Troper Updates II, Part II

So, when I was little, I went to a place for autistic children, since I was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. It was obvious at the time: I was unable to talk, I didn't look at people, I was "in my own little world" (the word "autistic" contains the Greek prefix "auto", meaning "self").

I went to an "institute" to get Applied Behavioral Analysis, a controversial therapy based around trying to change behavior without addressing the underlying cause of the behavior. But at the time, it was all they knew - and ironically a big improvement over what existed before that (institutionalization).

I was mainstreamed into kindergarten, but I ended up going back to the institute a number of times in my childhood, as guess what: I was still autistic! And they had no idea at all what to do to deal with the behaviors I had. Yes, I was stimming. Oh no. I was laughing inappropriately (which was caused by stress). I made many social mistakes. But they didn't understand how to deal with "Aspies", only the more severely afflicted autistics, so they did nothing that helped during that time at all. Just lots of useless tests and things and punishing autism-related behaviors.

Anyway, a few months ago, I asked the institute to send me the videos they had of me. They didn't send me what I was hoping for - I wanted to see examples of ABA being done and things like that. But they sent me two videos: a 22-minute video I haven't watched yet (a follow-up when I was 13 or 14), and a nearly 8-minute compilation of my past, starting with when I was first admitted due to my obvious severe (at the time) autism.

Here is that 8-minute compilation video for anyone who is interested.

edited 17th Feb '18 9:26:31 PM by BonsaiForest

Finished re-reading Lords And Ladies, and now my Discworld reading marathon continues! I am actually reading a book I have not read before (so no spoilers) called Maskerade, same series, and apparently the same protagonist. (The witches are great!) I bet it will be a good read.

Got a three day weekend. It will give me plenty of time to write my Discworld Fan Fic as well.

I'm gonna sleep in, take it easy and maybe cook a few things in my crock pot.

Simple plans. Good plans. <3

edited 16th Feb '18 5:03:02 PM by Misuki

So my new Wake Up and Suck video is rendering. With a new intro (I hope I can game Youtube's content recognition using music from Overwatch in a custom intro for an Overwatch gameplay) and good old news tickers.

Read a little bit. My toothaches were getting worse so I had to get some Orajel from the dollar store. Stuff works wonders. I can now function so I'm feeling pretty darn good about that. Chewing food without pain is amazing.

I've been wanting to write a scene in my Discworld fanfiction for quite some time now. Maybe I can finally buckle down and write it tonight.

My fanfic writing has been going relatively smoothly!

I'm also taking a bit of a personal holiday Thursday. I got some running around in the morning but then I get to relax in the afternoon.

Busy week this week.

Here's to hoping it all goes well.

I have a stye on both eyes.

Look what's happening to me without the light of the Sun. x_x

In other news, I'm starting to feel better after Sunday's fiasco after watching Kiki's Delivery Service.

edited 19th Feb '18 11:30:29 PM by Demetrios

My boyfriend's mom is doing better. She's not out of the woods yet, she's still on a ventilator...but she's improving. Honestly, this is not the outcome I expected.

I am so happy and so relieved.

And I got another moment of happiness and relief last night. It was just barfing down snow. The roads were slick, cars were getting stuck, and I was worried about how the boyfriend—in his crappy rear wheel drive Pontiac—was going to get home. I pulled up to the house, expecting to text him about the roads and offer to drop off some ice melt and kitty litter for traction, or just straight-up trade cars...and then I saw his car in the driveway! the boss had let him go home early!

True, it's a mundane moment...but his car getting ass-packed by an SUV wouldn't have been!

Obligatory "hello I'm new here" post that gets me a friendly redirect to the introduction thread

Has anyone heard of Cheetos Fantastix? I only ever seem to find them at vending machines, but never in an actual store. It's just so weird and enigmatic and crap.

Belated happy birthday, Cali!

So I got a hearing aid today. It's working out great, I can hear my cats purring again, well in one ear I can.

My household internet stopped working yesterday. Comcrap couldn't help us over the phone. Someone is supposed to come today. We'll see...

I spent yesterday watching a movie I had on my computer but never got around to seeing, and using my phone a lot. (Data rolls over in a few days, so no worries there.)

When I had Comcast internet, the modem would freak out so badly the only fix was calling in and getting them to do a refresh on their end about once a week.

"Hi, our internet stopped working again. We already rebooted and power cycled the modem, just push a refresh already."

Do you live in an area where you have actual competition?

Spare a thought for the many of us who don't. 😢

But in all seriousness, glad you got out of that hellhole.

I think my current address actually has slightly more choice than "cable or satellite".

My boyfriend's mom is still in the hospital, and her condition has gone From Bad to Worse again. She's in open heart surgery. Like, right now. My boyfriend is terrified, which is a reasonable reaction when one's mom is clinging to life.

We have talked about getting married before, in the "Yeah, that'll happen eventually, we got time" kind of way. Today, my boyfriend told me that if his mom makes it through this, he'd like to get married ASAP so she can be there.

So...tomorrow starts the wedding planning. There was no proposal. We have no wedding date, but we know we'll be in a big hurry. Our budget is fuck all. Challenge Accepted! This is not how we thought it would go, but it looks like we're going to be Happily Married sooner rather than later...provided the guest of honor can make it.

I really hope she can.

That's horrible. That really sucks. Having been the one who saw my dad after he became braindead, I can only imagine.

I'm starting to think my seventh novel is the most emotional piece I've ever written. I don't think I've written this many crying scenes before. ^_^;; Although in this part I just finished, they're tears of joy. :)

I used to post here fairly frequently, but I doubt anyone remembers me. That's beside the point.

I'm dying.

What I thought to be a case of sciatica turned out to be stage 4 lung cancer that has spread into my liver, hips, shoulders, and spine.

I never touched a cigarette in my life, I don't work with dangerous chemicals. I don't hang out with smokers. I'm barely 35. I had zero risk factors.

I was minding my own business, living my life peacefully.

And now I'm dying.

I'm at a religious non-profit hospital getting diagnoses biopsies and pain treatment and they've been amazing. I qualify for their charity program so I'm covered there.

But I may not be able to work anymore. My bosses have been very kind, telling me to focus on recovering, but I have other bills besides hospital bills to worry about, and I worked hourly. I need money.

Of course, in a very short time that may not be a problem.

I plan to fight, of course. I've got family and friends and people who care about me. I don't want to leave them behind. I'm just scared of the future.

I'm posting this in part because if someone finds one of the numerous unfinished projects I have online under this name or "Abecedarian", they'll probably see what happened to me. My old conversations pop up all the time when I Google my username so it should be easy to find.

And I'm leaving this behind for posterity. I didn't do very much, but I existed.

edited 22nd Feb '18 3:42:34 AM by Civanfan

I wish you comfort and peace. I can't imagine what you're going through, but I hope, more than anything, that you spend your last bit of time here as free from suffering as possible.

It's sad to see you go. May I ask you to write up a troper page and link to your works there? Leave something behind. Be remembered. It's what I'd do.

Also, damn, whatever I'd write here now would be Mood Whiplash.

I'm extremely sorry for your situation. Some of my family members lost the battle to cancer, so I can definitely relate.

I haven't posted in the forums nor edited the wiki until now because my period of vacation in the US ended and I'm back to Venezuela. Frequent blackouts, insecurity and inflation are still a thing around here, and so is the limited and very slow Internet connection, so I'm afraid I won't be able to login as often as I'd like to.

edited 25th Feb '18 9:25:06 PM by MyFinalEdits

NOOOOOOOOOO!

I told you, seeking asylum in Spain sounded like a good idea.

I've had some moments of awesome, but I would hate to feel like I'm bragging when people are going through hard times.

But I should say it anyway.

I'm happy I finally seem to have conquered my writers block and wrote over 1400 words yesterday, and 10k words total in this WIP of mine.

I want to write more because I can see, and almost feel the scenes so clearly.

I'm wishing everyone the best of luck. I'm gonna try and make a go of things again.

I'm afraid it's not that simple. Migration processes in the EU are long and stressful. My brother has to continuously enter and exit to/from Spain in periods of 3 months for the total course of one year so his wife (who was admitted alreadty) can then request his welcome. Then maybe, just maaaayyybe, they would be able to make me start the process as well. For me it's easier to move to Chile (the place my father and mother have ahead), but we're slightly short of the necessary resouces to do that.

Trust me, I didn't return to Venezuela because I wanted to (I didn't. At all). While my sister does live in the US, the process of requesting residence there for me is much harder because I only have a tourist visa (which means my staying cap is six months), and it's going to expire in April 2020. And since the relations between Venezuela and the US are Deader than Dead (thanks a lot, Chavoid and Masturbo), I've taken the resolve that I won't succeed at renewing it, let alone getting a resident one, if I went to the US Embassy in the required moment.

Sorry wrong thread

edited 28th Feb '18 4:01:43 AM by Coleman

I had lunch with my dad today. It actually went better than I thought it would. He was in a pretty good mood, and at least he seems convinced that I'll be moving to Florida sometime this year, since he asked me some follow-up questions about the advice I asked my godfather for about it.

I've started watching the anime series Simoun. So far I like what I see. :)

edited 28th Feb '18 10:23:32 PM by Demetrios