What are you looking for?
Featured Topics
Select a topic to start reading.
I feel like everybody else got a manual for life but I didn't. (RANT)
2 years ago · 2 · Autism, +4
450
I was recently diagnosed with autism, and the title above describes exactly how I feel. There are these small things and habits that everybody else thinks of as normal but I was literally never told I had to do them?
Like, for example, I wasn't aware that I'm supposed to clean the earwax out of my ear every once in a while? Apparently people do that? In all my life I have no memory of someone teaching me that or me doing it routinely and now I'm genuinely confused.
There are other stuff that genuinely confuse me as well. Was I supposed to be taught to have good social skills by my parents and missed out, or do neurotypicals have some sort of instinct for that?
If you see a comment that is unsupportive or unfriendly, please report it using the flag button.
More Posts
-
Well, I qualified for 80% off at the sliding scale clinic.
This includes medical, dental, and vision. And mental health. I kinda wanna get some mental health therapy but I don't want the people who told me "you ne...
-
I hate life
I hate almost every aspect of my life. And I just don't know where to start. I don't understand people and they don't understand me. I don't have real friends...
So, I'm not sure what your age demographic is but life is always a difficult system to navigate, especially with autism. It's learnable, but being a late bloomer is a bit of a thing, and you'll never be exactly like everyone else.
Which is...fine. Normal people are just more common, they're not objectively doing anything the correct way. I'm not saying any of these following apply to you, I'm just speaking from my own experience growing up as someone who completely misread the whole life pamphlet thing. It helps to read things, force yourself to pay at least a bit of attention to trends and the like as there's an expectation of understanding it. Know that you will care about things they don't, and they will care about things you don't, but sometimes it's nice to just let other people talk. You don't have to care about what they're saying, people just appreciate being listened to. Good hygiene is a must. Get a haircut that fits your face shape (google has lots of resources for this). Get a few nice outfits. Smile, practice eye contact.
But really, most importantly, just accept that you're different. Everyone is different, and I promise you notice it more than other people. If someone has an issue with your quirks, that's fine. "Neurotypicals" hate each other for stupid shit constantly, it's nothing wrong with you. Some people just don't get along.
My social skills still suck but I've done what I can to be someone that at least a few people want to be around. I learned skills that impact others. I'm a great cook now! I'm educated, I can help people with math problems, fix their cars, build computers, etc.
I'm not being very pointed here, but I guess my overall point is this. Life ain't that serious. Have fun with it, don't burn your bridges, learn what you want and focus on building yourself into a person that you like. If you don't like yourself, how can you expect other people to?
There's no handbook for life. Some people are just naturally better at pretending there is.
ReplyEars are supposedly self-cleaning. Some people get more of a wax and debris build-up and require syringing from time to time.
Reply