Meekakye

I started having lower back pain when I lay down, so I assumed that my fat ass was the problem.

My little brother is neurodivergent. Although not formally diagnosed, that boy breathes autism. (He’s been seeing a professional, but my mother is worried about getting a diagnosis on paper because he currently wants to become a pilot. Sometimes, having ADHD/Autism can make it hard to become a pilot).

He loves WW2 weaponry, like tanks and planes. The 11 year old child knew what type of gun and ammunition I was using in a ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GAME he was watching me play.

He likes to go on super long tangents about his interests sometimes. I began to realize that I was avoiding them because they didn’t align with my own interests.

On one hand, I didn’t want to do the “that’s so cool, sweetie!!” Thing. On the other, I didn’t want to shut down the little goblin because I, personally, HATE being shut down.

I’ve stated to listen to him. Sure, I’m not super interested in the weapons and stuff, but I am interested in the history side of things. Although they don’t overlap perfectly, it’s nice to have some form of middle ground where the he can freely express his interests.

I realized that I can’t keep pushing him aside. The other day, I was explaining that I don’t like when he doesn’t answer me when I say something, as I don’t know if he heard me.

“Dad does that all the time, and it annoys me too!”

I told him that he’s always done that. I told my brother that he had to be clear about it. Much like how my brother didn’t understand my dad when he stayed silent, my dad won’t understand what’s wrong if you don’t tell him why it’s hard for you to understand. I had to do that. I had to make it clear that I’ve no way of knowing if someone heard me, unless they make it clear. Even a simple “ok” works wonders.

This long-ass tangent is just to say that we should allow people to communicate and express themselves. We must explain our thought processes sometimes. We must be clear. Neurodivergent or not, we must remember that everyone is unique and no one is a mind reader.

For children with special interests, we can’t leave them starved for a listener.

For those around us who we don’t understand, or don’t understand us, we must learn to talk about these issues. Explain your thoughts. Tell them why it bothers you.

Give those around you your ears. Let them feel heard. Let them feel like they have somewhere/someone safe. Let them KNOW that there is someone who, to an extent, will work to understand them.

The diagnosis doesn’t matter. Sometimes, it’s nice to have someone who will happily listen to you chat about your hyperfixations.

It’s nice to feel heard.

It’s nice to be heard.

I describe sounds as shapes. I’ll be telling my mom something like:

“Their voice is wiggly.”

And she is unable to understand WHAT THE FUCK I mean.

I cannot find another way to describe it easily.

(For a “wiggly” voice, I will try to explain my thoughts like this: The voice is varied greatly in pitch and very expressive. It “moves” up and down a lot.)