Susan60

davidaugust, 1 month ago to random

RickiTarr, 3 months ago to random

If you could pause body aging, what age would you have paused at, and why?

RickiTarr, 3 months ago to random

Okay, I'm thinking about gift giving today. A little backstory about why:

Every year my Father-in-law attempts to get my Mother-in-law a gift. She is a bit of a shopper, and is notoriously difficult to shop for. Every year he gets her something he guesses a woman would like (perfume, sweater, jewelry), and every year she doesn't really like it, and ends up begrudgingly using it or returns it. They have been married over 30 years, and seem to have a pretty good marriage otherwise. It's like she wants him to magically understand what she wants, and he is sort of equally bad at the whole thing too. I will never understand why they don't just have a conversation about this. Just for extra fun, she is the most bizarre gift giver, also, to the point that it has become an annual tradition that I show my friends what she got us. A small list of things we have gotten:

A couch cover with grapes on it
A sexy nightgown
A painting of the house they live in
A gourd painted to look like a cat eating a bird
A package of tea that I would have absolutely loved, stuffed with cheap tea bags
Children's Lego sets
Toy trains
Underwear that didn't fit either of us
A wooden board covered in seashells that is supposed to hold a curling iron
A waterproof bed cover

I could go on and on. Just to clarify this doesn't bother me or my husband at all, we actually get a kick out of the weirdness. I don't personally care about presents much, I'm more of an experiences person.

SO, if you've managed to get this far, how do you feel about gift giving/getting? Feel free to elaborate and give examples!

Susan60, 4 months ago to actuallyautistic

I was going to post this as a response to someone else’s post, but realised it wasn’t really relevant to their point.

Years ago, when doing my teacher training, we had a guest speaker come & talk to us about our role as teacher when dealing with sexual diversity etc. He was a very conventional looking young white man.

It was a seminar type presentation, with discussion along the way. As time went on, he slowly removed his “straight” mask, to show how many students can & do present as heteronormative until if & when they’re ready to come out.

I wonder how this would work for autistic advocates who can mask effectively, in small group presentations? Masking as in making eye contact, smiling, a self effacing introduction etc. And then, “This is how I can present when I feel the need. This is how I present when I feel safe or give up caring.” Followed by an explanation of the impact that masking has, the fact that many autistic people can’t mask, the fact that we shouldn’t need to mask etc as well as general autism education.

Of course this shouldn’t be necessary & it wouldn’t be in an ideal world.
We could make comparisons with women who have to play by the men’s rules in business & politics, the people of colour &/or members of other different ethnic/religious groups who try to “assimilate” to get ahead, & how many struggle to do so, feel like traitors to themselves & their peers, get sick of &/or struggle with pretending to be someone other than they really are. Masking autism is not the same, & this would need to be explained, but I think many people would relate to some of the similarities & the feelings involved.

There will always be some people who refuse to learn, who insist on a negative approach as part of their strategy to prop up their own ego. And it’s not them whom I would bother trying to convince. It’s the more reasonable but ignorant people who are open to learning that I think would be worth targeting.

@actuallyautistic #ActuallyAutistic

DrPsyBuffy, 2 months ago to random

“It’s so embarrassing that you still mask in crowded indoor spaces.”

It’s pretty wild to think about how people are literally using peer pressure to get others to risk catching a virus linked to dozens of long-term complications

RickiTarr, 2 months ago to random

Does anyone else have trouble doing one thing at a time? Like if I'm doing chores it helps to have a podcast or talk to someone, or watching TV, I need to do something with my hands, like a little handy craft, or a simple game. I love movies, but the movie has to be absolutely fascinating for me to want to go to a theater where I just need to sit there and watch. I have a large amount of tabs open on my phone all the time and I flit back and forth through a bunch of different things. Weed helps calm this down a bit.

Susan60, 28 days ago to random

An autistic woman sees a news item on TV about the awful events at Bondi Junction yesterday. She sees the floral tributes, and wishes that such tributes weren’t wrapped in plastic, tied with ribbons etc, because then, when it was time, they could be swept up & composted.

That sounds totally lacking in empathy right? Why else would she be thinking about such trivial details?

I’ll tell you why. It’s because she is so distressed by the event, the fear suffered by victims at the time & since by those who survived & others who witnessed it, the loss of innocence experienced by those who have never before been so close to such an awful event, the grief suffered by those who have lost loved ones, that focussing on a practical, logistical issue is a way for her to avoid being overwhelmed by such feelings.

The next time anyone tells you that autistic people aren’t empathetic, tell them that empathy isn’t about how people look or behave, it’s about how they feel. Some autistic people are very much out of touch with their feelings, & find them very difficult to identify & articulate. Their feelings are buried very deeply within them. Some are hyper-sensitive to the suffering of others, which might be seen as being overly dramatic & making an event all about them. And the others are somewhere in between.

The fact that a person doesn’t express their feelings, or express them the way you might expect, does not mean that those feelings aren’t there.
#actuallyautistic #empathy

Susan60, 4 months ago to random

Usman Khawaja charged by ICC over Palestine protest in Australia Test https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/21/usman-khawaja-charged-by-icc-over-palestine-protest-in-australia-test?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other I hope Kwawaja is joined by other cricketers on both sides at the Boxing Day Test. To see his expression of mourning treated as a political statement is absurd.

Susan60, 6 months ago to random

A nice development. The family of a student from Ukraine who I worked with last year has moved into the flats across the road. Today her mother came across & in very broken English, asked if I could teach her. The normal system for migrants & refugees hasn’t been working well during Covid, especially for someone with a 3yo. I was thrilled! She asked about cost & I shook my head. Now I’ll have to make up some resources. While the focus will be on her, I’m hoping we can involve the 3yo a little too. And hopefully I can get the older child to speak English more at home, although preserving her native language is also important.

Susan60, 4 months ago to Bloomscrolling

Illawarra Flame Tree. They never used to flower down here. #Bloomscrolling

Susan60, 7 months ago to cooking

Used my new cookbook yesterday, by @Kon & his mum. My dishes didn’t look as amazing as the photos in his lovely book, but tasted great. Zucchini salad surprisingly tasty. #Cooking #Vegetarian

A grains salad, zucchini salad & stuffed eggplant with bechamel.
And with pistachio!

Susan60, 5 months ago to random

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-04/max-simensen-earshot-insights-gained-from-being-trans-man/103164510?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Brilliant if brief article about the gains & losses of a trans man. And a very sad comment on Australian masculinity. Good on him.

Susan60, 2 months ago to random

Tired of the doom-scroll? This is how to find the kinder, more uplifting side of the internet https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/04/doom-scroll-kinder-uplifting-internet?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Uair, 2 months ago to actuallyautistic

@actuallyautistic @LeftistLawyer

This nails it. It's what i've watched happen my entire life. We let the baby boomers off the economic treadmill and they got all snotty and refused to be content with kicking down at scapegoats. They even bitched about fighting their generation's war! I mean, jesus! We even had to shoot their leaders.

No worries. The economic draft works just fine.

https://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/

Susan60, 24 days ago to random

😢

Western Australia’s eucalypt forests fade to brown as century-old giant jarrahs die in heat and drought https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/20/western-australias-eucalypt-forests-fade-to-brown-as-century-old-giant-jarrahs-die-in-heat-and-drought?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Susan60, 3 months ago to random

So I’m curious. When people write up a profile for the fediverse, & don’t include the country where they live, what is their reason? Is it because they don’t think it matters or is of interest to others? Is it because they assume that everyone lives in the same country as them or shares their geopolitical viewpoint?

Susan60, 2 months ago to random

Great to see wheelchair athletes being respected this way.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-23/london-marathon-equal-prize-money-for-able-bodied-and-disability/103502980?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Susan60, 2 months ago to actuallyautistic

“Gone are the offensive & misguided attempts to cure the condition”? That might be too sunny a statement, but otherwise it’s an encouraging article.
#actuallyautistic @actuallyautistic

How research into autism is evolving https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/08/research-autism-evolving-transforming-lives-social-communication-therapy-drugs-trials?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Susan60, 7 days ago to random

20 deg C I the gardens. Was drizzling an hour ago.

Susan60, 2 months ago to random

Lovely story. #actuallyautistic

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-21/toronto-public-school-captain-jamahl-ali-autism/103453792?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

VeroniqueB99, 19 days ago to random

My problem exactly. You can't teach empathy to a full grown adult...simply by saying 'you should care about others'.

Susan60, 4 days ago to random

I don’t understand why remote communities haven’t already been switched to renewable local grids & batteries.

Albanese government ‘twisted’ Indigenous group’s views in document, chair says https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/10/albanese-government-twisted-indigenous-groups-views-in-future-gas-document-chair-says?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

melissabeartrix, 2 months ago to random

Oh goodie, I'm getting my nails done this coming Monday ... And I'm going to be selfish and pick a colour myself ... Giggles

Hugz & xXx

P.s. You can count it will be on the purple spectrum

Susan60, 1 month ago to random

Partner’s ex is morning the loss of a friend, who died unexpectedly after a respiratory illness. He’d had lung issues since getting Covid, making him more vulnerable.

melissabeartrix, 2 months ago to random

BearTrix life advice 482

Always leave a little spoon in the ice cream ... You never know when your out of spoons to do the dishes when ice cream is required

Your welcome ... Giggles

Hugz & xXx