I have written a lot of articles, and an autobiography, over the last 6 years. This article I wrote today is the most important thing I have ever written.

It is a full step-by-step guide for us autistic, ADHD & neurodivergent adults to take over the sensory industry. How to design and manufacture chews the right way, how to manufacture spinner rings, how to curate fidget toys.

I am 41. I won’t be able to do this forever. Eventually my Essential Tremor will completely take over. So with this, I am passing the torch to other entrepreneurs in our community to take over our industry now, and pave the way for future generations to ensure predators never dominate the sensory market ever again.

https://autisticinnovator.com/sensory-industry-autistic-adhd-neurodivergent-entrepreneurship/

#ActuallyAutistic
#ADHD
#neurodivergent

A message for my fellow neurodivergents:

The latest update for my current special interest project, the Techne System for Foundational Skills, has just been put online. The topic is Psychology (Intermediate level). I bring this to your attention not just for its own sake, but because it includes an introduction to Neurodiversity, autism, ADHD and other neurotypes.

Now I'm sure many if not most of you already know all the stuff in this mere introductory overview, but I would very happy to hear your feedback on it. Is it accurate? Is it easily understood? Is there anything I should add, or leave out? The point of the program is that there is only so good one person can make it, so it's intended to improve through community feedback. For context this is aimed at a general audience.

And for everyone else that isn't as familiar with the material, I'd like your feedback too, and hopefully you'll learn something useful.

And this is only one subject out of 5 in the Psychology topic, not counting the Bare Essentials material. Or the other 22 topics in the program, in case you want to poke around. It's all free with no sign ups, subscriptions, or even tracking or cookies.

Here's a link directly to the Neurodiversity page:
https://techne-system.neocities.org/program/level-2/topic-2/l2t2-iib-psy
There are many navigation tools for getting around the rest of the site.

#ActuallyAutistic @autistics #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #ADHD #AuDHD

I might need Fedi’s help with my garden. It’s a tinyyyy patio that’s completely overrun with weeds, and there's two bottomless planters filled with compost from the previous owners. It sees some morning sun but otherwise is shaded. I have no idea what to do with it!

Anything #solarpunk wins. Must be #ADHD friendly. EDIT: Here's a photo. It's in a sorry state. The wormery isn't in use!

#gardening #gardenLife

Alt...

A tiny patio garden, surrounded by a fence and brick walls, with weeds everywhere. There's two bottomless planters filled with compost, and an unused wormery nearby.

It's not that "everyone is #adhd these days". It's that you just so happen to be hanging around in the places lots and lots of #actuallyadhd people hang out. Which might be something you introspect a bit further about why you find those places and people comfortable.

RE: https://aus.social/@DenisCOVIDinfoguy/116920985930524103

So um … apparently #ADHD folks should be EXTRA fearful of long covid. Not that it wasn’t bad enough already. 😭

Maybe everybody sits in their car and yells "MY BRAIN IS FUCKING BROKEN" at some point.

Maybe it's not just a me thing.

#audhd #autism #adhd #disability #neurodiverse #MentalHealth

I in no way want to be inflammatory, but a lot of #adhd #autism #audhd podcasts (the newer ones / the active ones) seem to be by women who say they're doing a show with a bit of a woman's perspective because there are none by / for women. The thing is, the ones by women are the only ones I find. I can't seem to find any by / for middle aged white guys, even though that's what they say Is all they can find. Are there any for 'my' demographic recommend? I'm from the UK. Also, late diagnosed

adding another #ADHD #sketching / #drawing to #Mastodon account

Alt...

Black and white abstract #sketching / #drawing featuring a complex arrangement of swirling lines and shapes, creating an intricate pattern with both filled and open areas

@weirdestate
#ADHD overstimulation heaven. 😛

Utada's music is good for the brain.

Even #autistic #ADHD brains.

I do not know about other brains.

I recently switched from a notebook for my to-do list to sticky notes, saving me from having 100 things on one piece of paper and never getting through it.

I LOVE that I can get rid of it after finishing the 2-3 things that fit on it. It tickles my reward centers! So much better than flipping a page and copying the left-overs onto the new one or clicking some version of complete electronically.

#ADHD #neurodivergent #WhatWasIDoing

One of the, hopefully temporary, side effects of my #ADHD meds is dry eyes. I bought some drops, but it’s just not possible to do it myself. Is there anything else I can do to help my dry eyes? Already blinking extra and consciously.

And this one too from the same source as mentioned in my previous post.

“The gap between deciding to do a thing and beginning to do the thing has a name in the research literature: task initiation. It is one of the executive functions, and it can fail on its own, independently of motivation, intelligence, or how much you want the outcome.

This is the part that outsiders never believe, so hear it plainly: you can want the room clean, be capable of cleaning the room, have the entire afternoon free, and still be physically unable to stand up and start. Not unwilling.“

Applies of course also to ADHD.

———
Autistic Doom Piles: Why the Mess Isn't Laziness

The chair with the clothes on it. The box you have moved house three times without opening. The pile was never a character flaw, and it was never laziness.

#ActuallyAutistic #autism #ADHD

https://www.heyasd.com/blogs/autism/autistic-doom-piles

This infomeme resonated well with me.

- Reuploaded with permission from the creator, Decode The Mind 🧠 ( https://www.facebook.com/61583529670886/posts/pfbid02UHbitriVXEQiKtRsxhamKVU9SiNgky5yoF5RaPjm1yDE4U7XaTFBuasXPpg4g4uFl/ )

#Autism #Autistic #ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #ADHD @autistics

Alt...

An infomeme with the following text: "You don't seem autistic." - That's because I don't fit the train-facts, genius-maths, man-in-a-cardigan sitcom stereotype. - I have the late-diagnosed, ADHD-powered, highly-masked edition. - That means I can understand complex topics, spot patterns other people miss, and build a full mental thesis before breakfast… yet still lack the executive function to open my post, reply to a text, or put something away properly. - I can notice a tiny shift in tone before anyone else has even admitted there is a tone. - I can burn myself out trying to do everything properly, then get treated like I'm being dramatic when my nervous system finally hands in its resignation. - I panic when plans suddenly change, hate vague instructions, overthink every social interaction, and still somehow get accused of being blunt when I'm just answering the actual question. - I don't 'overreact'. I process everything at full volume. - I don't 'make things difficult'. I notice when things don't make sense. - And no, I'm not being rude. - My brain just skipped the decorative packaging and sent the truth first class.

#Tech #Apple #MacOS #Linux

If I had a blog, this would be a blog post. I don't, so you lot are blessed with it... it's a bit long.

I've been diving down some deep rabbit holes recently, making some tough choices about my tech stack.

It's kind of a macOS vs Linux post but just about considering practicalities rather than ideology.

Since 2020 my main computer has been an M1 #MacBookAir with a nice big 4K LG monitor, an OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock with umpteen ports, and a Sound Blaster Katana soundbar. I also have an elderly Linux #Thinkpad that I bought second-hand for controlling the #ModelRailway but I'll come back to that.

As a privacy advocate I would love my main working environment to be Linux, and I absolutely hate macOS #Tahoe (I downgraded back to Sequoia after trying it for a week), so I've been watching the #AsahiLinux project closely. Sadly the lack of progress on #Thunderbolt ("work in progress" for 2 years!) means #Asahi is still not an option, because I can't work without the big screen or the dock.

But recently I realised my Thinkpad has Thunderbolt support, and although it's old it's fast enough for software development (it's an X1 Carbon with a 6th gen i5 CPU).

So... (lightbulb moment) why don't I just swap the 2 machines - use the Thinkpad as my main dev machine, and the #MacBook as my model railway controller? Quite an exciting thought. I then spent ages plotting out how this might work, checking which apps I could still use, etc etc.

Unfortunately I came up against 3 barriers:

1. My particular Thunderbolt dock model does not have a Linux driver.

2. Creative do not offer a Linux app to control their Sound Blaster Katana models, and without an app most of the functionality is unavailable.

3. My model railway layout planning app (RailModeller Pro) is a Mac-only app, and using it on a small screen (because the Linux laptop would be using the big screen) would be impractical. The only Linux app that does the same job (XtrkCad) is a monster with a near-vertiginous learning curve and terrible UI. There are Windows apps but I refuse to go down the Wine route.

Whichever way my thoughts take me, I can't get past these three issues. I simply don't have the budget to replace the soundbar with anything decent (I love my music), and although the Thinkpad has more ports than the Air, I'd still be juggling cables to a frustrating degree. And yes I could unplug the big screen and put it into the Mac when using RailModeller Pro, but when I consider all these issues together, it's just too much friction to consider swapping the two machines' roles. I'm too old to deliberately choose to make my life harder for any reason.

So now, after months of thinking Asahi Linux was going to transform my life, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I should just keep things as they are, and in particular accept these two compromises:

1. Live with Apple-level surveillance on the basis that it's still way better than Microsoft-level surveillance.

2. Stay with macOS Sequoia for as long as possible, and hopefully by the time Apple forces me to upgrade to a new OS version, they will have moved on from the appalling liquid glass UI in Tahoe.

So that's it. I don't like compromising; I never have. The #autistic side of me always wants to take a purist, absolutist approach (privacy at all costs!), but in the end I have to be realistic. Not to mention the #ADHD side of me getting way too excited about CHANGING SOMETHING! YAY! DOPAMINE! But now that I've lived with my #AuDHD diagnosis for a while I'm getting better at forcing myself to accept necessary compromises.

Gang, help. How do you have energy to DO stuff? Like-

I have a solid 3 or 4, could be more, "projects" I'd like to devote regular time to. On top of work, I can do about one "extra" thing a day. And even on weekends I'm RECOVERING to my energy to available time ratio is technically even lower.

Just… maybe I wouldn't hate my stupid miserable life so much if I could ACCOMPLISH some of these GOALS and DREAMS. Like music - I could be recording and releasing but - physical energy, emotional energy, SUSTAINED AND SUSTAINABLE energy, I have none.

And some of the goals need to be worked on almost daily or I won't make any progress, so… that's it. That's my one a day, maybe 5 or 6 days out of the week.

If you are #ADHD or #AuDHD with a pet...
A cat water fountain not only makes the water more enticing, you can get one that blinks or changes light color when it's out of water. I'm forgetful AF, and this has really improved my cat's consistant access to water.
Also, the little pump is sensitive to grime and will stop fountaining. It may seem like an annoyance to most people, but it's an easy visual reminder to clean it long before it's visibly gross.

@autistics
Announcement: #Voxelibre multiplayer casual game today (Sat) for 4 hours in the late afternoon to evening (North America). That's in about 8 hours from now.

Voxelibre is a free and #OpenSource #Minecraft clone. More details here: https://docs.autis.toque.im/

Damage has been turned off. People with #Autism, #ADHD or #AuDHD are invited. There's talk of this week of building more minecart tracks.

#luanti #game #gaming #games