Thanks!
I sent him my resume and have been refreshing my inbox ever since lol.
Admittedly, even as a USian, I don't know the details. But, yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case.It doesn't help that, as I understand it, there really isn't much in the way of a central, formal organisation for this sort of thing in the US as there is with either the National Autistic Society - as a private charity - or CAMHS - as a national provider of mental healthcare (for the young) in the UK. Autism Speaks gets by in part on pure brand recognition and established connections, which are very important in managing what are otherwise heavily regional services.
Admittedly, even as a USian, I don't know the details. But, yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case.
So I've had... a day, to put it mildly. A day that has made me really, really convinced of something I've kinda observed for the last year or so, but I'm absolutely certain of it now:
We need fucking crisis training.
As in, people with autism need much greater access to tutelage, whether through personal or professional sources, with specific regards on how to handle a 'crisis' - anything bad happening really - and how to respond in a productive fashion. Because this evening I've had to deal with two people separately being on the verge of a breakdown as the world hoisted yet more crap on them and they just... couldn't bring themselves to deal with it. Simply observing the fact they were in trouble and concluding they were screwed, even though once I got them to hear me out, we could relatively easily work through a plan on how to handle each of their issues; one had their internet cut out and simply could not wrap his head around how to access his bank account without using his computer, due to it being the only device on which he kept his username remembered. Fortunately I was able to guide them through the process of signing in through their bank's 'forgotten your username?' feature after confirming it had one through some google-fu, but the simple initiative to even try and find that solution was just... not there, when it desperately needs to be, as opposed to shutting down in the face of adversity because of the brain just not wanting to deal with this mess. This is sadly and frustratingly not the first time I've had to act as guidance for either of these two, and it so often comes back to that root issue: They're panicking and they not only don't know what to do, but they don't know how to figure out what to do. While I realise this is utterly selfish of me to then say, but being stuck in that role so often is just draining, and I feel like I have an increasingly small amount of time to myself as I'm instead having to regularly keep an eye out for and concern myself with whatever issues may be arising for these two this time; what time I do have is often spent trying to de-stress and unwind from the latest catastrophe, rather than to truly enjoy myself.
That's ultimately not meant as an indictment of them in any way, but as a realisation of yet more area in which society and its care of persons like us is so particularly lacking; any knock-on effects of that I lay at the feet of the fact people just aren't provided that sort of support before it becomes so bleeding necessary, because of how then makes it harder for us - either directly or indirectly - to simply get by in life.
I may or may not have been needing to vent a bit on this.
Prof Sir Michael Marmot said they die 15-20 years earlier than other people due to poor housing, low incomes, social isolation and bullying.
I'm with you with the tumblr community. I haven't talked a whole lot about myself, but there's a lot of autistic-related issues I had and the autism-tumblr community went a long way to getting me out of the shell. Even now, I still don't feel comfortable disclosing my diagnosis irl for reasons I can't quite put into words yet (which, being gay, I'm perfectly being comfortable being out of that closet. It's weird). Anyway, this isn't about *me*, other to say that autism-tumblr community really does mean a lot and helped me more than I can put into words. I genuinely don't know where to go if tumblr falls apart.
Twitter will probably be my backup. The autistic folks I follow there are fine, but twitter just seems like a place where it's hard to relax and just be yourself like tumblr is. IDK, maybe I'm just reading too much into things--but I definitely *do* feel more comfortable on tumblr. Wrong planet, r/autism, and r/aspergers. And I love y'all here, I really do--you're all really lovely people but also like... we're not exactly the most active hangout, y'know?
I just hope that tumblr doesn't fold because of this move, but between the fact that a lot of their userbase is there for nsfw content (and people leaving can have a domino effect that affects sfw blogs) and a beyond broken af algorithm I feel I can only hope :<
Nice to meet you, and congrats on your diagnosis and on getting support at college! That's excellent news! I hope this time, now that you know a bit more about yourself and have support, college goes wonderfully for you :3I want to introduce myself. Hey, I'm columbodotjpeg and I have autism. I finally got diagnosed at 26 and now I'm trying to go through school because every time I've gone to college previously I've not done well! I'm working on getting accommodations now with a very cool disability counselor! She's d/Deaf and was very patient with me with regard to me having problems thinking quickly. We signed a bit but mostly the interpreter helped. I'm really happy now even though it's taken me a while to get this sort of help. I've been able to make peace with the fact I'll probably need support through my life.
What? When did this book come out? What's the title?Seriously, fuck Reddit to the sun and back. An article pops up about how Amazon is selling books about how to 'cure' autism with a bleach solution and rather than care about how misinformation like this could cause a parent to hurt or fucking outright kill their kid by making them drink literally bleach, the entire thread is filled with people defending Amazon's right to keep the book up and to do otherwise is just SJW censorship. One of the highest rated comments is about how this is all just outrage culture and any comment telling this person exactly why its such a bad idea to keep something this dangerous up is downvoted heavily. It's legit one of the most upsetting threads I have had the displeasure of reading on there in awhile. Kids through no fault of their own could be hurt or killed because of this bullshit but that sure as shit doesn't matter to the assholes on reddit.
What? When did this book come out? What's the title?
That's not how it works. A bleach solution? They're trying to get innocent people killed out of not only ignorance, but pure malice as well.
I just read the article and it's horrifying. These books are providing false information and nothing's being done to remove them. I fear for those that are dealing with those so-called "treatments" and "solutions." I'm baffled. What's going through their minds right now?Here's the article in question.
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/amazon-autism-fake-cure-books
I've personally known about this whole 'alternative cure' thing of bleaching your kid to 'cure' them for years, but I didn't know it was getting mainstream enough to get books published about or that it would get on amazon where there are plenty of people reviewing it positively. There's people on there saying its a great alternative to what 'big pharma' has done to their kid. It's absolutely nightmarish. These people think bits of their kid's intestines coming out from the bleach messing up their inside as proof they're getting rid of toxins and parasitic worms. It's just, ugh.
But nooo, we need to make sure desperate parents can keep finding damaging info like this.
Seriously, fuck Reddit to the sun and back. An article pops up about how Amazon is selling books about how to 'cure' autism with a bleach solution and rather than care about how misinformation like this could cause a parent to hurt or fucking outright kill their kid by making them drink literally bleach, the entire thread is filled with people defending Amazon's right to keep the book up and to do otherwise is just SJW censorship. One of the highest rated comments is about how this is all just outrage culture and any comment telling this person exactly why its such a bad idea to keep something this dangerous up is downvoted heavily. It's legit one of the most upsetting threads I have had the displeasure of reading on there in awhile. Kids through no fault of their own could be hurt or killed because of this bullshit but that sure as shit doesn't matter to the assholes on reddit.
The technology subreddit. I'm pretty sure its up there as one of the bigger ones.
If there ever was a cure would you take it?
Autism really, really sucks but I feel that without it I wouldn't be me anymore.
Never. While there are struggles, overall being autistic has been a very positive experience in my life. I genuinely believe that if I were not autistic, I would most probably be a terrible person.If there ever was a cure would you take it?
Autism really, really sucks but I feel that without it I wouldn't be me anymore.
Does anyone have any good resources for ASD/HFA and sex/intimacy? I've been in a relationship for almost a decade now and I'm suddenly getting anxiety in the bedroom and it's really having a negative impact on our relationship.
I tend to default to the National Autistic Society for stuff like this, and while that does run the risk of not properly checking their material, it's consistent enough that I generally trust them unless noted:
https://www.autism.org.uk/about/family-life/partners.aspx
Skimming through it, much of it is more on the abstract and focuses on getting into relationships, so if others here can chime in, whether with their own resources or anecdotal experiences - I certainly have nothing to provide there - that'd be appreciated