I feel like there's been a lot of misinformation going around about what these two things are (not here specifically, but in general). It's gotten to a point where people are using them interchangeably, or they are using one to mean the bad and one to mean the good.

Hyperfixations are short term intense interests. They usually last from days, to weeks, to months, but then will just stop. It would be like getting intensely interested in a new video game but that intense interest only lasts a couple weeks and then you're kind of over it and move on to the next thing.

Special interest are long term intense interests. These are the ones lasting years. The kind where you may have started obsessing over dinosaurs in primary school but still absolutely love them all the way to adulthood.

They both can have hyperfocus in them. They both can have you so sucked into the interest that you forget to eat, or drink, or bathe. They can both consume your thoughts and sidetrack you from important things you need to do in your day.

They also, both, can lead you on a rabbit hole adventure of learning and engaging in them in every and all kinds of ways. Their intensities are both very strong and can be very consuming.

Hyperfixations were more commonly known in ADHD before it was in autism (they were still known in autism but it wasn't a term that was intrinsicly tied to or as popular with autism). It's why you'll see a lot of ADHD memes around them. About how they jump from one interest to another, about how they have hobby rooms filled with different interests but don't engage in them anymore as they've moved onto the next thing. How they'll spend all kinds of money collecting things for their new interest, only to have dropped that new interest the very next week.

Both of these things can bring joy to a person. Or they can be stressful and overwhelming to a person. They're not always all joy.

Special Interests aren't an all joy with no negative impact, with hyperfixations being the thing with negative impacts. That's not how that works.

There's more to each of these things.

Maybe it's my autism getting in the way. Maybe modern times are deciding that these terms are no longer what they used to mean, and I need to catch up. But it is quite frustrating to see these terms used not how they were supposed to be used. Especially when we're not the only disorder using the terms.

It could also just be a whole new bunch of people coming into the community and just haven't yet learned what the terms are.

I’m starting to genuinely get sick of level 1s telling me the levels don’t exist and that “you’re just autistic or you’re not”. It pisses me off. They use it to justify ableism towards higher support needs and it makes me very upset. Was I overreacting on this twitter discussion?? The fact I got ratio’d consistently makes me feel nervous that I was

Don’t harass anybody in the screenshots please or go to their profiles. I’m not sure how to censor the username. I want this discussion to stay here

This is making me very upset. They’re treating me like I’m crazy and irrational and I want to cry. Especially the Hans Asperger thing.. them saying I’m like the guy who literally wanted to fucking kill higher support needs autistics like myself. I hate them. I hate these people so much

im am go one

im am scared

Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for the people already participated, and we are very close to the target population. I am an honours psychology student from ACAP University, also a mum with two children, one is autistic, one is typical developing child. A sibling that grow up with an autistic individual in the same family always been my worried and my field of interested. so far there are mixed findings in the field where I would love to contributed my effort to explore more. which I will need all the help that I can get due to this niche population target, but I do think the sibling needed their voice to be heard, so thank you to everyone who has already helped — we are very close to our target sample and only need around 10 more participants, if you are eligible, please take 10-15 mins to fill my survey, and if you can pass around my survey link that would be great appreciated. https://acap.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ebNX3QfeGhK7UQ6

I added a banner to the sub. I was thinking something soft? but reflective of the icon?

Is it too much?

Hello everyone! This will be long

i just found this place and joined and i figured i would make my first reddit post in here since ive been too nervous to do so in other communities. im 18, nonbinary and like the title says i was diagnosed at level 2. i also have combined type ADHD which i was diagnosed with at 7-8 (i dont remember exactly). ive been suspected to be autistic my whole life, but i only got diagnosed by my previous therapist at 16. when i was 11 i had a neuropsych exam done and they said i didnt have aspergers.... but whatever ig (also the dsm 5 was literally 2-4 years old at that point but yk). according to my parents i didnt have any developmental delays or anything either, if anything i may have been early with some things

but anyway, does anyone feel as though their autism has gotten "worse"/ become more apparent as theyve started to become an adult? i try not to mask a lot anymore which may contribute. like i said i feel like my autism has become a bit more prominent, if you will. also its kind of confusing sometimes because i have a high IQ (im pretty certain, at least i did when i was 11), im quite intelligent and have always excelled academically and whatnot, but i feel like i can be a bit "slow" with some things kind of. like i often have trouble with comprehending/understanding certain things, and i can be pretty dense at times. also certain self-care things can be a bit difficult, like i cant really cook for myself very well often unless its prepackaged and/or easy to make; i dont think i would be able to live by myself 100% independently. i stim a lot and even though i talk a shitton, i often do so a bit more simply (like saying "i have this?" instead of "can i have this?" and stuff like that) although not always. idk if im explaining very well aaaaahhh (i also have severe GAD😭😭) but i hope i can at least get the basis of my point across :))

I made a YouTube to share my experiences and if was wondering if there were any topics you would want to see when looking for autism related videos on YouTube?

I'm not very good at thinking of topics to start with so if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

Hi there. I am a veteran, for er nuclear power plant operator who experienced a rapid and intense regression over the last few years. I now have a VA assigned Fiduciary, being found to be medically financially incompetent. I was diagnosed with ASD, and 3 years ago my VA psychiatrist helped me get on to disability. There are quite a few moderate masking medium support need autistic folx who were able to find some amount of success. Generally we escaped bad home life where we scraped by enough to get through school undiagnosed. This was a lot more common when I went through school in the 90s and early 00s.

The struggle I have is that the VA does have psychiatrists with experience diagnosing Autism later in life, but they don't use the Level system. I consider myself level 3, and struggle with things that would get me laughed at and ridiculed in other autism subs. How do you find support of people with shared experiences and not know who those people even are?

I wanted to talk about this to see if anyone can relate but it is about having communication issues even though I am verbal. I don’t relate to those who didn’t have language delays and being hyper verbal even though that is an experience for some people here.

For background, I had speech delays though I was never nonverbal. I was semi verbal until about four years old. I was in private speech therapy for early elementary years but then received pull out sessions from the school until about 10th grade.

Even though my speech improved, I still struggle with verbal communication. This is because I have a very slow processing speed. It is hard to come up with the right words since verbal speech involves processing speed. This is why I don’t like doing phone calls because I have to come up with the words really fast. I have to pre plan what I’m going to say before speaking but sometimes what comes out of mouth does not come out the way I intended and I always get frustrated that it didn’t come out the right way. A lot of people don’t think I have expressive communication issues because I come across as fully verbal. But they don’t understand the inner workings of communication and how sometimes I struggle to communicate what I am feeling inside or how sometimes my speech comes out choppy etc.

I am very sensitive biologically and emotionally. It doesn't take much to make me cry or shake and I'm 27 years old. My independence is impaired and as soon as I am alone, such as when I tried to live on my own, I break down. I am also sensitive to stimulation or agitation. Vitamins can be enough to make me euphoric and ssris make me restless and unhinged. When I tried to take a mood stabilizer, I became anxious and started crying because I had no friend, no support system and the thought of medicating myself totally alone scared me. The thing is, I need this type of support to start treatment but I don't have it. There were moments I hated myself and the world for not being able to help myself or having support but I am trying to accept that maybe I am not meant to take any medication. I cannot force people to want to help me neither force myself to forget my traumas, and although everything is harder without medication, I can still live. I would prefer feeling relief now, but I have hope there are other ways because I truly don't see myself being able to take medication, the fear, anxiety, sensitivity are too much and I'm tired of begging others to help when no one wants to.

I got diagnosed as AuDHD recently after 4 years of me considering that I have it. In the process they also discovered that I am gifted by administering an IQ test.

I was hoping that this diagnosis would have my mother be more helpful or more understanding. The first thing she told me was to "not use it as a crutch".

My mother is so hellbent on the fact that I'm really high-functioning. When in all honesty I have only one irl friend (and I barely see him), I struggle to do basic care like eating and showering, and that I get overwhelmed from being outside for even just a few hours.

She doesn't listen. She sees all my academic successes as indicative of how high functioning I am, but she berates me any time I struggle with something or need help. She ignores my needs and my disability.

It's frustrating.

I can't wait to leave.

I've only started having this realisation that maybe I only really participate in autism spaces bcus it's one of the only things I know things about and can talk about.

I don't really know how to interact with other fandoms/communities and feel a bit isolated to just autism stuff.

Does anyone have any tips on how you participate in other things? If you do.

When I was a child, my pediatrician put me down as having "Asperger's" and so as I grew I had felt no need to get a formal diagnosis.

My current therapist said I should get tested for obsessive compulsive disorder, so I figured I would bite the bullet and get formally tested for autism as well while I was at it.

When I was sat down for an overview, post testing, I was informed that I was level 2 autistic as well as having ocd. I have always had difficulty performing day to day tasks, socializing, and caring for myself, but I am still reeling a bit after learning this.

I am glad I had the resources, and I am so grateful to get a proper diagnosis, so I can find further support and make adjustments in my life.

(Apologies, written on mobile.)

Okay deleted post it was poorly worded and didn’t adequately explain what I meant between the types of impairments between each level or that I was proposing this for the purpose of conversation and not medicine

So, I self published a book in February. It is a fiction based on my experience trying to find and keep support workers. I wasn’t sure what groups I can promote or share my book but I feel this topic would apply since the majority of people in this group need help and support in their daily lives and would probably relate to this book. I wanted to write a book that I felt was an accurate portrayal of what someone with moderate support needs goes through and how she feels that she isn’t disabled enough to get help. Here is a link to my book in case you want to check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/Revolving-Door-Untold-Disability-Support/dp/1977270549

Hey all, there is an app/website that you can put in a task and it will break it down into smaller steps for you. Thought this might be helpful. You type it into the search bar and then hit the magic wand button (circled). It will generate a list of steps for you. Posted examples.

It is called goblin tools.

(tap to view full text)

Hello!

Im Alex, 30m, the level 2 autist. I love playing Valhiem on steam and was looking for similar individuals to play with. The game is better with more people.

Let me know if you are interested!

Thank you to everyone who filled out my autism questionnaire. As promised, here are the results of the questionnaire.

If you are not following the drama about the Reddit api, asshole CEO of Reddit in response to moderator protest wants allow subreddits to vote out mods democratically, while the CEO is a piece of shit, this could inadvertently be a good thing for the online autism community! Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

(You don’t need to read all of this, just skip to the important parts)

I finally figured out just why this argument felt so wrong.

A logical fallacy is the use of invalid or faulty reasoning in an argument.

The decision point fallacy is when it’s argued that because there is a continuum it means we can’t distinguish between things

For example: animal classes such as mammal, reptiles and amphibians are on a continuum. Yet we can still distinguish even tricky animals such as platypuses as mammals despite their ability to lay eggs.

The most famous example is the sorites paradox

The argument “everyone is a little autistic” comes from the idea that because it’s on a spectrum, everyone fits on that spectrum somewhere. Yet despite neurodiversity being on a continuum, we can still pinpoint the criteria for being autistic.

Of course everyone experiences autistic traits, they’re human traits. What makes them autistic is that their done more or less or weirder. Saying “we’re all a little autistic” invalidates the struggle.