Source ~ The Chronic Couple

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I hate when people play phone audio out loud in public spaces. The screechy quality of phone speakers, the disregard for literally anyone's auditory comfort, my poor autistic ears — I rage mode.

I know I'm not alone, so I am going to share my flawless embarrassment-free technique to get them to stop.

1) Carry a pair of earbuds on you. Not required, but it helps give you the confidence to actually confront them

2) walk up to them and be as nice as possible, no matter how mad you are. However, do not explain yourself or apologize, just make a simple request: "Hi, would you mind using earbuds for that?" (You're not asking them to stop, just change their method)

3a) 90% of the time they will shamefully put their phone away, and because you were so nice, they aren't even mad at you!! Then you can thank them for being so thoughtful, and maybe compliment their shirt or something! Everybody loves compliments.

3b) Alternatively, they might say, "I don't have earbuds." Normally, this would put you in an awkward situation, but You aren't normal. You are Prepared.

OFFER THE EARBUDS: "That's okay," you say, "you can borrow mine!" dazzling smile, you are so nice and thoughtful, what a great guy you are

Don't worry about losing your earbuds (or if you don't actually have earbuds), because they won't accept your offer. THEN they will put their phone away of their own free will. You never even had to ask.

If you want a detailed explanation of why this works (for the autistic besties, I see u):

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 5 years old— subsequently I was forced to take various high levels of stimulants, be in special ed classes, taught to have “quiet hands”, bullied for being weird, and over and over was still unable to keep up with neurotypical peers. It was suffocating.

I remember my senior year of high school, I was in alternative education. It was the one and only year I got honors, didn’t fail any classes, and it was the only year I got the accommodations I needed: being able to stim freely in class, listen to music whenever I needed to, arrive late/leave early, able to do homework in class, and whenever I struggled, my teachers checked on me.

Such simple accommodations changed my life. And it wasn’t until after 12 years of continuously failing classes, punished for being the way I am, years lost to being grounded for never being able to have good grades, so much more. I internalized that I was the problem. But I never was. It was the inaccessible world around me.

Let neurodivergent people, children especially, exist as they are. They are beautiful just as they are. May your hands always be loud.

Autism Bingo

Here’s a blank template so you can participate if you’d like. :)

Source: Pinterest

[id: art of happy menhera-chan. The caption reads “hello mutuals. I love you very much, but I don’t know how to tell you or how to interact with you. So I’m doing this post instead cause I love you very much”]

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, being autistic is like playing a board game without knowing any of the rules.

Obscure autistic experiences that I didn’t realize were autistic experiences

(These aren’t diagnostic criteria for being autistic, just things that autistic people relate to more often than allistic people do)

• Making PowerPoints for fun (peak entertainment when I was 12 years old fr)

• I can’t eat my dinner, it’s too hot outside

• Someone has shown up to my house unexpectedly; I have to ignore them until I mentally adjust to the fact that they’re here

• Stop giving me light, tickly hugs—I need you to crush me

• *in a friend’s house* Ok I have no idea how formal or familiar I am supposed to be so I’m just going to not touch ANYTHING and wait to sit down until I’m invited to do so

• Getting yelled at for “not playing correctly” (??)

• “Who’s your celebrity crush” uhhh idk I only watch this one movie from 20 years ago so I don’t know any current celebrities

• Motion sickness. All the time.

• No one else follows the RulesTM correctly! I hate group projects!

• Having constant stomachaches and headaches from overstimulation, but the doctor says you don’t have a physical problem so obviously you’re faking to get out of school

• How does everyone else just know how to do that?

• Practicing “normal” conversation before going out in public

• Touching all the soft fabrics in the store until you find that one Bad Texture and now it’s burned into your skin and you are going to die

• I made a joke and everybody looked at me strangely and now I can’t figure out what I did wrong but I think they thought I was serious?

• On the opposite side: I said something totally sincere and now everyone is laughing so I guess I join in?

• Wearing the same shirt over and over and over and over

reblog my post boy

My favorite part is when the kitty runs to the window and looks out like “the outside stuff????? It is inside?????”

i

i had to

Y’all this is a great video to study to observe the body language of a very happy but also very excited cat.  Lots of people see videos of excited cats doing things like climb rock climbing walls or get on small boats and think they are angry or scared, when they aren’t.  Here’s a good example of happy excitement and tension in a cat where the cat’s pleasure is easy to see.  The cat’s tail is lashing and its ears are going backward and forward like crazy, but the cat is not angry, it is merely off its shits because snow is just incredible.  This is a wildly playful cat which might play-attack a hand or other animal because it is so excited, but not out of anger.  Note the zoomies at the end to burn off some of that energy!

Think about it. When we humans do something fun and very physical, our bodies are often tense, at the ready, and a lot of our body language does look kind of aggressive or even scared. Cats are the same!  Animals at play or investigating new things often show some tension, but tension is not the same as anger or fear!

Credits to @the-necessary-unnecessary for the translation. Original post here

my tummy hurts but at least i have a medical professional (baby cat) accompanying me

hi baby cat here. we hvae to cut you in to ten million pieces with my claws forever

are yhou sure about this doctor

pawsitive

My favorite rejected New Yorker submission

There's no such thing as equitable media representation until we have a lesbian version of the ambiguously gay duo where one of them is short and fat and the other is tall and thin and they're both fucking idiots.

If you're in the notes proposing an "equivalent" to this trope where neither party is fat, you need to rethink your life.

Don’t you just hate it when you give in to your lust for blood and you sink your fangs into a robot by mistake?

The vampire equivalent of the “accidentally ate the fake fruit” faux pas.

Let Them Say Fuck, Semi-Finals

the undertale fandom did not create "let papyrus say fuck day" just for him to LOSE THE LET THEM SAY FUCK TOURNAMENT

For those with homes built to keep heat in, not let it out: aluminum foil your windows, shiny side out. Cover the window, tape up the sides, maybe tape cardboard behind it to help insulate from the heat outside and absorb heat that gets through the foil.

Love, a former Californian, whose had to keep houses cool without any electricity.

P.S. this is a method endorsed by FEMA and the Department of Energy, so if you need more than anecdotal evidence, there ya go.

I do this up in the PNW and it really helps during heat waves. So much.

The other day I was at work and I had this table of all old women dressed to the nines and there was one in this little zebra print number with some sort of feathered something it was truly a wonder to behold and my (heterosexual) (presumably not terminally online) coworker goes “what is she wearing” and without really thinking I go “it’s called cunt and she’s serving it.” You can’t imagine the look I got

[ID: A black and white photograph of three lesbians in a linked line. From left to right, a wheelchair user leads the line, hand on the wheels; a cane user holds on against the back of the wheelchair, mid-step; the final lesbian with her guide-dog holds the elbow of the cane user in front of her. The three of them are crossing the street. End ID.]