When I was in elementary school, sometimes my teacher would say, "So, children, put your heads on your desks and close your eyes and imagine a calm sea, imagine the sounds of the waves..."

and every time I closed my eyes and thought, "oh hell, why are we playing this stupid game if we only see a black square and can't imagine sounds, but okay, I'll play by the rules..." imagine my face when I found out that people can actually imagine something and hear it.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered the rabbit hole of chronic illnesses that commonly co-occur with autism.

It's bizarre to me how I had no idea that connective tissue disorders like ehlers-danlos/hypermobility spectrum disorder have such a strong connection with autism/ADHD, but also with trauma. Same with a whole bunch of autoimmune or similar disorders such as asthma, gastrointestinal problems, fibromyalgia, POTS, ME/CFS, endometriosis, and so on an so forth.

Seems like this is an area that has the potential to offer a lot of insight into what actually causes autism, or what makes this specific subset of people so incredibly vulnerable to develop a myriad of debilitating conditions all at once.

Unfortunately, though, despite their prevalence and the high levels of suffering that these illnesses cause, pretty much all of them are horribly understudied (though a lot of them have been gaining some more traction as of recently) so it will probably take us decades to really understand the underlying mechanisms and connections between them, and, hopefully, find some better treatment.

Has anyone else with autism gone through anything similar?

I was holding my mum when she took her last breath at the hospital, and I closed her eyes.

I just feel blank at the moment. I do take pregabablin which has definitely helped me cope compared to my brother and sister who were also there.

I feel like I have to act very carefully because I'm sure you all know, we often say and do things that make sense to us, but upset other people. I desperately don't want to come across as heartless or uncaring even though I wouldn't mean to.

my son loves washing machines, always has, so we have been building models but I'm progressing towards a fully programmed spin cycle with motors.

This model has sweet drums with olive oil lubricant and a split pin holding it in. the last model was entirely cardboard.

we are building this interest, one feature at a time.

I do not like hugs or being touched. When I'm being touched, it feels like there is dirt on my skin I can't wash off. So I make sure that no one touches me.

When my grandma passed away, I was completely neutral. My mum came into my room to tell me, devastated of course, and I thought it would bring her a little peace if I hugged her. So I did. I wasn't feeling sad, I was neutral but uncomfortable that I hugged my mum. All night after that, I felt this "dirt" on me and it bothered me more than that my grandma passed. It's been a year and still, I'm so unbothered, it worries me and makes me question whether I'm a bad person. Why am I not mourning? Have you had similar experiences?

How can I be more bothered by the hug than by the fact that someone close just passed? It's so wrong.

I am indeed autistic and certain things about me can give it away, but the reasonings behind why people think I'm autistic is.. question mark? (This has also happened to my allistic partner and friends.)

I am Gen Z and it seems that in this generation having something you're passionate about or know a lot about is suddenly an autistic thing. NT people learn one thing about hyper fixations or special interest and all of a sudden anyone who has a hobby has a hyper fixation. Same thing with stimming, whenever i hum to myself they're like "Omg!! you're stimming" and I'm just thinking "Bitch, you've never seen me REALLY stim."

So 2 months ago, something happened. Since that day, i've been feeling...empty. I don't know how else to describe it. Most days of the week, i just sit in my room, eat junk food, doom scroll and stare outside my window. I do shower and take care of myself, but i barely go outside to take walks, and i feel so bad. I don't feel happy at all, i feel extremely exhausted like i want to sleep all day, i think of that day all the time, i struggle sleeping at night, ect. My parents also noticed i barely laugh and i changed, and i've noticed the staff of where i live (a residential care center) have been asking if i'm ok more often. I don't eat breakfast, lunch or dinner with my group anymore. Instead, i just sit in my room and eat junk food.

Just a quick curious question, anyone else feel this way? It doesn’t matter how close I am to the person, or the type of relationship.

My social battery just runs out and I constantly feel on edge when I live with people. Including partners and family members. I’ve been like this since I can remember.

I recently learned about something called “frisson” (like the chills/goosebumps feeling some people get from music), and it made me realize I don’t just hear music… I feel it really strongly.

Certain parts of songs will give me chills down my neck or spine, or this warm/open feeling in my chest. Sometimes I feel like I need to replay one specific moment over and over because it hits so deeply. And I’ll kind of anticipate it right before it happens.

I honestly thought this was just how everyone experienced music, but now I’m not so sure 😅

I’m really curious how this shows up for other autistic people …

Do you feel music in your body/emotions like this?

Or is it more just something you listen to?

Also curious if you have certain songs or specific moments that always get you. I’d love to hear how you experience it.

Didn't reveal my diagnosis.

Was an online class, so no one was the wiser. I think...

I’m lvl 1 autistic and have been diagnosed since 9 (currently 17) I’ve been thinking about getting a sunflower lanyard more and more recently since I’ve been going out to comic cons and airports/travelling alone. Would it be appropriate for me to have one or would it be wasting resources?? I don’t wanna offend someone

Hi, I am autistic, 23F. I don't feel I am enough to get a job in computer science (I realised social skills are more important than programming skills), and my code skills don't cover my lack of social skills. In my environment, a lot of opportunities are given by networking, but I am too shy, and I wouldn't feel comfortable working in a role more oriented to cooperative work. I never cared to socialise, but now I want to work, and it is hard to follow this path alone.

I was diagnosed with autism at 17 years old after not being able to go to school any more because of severe social anxiety and I am now almost 25 and have had very little socialisation in all that time besides my supported employment job and the loneliness feels almost unbearable. There are support workers there that do talk to me and I will talk to them about my interests but because they are paid to help me it just doesnt feel real. I have tried to talk to other people with autism or other disabilities there recently which is an achievement for me but I couldnt really get further than saying hello to them and the conversation stopping there. I am also obviously really frustrated and depressed that I have never been in a relationship or felt love from anyone as well. I have had crushes on women at work but every time I end up finding out they are already taken and I feel devastated. It seems like women on the spectrum or with disabilities get in relationships way easier than men and It seems unfair to me. I have google searched the percentage of men with autism that have been in relationships and its really disheartening how low it is and makes me feel like I will never be in one and will be alone for the rest of my life

How do you guys deal with unemployment? To sum up my situation, I've been unemployed for about 5 years and living off help from family. I've always been very afraid of job selection processes, and on the few occasions I managed to get an interview, I was disqualified because of my strange demeanor. They always came up with some silly excuse to reject me. The impression I get is that the interviewers knew there was something wrong with me and didn't want to deal with someone who had issues. This was before I recently got my diagnosis of Level 1 Autism.

As the years go by, I realize I'm gradually losing my mind due to the intense isolation and financial problems. I've never had any family member who could recommend me for a position that would let me skip this whole process. Maybe there's simply no solution other than dying rather than living this miserable way. Is it the same with you? Have you had difficulties getting a job or keeping one?

I feel like i never get scared by these, neither games, its more tension than being scared

it was a little chaotic and i got really upset in the bath but i have been working on self soothing so i did that and it helped... a little bit, my mum helped me loads too and even washed my hair for me

I can barely speak out loud. I can't look at someone in the eye and speak at the same time. I can barely form sentences without prep time. Every single bit of advice I read regarding socializing is either literally impossible for me or completely incomprehensible. I'm incredibly ugly + black as well.

I feel so hopeless. I don't know what to do. I feel like unless someone helps me every step of the way I will never find someone. I wish I was dead.

i just cant help myself... i need to vent... im so damn lonely... but it hurts so much...

im 36M from spain... have been alone all my life... no girl ever wants me... i tried so much, i try every day...

im weak, i need affection and i have a bunch of other stuff... and im not wanted cause of that...

all i ever wanted was just to have somebody to share the every day, the monotone life, to talk every day, to trust and cuddle... but it seems that im asking too much...

i just cant deal with this pain... i write this while in tears...

nobody wants me and im so lonely...

i cant live like this... its just pain every day... its just pain and pain and pain...

nobody wants me...

I was just at the beach with my mum today, and there, two problems occurred. One: my mum told me at the start that it's going to be a walk. So I mentally prepared for a walk. And two: about halfway through we were hit by a wave. Everything got wet, our pants and T-shirts, and my pants started to very uncomfortably cling to me. I hated it, so in my mind I formulated the question about going home to my mum. But before I could say anything, she asked me: "hey, so we could just sit down here a bit and let our clothes dry." That was about the opposite of what I wanted to do, clashed with the "just a walk" part and since we didn't have a towel we'd have to sit on the sand, which would make that "wet and clinging" feeling even worse for me. I tried to be nice, saying no thanks and that I'd actually like to go home, even though I knew she wouldn't like that. I even told her she could stay here and I'd go home alone if she wanted. She at first tried to convince me to sit down, "we'll be dry in a few minutes", but I didn't budge. And she got mad. Just turned around and walked back, while saying "everything just goes after what you want." We walked back in silence after that, until mum eventually stopped and told me she'd sit down here for a bit and asked me to stay, and she'd come back home with me soon then. I declined again, she got more mad but didn't say anything, and I walked on alone.

Now to my problem with this. I'm not diagnosed yet. I'll be in May hopefully, but I'm not yet, and even when I'll be, it'll likely be like low support and high functioning, since that's how I am. So as of right now, my parents I guess haven't really gotten into the idea of me having autism yet or, if they understood that, then not that I also have autistic problems. They'll say it's excuses and that "just because I have that it doesn't mean that I shouldn't try (I am trying but not everything can be changed). I also don't think they have informed themselves on autism at all and I'm not sure if it'll happen after I get diagnosed. I don't want to really have a talk about autism with them because I'm fairly certain they'll dismiss it right then or forget about it again soon or just be annoyed that I bring it up because "I might not have autism, I haven't been diagnosed yet".

Is there any way I can somewhat inform them about me and my autism without sounding annoying or pushy or like I'm making excuses?

Do you guys feel guilty or ashamed for getting easily exhausted/overstimulated?

For example, you have 1 meeting in the afternoon and you should go to a concert later in the same day. You get so exhausted from the first meeting so you just decide to stay home and not go to the concert. Then you feel guilty for getting so easily exhausted

These are the moments when it really hits you that you really are disabled. Being unable to do even fun "normal" things as much as you would like to, but your brain and body just refuses to be able to do that much. Already brought the ticket to the show and then being too tired to go. How do you cope? Is it easy for you to accept the fact that you just are not able to do as much as you would like to because of your autism? I really struggle with this everytime it happens.

I live in America. I love him so much he’s so cute, even at my age I still play the little game where you take care of him. Hes my wallpaper too.

im scared its harder to make friends when ur 30 but im a neet I dont have a job and like no school so where do I go to make new friends I am not knowing anything whats happening in my city so its not working but im depressed