if your response to "diagnosed autistics in the US are having HIPPA violated to have their names put on a list by the government" is "so happy i was never diagnosed!"... then you are actually not helping in the slightest.
most of us with diagnoses were diagnosed as children, we didn't get a choice. and now we are getting put on a list, with those who are high support needs facing the most danger from said lists.
rubbing it in our faces that you won't be on said list is hurtful. its not funny. its not cute.
I am beginning to think that perhaps I was not meant for this life. I think I was supposed to be a Strange Old Woman living in an overgrown cottage outside of town who seems relatively nice but is also inexplicably unnerving and is always writing fairy tales that I won't let anybody read.
Brandon Sanderson || art: Karl Gussow // Jean Claude Kabongo // George Frederic Watts
when you’re autistic the question one always has to ponder is: do I actually hate [new/different thing] or am I having one of my regularly scheduled Fuck I Hate Change freakouts
I LOVE being autistic and trying to communicate because every time it’s
By the way, you can improve your executive function. You can literally build it like a muscle.
Yes, even if you're neurodivergent. I don't have ADHD, but it is allegedly a thing with ADHD as well. And I am autistic, and after a bunch of nerve damage (severe enough that I was basically housebound for 6 months), I had to completely rebuild my ability to get my brain to Do Things from what felt like nearly scratch.
This is specifically from ADDitude magazine, so written specifically for ADHD (and while focused in large part on kids, also definitely includes adults and adult activities):
Here's a link on this for autism (though as an editor wow did that title need an editor lol):
Resources on this aren't great because they're mainly aimed at neurotypical therapists or parents of neurdivergent children. There's worksheets you can do that help a lot too or thought work you can do to sort of build the neuro-infrastructure for tasks.
But a lot of the stuff is just like. fun. Pulling from both the first article and my own experience:
Play games or video games where you have to make a lot of decisions. Literally go make a ton of picrews or do online dress-up dolls if you like. It helped me.
Art, especially forms of art that require patience, planning ahead, or in contrast improvisation
Listening to longform storytelling without visuals, e.g. just listening regularly to audiobooks or narrative podcasts, etc.
Meditation
Martial arts
Sports in general
Board games like chess or Catan (I actually found a big list of what board games are good for building what executive functioning skills here)
Woodworking
Cooking
If you're bad at time management play games or video games with a bunch of timers
Things can be easier. You might always have a disability around this (I certainly always will), but it can be easier. You do not have to be this stuck forever.