WHERE TO GET THE BOOK: http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=F6B31A8DAFD6BD39A5986833E66293E6
PRIOR THREADS:
So, it’s been a minute. Apologies. Life has been overwhelming me lately. School, work, more failed attempts at dating, etc. Please be patient, I have autism (probably) 
I was also reading Devon Price’s new book, Unlearning Shame. Definitely recommend. He dismantles shame as a social construct of behavioral reinforcement and the undergirding of the lie that is rugged individualism, and prescribes the cure of building community and understanding social interconnectedness on a deep level. Made me re-examine just how much shame is woven into the fabric of the way I conduct myself and hoo boy it’s a lot. I blame my Catholic upbringing.
Anyway, I figured before I dive back into the next chapter it’d be nice to get caught up and see where everyone is at. Share your thoughts here, ask questions, get caught up. I want to make a new post next week but first I have to write an informative speech and then an essay about some story or another
Let’s cut down on the decision paralysis with some discussion questions:
- What’s new with you, neurodiversity-wise, since the last thread?
- Any points of contention, confusion, or questions from prior chapters?
- Post any thoughts specific to the last chapters that you didn’t get to share before.
Tag post to follow.
I was actually planning on sending a search team out for FourteenEyes since it’s been a while. It’s been almost 3 months since I read the book so I think I am mostly going to cruise the comments unless I come up with something I feel might be worth contributing.
As far as what’s new for me in my ND life, I’m mostly just trying to learn how to navigate my world post-diagnosis at this point. I still can’t get a job. It’s been 6 months. I am just looking for something that works for me since trying to work in a NT world fucking sucks. I was trying to learn networking and get my CCNA but that sort of fizzled out around the time I realized I was really just going through an extremely long burnout phase. I took a few weeks off of life, did some half ass writing, and then earlier this week, I for some reason decided to pick web development back up. I suck at it and decided to try and get good at it instead, as a change of pace. I don’t know if I am doing it for fun, if I wanna get into freelance, or try and get a job. I asked my developer friend if he had to pick between Ruby on Rails or React which would he go with and he said React so I went with it. I am more familiar with JS than with Ruby anyway so sure. In the event that I do get good at it, it will make me hire-able I think. I guess Rails would too but those jobs are fewer and further between.
With that said, I might be looking for a learning buddy or possibly someone willing to act as a mentor so if any comrades are either learning React/MERN stack, or are willing to help me with parts I struggle with hit me up. I was gonna put a post out in chat or programming and still might but I guess I can send out feelers here too?
Moving on, I have a friend who recently got noise cancelling headphones(like designed for shooting ranges) and she loves them. I have another that picked up some Loops noise cancelling earbuds that I didn’t know were a thing. I ended up getting some knockoffs and have been using them and holy shit they actually help. I didn’t realize just how overstimulation I was getting from noise. They don’t completely drown out sound but they make things more bearable. My son is ADHD and loud as fuck and I even wear them around him. They look like normal earbuds so that’s maybe a plus for some people. They were def an unexpected part of me “owning my neurdivergence” this year.
Podcast plug: I started listening to “Oh, That’s Just My Autism” be Melissa Tacia. In it, she started out selt-diagnosed/curious that she might be, and eventually gets her diagnosis(plot spoiler: ASD and ADHD). But she is such a relatable person and it’s been really fun just listening to her talk about a random ASD-related topic and diving in from her personal perspective. I also think she’s a closet comrade. She’s vegan, has a trans son, and came out as lesbian in a recent ep. She doesn’t quote Lenin or Marx per se, but I think it’s there somewhere. She’s just an all around super chill person.
Other than that, been reading dumb horror books and playing Dyson Sphere Program a lot lately.