Auties, Aspies, and other CloudCuckooLanders!

I already mentioned Azula on here. Most of my other autistic headcanons are essentially projecting in a "I relate to this character, therefore she is autistic" sort of way. I will, however, argue a few more things about Azula.

• Shows literal-minded tendencies.

• Misinterprets social cues: when Chan doesn't react to her flirting, she thinks he didn't understand the joke she used and tries to explain it.

• Has low levels of empathy, but doesn't lack it entirely; however, she seems unsure of what to do when she DOES experience empathy.

• Struggles with fine motor skills, as seen when she tries to do her own hair.

• Perfectionist tendencies◊ as are often seen in people with Asperger's.

• And her breakdown at the end of the series is also reminiscent of a meltdown.

My aunts just told me today that I've been officially diagnosed with Asperger's since childhood, which explains my perfectionism, literal-mindedness, social awkwardness, and obsession for puns. I have several friends here who are also in the spectrum, and I'm glad that I'm one of them now.

Welcome! You should blend in (which is to say not at all) perfectly.

I struggle with the perfectionism thing a LOT. It's worse when you're participating in religion.

Apologies for the double post, but I feel like one of my struggles with autism is being socially dependent on somebody I absolutely ADORE as a friend. It just feels like you've found that perfect friend and you wanna be with em all the time. It's gotten to the point where whenever I see then, I'll make any excuse I can get to talk to them and that's not really considered socially acceptable. I'll go certain places for a chance at seeing them and that really is not healthy either. My problem is when I find somebody I do like, I usually end up liking them way too much.

Strange, I've never had this feeling. When did you first start feeling this way?

Since I was a kid. I really adored my aunt and looked up to here and I wanted to constantly talk with her and be with her. When I had my kidsafemail account, I spammed her with emails about what I liked and stuff. Definitely not the best idea for me to do that.

I returneth.

Also, oh man, I can relate to getting overly attached to people, Mroh.

I've never been overly attached to anybody (with exception). I asked the question because I just don't have these kinda of relationships with people (or they never go that far). I still have a hard time understanding how people can be around each other for that long.

I pretty much project Toriel on my aunt because she's very much like her, complete with overprotectiveness.

Does anybody else have a difficult time with constructive criticism? I know I do. I'm not attributing my emotional hypersensitivity as the whole reason but it could be a part of the reason for me. I also literally cannot stand ridicule anymore due to kids bullying me in elementary and jr high. Either I go on the defensive when ridiculed, or I just automatically cave in so as not to make people upset. I really don't like being so emotionally sensitive.

I want to talk about All In A Row, since it has been making a lot of issues about autism portrayal. When I saw the interview with the creators, it's obvious that the play is focused less on Laurence and more on the parents. He's just a prop, in contrast with how Julia from Sesame Street is her own character.

Bullying and mistreatment in general tend to cause that, without autism being involved. It's part of nature. There were studies done on lab animals, even mice, that show that when intimidated repeatedly, mice tend to become fearful and withdrawn and non-aggressive.

Being a literal prop rather than a character is such a great way of putting it. I'd read a handful of things about that play, but that one sentence of yours I think nails it perfectly. No wonder they had a wooden puppet "play" the "role" of a severely autistic child. He doesn't actually do anything, and he doesn't have to, since the play isn't about him at all. No wonder the people talk about him in such dehumanizing ways. He does nothing, so it's like he's not even human.

They try to defend it saying they took some advice from a autistic awareness group and had autistic cast members, but still in the end they did nothing with it and made it about a play where his parents just decide in the end he should be in a residential home. It again plays into the stereotype about autistic children being a burden on their families.

Is that the same in Autism: The Musical? All I know is that it's about autistic kids making a musical.

I have a hard time understanding internet jokes because the jokes are almost never explicitly clear that they're jokes and the context gets lost without a tone of voice to gauge it from. Even with that, I still have problems with context if it's not immediately obvious to me it's a joke and I just feel like that's part of my autism.

I also fail to understand jokes and end up taking them seriously, so I'm glad people can pothole to Humor Mode.

Anybody else feel pain when they get their hair cut?

I know most people generally don't enjoy change, but I think one trait of autism is having a hard time with change and adjusting to it. That said, I feel like everything in my life has changed too much, the social aspect of it especially. Too few of my friends are around anymore and it really bothers me. Another thing I'm having a hard time with is the changes that are being made in the religious organization I participate in. Ever since last year, these changes have been happening with increased frequency and it's quite alarming, really.

If you feel pain when having your hair cut and it's frequent, it means your hairdresser is either incompetent, unnecessarily rough, or actively malicious .

Uh oh, changes in religious organization ? Be wary it isn't radicalization or sectary change.

Edited by acuddle on Mar 19th 2019 at 10:37:41 AM

It's not changing how my church is organized, there's just more emphasis on certain things which these changes reflect. They still make me nervous though.

But they're not trying to hurt me and at that they rarely nick me. Every time I have gotten a haircut (and I have had multiple barbers) It feels like a burning / tearing sensation when the razor goes across my head.

That might be more due to the sensation of the razor itself being uncomfortable. Similarly, I find the sound of the dentist cleaning my teeth with that metal scrape-y thingy so annoying and grating that it hurts.

Sorry for the double-post, but anyone got advice for surviving Autism "Awareness" Month?

Why, do they portray us as aliens?