swish swish witch

Always here for a chat if anyone is feeling lonely.

Make sure they can see your face when you are speaking. If you speak at them from across the room or while their back is turned, they may not “hear” you at all.

Do not raise your voice in order to be understood. Speak clearly and use a patient tone.

Do not rush them for an answer.  Any sense of urgency will only delay their response.

Wait for their facial expression to change to indicate that they have processed what you’ve said.

Repeating yourself immediately is about as effective as pushing the button for the elevator or the crosswalk over and over again.

Do not get frustrated if they repeat back to you exactly what you just said. Some people process information this way.

If they appear to be having a particularly stressful day, avoid figurative language, slang or idioms. Speak plainly and succinctly. Say exactly what you mean.

vs

my friends having to listen to me

1) I’m aware that a person is talking to me.

2) I don’t have to look at the person’s face while they talk.

3) They speak clearly, at relatively constant speed.

I can process what they are saying about as well as any NT.

But as soon as I have to watch something specific as they talk, i.e. watching a video/movie/tv, I lose the whole thing. I don’t know what I’m looking at and I don’t know what I’m hearing. I need the closed captions. And with closed captions I can see the video, and understand what I’m seeing, and I know what is being said.

Like… I don’t seem to be able to use two senses at once and process what is happening.

I think that a lot of NTs and people who don’t experience this kind of difficulty with processing, don’t realise that specific aspect of “devided attention”.

And as I write this, I just think of the sentence “I’m giving you my undivided attention”. And how that sentence is about putting all your senses in focus on the person speaking, and how it has a fundamental misunderstanding on how we, as neurodivergent people, can pay attention to things.

If I give you my “undivided attengion”, it would mean focusing on the one sense I need when interacting with you. But then to NTs, they will claim that I am, in fact, distracted.

guys, i made a video game about autism! 

it’s an educational game where you play as an autistic child who is getting ready for school in the morning. the game is meant to be a primer for people who don’t know a lot about autism to learn more–some common autistic knowledge, some basic facts, and five studies (cited) used to give specific statistics 

even if you know about autism, the game might include something that surprises you! 

overall, i wanted it to be a lighthearted, easy to play game that showed common autistic experiences while also showing some things we struggle with (such as bullying, bad sensory input, and death risks). the game also includes things like service dogs, comfort objects, stimming, and more! there are 24 things you can interact with in the house in total 

if anyone could give me advice on how to make the game accessible to low-vision/blind people or those with other disabilities, please let me know! if a transcript would help, i would be happy to provide that 

play time: 5-10 minutes 

no video game skills necessary (no timed events or enemies, instructions included) 

operating system: windows (won’t run on mac - sorry!) 

unzip file. the ‘application’ is the actual game, should be an .exe file 

1. A necessity for deaf people

2. REALLY helpful for those who are partially deaf, have APD (like me and my sister) or any other hearing problem

3. really helpful for those who can’t focus well, especially for those with ADD/ADHD (like me)

4. Is incredibly helpful for people learning a second language, or for bilingual people who can read better than they can hear 

5. Even if you aren’t into learning the language, there are countless amazing foreign movies and songs you really can’t enjoy without subtitles!

6. Can help people (like my sister) who have reading comprehension 

7. Can help when you’re having a party and you don’t want to pause every time someone wants to make a comment/joke

8. Can help when the characters in the show have a heavy accent (especially in period shows) 

9. Let’s be honest subtitles can really add to the humor of the show! (”sobs mathematically”, “screeches loudly”, “angrily fixes bowtie”)

10. Can let people watch content without headphones, or in areas of loud noises. 

11. Alternatively, If someone has sensitive hearing or is triggered by loud noises, they can turn the volume down low and still be able to enjoy the content

12. The last bit is VERY true for movies where they switch between soft speaking and LOUD BOOMING NOISES (I’m looking at you hunger games)

13. Very good for helping young kids recognize and associate words and learn to read faster!

14. Really good when you’re eating chips/crunchy candy and can’t hear the movie

15. IS A NECESSITY FOR DEAF PEOPLE!!!