Depressed, anxious, and tired

29. Empathy

When I was a kid seeing someone I cared about upset usually made me upset enough I would have to try to hold back tears. Now as an adult I still get upset for those I care for (and angry at whoever upset them) but it less intense (whether that's from being better at dealing with my emotions or from being depressed so long I'm not sure).

30. Accommodations

I don't remember if any of the accommodations I got in school were for autism (think it was mostly for the adhd). I've heard that some schools are getting better with this and that's awesome. Society in general needs to learn to be more accommodating to everyone with disabilities really.

31. Sensory euphoria

The only one I can think of is being wrapped in a warm blanket when it's cold (honestly any kind of warmth when it's cold). Other than that I'm not sure that this is something I really feel (being depressed for over half your life will do that to a person).

Adding a read more for some upsetting topics.

Putting a read more due to potentially triggering talk about some really dark thoughts.

17. Repetition

I have a routine I do every day when I wake up and before I go to sleep. I also will repeat what I just said if I'm interrupted or get distracted when talking.

18. Self regulating

Music has always been a huge way of me calming myself down. I also pace and stim (although I also do this when bored too).

19. Comfort items

I guess I would say my fidget cube and kind of my stuffed animals (honestly due to losing a lot of stuff from moving several times I have a hard time getting attached to anything).

20. Executive disfunction

12. Differently wired

It helped me so much when I learned that autistic people's brains are different and that my unusual way of thinking in perfectly normal for someone like me.

13. Vivid imaginations

I've always been able to come up with wild stories in my head and have used that as a coping mechanism for as long as I can remember.

14. Hyperfixations

I have many that come and go (sometimes for years) and I have some that have been constant since I was a kid. The main one being the Legend of Zelda which has been a huge part of my life. A Link to the Past was possibly the first video game I played, that or Mario All Stars (I love Mario too but no where near as much).

15. Pebbling

I do like giving gifts that have to do with what a person likes. I don't get to do it very often though.

16. Autistic pride

10. Self advocacy

While I still need my mom to go to the doctor with me (I'm hard of hearing so it helps having someone with me, also I can't drive) but as I've gotten older she's encouraged me to speak for myself and I've gotten better at it even if I can't always figure out how to say what I want to say (she'll help me go over it before the appointment if I need to.)

11. Unlearning ableism

8. Non speaking

When really overwhelmed I sometimes struggle to get words out but I've never lost the ability to speak completely. I am often told I speak way to quietly though.

9. Community

I believe that finding the right group can really help a person. Once I found the autism and adhd community I started to realize that so many things I struggle with are not completely my fault and are normal for people like me. Despite being diginosed with both for so long I was never told much about it (not anyone's fault it's just that not a whole lot was really known about it when I was growing up.) Hearing other people experiences made me feel so much less broken (I'll admit that I've cried several times learning that things I've hated myself for for years were never my fault.)

5. Verbose

I sometimes use more words than necessary because I struggle to figure out how to say what I want to say.

6. Individual

Well yeah, everyone's different don't really have anything else to say

7. Neuroscope

4. Music (put under a read more due to potentially triggering things) Tw depression and dark thoughts

1. Autism+

In addition to autism I'm also diagnosed with adhd, ocd, anxiety, and depression.

2. Infinite

I've always liked the infinity symbol and I feel like it's not an insult like the puzzle piece is (if you support autism speaks I don't like you.)

3. AUDHD