I find this silly and would welcome such topics in a work of fiction and I think such topics would make them a lot more interesting. Do u agree with this at all?

Because I definitely have.

Hi, I have severe eczema that usually appears on my face. It's very bothersome and mentally exhausting, but I've noticed that my autism makes it even harder for me to tolerate my eczema. Sensorially, my eczema is torture, constantly feeling my face hot and dry overstimulates me, and every time I have an eczema flare-up, I feel incapable of doing anything. All I want to do is sleep. I wanted to know if there is another autistic person here who shares my experience.

- Sorry if my English is bad

Hello everyone,

My name is Marissa Snowden, I am an Army veteran and a graduate student studying clinical mental health counseling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am conducting research on the reintegration experience of veterans who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and depression and I am looking for study participants.

The purpose of this study is to better understand veterans' experiences so we can learn how mental health professionals can better serve veterans with autism and depression in their transition to civilian life.

Who can participate:

• U.S. military veterans of all branches who:
  • have been diagnosed with depression AND
  • have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder AND
  • have transitioned out of the military within the past five years

Participation consists of:

• Completing an anonymous online survey
• Participating in a 60 minute virtual conversation via Microsoft Teams (you do not need a Microsoft Teams account to participate)

The survey link is attached to this post, and after you complete the survey I will contact you by email to schedule a time to talk that works best for you.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message or email me at [marissa_[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

This study has been approved by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institution Review Board (IRB #26-0850)

https://unc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9z3jTVijjtaqEU6

I can’t drive. Ok then, public transit!

There is no public transit here. Ok, move somewhere where there is!

I can’t handle the sensory overload of living in crowded places. I already have meltdowns when my neighbors have a cookout once a year, I could never live wall to wall with someone else. Oh, and with what money? I have to live with my parents.

Take an Uber! I have no money

Get a job to get money! 1. I can’t get to any IRL ones, 2. I have tried remote ones and I shut down because my brain won’t function at home.

Do a remote job from the library/other public place! HOW WOULD I GET THERE????

I can’t win. Every solution can’t be done without another problem. What’s worst though, is that when I ask people for advice, they give me these similar answers. That’s not the bad part, the bad part is when I not just say “that won’t work”, but explain in detail WHY that won’t/hasn’t worked, they’ll always say “you never take my advice”, “you clearly are just looking for excuses”, like NO I AM LITERALLY TELLING YOU WHY IT WONT WORK. WHAT AM I GONNA MAGICALLY MAKE A TRAIN APPEAR OUTSIDE MY FRONT DOOR? AM I GOING TO MAGICALLY GET A MONEY TREE?

I’m terrified for my future. My parents are the only reason I’m alive and have a roof over my head and food in my stomach. I save 95% of my income (only a couple thousand dollars a year through selling my art) in an ABLE account, but at the rate I’m going by the time my parents die I’ll only have enough in the account for 1 year of mortgage payments/food/medical etc. and that’s if I keep working at the pace I can now.

I think I’ve been in a shutdown for over a year now. I’ve been incredibly fatigued and stressed and my house is a mess and I simply can’t clean it because I have no energy and will snap if I have to do it. And I hate it because the mess makes me feel even worse. I get maybe one burst of energy every two months where I try to work on it but I can’t do any more.

I’m just a mess of anxiety, stress, and I’m having end myself thoughts. But I can’t see a therapist because first of all, every therapist I’ve been to has been the exact same as those other people; they’ll say I’m just being difficult and “don’t want to get better”. Also, it’s unsafe for me because since I’m suicidal and have a tendency ti overshare and not hide how I feel, if it comes out I will for sure be locked up which would be a sensory hell. I can’t sleep outside if my own bed, let alone in a psychward environment. Because of that I’m stuck venting online with no support. I don’t know what to do.

For example I once mentioned that reading essays written by college students that answer the question “Does life suck? Why or why not?” And supports their answer with outside sources would be interesting to read in my opinion.

This is slightly less of an example because what I’m about to describe is somewhat more common now than it used to be

games like Skyrim (or RPGs in general) but extremely historically accurate to medieval times.

Hi I really need some help processing this with my peers…

So I’m desperate for friends (big shock I know…) and have failed repeatedly to find any with NTs (another big shock 🙄). There are autism groups with an agency I recieve support from, but I have always avoided them, and upon some self reflection, it’s got a lot to do with self hate.

When I look at some of the people in the photos online, for instance I may see one discussing his love for Mickey Mouse. My mind instantly views him as a child, and goes to very mean thoughts like “pfft what a pathetic child, grow up”.

Meanwhile, my dumb self is literally doing the same exact thing. I play webkinz as my only form of video game. The only TV shows I watch are Icarly and H2O Just add water. I am literally doing exactly what he does. The fact is, i view myself the same way. I feel like a pathetic child who needs to grow up. But I don’t want to in this sense, I love these things.

I also think it’s partially because of my mirroring. I don’t tell people IRL about my secret likes, I hide them through anonymous profiles online because I’m so ashamed of being “a child”. But when I have tried coming out of my shell, I get the exact response I had: “pfft how pathetic, you’re playing a children’s game?”. When I was 13 I have a vivid memory of me playing with littlest pet shop toys still, and my mom said “put that stuff away you’re THIRTEEN YEARS OLD you aren’t a kid any more, grow up!”. And I think that’s why I have the thought patterns. Other people are telling me it’s childish and bad, and as usual my autism brain thinks my gut is always wrong and everyone else is right, so I just start following this new arbitrary rule and become just as mean as them.

I know I’m at fault. I’m not blaming others for my reaction. I don’t say ANY of these thoughts out loud to people, I just keep them in my head. And I hate the thoughts. In a way I think I might just be envious of these people I mentally ridicule. They are unashamed of their “childish” likes, they don’t care if people have those bad thoughts about them. They can enjoy them openly without fear or shame. And I never feared shame either, until I was made to.

I was forced to start caring about other people’s opinions on me when hygiene was an issue for me. I struggled with showering and My mother would shame me about how much people hated me and didn’t want to be around me if I smelled. I even had the school counselor kick me out of her office for smelling so bad one day. This scarred me and I think that’s when I began caring what people thought to a large degree. Like, when the school counselor of all people, the person who is supposed to be the most compassionate to the most sensitive kids, literally kicks you out for something you’re struggling with, it hit me deep. I never wanted to feel that shame again. If even a counselor couldn’t care for me because i smelled, then no one will. So when I heard “average people’s” preference for things beyond hygiene, I was scared of the same response, so I just followed along. Who knows what the next “smell” will be. Maybe it’s childish games/movies, maybe it’s outfits, I don’t know.

Now I just feel pain. I judge myself for everything. I have to hide my true self out of fear of shame and judgement. And I hate myself. I have internalized all of these judgements to the point I project them onto others, despite not ACTUALLY feeling that way, but because the training to feel that way has been so deeply embedded into my soul like a cancer.

Idk how any of you could help but I could really use some support processing it, even just saying you understand or some advice… so many people tell me I’m hard on myself and I totally agree, but I feel like I deserve it. I have such a deep sense that I deserve it… I judge myself harshly because I learned that not predicting a judgement can lead to so much pain (I.e. not predicting that being smelly would make the therapist kick me out). So now, I play it safe by trying to judge myself on every action I do, so that I’m “prepared” in case a judgement comes my way.

I actually DO do this, I’ll self deprecate myself in any conversation even when people compliment me. I can’t take a compliment because there’s always a negative someone could pick on, so I pick on it myself so that someone else can’t do it.

Let’s say someone blocked you and you get notified that they blocked you and the notification comes with a reason why they did.

This might sound kinda unfair but it sounds more fair to me and I was wondering if it would sound more fair to you.

I pictured this feature being that if you block someone, it requires you to type a reason and then it notifies the person you blocked and shares the reason with them.

Hello everyone,

My name is Nerea Muñoz, and I am a PhD researcher in Cognitive Linguistics at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain).

I am studying how people describe and communicate sensory experiences through language.

Many studies involving autistic people focus on diagnosis, traits, or clinical outcomes. My research takes a different approach by exploring how people describe and make sense of their sensory experiences in everyday language.

I am looking for English-speaking adults (18+) who are:

• Autistic
• Synesthetic
• Both autistic and synesthetic
• Non-autistic and non-synesthetic (comparison group)

The questionnaire asks about autism diagnosis status (including formal diagnosis, self-identification, and assessment status). These groups are recorded separately and will be analysed separately where appropriate.

The study is completely anonymous and takes approximately 10–15 minutes to complete.

The questionnaire includes one short writing task. You will be asked to describe ONE sensory experience that you remember. It can be any memorable or interesting sensory experience. It does not have to be about a particular sense or topic. For example, it could involve a sound, smell, taste, texture, a visual scene, movement, temperature, pain, or any other sensation that stands out to you. There are no right or wrong answers.

I am interested in hearing a wide range of experiences, as every participant helps us better understand how different people perceive and describe the world around them.

Assistance is welcome if needed. However, the responses should describe the participant's own experiences and, whenever possible, use the participant's own words.

Survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RWJXRRQ

Contact:
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Ethics approval:
3257-4138-6B57P5A58-7A58

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. If you know someone who may be interested in participating, I would be very grateful if you shared this study with them.

If you would like to receive a summary of the results, please feel free to contact me by email. As this is an ongoing PhD project, the results will be available once the study has been completed.

Hello,

I am a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Jackson State University researching what, if any, differences exist between self-diagnosed and clinical-diagnosed autistic adult populations. This research will be a thesis paper that I hope will be part of a larger research project to potentially validate self-diagnosis as a diagnostic tool to use in adult autism assessments since there is a distinct lack of tools specifically for adult autism diagnosis.

I understand self-diagnosis is a complex and controversial issue. I am diagnosed autistic myself and my specialty even before I joined the program was in autism diagnosis with adolescent and adult individuals. I also understand the concern with how self-diagnosis can potentially skew resource allocation and understanding of autistic individuals. I have spoken with many individuals in the community about this topic and want to handle this research respectfully and with care.

With self-diagnosis on the rise in the community I feel this is an important area of research that is currently missing. The primary purpose of this stage of the research, including this survey, is to establish the amount of individuals who 1) self diagnose and 2) establish if the current stats on historically missed populations line up with the self-diagnosed individuals. The planned follow-up research will be to screen self-diagnosed and clinically diagnosed individuals with commonly used screening tools to see 1) reliability of self-diagnosis and 2) if self-diagnosis is unreliable what differences are appearing. Right now I am attempting to establish the need for this research before we can further the research validity.

I wanted to reach out here specifically because this is a space for clinically diagnosed individuals and that is half of the population needed for research. In my opinion the only way to properly research any reliability and/or validity with self-diagnosis will require participation of clinically diagnosed individuals. If you can take five minutes to help it would be greatly appreciated.

I have attached the link to participate below. All information is confidential and cannot be traced back to participants as we will be taking no identifying information.

Anyone who is 18 years or older, lives in the United States, and identifies as autistic is eligible to participate. This is an online survey and should take around 5 minutes to complete. If you have any concerns, feel free to message me.

Link to the consent form to participate and survey:

https://qualtricsxmbsl5flyf5.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eEvvZfdNrIRfWJw

IRB information: Protocol# 0066-26 entitled: “What Differences Exist Between Clinically Diagnosed and Self-Diagnosed Autistic Adults?” Survey will be available Until August 2026. The name and contact email of the lead researcher is Kristen Lott, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Welcome to this week's special interest discussion thread! Use this comment section to share about your special interests or current hyper-fixations! 

When you tell the truth and somehow the person you tell the truth to doesn’t believe you.

I hate this kind of thing happening to me so much, that it’s actually stopped me from doing something because I was afraid that would happen.

I’ve unfortunately been accused of this a few times. The last time this happened to me was less than a year ago

Hello! I would be really interested in getting your help recruiting for my dissertation survey. I am interested in the sensory and emotional experiences related to GI discomfort and fears of weight gain in people with EDs. The survey focuses a lot on interoception, which is a really important treatment target in people who have ASD and EDs, so I want to be sure folks with ASD are well represented!

My info: Katerina Rinaldi, MS, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

• Responses will be deidentified and data will be stored on password-protected accounts and devices. Information from responses will be used for the lead researcher's dissertation and may be published. If published, the lead researcher is happy to share results with this sub.
• Must be over the age of 18 and diagnosed with any eating disorder, must also be currently receiving ED-related support which could include outpatient therapy or peer support groups. People with diagnosed ASD are really encouraged to participate!
• This study is IRB approved by Nova Southeastern University, approval number NSU 2026-55

Full study link: https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5nCbHSC5Iww2DDo

Hi all!

I (an autistic woman myself) am conducting a research in my university regarding autistic camouflaging and mental health, and I still need participants! If this interests you, I would appreciate your participation.

Link to the study: https://maastrichtuniversity.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a2vuFD4kHiIf8A6

Purpose: This research is about the relationship of masking/camouflaging behavior in autistic people and their mental health, and the mechanisms that mediate this relationship. The factors which we want to investigate are aspects of the self and social support.

Participant selection: This study regards people 16 years or older who have a formal Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis without co-occurring intellectual disability, and are fluent in the English language.

Procedure: Participants will be asked to fill out an online questionnaire, with the survey lasting approximately 10-15 minutes.

Data handling: The study is anonymous and no personal data will be stored. Research data can be published and re-used in other research, but only in such a way that they cannot be traced back to the participants. For the duration of the study, the data will be stored confidentially, on university servers and will only be accessible by the researchers.

More information is available in the information and consent form in the study.

Contact:

Alexandra Varouxi (Master’s student) [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Dr. Johannes Stauder (Responsible researcher) [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Ethics Review Committee Psychology and Neuroscience Reference Code: OZL_248_06_02_2022_S43

Research Title: Camouflaging Behavior and Mental Health in Autistic Adults: Examining the Roles of Perceived Social Support, Self-Concept and Self-Acceptance

Maastricht University, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience

Welcome to this week's special interest discussion thread! Use this comment section to share about your special interests or current hyper-fixations! 

https://discord.gg/WGc5PsgUgP

For context, Carl the Collector is an animated show about an autistic raccoon who loves to collect things.

I think I have a very negative view of life, and I wanted to know if anyone else feels the same way. I've always thought that life isn't all that great and that the effort far outweighs the reward. The thought of having to study, work, and generally do things that require a lot of effort my whole life doesn't appeal to me. I'm not suicidal, but I don't want to live to old age; the idea of ​​living that long doesn't appeal to me.

I’m a bit confused about a short convo i had.

We followed each other on tiktok first then instagram (he followed me first on instagram) and then he dm’d me.

Him: hii
Me: hii
Him: how many old are u
I replied my age + said “how many are u”

I was just matching his tone.
After that he unfollowed and removed me on both apps

To be honest, it’s not something I take seriously, I’m just confused about what happened and wondering if I should’ve just replied “and u” or if it’s better to just stay more casual instead of matching people’s vibes.

I’m sure most of us are familiar with what a struggle it is to read someone’s tone over the internet. It’s probably hard for most people, but it’s even worse when you’re autistic; I’m not an expert at reading people in-person either, but compared to online messages it’s still a lot easier!

When I text a friend I always make sure to use smiley faces, hearts, exclamation points, tone tags etc; anything I can do to help get a friendly vibe across to them. I guess I know how much I overthink texts and I don’t want anyone to go through the same thing. Of course everyone has different texting styles, and some people don’t use any of those things. They just send plain messages with no frills, and I want to stress this: that’s absolutely fine. Putting my own anxiety aside I know that it’s usually not a reflection on someone’s personality, how friendly they are, or how much they enjoy talking to you.

But compared to other texting styles, this bare-bones one makes it pretty hard for me to tell what kind of mood they’re in, imagine their tone of voice etc, and I do overthink it 💔 I get scared that they’re tired of talking to me, or I’ve said something wrong, and it’s so hard to confirm or deny that kind of thing over the internet.

I guess I’m just looking for some advice. What do I do in this kind of situation? I don’t think asking someone to change their texting style is the answer; if they adjusted something they’ve been doing for years just for the sake of me and my anxiety I’d feel terrible. But I’m not sure whether to bring it up at all, or if there’s just some things I can do by myself to calm down.

The unpopular opinion is that if an autistic person is brought up in a culture that engages in practices that are a danger to their mental health or their autism, they should hide from that culture and if they don’t have a place to hide from that culture, then they should be given one. These are some examples of what I mean by “practices that are a danger to an autistic person’s mental health.”

•

1. Being called a name that other people laugh at that you don’t like

•

1. Being told you’re not good enough or being made fun of just because you don’t fit stereotypes associated with your race

•

1. Being woken up in the morning and told to clean.

•

1. Celebrating your birthday and suddenly the back of your head is being pushed down into you

r birthday

1. cake.

•

1. More generally, i think some cultures have unfortunately normalized bullying which I don’t think any autistic person should be around for the safety of their mental health and they should hide from it if they have a place to hide from it.

•

1. Being pressured to do anything you don’t wanna do just because it’s a tradition

Hi everyone,

My name is Sydney and I am a 4th year student at Northern Arizona University's Clinical Psychology doctoral program. I am conducting a study on camouflaging behaviors as part of my doctoral training. The study is focused on further understanding camouflaging/masking in individuals with autism and the gender differences related to these behaviors. The information gathered during this study will help clinicians be able to better understand these behaviors, aid in more accurate and timely diagnosing, and allow for more effective support for anyone seeking help when it comes to burnout and stress from camouflaging/masking in everyday life. Anyone 18 years+ with an autism diagnosis from a qualified licensed provider can participate. I'll be collecting data until late August.

I would really appreciate you taking my online survey - it is about 10 minutes long and contains a questionnaire on camouflaging, along with a few additional questions on general distress you may experience in day-to-day life (e.g., anxiety, depression). The consent form is embedded in the survey and participants have the option to discontinue the survey at any time. All information gathered is anonymous and the data is stored on a password-protected drive. The study was reviewed and approved by IRB earlier this year (IRB number 2387371-2). The results will be presented to NAU clinical psychology faculty and students in a presentation and paper format.

You can also enter a raffle to win a $15 Visa gift card as a thank you for participating (this is accessible through a separate link below, so no identifying information can be linked to any study data)!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns -- thank you so much to those who consider participating or sharing your thoughts:)

Anonymous Survey Link

Raffle Link

Kindly,

Sydney Jenko

[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])