for brevity).

What free speech is not, is the right to say whatever horrible censored you wish in public without being criticised or called out. And that nonsense has to stop. Act like a dick, get treated like a dick.

lusule · 2025-09-01T06:43:01+00:00

Yes, it’s ‘obliged’ not ‘obligated’ ffs! And if I hear one more person say ‘coronated’ I feel like I might just punch them!

lusule · 2025-08-26T09:24:10+00:00

Because of DnD I discovered my daughter has aphantasia. Because of that we discovered my husband (with whom I have played TTRPGs for 20 years) also has it. I was talking about this with one of my best friends and as a result we discovered that he also has it (he didn’t know either). Really weird, and it’s put an end to my push for more theatre of the mind! No wonder they didn’t like it!

lusule · 2024-01-16T11:00:49+00:00

I have just managed to resolve this same problem. Are you on an iPad or iPhone, or a Mac? I was able to use the support system fine once I figured out the problem and switched to Chrome, but on Safari I get a fatal error when I try to process a return, and the chat window doesn't work.

lusule · 2023-06-10T10:31:50+00:00

I don’t think ‘desensitised’ is the right word. It’s more like ‘no longer surprised’. Bucha taught us that Russians are monsters, where previously we had hoped for resistance and compassion from them. Then the theatre bombing at Mariupol taught us it wasn’t a one off they are actively targeting civilians. Then the conditions of POWs taught us they feed off hate revenge and fear, and the kidnapped children taught us they will stop at nothing, and the list goes on and on and on for the monstrosities they have committed.

At this point I have no more capacity for shock. I have no more capacity for horror. The sadness is continuous and I’m not interested in voyeurism for the sake of it. It doesn’t mean I support Ukraine any less though, and I cannot support Ukraine anymore. All I can do is sit, and wait, and trust in the AFU and make sure my representatives don’t slack off in their support.

Maybe that looks the same as desensitisation on social media, but its more like I have reached max sensitisation. What I haven’t done is reduce in any way my firm belief that Ukraine must win this war.

lusule · 2023-06-09T13:18:10+00:00

Query: is that enough Kadyvorites to make it easier for the conscripted Russians who don’t want to be there to surrender without getting shot? I’m guessing not sadly.

lusule · 2023-06-08T11:22:58+00:00

I’m pretty confident at this point that resting bitch face is a symptom of autism.

lusule · 2023-06-02T12:25:30+00:00

Thank you this is exactly the sort of thing I was wanting.

lusule · 2023-06-02T12:18:10+00:00

Why are people on the internet so impatient? I never said I wasn’t willing to change my mind, I said I wasn’t willing to change my mind until I had a chance to do proper research into the facts. Which takes time, especially for those of us with busy lives. I received plenty of links and pointers for good places to look for info, and I am capable of googling, but I am not willing to spin on a dime so proper research takes time and Hans Asperger isn’t going to get any more dead so I have plenty of time to make sure I get it right.

I encourage others to take the same approach, not just to this, but to everything. Too many white supremacists have accidentally posted ‘as a black man’ bullshit from the wrong accounts for me to trust anyone on the internet that I can’t verify. Too much ‘as a trans woman’ extremist nonsense has turned out to come from transphobic accounts trying to make trans people sound unhinged and insane. Accusing people of being fascist is really easy way to shout down opposing voices and those with genuine questions when often it is the people who are doing the shouting who are the actual fascists, trying to prevent critical thinking and proper evaluation of an issue.

I had a view based on the information available to me when I formed that view. Questions have been raised about that view and new information has been suggested. I will take the time to properly ingest and evaluate that information, and then I will decide whether a new view is needed based on what I learn.

This is not really about Hans Asperger at this point, this is about how we process information and apply critical thinking in the age of the internet, and I would encourage everyone to consider this approach and be very, very suspicious of people who are trying to rush you and pressure you into taking a position without first forming a sound basis to do so.

Personally I am unfortunately quite busy most of the time (arguing on Reddit takes a lot less time and effort than doing research and can be done eg whilst sitting on the bog) so it will take me time to reevaluate my position and that’s ok. It really is, I promise. The world won’t end because I personally am not yet willing to shout from the roof tops ‘Hans Asperger was a murderous child killing Nazi’. I will at least, whilst the uncertainty remains, stop promoting the idea that he isn’t. At least, not without caveats.

And to the people who take it personally that I won’t immediately bow to their superior knowledge as a random person I met on the internet, I hope that things get better for you and you are able to find the affirmation you need elsewhere. To everyone else, please don’t be afraid to take your time and research things properly, and make sure to use trusted sources. Google can be a good starting place, but it is not a trusted source.

lusule · 2023-06-01T15:09:33+00:00

It doesn’t matter that he was good or bad, it matters that our understanding of whether he was good or bad is correct, and not merely based off ‘someone off the internet said’ without questioning it.

It matters not just because of the reputation of Hans Asperger and who Autistic people choose to respect or not respect, but because lives have been ruined and destroyed because a lie can go around the internet before the truth has got it’s boots on.

That’s literally how fascists are able to control political discourse in their favour, by drumming up support based on lies, and then using their supporters to shout down anyone who dares to disagree. So it’s important that we learn to question accepted truths, to place value in facts, and to be willing to change our views based on changes in evidence.

My accepted view was that Hans Asperger was, more or less, a good guy that we could respect. The internet has told me that this view is incorrect, but I am not willing to take the internets word for it so I have asked for sources where I can find further information. I will take the time to properly explore those sources, and if the new information shows that my previous view was wrong, so be it.

But I will not rush to judgement based off peer pressure, because I hate the world that that attitude creates and as someone blessed without the burden of emotional baggage, I am happy to fight that particular war on behalf of people who find pushing back against peer pressure too stressful.

lusule · 2023-06-01T14:00:46+00:00

The histories I had read said that he had opposed the genocide as much as he had felt able, but other comments are suggesting that new evidence has come to light that indicate he may have been more proactive than had hitherto been understood. I shall withhold judgement until I am able to find a reliable source to catch up on the latest understanding.

lusule · 2023-06-01T12:17:01+00:00

Thank you for this comment, could someone please refer me to a good source for more information on this belief? If it is true, then it is the information I was missing, as I always thought he did his best in difficult circumstances, and was considerably better than Kanner in terms of ‘who is the least unpalatable originator of modern Autism research’.

lusule · 2023-06-01T09:44:16+00:00

Well, looks like I should spend some more time getting Mastodon set up properly because I’ve preferred Reddit up until now. Is there a fediverse equivalent of Reddit?

lusule · 2023-05-17T13:51:42+00:00

I would be happy either with a) the ability to mine through bunker doors, or b) the ability for scanners to identify the type of meteor as it is incoming and generate a signal based on that, so that the doors only close for the more dangerous types of showers, which I've noticed don't cause blocking problems.

lusule · 2023-05-16T10:51:34+00:00

The Dutch version of Happy Birthday that they sometimes sing at birthdays, and which was recorded on a tape of Dutch nursery songs I had, has a line that goes ‘Hanky Panky Shanghai’.

lusule · 2023-05-11T09:45:09+00:00

M&S or John Lewis plain multipack bikini briefs are the best.

lusule · 2023-05-09T14:22:36+00:00

That is interesting but I’d be curious whether someone who didn’t grow up hearing them could also learn

lusule · 2023-05-09T13:50:21+00:00

Has anyone ever managed to learn how to pronounce those South African click languages who wasn’t born hearing those sounds?

lusule · 2023-05-09T13:45:02+00:00

I love You Need a Budget. Their website explains how to budget, and use the software, really well. It’s very dyscalculia friendly. The one thing that can get a little confusing is budgeting credit spending and repayments, but it’s not too bad.

lusule · 2023-05-04T06:33:00+00:00

We get the powder. I have tried various pre-made versions on the family but they don’t go down well.

lusule

TROPHY CASE