@actuallyautistic@AutisticAdam The foods you buy that are more expensive than alternative options because they're your safe foods that you feel more comfortable eating than others, and the quick-fix foods you buy because you just don't have the processing resources to handle cooking.
@lzg@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic YES. we generally have great difficulty (at best) with playing allistic social games, and these things tend to keep us at lower-paying jobs (if we can find a job at all). and that includes not just "networking," but also job interviews, masking at customer- or client-facing jobs, and communicating our needs in a way that doesn't offend allistic people.
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic Food. So many restaurant meals left uneaten. So many inclusive company events that did not include anything I could politely eat. So much "no, it specifically has to be the expensive brand" or "I can't eat it once it turns brown". So many "coffee" events where I can only drink water.
Subtle, but very present.
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic
alcoholism I developed in part to quiet the sensory experience that will cost me medical fees and an earlier death. That's probably the biggest one.
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic "All the clothes and foods you buy that don’t meet your sensory needs and can't be returned or that you can't return" - me, taking a sip of a drink that I didn't read the label for, having my palate coated with a horrid, bitter, medicinal funk, and then finding out that the damn thing has sugar substitutes in it 🥴
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic oh and the things I need to sleep. Cause just going to sleep just isn’t an option. Comfort blankets, plushies, fairy lights etc
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic the last floor apartment. The quiet street. The noise canceling headphone and ear buds. The quiet PC and quiet fans and quiet appliances.
The glasses that react to UV light and the anti reflect sunglasses and the not too bright light bulbs.
And I'm lucky to be back to a job that won't negatively react to me wearing sport everything because I can't stand being sweaty. And that decathlon is affordable and has removable labels.
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic Alcoholism to quiet how overwhelming social situations are. Fines from bills I ignored. Extensive dental work from appointments I avoided. The cat shit from five emotional support cats. I could go on.
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic Before moving in with my partner, the cost of renting a flat instead of a room because I can't deal with other people in my space.
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic Working part time and getting paid accordingly while actually working full time, practicing upcoming conversations for hours via self talk.
@AutisticAdam@actuallyautistic The longer time it takes to get somewhere by transit because driving is overwhelming. The time I spend worrying about a phone call before I can make it. The extra time at medical visits to calm down enough to get through the sensory experience of an exam. Time spent worrying about an appointment 3 hours away to the exclusion of anything productive.
Paying extra for hypo-allergenic jewelry and a medical ID bracelet. Earrings need to be light so it takes me 15 minutes to fumble them in; can't just leave them in, either. Can't sleep on them.
The only jewelry I can stand to wear. As my Burnout improves I get less fumbly but I have to do some things, as a woman, for "professional appearance."
Improved from the sensory nightmare of 80's office. Will never touch a floppy bow again.
subscription services that I forget I have and need to get around to cancelling, but at this point it's clearly by design, so it hardly counts.
instantly forgetting what I need to buy, and the specifications of those things, when I walk into a store and accidentally getting too few, too many, the wrong type, or additional things I already had
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