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@calidris

@lady-grace fun fact: ADHD and autism both run in families! So if you have an autistic family member, there’s a pretty good chance you could be as well…

Quite possible😂

Also, Rose and I have noticed that even if our family members aren’t actually autistic, they sometimes still have a few of our symptoms or quirks. So, I think in some cases, things can seem perfectly normal to us because everyone in our families does them too XD

I’d been wondering if that happens. Interesting🤔

@rose-colored-fancy

Okay, I’ve seen it explained this way! Autistic people have a lot of traits that NT’s relate to, or experience as well, it’s the degree of the traits and putting all of them together that means you’re Autistic! I once saw it explained as “okay all people bump their heads on doorframes sometimes, but it happens more to tall people. If you’re tall you’ll experience it more than a person of average height, but they might get it too! If you bump your head on a doorframe it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re tall”

Ok, interesting I feel like that’s all I’m saying XD So at what point does someone know they’re Autistic? Like, how many traits?

Like often when I’m researching I’ll stumble across an Autism trait I don’t relate to at all and instantly the overwhelming self-doubt hits me like a wave. But, you’re not trying to fill out a perfect checklist, you’re looking for patterns that match!

Also, a hard thing with figuring it out is that it isn’t something that’s usually discussed by NTs! So you either think “I’m the only person who has ever experienced this, I’m just weird” or “Everyone does this” because it’s hard to compare!

👍
Yeah, I’ve honestly never discussed it before, although I have thought about it a few times.

And as Calidris said, it could be even harder if multiple people in your family are kind of spectrum-y because it was completely normal. For example, my older brother is also autistic and I think a LOT of my traits were missed because autistic was basically the baseline!

*nods* That makes sense

Also, you always see the same kinds of presentation in media, so that’s one reason I spent so long thinking I couldn’t possibly be Autistic. So, you’ll only see the kind that are (for example) noticeably awkward in conversations, don’t understand metaphors, never make anything resembling eye contact, and stim in very specific ways.

So often when you’re researching and thinking about it you’ll figure out ‘w a i t not all people do ‘eye contact’ by looking vaguely at someone’s face instead of their eyes??’ And stuff like that! Also the constantly repeating experience of “Wait that was The Autism all along??”

Yes! Like, I don’t do the eye contact thing. Well.. I’ve done it when I’m walking past people and don’t want to open up a conversation or anything XD not sure that counts lol

Researching and looking into it, if that’s something you want to do, has never hurt anyone! Also, writing an autistic character is what made me really figure it out, so if it’s something you feel like exploring that’s always a fun way to do it!

I’ve never written an Autistic character before. However, there’s one character I haven’t written yet and I just found out a lot of stuff I was toying with for her is Autism symptoms😂

@e-n-leonard

Really? 😂 And we always thought you were the normal one! *dumps extra sparkles on your head*

*chokes on sparkles* Mhm *rubs glitter out of my eyes*