Comment on Why does everyone here think they're autistic or ADHD? The memes all describe normal human foibles.
howrar@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
The only thing in this list that I relate to is the masking, so I’ll address that
Yes, we all conform and hide parts of ourselves in public, doesn’t mean you can’t “be yourself”.
As I understand it, when a neurotypical person is hiding parts of themselves, it’s something like “I don’t want anyone to know I’m into Taylor Swift”. So just don’t talk about it. It’s that simple. For me, I have to think about every word I say because no one interprets things literally. If someone asks me whether or not I like Taylor Swift and I want to answer in the affirmative, can I just say yes? Or do I need to take note of the day of the week and say no while gesturing wildly with my left hand when it’s a Monday or look 15º to the left from Wednesday to Friday? When we talk about masking, it’s that, applied to every single sentence coming out of your mouth. Comparatively, never talking about Taylor Swift is a trivial task.
Tonava@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
Masking is also exhausting because it takes so much energy to focus and process these things. If you are completely drained after every, even short, casual social interaction, that’s a sign there’s something going on. The diagnostic criteria apply when things that everyone experiences in some form are so overwhelming it is disabling.