I have a pretty consistent internal voice, but I have partial aphantasia as I can’t “picture” things. I think/remember in sensations and words. My best friend for years was an art student, and she was profoundly confused by me not having images in my head the way she did.

I have my glasses slightly grey tinted as well as transitions lenses, and that helps for me. Is that an option for you?

That made me think of a quote from Temple Grandin that seems to sum up my experience with being autistic - “I identify more with what I do than with how I feel”. It seems like that might be the same for you?

I really loved Woo, partially because the show really takes the time to get into how she gets around things like sensory issues. She’s a savant, which is rare.

I can say that my weighted blanket is one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever gotten. The full body pressure helps me relax and keeps me feeling connected to my body - I didn’t realize how much I disconnected when anxious until I got it

Rabbits, pro wrestling, voice actors. Nothing too crazy.

Yep. I have light and sound sensitivity to the point I wear earplugs at work at all times, and I have certain sensitivities to textures (both food and touch). I’m grateful I don’t have temperature sensitivities, although my lack of reaction to cold temps is its own problem.

What I mean by all this is everyone’s sensitivities are different even if they can overlap with someone else’s. My light sensitivity may be less or more severe than someone else but we still share the base of it.

That’s me. I will get “stuck” on something for hours and hours and suddenly it’s 12 midnight and I should have been in bed 2 hours ago. I just… Can’t pull myself away from it.

The feeling of extreme frustration about people breaking rules. I didn’t realize that an overly powerful sense of justice was a trait of autism until it was pointed out to me. It’s given me a nose for fraudulent action at my job though.

I got a diagnosis partly because I needed accomodations at work. Light sensitivity and sound sensitivity are a bitch in an auto dealer showroom.

How different would my childhood have been if I had been evaluated when I was younger?

I have the same question, and I’m working through it with my therapist. I’m not sure there will be an answer that makes everything “better”, but it does help to realize that I have been this way my whole life, and that I can make my life easier now that I’m an adult in ways I couldn’t as a child.

I have the 16 dB Loop, and I honestly forget I’m wearing them sometimes. They’re so comfortable and really work well to take everything down a few notches while still being able to hear.

• Not dead yet, but the day is still young

I’m going to start using this one. It’s simple and effective.

This is my experience with the Loop earplugs too. I use them in my office environment, because there’s always a ton of noise from the service department next door and the showroom on the other side of us. The in-body noises are weird at first but you get used to it (it might be harder if you have trouble regulating your voice volume; I always think I’m speaking more loudly than I do and this doesn’t help), and the amount of noise cancelling is incredible. I can hear people talking to me without feeling like everyone is yelling, phones aren’t as noisy, and even printers are less unpleasant.

My therapist pointed out that a lot of autistic traits are extremely similar to trauma expression, and that it’s often hard to judge which is which.

I feel like I’m an oddball because I tend to trust people until they give me a reason but to. That’s led to some bad experiences, but it also gives my “this person is doing shady stuff” sense a boost. It’s not insincere, but neither is waiting to judge :)

Yup. My parents weren’t willing to even think about testing me, so it was “stop that, just be normal”.

Please don’t be sorry! I don’t know much about it but everything I learn makes me so angry.

The neuropsych doctor I was tested by told me that she had been a special education teacher herself, and that during the 70s-90s (and probably even now tbh) there was a heavy emphasis on making students act “acceptably” by stopping them from making larger stim motions and that now they realize it’s a bad idea. It sucks.

I’m 37, and just got diagnosed at the beginning of this month, actually. I’ve never been quite “right” in social situations, and had “odd” interests and sensitivities. My dad is probably autistic but no one’s ever officially diagnosed him and he’d call it bullshit even if a professional said it.

My mother was a special education teacher, and she saw my stimming and sensory issues and decreed them to be a problem because I’d never be “normal” (and I use the term loosely). “You’re so smart! You can’t have any issue with anxiety! Lights are that bright for everyone, and no one else complains! Figure it out!”

Almost exactly a year ago I came across a TikTok channel talking about masking and how it can be stressful. The points she made about how autism presents differently in women struck a chord with me so I started doing research. So many issues and experiences I’d had just matched everything I was finding about very high functioning autism, and I asked about it. My therapist had said I have “autistic traits”, but trauma can also present in some of the same ways (and hoo boy is there trauma in my background). She suggested I meet with a neuropsych specialist in her office and get tested.

When I met with the doctor post-testing, she said that the tests confirmed my suspicions, but also that some of my mannerisms were textbook autism. Apparently looking away from someone while putting together a sentence isn’t me being rude, after all!

I still don’t know how I feel about the diagnosis. I’m working through a lot with my therapist under a different lens now seeing that a lot of things could have been explained if I had gotten diagnosed earlier. The big plus is that I am able to get accommodations at my job for things like light sensitivity and overstimulation now that I have an official diagnosis and letter.

I just got my formal diagnosis literally yesterday, and I’m still feeling…odd. It’s changed how I see myself, but it hasn’t changed anything at the same time.