Also: whyyyy is it Gnosticism AGAIN. Hoyoverse. Why is it *always Gnostic themes and references* in every “muddle fudgin’” hoyo game. (Not mad, I *love* this sort of thing actually, I just exclaimed aloud when I got to the Blatant Gnostic Reference in 3.6 that I won’t say yet, because spoilers.)

and horse first aid supplies

Exactly that!

And, tangentially— I was explaining O&FC to a friend, and explaining how it wasn’t actually depressing or nihilistic, that it was actually a weirdly hopeful larp in a lot of ways, about healing and reparative experiences even though it could be about other things— which surprised me.

(Learned recently that in my VERY FIRST year of public school - 4th grade (homeschooled before)… the school staff told my parents I probably had ADHD. How obvious WAS it?! An over-compliant quiet bookworm “girl” in 1990s rural Texas?? Yet parents disbelieved; didn’t tell me til after my adult dx)

Same. Didn’t get diagnosed or medicated til after getting my masters degree *and* post grad license. Grad school was at least easier than undergrad because no general education requirements / it was all interesting to me, but still. Meds would have been so helpful.

Ughhhh. Yeah the incompetence and lack of understanding is *even worse* with autism. This is also why I say “find someone specializing in autistic/adhd ADULTS” because … it looks different damnit @_@ coping/masking/etc! but even those professionals sometimes still do stuff like what you mentioned.

It infuriates me SO MUCH *every time.* Personal frustration and professional indignation. It's called *knowing your scope of competence,* it's emphasized so much in ethics, you're not supposed to operate outside your competency, and yet so many people just. Ignore that part after school??? aaaaaa

(My grad experience is psychotherapist/counseling psychology; still mostly applies to psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers.)

(Different focuses. Therapist = counseling, psychiatrist = medication, psychologist = assessment/research, social worker = social systems. More on that later, maybe)

(Yes, this also means there's a huge lack of competency around autism unless they've actually had additional training/life experience/etc. And most other conditions. It's why continuing education requirements exist, and post-grad trainings. Make sure your therapist has the specialties you need.)

We didn't really cover it in grad school (2012-2015). One class session on the developmental disorders section of the DSM during Assessment & Diagnosis class. Brief look at the diagnostic criteria - that's it. Not enough for competency. Have to seek out additional/specialized education to know more.

Nearly a decade later, after hearing so many horror stories, I'm increasingly starting to agree with her. Won't quite say you *have* to have ADHD to effectively treat it... but it sure does seem to *help.* And I will say that if someone doesn't *specialize* in ADHD, they likely don't have a clue.

I was diagnosed post-grad-school, early in my therapist career. The (now retired) therapist who diagnosed me once said that she kind of thought people who didn't have ADHD could effectively treat it. I laughed it off, thinking she was being hyperbolic, exaggerating.

I just feel like y’all could geek out about this too, along with larp design ;>

ps ps ps @hrefna.dev - remember the larp casting app I was talking about a couple years ago at Intercon…?

It’s a really interesting talk that describes the perspective of the stage performer and I was fascinated how it was still different from the street performer perspective.

Yeah, Sleep No More is directly referenced by the talk that got me thinking about this! And then Jamie talks about how actors in immersive stage still don’t interface with audience on a deep character level because of need for actor-to-actor trust, and I’m all, “but renfaire?”
youtu.be/TeCJX-OeJz8

But the improv theater training I got in renfaire street cast rehearsals two decades ago has continuously been the most helpful thing for my larping. I go back to my old renfaire rehearsal handouts when doing character development even now.