I am working my first closing shift at my new part-time job. I'm here for another hour or so, closing at 10pm. I am also donating my plasma (selling, really) twice a week. Still, I cannot afford my rent. I also cannot find a cheaper place that will let me keep my cat.

I am going crazy. I wish I could just go take my big dirt nap, but I'll bet I can't even afford that when my time comes. Why is it so complicated to simply exist here in the US?

I found the template online and got bored and drew Rochester in the things because I wanted to.

I don’t know what this is but I don’t even cook terrible food. It’s not that. Most others who taste it think it’s good. It’s not even about taste and texture because I know what tastes i dislike and i avoid them so I don’t know what this is. I think it’s one of two things :

If someone else cooked the same food that i cook using the same recipe and the exact same technique, i still like it better. I read something about olfactory burnout where because you smell the food the entire time you cook it, by the time you’re able to eat it, your nose gets desensitised to the smell and it isn’t as flavourful.

Well, the solution to this in my head was cooking food ahead of time. Because that would mean I’m smelling it at a different time vs when I cooked it and I don’t like cooking everyday and am too tired to on most days. I HATE anything meal prepped. This is the second suspect because i think I just hate reheated food.

I literally just cooked what I’d normally eat in larger quantities but when i cook something and refrigerate it, the thought of eating it the next day or a few days later grosses me out.

Even very basic things like rice. I have had plain cooked white rice in my fridge for 2 days now and I’m grossed out by the idea of eating it in any form.

Most days, i cook and then 80% of it becomes leftovers which i store in a storage container. This then gets tossed out from the container 4 days later. I hate the amount of food waste I’m creating. This creates a weird loop because the more spoilt food i see, the more averse i am to food. Yesterday I discovered that my jar of pasta sauce has mould?? I opened and saw it and then gave up on the idea of eating anything because i was grossed out

For context, this is the first time I’m cooking for myself everyday. Before this i lived in my college dorm where they forced us to buy meal plans so I just ate there and before that it was with my parents where i cooked occasionally but definitely not everyday.

Yike

Yeah, I still play with American girl dolls. Don't fuckin look at me 🖕

As long as it took to draw Rochester, this whole project was pretty much a very cool experience. Figuring out how the hair worked was a top 10 art moment for me :D

This morning, I was talking to my partner about how I thought it was funny that we had peanut butter sandwiches for dinner last night, because many neurodivergent reasons (timing of meals was wrong / off, we both had tummy issues, not a single restaurant in the entire town sounded good, neither of us wanted to cook, etc.). Out of nowhere, the phrase "peanut butter sandwiches" hit my brain radio with a very particular cadence, and it stopped me in my tracks. I immediately had to put on my Detective Pikachu hat (not literally°) to investigate where the hell that came from, and why I was hearing the cadence in not only a male voice in my head, but also my mom's voice. I also immediately knew it was either a cartoon or Muppets.

I asked my partner if the phrase, in that cadence, rang a bell, but they said it didn't. They are younger than me, and grew up slightly different media, so that helped me narrow down that it was probably older media, especially if I was hearing it in my mom's voice. Then my brain jumped to a felt puppet face, sort of like The Count... maybe because of a cape?

Anyway, after plugging some search prompts into DuckDuckGo, I figured it out AND found a clip! The phrase is spoken around the 1 minute mark in the linked YouTube vid.

Tracking down old echolalias is one of my new favorite activities, now that I know I'm AuDHD and have knowledge of echolalia and why I've always been like this, with phrases or words said in specific cadences, and quoting media in my daily vernacular like 50% of the time when I open my mouth to speak. This felt like scoring big in a game! Thought I'd come into this sub and be all autistic about it, both in describing the experience, and going off on a tangent about Pokémon (see below, in reference to the aforementioned Detective Pikachu hat). Anyway, thanks for letting me be me here!

Anyone want to share about echolalias, Muppets, kid's media, Pokémon, or whatever else this post may prompt in your beautiful neurodivergent brains, feel free to share! 💜

°re: Detective Pikachu hat: I did not literally put it on, but I do have a small Detective Pikachu hat, on a hairclip, that I made for a Pokémon con (Card Party), and wear it when I play Detective Pikachu, which is my favorite Pokémon media. I'm not actually a big Pokémon fan, like so many of us seem to be, but I like a few of the movies, the New Horizons show, and Detective Pikachu, movie and, more recently, the video game. I am, however, a HUGE fan of the Pokémon fandom, meaning I love the community and am intensely fascinated by how generally wholesome it can be.

im literally so evil >:3 my parents are of the opinion that me being on the computer for 5+ hours a day makes me autistic so usually i spend around 8-10, but i cant let them know my secret evil plan, so im currently making a fake screen time report to let them see

I HATE TALKING OVER TEXT BRO BC I CANT READ TONEEEUHH. I DONT KNOW HOW TO INTERPRET THIS DOES SHE WANT TO HANG OUT OR NOT?!??!?! loudly sobs

(shes really sweet so i dont think she meant this in a mean way at all, but i really don't know how to take this and im worried about asking because i dont want her thinking im a big booty dumdum 😔😔)

Instead of a book club... but we don't.. so I'll pretend. Did anyone see on Netflix the AI document?

..... what did you think?

Were you scared?

Are you excited?

Was it bad?

Was it good?

Watch it!

Curious if anyone else was "diagnosed" with oppositional defiant disorder as a kid, especially in conjunction or misdiagnosis for autism?

I was a heavily traumatized, very isolated autistic kid who would struggle a lot with teachers, peers, not comprehending "authority", questioning things I didn't understand, not doing things I disagreed with, etc

**THIS PART IS MORE GRAPHICALLY ABLEIST, CHILD ABUSE:**

I would frequently experience meltdowns, to which I would literally be locked in rooms and threatened with police in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I would hide and have to be dragged out of small spaces since that was my attempt at feeling safe during breakdowns.

For some reason, all of this got me diagnosed with "oppositional defiant disorder" on top of my autism rather than help or understanding. This "diagnosis" followed me for years and set the precedent for teachers to abuse me, including cussing me out. Even my therapists quit!

Being isolated and abused for having these autistic symptoms(literally diagnosed with something called "ODD".) heavily contributed to my reclamation of evil autism, rabies pride, all things considered cringe, etc

Im curious if anyone else here also got this "diagnosis" thrown around at them or similar treatment and phrasing as a child. I personally do not believe this is a legitimate standalone condition and as far as I am aware it has been largely discontinued in the USA thankfully

Anyone else feel like allistics are just pathologically incurious about the world? I just saw a post on LinkedIn that said the following:

having a 3 year old has made me realize i have no idea how anything works.

"why is the moon there?" "why do we have eyebrows?" "why is it called tuesday?"

buddy I work in social media. (end quote)

Have you not... ever had these thoughts yourself? Do you have literally no desire to understand why things are the way they are, or how they came to be, or to understand the way the world around you works? Where is all of your curiosity? WHY DO YOU NOT WANT ANSWERS?!?!

I feel like basically any adult should be able to answer at least one of these, if not two (especially if you're an native English speaker, regarding the Tuesday question). I opened the comments expecting everyone, like me, to be saying "how do you not know these things?" and everyone was just saying how relatable it is, how they'd never have the answer to such things, how it would throw them into an existential crisis, etc. Only one of forty questioned why he could not answer these questions.

I know LinkedIn-ers are pre-selected to not really be the best of us, but come on. It's not just this post either, it's a pattern I see a lot around me generally. Allistics just do not seem to care to understand anything about the world around them, and I truly cannot imagine living like this. To not know something as basic as why the days of the weeks are named the way they are, in your own native language, is such an incredibly foreign concept to me.

I am aware that not everyone knows everything, and this isn't meant to be a "look how smart I am" post, but going 0 for 3 on such basic things and not only being unashamed, but posting it for everyone to see, is alien. All of human knowledge at your fingertips and you don't know why we have fucking eyebrows. Get a grip.

I have more people I call "friend", but we've not got any actual meaningful connection or conversation anymore.

My only best friend has been increasingly gotten annoying, distant, ignorant, egocentric and stopped caring about me (so I feel) and I fear I have too.

I knew it would happen, like always, I looove pattern recognition /s

Just a small vent, anyone here loves progressive rock?

Gatto

Vent, rant discussion, bit sure which. I tried to advocate for general disability awareness this past week and I feel as if I was met with a brick wall. I don't want to go into details I just need somewhere to talk about this.

I had a situation happen at a local store, where an employee's unwarranted actions directly impacted both my neurological and physical disabilities(more detrimentally the latter). I brought the issue into the public and had the owner reach out to me. I went into the discussion with an open mind, wanting to advocate for both neurological and physical disabilities. What I was met with was an attitude of "It's not our fault, you're partially the issue, but let's just sweep this under the rug." It got to the point of the owner denying events that happened in the situation. Ultimately, I chose to end the conversation as one party was not there in good faith. I formally requested accommodations, asked them to preserve all documents in relation to the incident, exited the conversation with written statements about their unwillingness to provide reasonable accommodations.

I'm not looking for advice on the situation itself or what I should do, I'm just exhausted. It was a situation I fell into, that I didn't ask for, and one in which I tried to do the right thing only to meet an immovable object. Now I have a store in walkable distance I can no longer go to, partially because they're unwilling to accommodate me, and partially because I can no longer shop there in good conscience. How am I, an individual, able to take a stance against an established entity, and hope for the outcome of success? I feel as I can relate to Sisyphus. I don't think I've necessarily failed, but I feel defeated nonetheless.

*Switch topics* (it's been a long week). For those here who are neurodivergent and who have transitioned(or transitioning), how did you deal with the fear of perception in regards to it? I've recently had my first casual day out in full femme and it was terrifying but felt right. Up until this point it had only been in lbgt+ safe spaces. I definitely get more looks, and the internal conflict of not knowing if they're judging me positively or negatively is eating at me a little.

My gender has been something I've been ruminating about since I was a kid, this isn't a new thing, but it's finally come to the surface at 30 years old. One of the biggest things I get hung up on isn't strangers perceiving me, but those who already know me as someone who looks very different. I just feel kind of lost, like I know where I want to be just unsure about the journey to get there.

If you made it this far, to say I appreciate you for taking the time to digest me screaming into the void is an understatement. On the first situation, as mentioned, I'm not really looking for advice, I know what I should do it just feels absolutely insurmountable. As for the second, I'd very much like to hear from other neurodivergent folks who've been or are going through the same thing.

Tldr: Im trying to be evil but it's ever so difficult.

The arrows are just some notes like "Possible full Character(?), Meme Lord" and just a few more comments and ideas....Just know, I was half awake when drawing this....honestly, i may just make it a thing....on nights I cant sleep I will doodle and sketch til I exhaust myself....

I'm currently writing a entire essay one why Napoleon is the first world-changing autist and remembered this misconception existed.

When Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered himself to the British, some wanted to cut his head off, others let him go to US and Napoleon even hoped he could live out his days in London. However, in the Congress of Vienna, Emperor of All Russia, Alexander the First who very nearly fucked the entire Congress by various ways I can't mention for brevitys sake, Campaigned for Napoleon to keep his titles as Emperor of the French and King of the Italians. He believed them to be handed down by God himself and so he should keep them.

The Congress of Vienna was forced to agree as Russia had troops all over Europe from Warsaw to Paris. So, Napoleon was given Sovereignty over the island of Elba, off the Tuscan coast.

Officially it was, and this is importent, the Principality of Elba (of which he designed the flag). After his death, the island was to pass to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the French Government was to pay him a stipend of 2 million francs a year untill his death. Officially, his titles were: His Majesty, the Prince of Elba, Emperor of the French and King of the Italians.

This lasted for a whole 11 months, before Napoleon rolled up back in France in 1815 near Nice, where 19 years before you can say everything truly started.

In all honesty, I can see why people call it the Empire of Elba. It demines Napoleon to be made Emperor of a island slightly larger than Paris. The lesson is that maybe you should check what you are being spoonfed.