I've heard this idea of people getting diagnosed (or self-IDing) with #autism, #adhd, #ocd, etc because they want to be a part of something.

As someone who lived on the outside and was never a part of something, yes, I am happy to be a part of something finally, and that something is my truth.

There's a common experience in the #autism community of receiving a diagnosis (or figuring it out and self-identifying) and then the autism becoming "worse". So, what does that mean? I'll get a bit hypothetical in this post, so keep in mind I'm not a professional, just sharing lived experience. 1/7

Today: Taste-talk for #autism sensory sensitivities. Because taste is so dependent on other senses (Tactile - Texture in the mouth; Sight - Perception before eating; Smell - Significantly affects taste and tolerance; Sound - Intolerances of chewing sounds), this will cross over with the others. 1/6

Today, let's talk about smell sensitivities, especially from my context as an #ActuallyAutistic person. Smell sensitivity, like any, can be either hypo (low), or hyper (high). Maybe how another person smells goes unnoticed, but a particular flavouring added to food is unbearably strong. 1/6

Sensory issues in #autism cover the full spectrum, and today, let's talk about the visible spectrum: Sight (Hah). Just like how touch and sound can be overwhelming, autistic people may also suffer from light sensitivities as well. In my case, keeping rooms and workspaces dim is important. 1/6

Since sound is such a big sensory issue for many people with #autism, let's make that our topic today. As always, this is from my perspective as an #ActuallyAutistic person and everyone's experience differs. Sound can be incredibly difficult to handle: Our world is a very noisy one 📣 1/5

Before talking about sensory sensitivities, I want to talk about "Sensory Adaptation" (SA) quickly. SA is a compensatory function of our nervous system that, typically, reduces the awareness of a stimulus. For example, the strength of a smell may stay consistent, but you become nose-blind. 1/4

The first German post I got to admire on this platform was from someone being angry about something-whining about it and being rude while doing so.

Could’ve been me.

Over the last 2 days, we talked about the nervous system (ANS) and how it responds with stress vs relaxation, then we discussed how our ANS can be triggered by someone else. Although it's easy to see how an angry person would stress us out, let's talk about a calming activation instead. 1/5