Reminder (to myself) - the brain is like a piece of wood you're sanding to make it smooth and shiny. Go WITH the grain, not AGAINST it.
I know this, and yet it still took me an hour of fighting with my brain this morning to change gears

The US #school system is deeply flawed.

Why do we force #children to sit still for 8 hours per day? Force them to wake/sleep against their brain's natural cycle (sleep is when #memories form and for kids, neurodevelopment too).

Sometimes we even throw #medications at them to force this #compliance.

And if a kid is #neurodivergent, this is extremely toxic. e.g. I am NOT OK, the public school system has given me #cPTSD, and stunted my intellectual development.

We need to do better for all #kids. And banning #books is not the right way to do it.

Are there any small makers of fidget toys and fidget jewelry in the USA who would like to sell their fidgets in my online store for autistic & neurodivergent people?

I'm looking to buy fidgets in bulk from creators, makers, etc. You will get full credit on the listing and paid upfront.

Please share to help me and fidget toy makers find each other.

#ActuallyAutistic
#neurodivergent
#ADHD
#AuDHD

One of the things that I used to do is run board game parties for #autistic people to socialize. Many of my friends are social workers and are companions to #neurodivergent individuals.

I have a rather good sized game collection with lots of rare games but that also means it is a dated collection.

If you're into #boardgames please suggest some of your favorites.

If you're inclined to help, here are some games I've been looking at to bolster my collection.

https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/3HQFQSAU54M17

A post about me

https://nilio.ca/post?title=A%20post%20about%20me

This post is an attempt to start writing on my blog, it's a journey to find a creative direction for the future of what I will write while I don't want my blog to be too tech-oriented (just enough).

In this post I write about myself, my struggles and how I've overcome them. There is a bit on how I use computers and my current projects.

Yeah...this is me.

I know few things about a lot of things, but a lot about a few things.

Community Cooperation Wales are running a 4-day workshop on Employability Skills & Personal Development for Neurodiverse People at their office in Cardiff.

The workshop "includes an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 2 Award in Leadership and Team Skills."

For more information contact Lloyd@communitycooperationwales.org.uk

I am not affiliated with this organisation. I received this information in a newsletter.

#Cardiff @adhd @autism #Autism #ADHD #AuDHD #Neurodivergent #Wales

New Article! Learning To Live: A Reflection At 9 Years Sober

Today, April 7th, 2025, i am nine years sober. Here is what I have learned.
https://emergentdivergence.com/2025/04/07/learning-to-live-a-reflection-at-9-years-sober

#ActuallyAutistic #autism #ADHD #neurodiversity #neurodivergent @actuallyautistic @mentalhealth@a.gup.pe @mentalhealth@newsmast.community

@actuallyautistic

One of the things I've always loved is spending time alone in nature. Mostly for the obvious reasons that most people enjoy it. But also, as I now realise, because I could drop the mental shields and defences I'd created, almost entirely unconsciously, and really allow my senses to expand and sink into the world around me, without all the usual noisy horror of humanity causing me its pain. There was also a sense of peace in the wilds, that nothing was being demanded of me.

Grow up knowing you are different, even if you don't really know why, and you quickly learn the dangers of showing it, of letting others see the truth. It's why many of us learn to mask from an early age. The world around us quickly lets us know, in many subtle and, quite frankly, fucking unsubtle, ways, that we aren't right and that it's us who have to change. Being in nature was the only place I could feel free of that. Alone in it, nothing was being demanded of me by the world around me, just as I demanded nothing of it. We could just be, existing in the world that we made together. It was the only time I ever felt truly at peace and relaxed, without the nagging thoughts and whispering fears of caution and of not being seen.

I realised today that this was because I separated, in my mind, the human world, from the world of nature. In one, I had a sense of belonging, of just being a part of something, just like everything else. In the other, I was always the outsider, who could never really belong because he was too different, too other and that all I could really do was hide that, mostly for justified fear of being seen. It was, and still remains, the cause of so much of the anxiety and stress I feel just being out in the world. This sense that I'm always in hostile terrain and the fear of showing it.

Which, whilst still so true in many ways, I realised isn't really needed any more. I'm an adult now, OK a gnarly old git, who's often far more trouble than he's worth, and I have my own truths to live by and don't need theirs and that it was never their world anyway, they just happen to populate mine.

#Autism
#ActuallyAutistic
#Neurodivergent

Me at 3 PM.

is there any treatment from severe autistic burnout? like antidepressants and whatnot?

@actuallyautistic

The Autistic Innovator is open for author self-publishing submissions again. The royalty rate was 70% back when books were on a separate store, but since everything moved to The Autistic Innovator I've raised it to 90%. The store doesn't need the money so it can be a higher percentage.

I fell very behind on responding to author submissions and adding books to the store. Now that I'm finally on the right ADHD med dose, my brain works again so I'm able to take on this extra project.

Here is the link for more info. I'll update it shortly.

https://shop.autisticinnovator.com/pages/author-submission

#ActuallyAutistic
#neurodivergent

I think the biggest mental health breakthrough was realizing that I'm only unhappy around other humans; alone I am perfectly comfortable with my mind and body. whether the fault lies in me or with them doesn't really matter - what matters is that I know there's a normal for me, whether or not I can always reach it. #neurodivergent

Dammit! Not again!

Welcome to my ADHD life.

I wish somebody had told me this sooner.