Відео

Rachel's monologue starting 35:29 is honestly so eye-opening.

I keep on coming back to this video to explain to colleagues why we use the language we ( try) to

I didn’t feel like I was being bullied, but I remember being picked on in Primary school there was one boy in my class would mock gasp and say “she talked” anytime I would say anything, because I rarely spoke, which very quickly shut me up and put me off being able to speak again. I have always had trouble with volume control when I speak, especially when I’m nervous or talking in an environment I’m not comfortable in. So I get asked to repeat myself because I haven’t spoken loudly or clearly enough, and I might try once or twice, but end up either sounding more and more annoyed through the effort of trying to get my voice to sound louder, or get to a point where I give up and I just can’t get the words out anymore and withdraw inside myself. Usually what I said wasn’t worth the effort put in to get it heard or it is no longer important or relevant or funny by the time I have tried to say it 3 times. My speaking being pointed out or being made to repeat myself made a bigger deal out of my saying something when I didn’t want the attention on me. It really puts me off being able to speak if I think I won’t be heard or understood. Speaking can be such an emotionally painful and anxiety filled experience sometimes. EDIT: speaking also takes a lot of physical effort at times, especially to control volume and tone can be very difficult or impossible when it is so much effort just to get the words out at all.

I enjoyed this video using subtitles, I wish the microphone on Monique’s end was not so sensitive or that she would have muted her microphone when not speaking. Due to my own sensory differences I could not continue listening to the audio while watching.

Great, thank you! Who is the youtuber mentioned in 17:30?

I am currently struggling with non-stop anxiety and overwhelming stress due to my OCD and autism. I drink everyday to stop feeling physically horrendous and to help me cope.

She actually said it. I thought it was beyond human understanding, that autism is nothing. Do listen to the video, and it should become clearer. Is that why your video has far less views (when compared with most other videos about the topic). Because it's a bit too realistic and rational

I’m an autistic person in recovery. Thank you so much, for making this co-occurring disorder visible! I was told, in treatment, that I didn’t want recovery enough, because I wasn’t verbally sharing in therapy groups. We need autism-specific treatment methods, to ensure we have a meaningful and non-traumatic treatment experience. A lot of people know that SUD is a common co-occurring disorder with ADHD and bipolar disorder, but many people don’t know that people with autism are also at an increased risk of Substance Use Disorders. Stereotypes of people with autism as rule-bound and socially avoidant contribute to this. Thanks for the accurate information and for sharing some of your experiences! I can relate to so much of this discussion! I was, also, more comfortable with adults than with my peers, as a kid, which was exploited by adults. I didn’t realize a lot of autistic kids got the “old soul” thing.

I was female at birth and I started identifying as male 15 years ago. My favourite stim is to make toys with my circular knitting looms.

Your water droplet pictures are pretty

The more your environment criticized you & the less understanding you got from your environment the worse it got. It is important to radically change environment something some experience in the person's life makes it worse.

Brilliant

I've only recently come across this term and concept, and it's resonating a lot with me. Helps me get to grips in a positive way with why I'm so different. I struggled to see myself as human for some time, still do tbh, and had adopted it amongst the pronouns I accept and it was nice to see others use it here too. I also think there's much that can be said about not only the intersection with ND and LGBT, but the interaction with ND and ace-spec and ND and objectum sexuality (this minority group with a lot of ND members is often forgotten about, sadly). Good stuff.

Im a student second degree teacher in the Netherlands, and I'd love to make monotropism more known in the Netherlands as well. After graduation I want to finish the documentary about autism in wich I want to include monotropism, its effects and tips for people with autism. It will take some years for the research and documentary to be finished, but I hope it will help the psychology to see the potential of monotrope people and not just its flaws

Why was zack and cody star kim rhodes diagnosed with autism?

Aww I missed the live :/

Is it possible to be Autistic without these specific language characteristics?

Thank you this is so helpful...im older than i once was and undiagnosed realised fairly recently god knows how so late....im a nightmare, classical male autism with the female counterpart to quell that mad man, thank God shes there... hehe. Big up Ourselves...

You two are fantastic thanks... commit to the stim! i like that hehe

I’ve noticed that a high percentage of the guests on @CultstoConciousness have realized their neurodivergence after leaving their respective cults.

Rachel, I love the brisk clip at which you talk. It's a pleasure to listen to you. Most people's speech tends to drag, and I get impatient to hear what they have to say. I'm not sure what the purpose of this comment is. I suppose I just think that if you appreciate something about someone, you might as well let them know.

That’s so interesting how anxiety and excitement feel similar to you both. For me they are completely distinct, but I also don’t determine how I’m feeling emotionally by how my body feels.

Guess I’m an oddball aphantasiac with pretty hypersensitive interoception. I don’t struggle to identify my own emotions either but I’m not sure if that’s innate or because I’ve hyperfocused on getting good at it as compensation. I do struggle to know what others might be feeling as I see numerous possibilities and have no way of knowing what’s most likely for that person.

After discovering my own autism last year at the age of 38, masking and my fawning behaviour in the past has been one of the most difficult aspects to reconsile with. For me, instead of "plugging" into the teacher, I seemed to plug into the first person that "claimed me", and those kinds of people where the most dysfunctional people. Dysfunctional people that just want to do distructive things. I think they either have to find people that are equally as dysfunctional and want to do these things, or an autistic fawning person that will agree to partake in anything is the next best thing. I think for an autistic person who is immature and overwhelmed by the social situation, you can get "instant acceptance" by these kinds of people.

I’ve never felt more proud to be autistic, and non-binary. I’m younger than Kim but I did discovery my autism after my childhood, and I remember going through those exact thinking patterns; and then I remember going through that thought process again thinking about my gender. I’ve never felt more self aware in my life.

I laugh when I’m in pain and I find it hilarious.

It may be coming up, I’m not finished yet, but I hope we take into consideration the intersectionality of those with higher support needs (those who require caregivers/social services)or perhaps more complex communication needs (lacking verbal communication) and how masking may be different, or even non-existent for others, potentially. Moving forward, I hope there continues to be research on this & consideration given. I’m looking forward to reading though! I’m reading Unmasking Autism, and I struggle to relate to simply identifying & taking off a mask. I also wonder how much is masking versus clinician & social biases not recognizing disability in women, black people, etc edit: y’all are getting into it!

Great episode! 54:46 What comedian is being referenced here? :):)

If you want to read Amy and Kieran's book but can't buy it yourself, your public library may be able to purchase it. I put in a request online for my local public library to purchase it and they bought 2 copies!

On exercise I walk 5-6 miles each day. I listen to a podcasts or talk and does my mental health so much good! Issue with burnout I don’t have the energy. This not only impacts my mental health further, but also recs my routine which makes me anxious and frustrated! 😩

Great point about different presentation of burnout. I work with YP who are in burnout, out of school may have suicidal ideation, disordered eating or self harm. I also work with those who are drinking, taking drugs, fighting, etc. they for me are in burnout but often seen as “bad”, “off the rails” etc. unfortunately the system often doesn’t recognise either presentation and trauma experienced! On a personal note, I find my burnout is often triggered by my monotropic processing and being pushed out of this by multiple stressors. Of course there will be other factors, but this seems key for me!

I'm a big fan of bikes. If your default mode of transport involves physical exercise, it's incomparably easier to get your executive function to tolerate it. There's a saying that in the Netherlands, nobody considers themself a cyclist, because in a country with more bikes than people cycling isn't a special activity worthy of note, and certainly isn't a specialized exercise activity. There's also a definite element of pride in avoiding the use of fossil fuels. And the fact that even a quite high-end bike costs less than car insurance (never mind fuel) is a particularly notable consideration for a demographic that's disproportionately impoverished. Now, dyspraxia often comes with balance issues, so a tricycle can be an important accomodation. E-bikes and e-trikes are also a very useful option if you have a longer commute, have to deal with difficult terrain, or simply need to limit the intensity of your exercise for whatever reason (poor muscle tone, bad joints, and absolutely loathing the sensation of breathing hard are all relevant to me). I'll admit however that bright light (especially sunlight) and the sound/feel of wind are major sensory issues for me. This means long sleeves, sunglasses, a face covering, and double ear protection are pretty mandatory for me, whereas I only need half that to drive. And as a Canadian I can't really bike in the winter because the ice is way too much of a safety issue. Still, I get far, far more regular exercise now that I treat my bike as my primary mode of transportation than I did for almost the decade prior.

RSD has had a massive impact on me. I have fawned my whole life and this has made me be a yes person. Because of this I get burnt out and end up letting people down which impact my RSD even more! I struggle to pick up on if people like me or not (more NT people rather than ND). This makes my RSD even worse. Intrusive thoughts go crazy. Just a thinking I may be rejected hits me hard. When rejected (or perceived rejection), I can’t think of or focus on anything else. I blame myself and it has a real impact on my self-esteem.

Synergy!!! Just realised that is what my wife and I do for each other!! Both neurodivergent and both love sitting together engaged in our own thing!! Beautiful ❤️❤️

Thank you!!! I have recently realised that my monotropic thinking is the main cause of my burnout/ mental health decline!

Thank you all. Really interesting and I relate to so much!!! I am dyslexic and an ADHDer, as well as awaiting my stage 2 assessment for Autism.

I'm 34, on the autism spectrum and was born male at birth. I've recently started identifying as non-binary the more that I think about it. Gender stereotypes on both sides of the binary and the whole battle of the sexes tribalism crap makes me shy away from the gender binary and refuse conformity. Biologically, I see myself as male but I don't see myself as masculine of feminine in terms of my own gender identity if that makes any sense.

I completely sympathise! Thankyou for this!

Sending kind regards and support Chloe re your burnout 🌻❤🌻

Theres actually a higher correlation of mh disorders in the autistic community and a higher insidence of psychosis depression and anxiety than those without autism including incidence of schizophrenia. The percentages are higher than the nt population . Significantly higher .

I have experience of psychosis poss asd but not diagnosed yet , do you feel in relation to the delisions coming for you from a place of fear that an over anxious over stressed autisti c mind will process unconscious material visually so its experienced viscerally rather than as a neurotypical person who would have unconcious material remain unconcious - but in people who are autistic the subconscious mind brings up the unconcious material through a waking conscious mind . You have experienced similar delusions to me and voice hearing etc - maybe our brains create a scenario that makes our irrational thoughts plausible . If that makes sense . Im still recovering after the third pyschosis breakdown , all of which have followed significant traumatic or traumatising experiences or periods in my life . Or long term periods of supressing trauma or it not being recognised by others - also cptsd which had gone untreated and undiagnosed for 2 decades . Flash backs to psychotic episodes also means its difficult to discern if its a relapse of the psychosis or a flashback to the trauma of the psychotic delusions and hallucinations .

I just got a little walking pad. It's only been a week and i look forward to using it daily already! No going in public to exercise! No learning new motions, just walking! I had social anxiety about physical therapy so I haven't gone in yet, but this machine is helping with a lot of pent up tension with privacy.

Thank You! :)

Great Artists, Great Art, Wonderful Poem. Thank You!

Hi, all - I don’t know if this will be read, as the video is over a year old now. Fingers crossed. It gave me some insight when I first watched it a year ago, as my son had been refusing to go to school. He has Fragile X Syndrome with ADHD. As a brief backstory, a student in his class had a cluster of seizures, which made him very anxious. With the help of school, he went back gradually. After Christmas, in February, he had his flu vaccination (first adult one, so not up the nose this time. It was his choice to agree). He’d done ok with his covid one, thought he did feel faint. Unfortunately the same happened again and he tried to run from the room, falling a splitting his chin. He did amazing at Minor Injuries, later, but again, refused to go to back school. With school’s support, he went back part time, but suddenly decided to go full time just as I was about to fly out because my mother was in the last days of her life. Because he struggles to articulate his thoughts and feelings, he has never articualted how he came to this decision. He stayed in school until the end of term, and decided up to and during his Annual Review of his EHCP, to leave school and move on to college. In the meantime, I found your video, and spoke to two local autistic mentors and speakers. They were both helpful and gave some insight, as did your video. However, I was interested in what Dr Chloe said about not wanting to be resiliant. My question is, if a person isn’t resiliant, they will have a much harder time overcoming obstacles in that each time their anxiety is tested they will have the same issues and challenges instead of learning to overcome them and be stronger. Hopefully that makes sense and that I’m not just talking nonsense. What was also interesting was Mel’s comments about nervous system unease, disregulation, and interpretations of what is happening in the environment. My main reason for posting this now is that once again, something has happened to bring up anxiety. I was given to understand that two students in his foundation group at college had an argument a couple of weeks ago and he has now decided not to go back at all. One of them kept repeating what the tutor said (probably reinforcement for himself), but the other didn’t like it. The two of them escalated to a heated exchange. These two students apparently don’t really get along. I have met with the college and they would really like to be flexible to try and get him back in. He can even go into another group, but to no avail so far. His MacIntyre community support starts tomorrow (hopefully he actually goes) so I hope this will help. What Fiona said about being stuck and about anticipatory anxiety made sense and I think this is kind of where my son was at school and is again now. The difference is that he had 10 years at school so he was quite attached to being there. He’s only been at the college since September and therefore doesn’t have the same attachment. But I wondered, how Fiona was able to overcome being stuck and the anticipatory anxiety. Legally he is allowed to make this decision, but the law doesn’t necessarily take into account the congnitive level of an individual. He is 19, but is functioning about half this age. I am looking into alternatives, but allowing him to leave may only validate the action he’s decided to take and allow him to just run away from any situation that makes him anxious. If he moves on, and something else happens he will believe it’s okay run from it, and so on and so on to the point where he might not even be able to keep a job. How long will he keep running? What am I supposed to say when he constantly texts me from his room saying his decision is to leave college for good? Despite all the talks I’ve had, notes I’ve taken, etc., I just don’t have the answers and feel as if I have failed him in some way. After I first watched the post, I contacted Aucademy, but in the end didn’t follow through as we managed to get my son back in. This time, I am really interested in what any of the contributors think about this situation. Please accept my appologies for such a long post. If any of the contributors have any further insight with my son’s situation in mind, I would be ever so grateful.

Thank you for this very interesting conversation. I would like to make contact with Melissa Simmonds please. I received a diagnosis of Level One Autism at 60 three months ago and I am keen to connect with other Black women who have learned about their autism in adulthood. With best wishes. Sandra Cole.

On the subject of younger people having different trauma, what stands out to me is the increased trauma that everyone is experiencing as the bootheel of capitalism grows sharper. The gap between the trauma levels of Autistic and Allistic young people seems to be narrowing, and that's not a good thing.

Thank you so much for providing thorough details of the experience. Most people just use technical terms without giving exact examples. So thank you again. Well said.

Kim is such a beautiful human - love her authenticity so much and her intelligent articulation of her experiences. This interview was so well done and both of you were fabulous. I learned a lot thank you!

1:33:01, yeah, when I was a child back in the early 2000s, that was a common narrative we often heard then, that there were a few jobs that were appropriate for autistic people (meaning computer programming), but outside of that, people like us weren't really going to amount to much. I never heard about reasonable adjustments until I was an adult. The overwhelming narrative was the need to improve ourselves and basically overcome our disability, that we "couldn't expect" employers to make adjustments for us, in the "real world", and had to settle for a job with computers because apparently that's all we were good for. Speaking of that, even a few days ago, I've seen NTs discussing autistic people in the workplace, where they denied having any prejudice or bias against autistic people, then IMMEDIATELY followed it up with a point that basically suggested placing all autistic people looking for work in a job with computers or maths. Firstly, of course, the obvious stereotype of the type of role, but secondly, the implicit assumption that it's their job, even their right, to decide what job to "put" autistic people into, as if we don't have our own preferences/goals. Definitely a "doing to" narrative that implicitly assumes that we are inferior and need to be controlled, that they know best. It just stuck out to me how accepted ableist ideas about us are, that people can say things like that and not notice how blatantly controlling and patronising they are being.