#sensory processing disorder

At first the pain is so intense you're afraid to even look down. You're in pure survival mode, panicking at the overwhelming pain.

But the people in the room are looking at you funny and telling you to look at your hand. It's fine. There's just a tiny paper cut. Calm down.

But you're screaming in agony. You can feel the blood gushing out. You don't want to look. You're begging them to help you. But they're getting annoyed. They think you're faking it or at best just dramatically overreacting.

Eventually you do look down. You see the paper cut. You understand they were right. But. You still feel the pain. And now, you also feel a wave of shame and embarrassment. Why does it hurt so much? Why couldn't you handle a paper cut?

Did you really overreact?

The pain was real. You could feel it. But the stimulus itself (the paper cut) doesn't usually produce it. Most people don't feel like that when they get a paper cut. But you did.

You were reacting exactly how most people would react to the amount of pain you were in, was it your fault that it took less of a stimulus to put you in that much pain?

Anyway this post is about a lot of things. Rejection sensitive dysphoria, chronic pain, sensory processing issues, all sorts of things can make very small things feel excruciatingly big.

So the next time you think someone is "overreacting" I invite you to try to understand it from their perspective. Their reaction may actually be more measured than it appears.

And I feel like I have to clearly specify here, that I'm not saying you should agree with their perspective. In my metaphor here, instead of getting annoyed and telling them "it's just a paper cut" try engaging with compassion.

"I see you're in a lot of pain, and I want to help you. But all I see is a tiny paper cut. Please help me understand what you need right now."

the ones who can mask easily, the ones who can get social cues, the ones who have managed to go most of their life not even knowing they were ND because they didn't present as the stereotypical ND person.

the ones who can pay attention in class, understand social etiquette, who understand societial expectations

the ones who don't feel neurodivergent enough bc they don't struggle in the same ways/areas a lot of NDs do, or they can't relate to other NDs' experiences because they always understood these things easily

the ones with high empathy, the ones who DO get the joke, the ones who are constantly told that they can't possibly be neurodivergent because they don't act like what you'd expect a neurodivergent person to act like.

you are neurodivergent enough. you are valid, and so are your experiences. not struggling as much as others do in some places doesn't mean you dont struggle at all. your condition and diagnosis is valid. your symptoms are valid. YOU ARE VALID. not checking all the supposed boxes doesn't mean you aren't neurodivergent. you are enough. you are valid. you are loved. you are valued. you matter. you belong in neurodivergent spaces, you deserve to use whatever resources are available to you, you are allowed to take up space in these communities. and i am so, so proud of you.

feel free to, and actually, i encourage you to reblog this with your experiences. we belong in this community as much as anyone else. please also tag this w/ any neurodivergent conditions i may have forgotten 💙

Normalize dressing alternative.

Normalize dressing for comfort.

Normalize dressing formal in informal settings.

Normalize not liking formal clothes.

Normalize wearing tails, ears, and other things considered "cringe."

Normalize needing to dress a specific way because of sensory processing issues.

Normalize not having one set fashion sense and changing things up.

Normalize wearing clothes associated with the opposite binary gender, including for both cis people and trans people.

Normalize wearing revealing outfits just because you like them.

Normalize dressing "dramatic" or "over the top."

Normalize cosplay.

Normalize historical fashion.

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