AKI_RAIN

that is your real name. it’s your real name because it’s yours. you chose it. it’s your identity. do not let anyone tell you otherwise. it’s yours.

Social security (USA)/ National Insurance number (UK)

Driver’s license

Passport

Birth certificate

Employers HR/appropriate people

Bank account

Credit card companies

Car insurance

Health insurance

Any other forms of insurance

Utilities

Cell phone account

Voter registration

School/college/university

Any professional organisations (nursing, lawyers, doctors etc)

Doctors office and any other medical places

TV and internet

PayPal etc

A spider in my bedroom.

of course!! I will try my best!!!

tips for preventing meltdowns:

stim!!!! stim whenever you can and want to. bring a small stim toy to class (if you’re allowed). go to the bathroom to do bigger stims if you can’t do them in public. just do whatever you can to let them out!

if you’re able to bring a comfort item to school, do it. or bring your favorite hoodie/jacket, or something else you really like. anything can be helpful. sometimes for me, even things that aren’t usually a comfort item can turn into one if I’m in an unfamiliar place, so if you don’t have one you can bring, even just getting a nice new water bottle or a cool pen or something that you can have in class all the time is helpful for me personally. literally just holding it and like subtly stimming with it helps, but idk maybe that’s just me lmao

if you’re at home and notice you’re starting to get overwhelmed with something school related, drop it immediately and take a walk outside. sometimes school gets really overwhelming because you zoom in on a problem and it feels like the only thing that matters in your life at the moment, so getting outside can give you better perspective and let you “zoom out” from the problems kinda.

try to recognize what happens for you before a meltdown. most people will have some sort of sign(s) before it happens, so learning to recognize the signs can help you anticipate it and maybe stop it before it happens, or at least brace yourself for it if you’re not able to remove yourself from the situation. for example, you might do certain stims, become very irritable, lose focus, start having worse sensory symptoms, or have more communication issues. or you may have different signs, everyone is different. keeping a journal might help you identify any patterns.

tips for during/after a meltdown:

let it happen. just let it pass. sometimes trying to hold it in or cutting it short only causes me to have another meltdown later that day/week.

practice breathing techniques for panic attacks. use one of those visual guides (usually a gif) to help you (only if that’s soothing, for some the visual input can be more overwhelming).

reduce other sensory input if you can. cover your eyes, plug your ears, whatever you need to do.

do whatever feels good. cry if you need to cry, don’t talk if it’s hard, curl up in a ball if you wanna. stim. get comfort items if you can.

be careful with yourself afterwards. you’ll be tired. it’s okay to take time to recover. drink as much water as you can because crying will cause a headache soon after.

does anyone else have trouble picturing things in your head when you read books and can only imagine it using places from real life?

like for example, I’m reading right now and picturing my apartment as the house. which makes no sense with the story. but that was my instinct. the last book I read, I pictured the house as my friend’s old house, but I pictured the street it was on as my grandma’s street.

Even in my own writing, I picture the layouts of familiar places when I describe homes or if I’m vague about the setting.