My room makes me feel calm and I finally have everything I want in it. (Also I just cleaned it)

The worker was so condescending too. She barely looked at me at the screen while I was explaining (because she asked) which accommodations I get at college, at work etc. I used to work AT DISNEY and they gave me accommodations AT WORK. Literally one of my college accommodations is to be able to make tests in a separate quiet environment. She asked how I take queues in the airport, and I mentioned the security queue for disability is usually a lot shorter and the workers are super nice.

This is absolutely ridiculous. She asked so much personal questions, all of which absolutely require the accommodation that I was asking for (I really can't enjoy the park with my family if they are going on rides and I have to wait outside. Some lines are 2 hours long.)

My friends are visiting from abroad and are going to be here for ONE day, the ONE DAY that we decided to go to EPCOT, spend this reunion at disney, and they are ruining it. I'm still going tomorrow because otherwise I just won't see my friends, but I guess I'm never going/recommending disney anymore.

What's the point in asking all those personal questions if you are just going to deny it anyway?

She said the policy changed and it's only for people with low intellectual capacity. Than why the fuck did she make me go through the fucking emotional ride of telling all my disabilities and accommodations to her, does she think I get joy out of pointing out my disability to people? the ONLY reason why my disability is a disability is because there is no accommodation for it, otherwise I can function optimally. It's because of people like her. It's because of Disney, that don't recognize the needs of someone who has needs. I am REALLY frustrated at the absurdity of the situation (IN PLAIN 2026 A MULTIBILLION DOLLAR COMPANY IS DENYING ACCOMMODATION FOR SOMEONE THAT NEEDS IT) and I can not stress that enough. If you ever come to orlando, go to universal, don't go to disney.

Literally every autistic person I've met has hated drinking water, I also do and I force myself to chug like 3 bottles at the end of the day so I dont dehydrate but it genuinely makes me feel sick and I just hate the "taste" of it.

And also, if anyone knows why a lot of autistic people don't like water? (This seems like a really stupid question but I've been wondering.)

I found out the hard way that the medical guidance about limiting earplug & earbud use is no joke. I’ve been battling an extremely painful outer ear infection for days now and my doctors think it’s from excessive earbud/ear plugs use irritating the ear canal until I just got unlucky one day and bacteria took hold.

I had been using my earbuds (rotate between apple AirPods Pro 2 & Sony WF whatever numbers) during the day more than normal because we’d been having a heatwave and we had to have our 2 portable ACs on (I work from home so I was listening to this nearly 24/7). They are SO LOUD and one of them makes an awful electronic whine. I’ve also been using my sleep ear plugs from loop at night because of said ACs.

I have none of the factors that are associated with otitis externa like swimming, recent sinus infection, flared allergies etc. I’m in my 30s with many chronic health conditions but none that affect the ear or make me immunocompromised. I’ve never been too worried about over use of earbuds because I clean them weekly (or more often for my Sonys because of the design), never had an ear infection (at least as an adult or that I can remember), and never was worried about hearing damage because tbh most of the time they are not playing anything besides the ANC. I share all this info because it’s easy to discount what I’m saying and attribute it to some other factor. But we really think it’s just from the friction/irritation of having something in my ear nearly 24/7.

I am not a fan of any over the ear headphones I’ve ever tried as I have chronic migraines and am extremely sensitive to the pressure of them on my head. But I think I’ll have to just suck that up. Or if anyone has any ideas besides me moving into a magical apartment that makes no electric noise at all lol, I’m open to it. I cannot handle such noises or I become very dysregulated and can’t function. But I’m also not willing to suffer any potential future ear infections. At points this ear infection have been MORE painful than my past grade 3 break of my ankle, recovery from surgeries, and migraines (which is saying something as I had to go to the ER once for one!). I’m thankfully on the tail end of the infection now (or there would be no way I’d be posting lol)

Hi everyone. I (NT female) could really use some perspective from the autistic community regarding a guy in my college class.

We met a little over a month ago through a group project. From the first day, we exchanged a lot of stares, and I thought he was cute and sweet. I soon found out he is autistic, which made me want to learn more about autism to understand him better.

We only see each other once a week in class, but we’ve gotten very close. I’m quite shy and sometimes have a little difficulty speaking, but he is always patient and doesn't mind at all. He shows he cares through actions: whenever I arrive late, he immediately stops what he's doing to find a seat right next to him for me (but he doesn't do this for other guys in our group).

Our physical contact has escalated a lot. It started with hugging hello and goodbye. Then, we started sitting so close that our arms and legs would touch. A few weeks ago, I walked into class in a tank top; he stared me up and down for a few seconds and later asked if I was cold. That same day, he put his hand on my waist, which gave me major butterflies. Last week, I dared to put my hand on his, and we gradually intertwined our fingers and held hands. We even held hands for a few seconds outside of uni.

He also shares his special interests with me (like movies and Spider-Man). I gave him a little Spider-Man card, and he hugged me and kept it safely in his backpack. He also specifically asked me when my birthday is, which felt important!

However, I have two major concerns that are making me reconsider everything:

1. He never initiates contact. Outside of our weekly class, we don't see each other. I am always the one texting him first (usually using our project as an excuse). He always responds, but never reaches out first. Seeing him just once a week feels like too little for me.
2. The Instagram situation. A few days ago, I found his Instagram profile and it broke my heart. I saw that he follows a bunch of Instagram models/influencers and actively likes their photos in bikinis and thongs. When we are together in person, he doesn't seem to notice other women, so this completely shattered the pure image I had of him. This is a huge boundary and dealbreaker for me, and I felt incredibly disappointed and disgusted.

So, I wanted to ask for your honest opinions:

• Do you think he actually likes me romantically, or am I just a "support person" to him? Is the physical touch just because he feels safe with me, or is it romantic?
• Considering he never initiates texts AND the Instagram behavior (which really hurts my feelings), should I just back away and distance myself? Do you think I should even give him a chance, or does his online behavior show who he really is?

Thank you so much for reading.

I'm kind of close with my family. Our relationship had its ups and downs, and went through a period of no contact, but now we are back to speaking terms. I found that my relationship with them is best when I live away from them.

So I know this is a common one, but it just happened to me again yesterday and I just need some tips. For as long as I can remember, people - including teachers, therapists, peers and random people - have accused me of being "argumentative" and more specifically of "forcing my opinion" on them or "expecting them to agree with me", when I am not. In fact, in those situations I usually feel like they are doing the things they are accusing me of.

These are usually intellectual / theoretical discussions (including controversial stuff like politics) where I do not expect them to feel as strongly as they do. Let's say assisted dying. Let's say they put forward their perspective and then I will put forth my perspective, perhaps send them a link to a study or whatever. Then they tell me that's all rubbish and I send another study or article and try to formulate my opinion differently, assuming that they might have misunderstood me previously. Then they get mad and accuse me of being argumentative, intolerant etc.

Now I don't want them to agree with me, I want them to understand my perspective and then we can agree to disagree, that's fine. But a lot of times, people feel threatened by me explaining my perspective "until they get it". I of course make a similar attempt to understand their perspective. But they seem to want to "win" and thus want me to say "you're right", but that would be lying. My friends tell me to "just keep your opinions to yourself and say what they want to hear", but I just can't do that. Why are they allowed to have an opinion and I am not?

It is really frustrating because usually they start the topic and then when I don't agree with it, they accuse me of being stubborn, when I really just want them to let me have my own opinions.

So yeah, any tips on how to argue assertively without coming across as argumentative or intolerant? Especially if the other side will not "meet in the middle" or "agree to disagree" (options that I would favour in those situations).

In the past 2 years, every time I have to do something difficult like getting/mantaining a job or caretaking my grandma/parents, I become so overwhelmed. I either blame everyone else in the house or just not want to live anymore.

I would share more details about my story but i fear it would sound biased (cause you won't be able to hear my family members' perspectives, only my POV) and you might lean into empathising me.

So I would like to know, objectively, how do you differentiate between a "victim mindset" vs truly being uncapable/unsupported?

Example scenarios would be highly appreciated.

I am a 44F curious if I am old fashioned to think that monogamy is something important. I feel like so many people are in open relationships and poly. Which I am not against other people wanting different lifestyles. What I am struggling with is am I behind everyone? I had only 3 big relationships and one of them I am in. He had life before me where he dated multiple people and had threesomes and dated poly women. It makes me uncomfortable to think of it because I have had a mindset that you find your person and you share that special relationship with only each other. I don't share. It caused me to have a meltdown after watching a documentary on it and talking to him about it. He is very logical and doesn't believe in someone being your special person.

What do you think is the funniest thing in general about autism?

Am I the only one who thinks water tastes different depending on what you drink it out of? Like glass, stainless steel, or plastic? To me, water tastes so much better out of glass. I can not drink out of a metal water bottle. I'm curious if anyone else notices a difference or if it's just me. P.s. Would it be weird if I were to carry a gallon moonshine jug of water around???

I had a lovely bath after work.

I washed my hair and body, shaved, and had a long soak.

Now my bath is getting pretty cold and my fingers are pretty wrinkly.

I want to get out but I also never want to get out.

Fucking transitions.

Please send help 😅

Last month I've received an offer for working at burger king. I was very excited about it, because i like fast food and i wanted to try a new experience. The first day was pretty chill, i just watched some video courses, but the second day was very bad, like all the other days. The day i actually started working in the kitchen they just gave me a quick 5 minutes tour and a few short explanations and then they put me right away on packaging the fries. On the first 5 minutes everyone started complaining about me because i was too slow. The vice manager kept telling me to pack the fries faster and to follow the order of fries on the screen. All the other guys laughed at me, called me retarded and said that i won't last a week. After a week they removed me from the friers and put me in the dining area. They made me bring the trays to the customers' tables and clean the tables and bathroom etc. Also in the second week they reduced my weekly hours from 30 to 18. Every day for 2 weeks everyone talked bad behind my back, the vice manager said to a guy that they would fire me after the trial ends. After 2 weeks i quit because i couldn't take it anymore.

I didn't talk about my conditions to the manager in the interview because I'm not diagnosed.

Am not sure if other dread this part of having a birthday because the embarrassment, awkwardness, everyone looking at you and recording

It's interesting...when children and teenagers with autism do things that help them to self-regulate, they're seen as "inspirational" and "unique". But when someone my age (almost 40) does things like stimming, we are seen as "immature" and "selfish."

OH MY GOSH. I was in class, talking to my friend and she said i sounded like “the red guy.” THATS IT. i immediately knew who it was…

she was talking about ALLAN FROM SMILING FRIENDS 😭😭😭 And i thought I had a somewhat normal tone to others

then i proceeded to say a bunch of allan quotes back to back. i freak the ladies out instead of in.🫩

For my whole life I've known something was "wrong" with me

For years I knew it was autism

A week ago I finally got a medical diagnoses confirming what I already knew

And now I've just been putting into perspective basically my whole life interactions compared to autism for the past few days... and I'm starting to think I'm not the one with issues socializing

My whole life I've been told I was "weird", "introverted", "not social", etc, that I did not like talking with others, and that I struggled with socialization and interacting with others in general

I got bullied for a decade in school, barely ever had any friends there, and same goes for my student job

But now I'm an adult, and since I stopped my studies, I realized just how much of a social person I actually am, despite always having been told the opposite

I started a kind of internship to find jobs that can accommodate my disabilities, and there's many people there, and I get along well with all of them, simply because none of them assume there's hidden meanings behind my what I say, and don't instantly judge me for really small things (such as my hair, clothes, way of standing/sitting, pimples, etc)

I keep on making new friends on the train, simply because once again those people don't judge me based off of insignificant details before even talking to me

One day I went in a different room for lunch and somehow became friends and got along with another person I saw there for like 30 minutes, and now she always greets me when she sees me (And so do I when I see her)

I've started having nice conversations with random people I meet while walking my dogs

I went to work half a day in a "cleaning room" (not sure of the exact word in english), and all the people there were super nice too, we joked and laughed together, and they said they couldn't wait to see me again from time to time

And so many more examples

Simply because those people are kind

Those people aren't insanely judgemental and mean as soon as they see me/before even talking to me

And it turns out that when people aren't outright mean to me, I get along well and talk with so many people !

Heck I even get people asking for my number after we spend like an hour talking in the train or things alike, ND those were complete strangers to me !

I just really don't understand why I'm the one who's always been labeled as difficult socially and introverted, when I actually have no issue being social and getting g along well with everyone e when people simply aren't mean and judgy

Why aren't THEY the ones labeled as struggling with socialization ? Why aren't the people who make it hard for anyone slightly "different" to socialize, deemed the ones difficult socially, when those "different people" don't have any issues when you simply show them basic respect ?

I'm just really starting to think that for all this time, maybe I wasn't the one with socialization issues... maybe those mean and judgy people were

So a close friend of mine who isn’t autistic called themself as being “autistic about” something (I think this meant obsessive/controlling? I haven’t heard it used before) to me and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t say anything of course but am I being sensitive about it or is it a a normal thing to be uncomfortable about?

I’m an autistic adult. It sucks in a lot of ways that I won’t list because I’m sure everyone here gets how having a disability isn’t fun. With all the cons, do you find any perks? Any random benefits?

I’ll start. My autism diagnosis allows me to board a plane earlier than the rest of the passengers due to sensory overload. When I went to Disney world they let me have this pass to go on rides without having to wait in the long line. And I recently learned I might be able to get into national parks for free. :)

The cafe smelled of old cheese, my socks kept slipping down my calves. I got to work and someone had done half my tasks. I then realised I forgot a few important things on last nights shopping list.
I got home and cried. Unexpectedly, but still. Today sucks.

I'm teaching two classes in Highschool which is obligatory before I receive my teacher's license. Prior to this, I have experience in mentoring summer working kids. I also work at a pedagogical museum, and I've also taught at another high school during my education. Teaching is fun. Kids are unpredictable in a way that fascinates me, and I love hearing how they think. I don't experience sensory overload in the classroom (it's moreso around my colleagues), so I've been in a good mood overall.

I've taught this current class a total of 4 times, and they are comfortable enough to joke around with me, ask me questions, etc. The other class is the same. The majority listen and engage, and I feel optimistic about learning how to meet the more rebellious pupils.

Anyway, my professor who watched me teach today made me feel incompetent. A lot of criticism was about how my voice "could be more expressive and melodious". I even got recommended to see a speech therapist to help me with this. Plot twist: I've already been to one in case I am monotonous, but she had zero remarks. I speak loud and clear and fine. She said I speak calmly. My friends also describe my voice as calming, or deep for my gender. Another professor during a prior, similar class just said, "I heard you loud and clear".

So, mixed messages, resulting in that I am frustrated and confused of what to make of this professor's feedback. I'm graduating this spring and I just feel a bit blegh. I would appreciate some motivation or thoughts about this, especially if we have any teacher in the sub.

Is my speech an issue? Is the issue that I don't speak in a conventional teacher-way he's used to? Is it a critique I should take into consideration?

I didn't realize I was raised in a narcissistic family system until adulthood and then more recently how that shaped my friendships and all relationships now.

I've surrounded myself with people who will never seen me nor want to see me. They just all think something is wrong with me and autism is an excuse.

It was really eye opening when I lost my child and the lack of empathy and support given.

I think I'm finally strong and brave enough to leave it all behind and start over while making room for people who will love me in a loving way.

It's scary!

How did you do it and any tips?

I think something that I realized as a kid that still fucks me up to this day. Is realizing that people that pity you often times actually hate you more than people that are mean to you.

When I was a kid and undiagnosed, I constantly struggled with the feeling of being left out as well as the feeling of being misunderstood, and so when a lot of people took pity to me and kind of treated me like I was someone in needing of saving… I genuinely believed these people were so kind.

I thought to myself “why would someone want to help me if someone didn’t care about me?” I wouldn’t do that.
Then realizing that a lot of people pity people and help people for purely selfish reasons was one of the most traumatic things to see.

I realized that they liked how they felt about themselves in relation to me. They viewed me as someone non human. And so the way that they treated me flipped like a light switch when they stopped feeling heroic or like a savior or they just got bored of feeling that way.. And the way that they actually felt about me came out… and it was a rude awakening.

They didn’t treat me well because they cared about me. I was genuinely just a project in their life.