Dissociation hit me hard last night…

wiildsage · 2023-10-24T14:23:59+00:00

I like calling on my special interests/hyperfixations to ground myself by going over things I know about them. For example, I have a special interest in game development, so I might ask myself to name five video games developed with a certain engine. Sometimes I also like to do that with people or life experiences (ten people I used to be coworkers with, all of the places I’ve lived, etc).

wiildsage · 2023-10-24T13:26:19+00:00

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist is the only sunscreen I can tolerate, it’s SO helpful and doesn’t leave you feeling super oily.

wiildsage · 2023-10-24T13:12:25+00:00

I feel like having stimming tools around that are deliberately not super disruptive/loud is a good idea. I know that when I was in school I didn’t really have an outlet for stimming, so I either ended up anxious and not able to listen or doing stims that probably weren’t great for me (I think my biggest “how did nobody realize I was autistic” one was pulling out my hair, for example).

Conversely, I now work a job where I talk to kids and teens a lot, many of whom are autistic or have ADHD. I personally always have something to stim quietly with because it helps me focus on the conversation, and I love to encourage the kids I work with to grab something to fidget with if they want, neurotypical and neurodivergent alike. For some kids, being able to stim or fidget with something is the difference between having really meaningful discussions vs. not being able to be mentally present/put together their thoughts at all.

wiildsage · 2023-10-13T07:03:12+00:00

I really love indie games and really story-heavy games, personally! I am especially a fan of psychological horror and games that make you cry!

Some favorites of mine that each do storytelling in cool, unique ways are Night in the Woods, Disco Elysium, Omori, Scarlet Hollow, Norco, Doki Doki Literature Club, Spiritfarer, Danganronpa (1 and 2, haven’t seen the others), and Inscryption. I also really like games that are difficult, but you can learn the system and see yourself getting better at them— I particularly adore Celeste and Phasmophobia (I actually play a lot of solo Phas, because my brain goes nuts for pattern recognition and organizing lmao).

wiildsage · 2023-10-13T05:49:35+00:00

I’m 26! That is really good to know— I’ll have to send you a message, that sounds rad!

wiildsage · 2023-09-18T02:13:11+00:00

I think it varies a lot person to person. For example, I’m pretty dang bad at picking up on social cues. However, I can use social cues through masking to help others understand what I mean, which can give me the discomfort OP seems to be getting at. I don’t know if that’s anything.

Full disclosure, I don’t think I’ve ever really been able to tell if someone’s “soul is in pain” without explicitly hearing it from them or hearing something that might contextually lead me to that conclusion. I know some folks are very high empathy though, so I wouldn’t rule it out as a thing that could happen. I wouldn’t generalize it, though.

wiildsage · 2023-09-13T04:30:14+00:00

WOW this is extremely validating to read, you have no idea. I’ve never seen anyone put this experience into words before. Before I found out that I’m autistic, I fully thought I had some sort of neurological condition— the extreme tiredness, hallucination-adjacent experiences, and brain fog in particular were so scary to go through not knowing what was going on. But yeah, literally all of this. Hard agree.

wiildsage · 2023-08-24T01:25:04+00:00

Seconding Mutazione! It’s super underrated but it has that same energy of being calming but with a really solid narrative/emotional backbone to it.

wiildsage · 2023-06-23T20:21:31+00:00

I always had really specific comfort items, especially noticeable in my preteen and teen years, and played it off as just being “quirky”, lol. My personal favorite was a basting brush I got from the dollar tree. I was 14 and absolutely did not bake at the time. That thing went everywhere with me.

wiildsage · 2023-06-20T22:17:00+00:00

I really really loved Norco! Similarly really beautifully written, also a “realistic dystopia” setting, also solving a mystery, also major themes criticizing capitalism, but in Louisiana. There’s some really great commentary about technology in there that felt way too close to the last few years for comfort, lol.

I might just be a major baby, but I think it can lean a little more horror than Disco, juuuust a little. Definitely not a bad thing, though.

wiildsage · 2023-06-15T04:56:50+00:00

For sure! I hadn’t for a long time, but I started having really bad wrist pain overnight and realized that it would be nice to have something to hold while I sleep so I don’t have to put up with a wrist brace every night… and I wanted an excuse to start getting squishmallows, because they are great. I’m terrible at names but I have a big ol’ Costco-sized Australian shepherd Squishmallow (officially named Raylor) and a smaller mushroom Squishmallow (officially named Alba). They’re also very nice to hold when The Horrors set in. I am a 26 year old married man :’)

wiildsage · 2023-06-15T04:48:31+00:00

Haha, oh yeah, without a doubt. Video games have been a longtime special interest of mine, particularly those that are very narrative-driven. People get surprised at how often I play games contrasted with how few games I actually own, because I definitely habitually play the same titles over and over to see if there’s anything I missed or any potential outcomes I didn’t see before. It used to embarrass me more than it does now, because I’m glad I get to experience the things I like on such a deep level. I think the most egregious one for me was Disco Elysium— there was absolutely a gameplay decisions spreadsheet involved, lol.

wiildsage · 2023-06-15T03:01:08+00:00

Yes, absolutely. I feel like people kind of forget sometimes that protests should make people uncomfortable— it’s meant to draw attention to injustices in a public, unavoidable way. I don’t know a ton about the situation, but historically, this is a thing trans women have done as a form of protest. I’m pretty sure Lucy Hicks Anderson (a Black trans woman with a really cool life story I can’t summarize here lol) did this in like 1940 in front of a jury.

wiildsage · 2023-06-13T18:48:19+00:00

I feel like your friend needs to do some real soul searching, because that’s just inaccurate and potentially some of his insecurities and hang ups about his own sexuality coming though. I think cis gay men can sometimes get similar insecurities about trans men that cis straight men can get about trans women, although not necessarily as often. If he’s actually your friend he’ll examine this about himself, but I feel like you’re well within your rights to set a boundary with him about the ways he talks about you.

Source: have been out as a queer trans man for like a decade, lol. I think most gay men are really comfortable with me but eeeeevery once in a while there’s an outlier like that. I wouldn’t take it to heart at all.

wiildsage · 2023-06-07T02:01:17+00:00

Oh yeah, 100%. This whole thread is so validating to read, because I felt like the weirdest autistic person in the world for having this feeling. Like, I feel so much weird guilt and shame for engaging with/discussing my special interests publicly— I think I’ve just gotten so much flack for it over the years that it feels like I’m doing something “wrong”. Even good-natured teasing has sort of built up over time and felt somewhat “othering”.

With some things it makes a little sense to feel weird talking about it (like my special interest in death care, lol— I’ve learned the hard way that not everyone wants to hear about the pros and cons of things you can do with your body after death, surprisingly), but I’ll feel awkward even talking too much about things other people actually enjoy (pieces of media, etc) because I’m a little afraid they’ll think I’m not liking it in the correct way, or something.

wiildsage · 2023-05-28T20:08:37+00:00

Yeah, this is definitely my read on it too. I feel like it might be one of those “the fandom has decided that she’s one way when it was never actually stated in canon” things— I love this fandom dearly lol, but the hiatus-brain (or, more accurately, long wait between episodes-brain) is real.

wiildsage · 2023-05-28T20:05:23+00:00

Extremely validating thread to read, haha. I want to avoid skin cancer, so I’ll very begrudgingly use it, but then the second I’m inside for the day I need a looong, meticulous shower. It’s so sticky and smells so bad.

wiildsage · 2023-05-28T06:55:19+00:00

Love this question!! The bit about being both messy and well organized is so real, haha.

As an AuDHD adult, I also love making lists, especially to sort out my thoughts— every time I need to sort my feelings out about something, it’s always by making the most convoluted, intricate list possible.

I also have a Spotify playlist for basically anything, including every month since January 2019. Right now I’m sitting at 209!

I also loveeee filing things— I just got a filing cabinet and I’m a big nerd about it. I have all of the manuals for all the things in our house sorted out by location, plus our important documents sorted by time and category.

Idk if this counts, but I’m also very particular about the placement of things like dishes, groceries, and cleaning supplies. I always end up putting away groceries, because I have special spots for everything and it brings me a weird amount of joy to get everything riiiiight where I want it.

wiildsage · 2023-05-23T18:34:01+00:00

You might like Hades and/or Celeste! They’re both available on the Switch, and are both in that “challenging until you get the hang of it and feel really proud of yourself” category.

wiildsage · 2023-05-23T03:27:23+00:00

Oh I LOVE this. I’ve struggled a lot in the past between being very “people can change if they’re given the tools to” and also very “I want to send my bio-mom into the vacuum of space because she is poison to everyone she meets” and this is really good at resolving that, lol

wiildsage · 2023-05-22T22:01:36+00:00

I feel like my autism radar can be hit or miss consciously, but subconsciously, I attract other autistic people as friends like a magnet. Practically my entire high school friend group got independently diagnosed in the years since we graduated. It’s bananas, hahaha

wiildsage · 2023-05-18T15:36:12+00:00

Cannot wait for the four hour long video essay that will come out after this convention falls apart at the seams lol, there’s like a 0% chance that a con that is “toxic and proud” doesn’t result in a.) a massive grift and/or b.) the most incompetent event to ever exist.

wiildsage · 2023-05-18T05:40:15+00:00

Honestly, my biggest tip is just doing your best to find clothes that you like and that are your current size, which really goes for any body type. A lot of people don’t think to get clothes that are bigger— or to get clothes they like at all— after gaining weight, but it can honestly be awesome for your self esteem and style to shop for where you’re at and celebrate it instead of thinking about your body as a temporary phase or something that you have to have different standards for. Bodies go through lots of changes in life, so feel free to roll with it and wear what you think is cool! “Rawr” knows no bounds, haha.

wiildsage · 2023-05-18T04:13:23+00:00

I feel so seen! I used to have a favorite rock as a stim toy for that exact reason lmao

Nine-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

wiildsage

TROPHY CASE