#aneurotypical

Ok so aneurotypical people love stuffed animals right? I don't understand why so many companies that make stuffed animals insist on hurting us with cheap felt bits and scratchy bits of glitter??

And then on the other hand, there are a lot of stuffed animals that just sorta feel stiff and can't be hugged?? Like they look cute, but if you try to move them too much they break and... ugh.

So some online autism communities and I have been working on sorta improving stuffed animals with these little Borbs (my hyperfixation rn), that are super soft and squishy and don't literally hurt you when you sleep with one.

And even Kickstarter is supporting us by saying its a "project we love," which I think is pretty amazing! Please check it out if you want to help support us in making the stuffed animal world a little more accepting of AuDHD people!

I’ve been doing a bit of research on Autism Speaks.

Around tumblr I’ve read things that describe Autism Speaks as a horrible organization that shouldn’t be allowed to exist, and I’ve read posts about how Autism Speaks is something people love.

So.

Do any of you guys remember how in X-Men: The Last Stand a “cure” is announced, and how Rogue just burst into the room, wanting to know if it was true? And how Ororo’s all “Hun, we don’t need a cure”.

Well, I’ve made basic categorizations on opinions for Autism Speaks that compare to the people in X-Men:TLS.

There are the better functioning Autists (Ororo), who, while seeing the cons of autism (being a mutant), feel perfectly fine as they are, they don’t see the need for a cure, and want everyone to feel the same about their autism.

Then there are the lower function autists (Rogue), who feel that their lives have been made a living hell because of autism (Mutations), who would never wish their autism (a mutation) on anyone. Even though some may understand that not everyone wants a cure, they still want one for themselves. And feel a cure must be made so they can fit in, or have a better handle on themselves and their lives.

There are also the Xaviers, there aren’t as many Xaviers, but they are fairly evenly spread. These are the people who understand the want for a cure, and understand the dislike of a cure. Xaviers wouldn’t want a cure for themselves, and are comfortable with being who they are, but they can see why others want a cure so desperately.

Xaviers also feel that the world (Neurotypicals) should be given a better understanding of mutants (Aneurotypicals).

There are also the Magnetos.

The ones who hate all mention of a cure, who believe they don’t need to be fixed, or need any kind of therapy. Unlike Ororos who might actually want accesss to therapy.

And now for the Neurotypicals’ categories.

There are three.

The Accepting; the Accepting believe that Aneurotypicals should be accepted, even if they themselves aren’t Aneurotypical.

The Extremists; the Extremists believe that Aneurotypicals shouldn’t be accepted, and in some cases, eliminated. These are people who need to be shown the pros of being Aneurotypical, instead of being shown just the cons.

The Misguided; the Misguided often have good intentions, even if their actual work isn’t all that good. This is Autism Speaks. They believe that we want a cure, or we need one. They simply want to help, even if they aren’t doing it all that well.

They put WAYYY too much focus on having backers trust these projects…

I swear, Kickstarter used to be viewed as this awesome site for raising funds for your games or projects, right? But over time it’s been losing that reputation.

Why?

Too many people get scammed! And when someone backs a project that ends up in the toilet for one reason or another, why would they ever come back to the site?

So over time more and more people just leave, and the ones who don’t are told about how scary it is. This is what it looks like now;

So what do you do if you want to crowdfund??

It's a rigged system. Kickstarter was meant for small time artists, as a way to get the funding to make their dreams a reality. But if nobody trusts Kickstarter itself, and a lot of donors are leaving the site, who does that leave?

You guessed it.. big companies with BIG IPs that can afford to operate with the 10% tax Kickstarter takes, and has a loyal following that trusts them regardless of Kickstarter's reputation.

Want to be a part of something crazy?

My girlfriend and I are a bit aneurotypical. And we make little sensory-friendly stuffed animals. But we had some trouble getting people to use Kickstarter.

Which means we can’t compete with the trust of big brands as our lil unemployed audhd selves.

So take your Mango Borb FIRST! I trust you.

Instead of you risking your money on a project that might not deliver, we’re just GIVING you mango borbs as soon as you back us! I sincerely hope that this can be a way to make the playing field a little better. Sending parts of the project before it even finishes. Its a risk, but now that risk is on the creator.

Can we appropriate wearing cute tote bags in public tho? Like I'm all for purses and backpacks, but tote bags are so easy to use and so slay.

I was talking to a girl I was on a date with about sea squirts, and how weird they are, and she decided to kiss me...

...anyways we make stuffed animals together now.

And it’s more than just the sleep: it’s the rage and utter helplessness created by my own responses to things. It makes me feel physically ill sometimes, when my roommate’s fucking dog starts barking, and there’s nothing I can do about it, and I have to fight the urge to physically harm myself because at least that is something I can control. How do you tell people that? How do you tell them and make them understand just how bad it can get? Especially if they can’t see it as more than flinches and winces I’ve partially trained myself out of even though it fucking hurts. It is physically painful, like nails in my ears, and when I’m stressed or anxious or just tired it’s no longer localized: it’s whole-body, fight-or-flight, a split-second panic attack the best and only way I can describe it.

The things I’m sensitive to are those I can never get away from: slamming doors, barking dogs, banging pots and pans; subwoofer bass and loud music/television; laughter and children screaming; crumbling snack bags; squealing brakes and loud car engines and too many other things to detail. To live in this world is to be constantly assaulted by how loud it is, and the worst part is people are so oblivious to it, or don’t care enough to address some of their own behavior.

I don’t slam the doors; I don’t bang pots and pans if I can help it. I keep my music and my phone ringer low. I take earplugs to movies or make them on the spot. My whole life is built around avoiding overwhelming stimuli; I walk a figurative minefield every day waiting for something to hurt, expecting it to so maybe, maybe, it’ll be a little easier to deal with if it doesn’t catch me by surprise. Is it really too much to ask that people don’t blast their fucking televisions or let their dogs bark continuously through the night? I’d like them to experience just one fucking second of what’s it like to feel your whole body lock up, to feel as if your insides are tearing apart, to feel sick with anxiety because oh god, what if it doesn’t stop? what if it keeps going? how long can I go before I start screaming, banging my head against the wall? And how dare they act as if they are put upon when I ask them to politely turn it down, to please, for one goddamn night, don’t turn the tv up so loud you can’t even hear me knocking on the door.