@AustinRoberts88
I feel like I pick up on people's emotions too easily, socializing is like being a sponge but I can't choose what I absorb.
@14sasst
I’m so happy you don’t ever say high functioning ! My 34 year old definitely has needs. Buying groceries, doing laundry, cleaning house or dishes etc. Cannot get or keep a job. Yet graduated college and anyone who talks to them thinks they’re just lazy or spoiled. I like the level of support needs you talk about.
@tricklebug
it's so funny being lower on the spectrum because most people don't suspect it but other autistic people immediately clock me 😭
@chesterbe76
Having adhd and level 1 autism makes me feel like a clearly disabled person which is being perceived as "normal" and keeps being judged for failing to meet the expectation of normalcy. At this point I'm proudly disabled.
@memery2781
This might be a poor metaphor, but it works for my brain: When I was 8, I met my first blind person, a student in my class. He had leg braces, and a walker. He had a speech impediment. He had learning delays and had difficulty understanding basic social cues. He required a full-time aide, and could only be in the classroom for about an hour per day. So for many years, I believed that blind people also had all of these other difficulties. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I encountered other blind people and realized that you could be blind and walk normally, or speak normally, or have a high IQ and be mostly independent. You could even be legally blind but still be able to see some things. But all of these people with their differences in abilities could still be categorized as blind. I think similarly, people grow up knowing a high support needs autistic person, and they grow to believe that all of those parts are essential to autism, and therefore anyone who doesnt have those needs isn't autistic. But just as you wouldn't say that a blind person who can walk and speak with ease isn't really blind, a person who can speak and walk adequately can also be autistic. There are levels and nuances to everything, and people absolutely have no right to determine what someone else's experience and ability is from what they can superficially see on the outside.
@Boho_Gypsy
Hi sweetie, I am 72 and was diagnosed with autism almost five years ago. You have a gift for articulating yourself and your experiences. Thank you for sharing this. I'm sure a lot of people with autism will feel less alone watching your videos. I also hate loud sounds!
@pennyward2766
Another thing I noticed about my special interests, especially my earlier ones, is that I used them to make sense of the world around me. Like as a child all I thought about was words and where they came from or how they're put together, and I think I applied this logic of words being combined and altered over time to the entire world to understand it and make sense of it. Like special interests are more than just interests, they are the way we interact with and make sense of this world.
@MeirenUboaaaaaa
4:40 - socializing struggles, exhaustion 12:28 - sensory challenges/triggers 17:10 - rigid thinking/hyperfixation/special interests 25:30 - executive functioning challenges (a need for LISTS) (32:15 - fixing shirt thing is so relatable) 32:30 - delayed processing (BROOOO this is so me), delayed emotions (let urself feel ur emotions not think them) 35:40 - stimming, echolalia (omg i didnt know it had a name, i do this all the time) 38:25 - clumsiness 40:05 - anxiety, never stopping mind
@iloveFiona420
I’m 64 years old. Socializing is agony. The fake interactions is what is so exhausting. To have a real, deep conversation about important topics is one thing. But to go around just to be seen with the fake smiles and bullshit is pure agony.
@nicklopez4362
Masking is the term people use, I find thinking of it as suppressing made more sense to me, I did it a lot subconsciously
@lpqlbdllbdlpql
Something that has been very freeing for me has been the realization that I don't owe anyone anything. I don't owe people my own discomfort to soothe theirs.
@adanufgail
I feel like a LOT of online autism discourse is based around a very gatekeeping community who treat being seen, supported, and respected as a finite resource that they have to fight for, rather than welcoming people in and having those of us who are able to mask be bridges to help neurotypical people better understand our needs and how to build accomodations into society.
@CatholicWhisper
I’m also level 1. The most exhausting thing for me is I’m too “seemingly normal” to be tagged as “autistic” and too “autistic” to be tagged as normal. I’m caught in the middle. We fall through the cracks! It’s difficult.
@riccardoman7620
"I could sit and stare at water for hours" as an autistic living in a city I felt profound sadness imagining that scenario that I crave being so distant from my daily life
@Azsweettea
The executive function thing is so crazy bc I thought there was something literally wrong or broken in my brain. It hit so hard the way you described it. Physically cannot get your body to do it. And the even more confusing thing is, there are other days or weeks straight I can do it without effort. Then suddenly I can’t get outta bed.
@SunshineMena
Just off of the title, you’ve already made me feel SO SEEN. I was recently diagnosed with ASD Level 1 (at 32) and that diagnosis made my entire life make sense for the first time. Lately though, I’ve been feeling like an impostor of sorts when I ask for an accommodation or I try to explain how autism shows up for me to people who say that I don’t “look” autistic, something I’ve never done before because I’ve just learned to mask so effectively that even for me it’s hard to distinguish between something that truly bothers me because I’m autistic and something that I just need to get through, if that makes any sense. Learning that it’s okay to ask for accommodations feels scary, explaining to family I live with that some of my quirks are because I’m autistic after years of me conforming to whatever our dynamics have been so far and them not understanding that it takes a lot of effort for me to conform and they’re not open to adapting to me because for all those years I’ve always been the one that adapted. It’s so much. Thank you for bringing these conversations forward. You’re really helping a lot of us out here feel seen!
@kensears5099
I'm 67 years old, my autism discovery was two years ago. I could write "books" here (can't we all?). But I want to relate to you on just one thing you brought up, the "full-body" sensory joy. This has been an experience, and mystery (like, "Is this normal, does anybody else get this, should I keep it a secret?"), since early childhood. It's like an electric trance, and, let's just say it, almost orgasmic sensation, taking possession of my whole body, a profoundly visceral, riveting ecstasy. And you know what would bring it on for me (still does)? When somebody would take a keen interest in something of mine. Like if another kid started looking at my comic book collection and poring through them. Suddenly I'd go to this "place," just watching a thing that meant something to me capture somebody else's attention and scrutiny; I would just go into this physical, electric rapture and never want it to end. Of course, it always did!
@Shaya_Papaya
In all honesty, I don’t think there is anything wrong with autism because those with autism are some of the most straightforward, genuine, & honest individuals.
@fire5281
I instantly know you're autistic from the first glance! The eye contact, looking side to side, looking away from the camera, looking up to think, speaking slowly, frequently pausing to think, words come out like you're "translating" from your inner mind to speak, the hand fidgeting once in a while, pulling the phone out and wanting to share certain things, wanting to explain different perspectives but stuck when "translating", the inner frustration and overwhelm when you want to present all these ideas at once, the slight "guilt" you feel when you didn't speak like the way you thought in your head... All that! My brother is autistic, and I believe his experience also relates a LOT with you too! Thank you for having the courage to make this video!
@Lupercioq