Yah That's the Autism

like, Benisnatch Cumberque played the same character he’s always plays as an asshole genius and we were all supposed to be okay with it, but it’s basically character slander

at different parts of the movie Turing is described as ‘arrogant, “inhuman,” “narcissistic,” and even “a monster,” in the film he goes against those around him and is shown to periodically ignore and belittle his colleagues

And. I. Am. So. Angry.

Alan Turing was described by his friends and people that knew him as “intensely shy and kindly”, he was said to “inspire loyalty and affection among those who appreciated his unusual gifts” and was “unfailingly generous with his time and expertise, especially toward younger recruits”

He was kind, he was kind, HE WAS KIND, he was kind

he was kind and geeky and awkward and gay, I don’t care if the whole of society doesn’t find that compelling, I don’t care if we don’t value kindness as an attribute in men, he deserved to be loved and respected as he was, not as we wish he was

I am so sorry Alan Turing, I am so sorry your story was not told with care and thoughtfulness, I am so sorry you didn’t get to be shown to be deeply in love with the men you loved, I am sorry your great and terrible tragedy was never unfolded as a kind and brilliant man abused by a horrible homophobic system

Plus, he was quoted as saying quips like “Beyond the way they speak, there is only one (no two!) features of American life which I find really tiresome. The impossibility of getting a bath in the ordinary sense and their ideas on room temperature.” — Alan Turing (1936)

He was a huge athlete and biked everywhere and sometimes ran the five miles to work every morning, and did things like calculate when his bike chain would break so he could keep riding the thing despite it being ancient

He was still “odd” according to his coworkers as he sometimes wore a gasmask to work to avoid spring allergies and used to chain his coffee mug up to avoid theft at the office, but the same colleagues described him as very friendly, open, and thoughtful as well if not shy.

and finally, of course, there was Porgy

But, as to whether autism causes that asexuality...is a tricky question. There's a big difference in actual and observed rates in self-reported data, and this is especially true for something as divisive as sexuality.

I guess what i'm saying is that percentages can't tell you the whole story and mechanisms are a pain to establish.

So back in April I was going to do a review of sensory friendly skincare, but it didn't happen for, ya know...reasons.

So I would like to know if you guys are still interested, and, if so, if you would like me to organize reviews by:

Individual Product

Brand

Category

So these categories are mainly about how much info you want to process at once and how frequently you want to see reviews.

i.e.

Individual Product = shorter posts, more frequently

Brand = medium length posts, less frequently, less comprehensive

So this week I’m attending a virtual “camp” (professional development) for new SPED teachers, and this morning the camp started off with a fantastic presenter. He is LeDerick Horne, a poet, writer, and advocate for students with disabilities, who also has a learning disability himself. One thing he said that really stuck with me was that disabled and neurodivergent teachers need to start “coming out of the closet;” he explicitly encouraged us all to be authentically and openly ourselves, not just for our sakes, but for our students. So they get to grow up seeing what a successful autistic person looks like, or a successful person with a chronic illness. And so that when major decisions are being made for them in districts and governments, they get someone sitting at the table who knows just how to represent them.

So today as our sessions continued, I brought up my own perspective as an autistic/ADHD teacher. I mentioned how I have to put a lot of effort into masking and being approachable so my students don’t miss out on opportunities in school, and how normalizing neurodivergency in young people through inclusion is going to positively effect all peers. And the best part?! I wasn’t even the only neurodivergent teacher! There was someone there with epilepsy, and another with the exact same diagnoses as me!

My afternoon session was a little more awkward when I mentioned it though. The coach didn’t know what to say about it and quickly wanted to move on. But I still think it’s just REALLY FREAKING NEAT how many disabled and neurodivergent people are finally able to become major stakeholders in special education, beyond being students. We’re like…double stakeholders, and we deserve to be listened to and respected for all the experience and education we’ve undergone.

Cuz I know masking and code switching are HEAVILY intertwined for me. MEANING if I stop masking I stop code switching, if I stop code switching Ill probably stop masking.

Well, as far as I know, there isn't a specific term for neurotypicals that's akin to hyperfixation, mainly because NTs don't "hyperfixate" like neurodivergent people do. If a NT person wants to talk about something they're really into, I would personally say use terms like "interest" (but not "special interest" because that's autism specific) or maybe just "fixation" without the word "hyper" in front of it. That's just my take on it, though.

As far as alternatives for functioning labels go, that's something I've been kind of wondering myself. I've seen people use terms like dependent and independent to describe autistic people, but I don't think that's much better in most cases, either.

If I had to describe myself in relation to how my autism affects me, I'd say that I'm "decently adjusted." But that's an autistic person saying that. I'm not sure how I'd feel if an allistic person referred to me as "adjusted."

In general I think alluding to how an autistic person functions in any way if you're allistic is kind of unnecessary in many cases. But if you wanted to tell someone something like "my friend has severe autism" without sounding like a complete ignorant jerk, you could say, "my friend is autistic and it really affects him/how he does things."

Over all, there's nothing that the entire autistic community agrees on. It's very much still something we need to discuss. It's also worth mentioning that every autistic person is different, so not all of us will want certain labels used.

Before I was diagnosed, people often used words like "concentrated," "focused," and "passionate" to describe the way I behaved with respect to my special interests. When describing me to others, my friends and family said things like "She's super smart and talented, but she really struggles with social stuff," or "She has a big heart for animals, but she gets overwhelmed around people." People also used a lot of words like "direct," "dense," and "straightforward" to describe me.

I think that taking this kind of literal approach to our autistic traits is helpful because you can describe the observable ways that they impact how people interact with us and set reasonable expectations.

There's been a boom in skincare content and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has developed a special interest in skincare.

I'm fucking ecstatic that so many people are talking about fragrance free skincare, but I don't see anyone talking about what products actually smell like. It seems like influencers either rave about how good fragranced skincare smells or think that you shouldn't care about how products smell at all.

And that just doesn't jive with my sensory issues, ya know?

I want to do something different for autism acceptance month, and removing fragrance from my life has gone a long way to improve my day-to-day functioning, so maybe it could help you guys too??

Sooo... I was going to post the sensory friendly skincare review during autism acceptance month.

And then I realized that putting all the products that I've tried into one post would make it unreadable.

And also that I haven't tried that many products.

And then during the last half of April my life became supremely shitty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd like your feedback on what format and timeframe would be most helpful for you guys.

Right now I'm thinking I'll post by skincare category, and post every couple months when I think i've tried enough products from that category. But I could also wait until next April?

Alternatively, I could post about each product individually. This would mean that you guys get shorter, more frequent posts, which might be more accessible than long posts (like this one.)

I'll be able to post about sunscreens pretty soon, and then body care, and after that maybe cleansers? I can definitely do every category at some point but it will take a while to accumulate enough content (especially for serums & toners/essences.)

But idk i'm one human with one face and one bank account, so i can't actually try that many products at a time.

I also have a bunch of tips and tricks for managing sensory issues and executive dysfunction, and I'm not sure if it would be better to add them in by category or as a separate post.