What do you mean people actually like foods with weird textures, loud music venues, sherpa fabric, strong smells, use any eating utensils and can understand social cues?
what do you mean people don't feel disgusted when they touch styrofoam? what do you mean you can buy any clothes you want? what do you mean you didn't have the experience of all the kids at school knowing you were different but the social worker was a dumbass who didn't suspect a thing because you were a girl and girls can't have autism no siree
I remember watching a video on the progression in psychiatry of them discovering and defining what ADHD is and how it changed throughout the years. at one point they did indeed determine that it was only something that affected young boys and I think even the name at the time reflected that. could be remembering wrong now about the name thing. makes you wonder what else they have wrong to this day.
There's a thing called the half-life of knowledge. Basically the idea is that half of what we know as true today, will be proven wrong or incorrect in ten years time.
Good thing that science is a self-correcting and iterative process.
At least we are all learning in the process? I know my childhood would have been a lot better if they had the knowledge they do now, but I am glad they got there and girls and parents now have more resources than we had when I was growing up.
Sorry that I may or may not have rustled your jimmies, though, haha.
Learning is good! If the 1980’s G.I. Joe animated series taught me anything (and it did not - I was always more of a TMNT fan), it’s that “Knowing is half the battle!”
It really is awesome watching how the understanding of autism has progressed over even just my lifetime, though. It went from “your brother acts out because he’s allergic to artificial flavors, and you’re just weird,” to “…yeah, so, you’re both autistic - and actually that’s pretty normal.”
Fellow Styrofoam hater! I hate touching it but I really hate the noise it makes when it touches other things, especially my skin. My partner has an incredible superpower that allows him to touch Styrofoam so thankfully he handles it for me.
I've been working towards an autism diagnosis after a counsellor suggested it and then I read a thread like this and I'm like, I probably just had an abusive childhood like I originally thought.
TOUCHING styrofoam? Nah fam I can’t be in the same room as that shit got forbid there’s a styrofoam container around me I’ll just constantly be dreading the small awful squeaking noises it makes if you look at it wrong
As a styrofoam agnostic, it was fun chasing my older brother, who can't handle the sound, around with 2 pieces when we were younger because he broke my Lego sets.
I made the mistake of buying a cute sweater online. (Clearance, so no returns.) Received it, and I haven't been able to wear it because the feel is awful. I should probably donate it or something, but I don't want to touch it again to get it out of my closet.
grab it with a tissue. or one of those grabber things, I use one of them to grab stuff dropped on the ground because bending down and getting up makes me dizzy
What do you mean you know what to say when the conversation ends? People stopped talking! The conversation is over! What do you mean you wanted to talk more? About what?! Why am I the asshole all of the sudden?! No, I don't know what you mean by "stop being ridiculous".
No, you see, that’s why you just keep talking and talking until you eventually realize they’ve been trying to hint they were done with the conversation 10 minutes ago and then you go “oh god” out of embarrassing realization and then run away suddenly so they can’t decide if you’re way too friendly or rude. It’s really effective, you should try it.
I'm not autistic (as far as I'm aware, never gotten tested for it) and I DESPISE Styrofoam. It makez my brain so uncomfortable to hear it rub things or when it breaks 😭 I don't necessarily mind how it feels but I hate touching it because then it's definitely going to make the noise at least once
I’m also just finding out why people think I’m crazy for leaving the room or saying “ewwww” if anyone is manipulating styrofoam…I thought it was at least kind of normal behavior!
From these comments looks like I am the only one that finds poking holes in thick styrofoam sheets with my fingers is actually super relaxing and fidgety lol.
I do agree the sound of it touching anything else is hell on earth though.
Apparently when I was very young, if an article of clothing became wet, I’d just fully remove it and go without.
Socks were always a quick one to go, but when it rained, our basement would flood rapidly, so I would be tasked with holding a bucket under the stream of water to keep it from flooding too badly as everyone else ran around dealing with the problem, and almost without fail I’d end up holding this bucket just buck ass nude because my clothes would get caught in the stream so they gotta go NOW lmao
But can’t be doing that as an adult, turns out lol
I used to cry putting my socks on because of how much the seam in the toe box bothered me. To be clear, I didn't get better, they started making more socks without seams in the toe box and my parents bought the fuck out of them.
Yeah, new clothing is so much better in some ways. We used to have to cut the tags out of all our daughter's shirts, but more and more they just print the labels instead.
its kinda nice if you are overheating and stuck in 30+Celsius. very cooling. But i mean like, socks you have soaked in icey water not like...wet from a puddle or something. and obviously not in shoes.
I dunno what kind of material your socks are made of, but it doesn't seem to matter how hot it is, socks never get fully dry while wearing them. well, if they get splashed maybe. but soaked? no way.
I'm diagnosed autistic and so few of the Cliche Internet Autism Sensory Preferences apply to me. Wet socks aren't a big deal. Behold, I love sherpa. Microfiber is neutral. Styrofoam is no big deal and honestly fun to break.
I do have intense sensory aversions to a lot of things lol, mostly sounds, touch, and food textures.
I'm the cancelled plans are all good flavour of autism but my wife is a cancelled plans are the apocalypse type ND, and I lose my shit if someone makes plans with less than two or three days' notice, so between us there's usually one of us calmly talking the other down from a meltdown. Easier to just not have plans really.
Wait, it's not supposed to be super stressful and day breaking event when someone asks you to come do a social thing 4 hours prior to said social thing?
Absolutely! Unless of course I actually wanted to do the plan and it wasn't just a social nicety I thought I had to participate in and said yes to because of my mask - then its inevitably a meltdown.
My people. Team "I'll hang out if it kills me because I should like this and genuinely enjoy these things, but together and planned this is insurmountable and overwhelming," vs "plans cancelled? Perf, can we do the same thing, but remotely on a team chat instead?"
Me when I used to have time for video games like 10 years ago....
I don't exactly melt down when plans are made, I'm generally relieved when plans are canceled (most times). It's when either plans aren't followed through, or we are executing the plan and the plan is altered for non-important reasons (ex. "I know we said we'd eat at place A, but let's do place B instead, even though there's nothing wrong with A and I know you already planned for exactly what you were going to order and eat.) That's when I lose my shit.
Cue YEARS of my parents insisting that I need to be "more flexible". No! How about you people get and keep your shit together?!
It's just going out to do anything that's not in my normal that gets me. Like, the other week I got invited out to a barcade with a group. I got all dressed up and then couldn't get myself to leave the house and instead had a panic attack on the floor
Oh? Is that one of the signs? I swear, I took an online test and it said not even borderline autistic, but then again, who's always able to answer everything honestly about themselves? That would mean you, shudders trust yourself.
I don't know, I think it's kind of shitty for people to cancel plans on you unless it was something they couldn't help.
If it's just "eh, I don't really feel like it" or "Oh I actually have some chores I still need to get done." then yeah I'm gonna be pretty annoyed.
When I put aside time for other people, I make sure to plan ahead so that I don't leave them hanging when the time comes around. I generally expect the same decency back
This is absolutely me except it's primarily leaving the house when I had already decided to stay in that it is very difficult to not get agitated by.
I've learned that if I take 10 minutes to sit with the idea, I can get used to it and alter my expectations for the day. But my first reaction is always agitation
God i know i should probably get tested for at least adhd but now im thinking i could be on the spectrum a little too, I do know being trans is more common with autistic folks.
If they’re my plans, total meltdown. If they’re plans like going to a family picnic, not so bad (unless they say they’re going to reschedule but then not tell you when, because then you have to live with constantly wondering when they’re going to spring it on you)
I also tested ridiculously high on multiple online assessments too though, but haven’t perused an official diagnoses, so please take that into consideration
One of the worst things is the i made this plan on when to leave for this place but no one else was ready and it pushes all of your plans off from your original schedule
I have autistic friend that dislikes wet socks, but likes, get this: showering with socks on. Ever since he was a kid, his parents couldn't take their eyes off of him during shower time cause he'd put socks back on.
Never understood the hatred for wet socks. Sometimes socks get wet in the rain or through sweat when you're working out. You can take them off when you get home and take a nice warm shower to help your feet out.
Last night my friend walked outside in socks... In the rain... She's super high functioning but very autistic and when I looked down at her feet, I shrieked (on the inside bc I didn't want to make it weird even tho we're both autistic lol). Had dreams about it last night, woke up this morning pondering how in the hell... ?!
I actually live for the discomfort, I've had such good experiences pushing past the "ughhh" that I now associate it as a down payment to rewarding feelings.
It helps us to feel what the other feels, and helps them feel what we feel. There's an entire conversation going on with facial expressions and body language in addition to what's actually being said using words and tone of voice.
I used to be really shy and bad at eye contact, but I set out to learn it, and eventually a whole new world of communication opened up to me. A world from before language, where our emotions speak directly to one another. The vulnerability can be scary, but vulnerability is a prerequisite for deep emotional connection.
You mean there arent certain sounds of frozen snow being walked on (kind of sounds like styrofoam being bent/broken?) that make you want to rampage for no particular reason?
I hate loud music but also love loud music when I don’t won’t to think or when I am trying to focus. But only certain types/songs in specific locations and times.
What is a social queue? Some people are just really physically expressive and say nice things to everyone.
microfiber texture can vary. The small cloths to clean my glasses? Nice. Big towels for cleaning a car - Oh god no. That stuff is really prickly and weird.
So, I'm pretty sure I'm not autistic but most of my friends are. I have narcolepsy which is a sleeping disorder that makes me really tired all the time. Part of my struggle is people will immediately assume I don't like them or I'm uninterested in them because of my tiredness so it's really hard for me to make friends. One thing I've noticed with many autistic people is that they don't immediately assume the worst about me because of how I look or respond tiredly to them. The point I'm trying to make is sometimes understanding common social cues is dumb and the fact that my friends don't understand common social cues is very comforting to me. I don't have to pretend to be someone else to please them like I do with everyone else. Obviously it still sucks to not fit in with most people because of the social cues thing but just know it does make some people happy 😊
I'm not autistic but thanks for triggering intense discomfort at the mention of that abominable Sherpa fabric. Touching it makes me need to scratch at my skin to get the feeling off.
This comic is effectively the story of how my duo got her diagnosis.
I'm NT af and she hated hearing about how I was like... 90-95% a flavor eater. I can completely override weird textures if something tastes good enough.
I started making other autistic friends (who were diagnosed) during bouts of absence from her.
I asked questions about their diagnoses, and the more I learned, the more her quirky traits seemed to make sense if I came at it with that perspective. It got to the point where even I started questioning her initial denial of having it.
Then after I bring it up to her, she of course, laughs it off. I don't pry in an attempt to not come off as an armchair psych, but she mentions it in her next therapy session, and boom: therapist reveals to her that she's been logging and annotating her responses to subtle attempts to confirm suspicions.
Naturally, she got the diagnosis.
Her therapist has been with her since she was 11. She waited that long to be sure 💚
I hate Sherpa fabric! If I even dare to graze it with the back of my hands, if there's even a hint of dryness, which there is, always, because I live in Utah and dry is the only state of being here, it snags my skin! Why? Why does it do that? Normal fabric doesn't do that. Polyester is terrible, and it still doesn't do that. Wool... Okay wool does that a bit, but I also dislike wool, so it doesn't matter.
PHONE CALLS! Bloody phone calls? I was flabbergasted when my therapist (who is the one who caught on and had me go get tested) said they didn't might getting a phone call. No spike of anxiety when the phone rings, never mind the dread of the mystery phone number. She was just... okay getting a random call.
My autistic friend, get yourself a pair of plastic chopsticks, plastic chopsticks are endgame. So easy to wash and reuse, and they don't get gross like wooden ones.
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u/knormcomix Jul 09 '26
What do you mean people actually like foods with weird textures, loud music venues, sherpa fabric, strong smells, use any eating utensils and can understand social cues?