Category: Masking

Navigating Autistic Grief & Anger

Emotions are often a daunting endeavor for me. I struggle to identify how I am feeling, then struggle to emote the feeling outwardly in a way others interpret correctly. (Or more often, I painstakingly mask it.) I especially struggle to let myself feel and sit with my feelings—particularly grief and anger.

When I think about it, there are actually many reasons why I shy away from both grief and anger.

Intense bodily and sensory experience

These feelings are often accompanied by uncomfortable things like: nausea, dizziness, buzzing electric limbs, stuffy nose and wet face from crying, elevated heart rate, clenched jaw, tensed muscles, etc.

They feel incredibly all-consuming

Both set off a fight/flight/freeze/fawn response in the amygdala, and that sends my brain into a hyper-focus on the “problem” of my emotion, like it’s some sort of math equation I can logic myself out of if I crunch the number just right. (Yikes?!) And it feels like I will never not feel the all-consuming emotions again— like no other emotions exist or will ever exist.

They make me feel out of control

I don’t mean “out of control” like smashing dishes or slamming doors; I mean “not feeling safely in control of my feelings.” I’ve spent so long repressing and locking away “negative” emotions like anger and grief that feeling and expressing them feels so utterly unnatural to me.

But that leads to a vicious, self-damaging cycle. I automatically repress my anger and grief for a whole host of reasons:

  • Masking by default
  • To avoid bringing attention to myself
  • To avoid further conflict or uncertainty
  • To have some amount of control in something (imagined or not)
  • To give myself more time to process at my own pace (or… not process, apparently…)
  • Feeling like an inconvenience or burden for showing them
  • To spare other people’s feelings
  • To not appear selfish when others are also upset (pain comparison)
  • To be a caretaker or support, always to others and rarely for myself
  • Not wanting to have or feel them (avoidant behavior)
  • Thinking I am a terrible person for feeling them
  • Not realizing that I can feel more than one thing at once (and that they can —and often are— contradictory!)
  • Because I often don’t think I deserve the time and space to feel them
  • Thinking that it’s somehow “childish” to feel

“But Alex, what happens to those feelings then?” you may ask. (Let’s pretend you asked. I’m feeling a bit lonely today. How are you?) Well thanks for asking totally and completely unprompted, dear reader.

Until recently, my answer would have been “I just don’t feel them” with a nonchalant shrug and a misguided feeling of pride and strength. But the issue with stuffing all of the anger and grief into boxes and locking them away is that eventually… the box can’t hold it all anymore.

No matter how many locks I add; how many chains, ropes, and weights… anger and grief are not content to remain contained indefinitely. When I don’t allow myself the time and space to feel, these boxes are ultimately stored in my body. In my tensed jaw, tension headaches, scattered thoughts, tight muscles, fluttering stomach and heart. Anxiety, depression, panic, obsessive compulsive tendencies.

Only when I am pushed to the absolute breaking point do those boxes shatter and I feel everything. All of the build up from weeks, months… sometimes years. All at once. Such an irony that some of my only experiences really feeling both grief and anger (and the overwhelming nature of both) are massively amplified by the sheer volume of emotion built up and not yet processed.

Slowly, I am learning.

The lessons I am learning are slow to come. They are inherently unnatural to me, and my neural pathways fight with all they have against veering off course. It feels terrifying to my brain to stray from what “keeps me safe” (faulty defense mechanism). But faint pathways are beginning to glow ever-so-slightly alongside the glowing stubborn hardwired paths.

  • I cannot control my emotions. I may shove them into a box and tuck it away out of sight, but those feelings only fester and poison me from the inside out. “Out of sight”, it turns out, is actually not “out of mind.” The only thing accomplished is delaying and amplifying those feelings for a later date when the box explodes, often in the least opportune time.
  • Not feeling is not necessarily “strength.” Sure, it can be a protective tool and defense mechanism. It can get you through some horrific experiences and allow you to continue onward. Society tries to shame us into being silent and “strong.” But true strength—and true courage— is learning to take that box of scary “negative” emotions down and open it.
  • It’s ok to put feelings into a box short-term. I don’t need to feel all things all the time. I don’t have to be overwhelmed constantly. The difference is that the box needs to be taken back down routinely to look inside until it is familiar and routine.
  • Feelings are not rational. They are not flaws. They are not selfish. They are not negative. They cannot be logic-ed away, calculated out, or erased completely.
    • Anger is there to show us when boundaries have been crossed; when we value ourselves and our needs; when we need an alarm to alert us that we are feeling a mixture of many big, underlying emotions.
    • Grief is there because we care. We love. We lose. We mourn. We hurt. We love again. We hope. But we are not our feelings, and both grief and anger are completely acceptable to feel.
  • Sharing feelings with supports is not a burden. Checking in with friends and family about intense feelings is acceptable. Asking if someone has the space and spoons to help you hold that feeling is invaluable, and so many people want to be there to help you do so.
  • It’s okay to feel big things. Allowing myself to really feel these emotions is going to take time, and I can’t lie… I am still utterly terrified by it. It sets off all alarm bells. It sucks. But it’s also a massive relief. I have steps in place to start cracking those boxes open—just a smidge at a time— to vent the barest wisp of emotion out. I am holding space for myself to fully feel the weight of that box before placing it back on the shelf for another day.

And with practice, maybe I won’t need a box with so many chains.

13: The Autistics Left Behind

Autistics are left behind when stereotypical Autistic behaviors or traits are used as the sole criteria when evaluating and diagnosing Autistics. While this can be damaging and impactful to boys and men as well, women and non-binary folks have been left behind, misdiagnosed, and written off at an especially alarming rate. This leads to so many issues, many of which I know firsthand as a non-binary Autistic who was only just diagnosed a few years ago at age 27.

It was once thought (and still thought by many) that the number of Autistic boys far outnumber the number of Autistic girls. But with more and more Autistics like myself speaking out as advocates, people are starting to realize just how untrue and damaging this misinformation truly is. While trying to re-educate neurotypicals, some advocates focus on the differences in how girls present versus how boys present. Others look at “internalized” characteristics versus “externalized” characteristics and the differences in how traits manifest which can sometimes vary between genders. I’m not sure what the answer is myself; I only know my own experience.

These are a few of the things I myself have experienced as an AFAB (assigned female at birth) non-binary Autistic diagnosed in my late 20s:

  1. I learned early on to “mask” my Autistic traits, even though I didn’t realize they were generally not viewed as neurotypical things.  I was bullied relentlessly in primary school, sometimes even by teachers. I didn’t know why I was a target, but I knew I was and that trauma forced me to sit back and watch. I latched onto peers and mimicked, painfully masking my instincts and following their examples in an effort to conform and fly under the bullying radar. Even as I begin my 30s, taking off that mask has been an alarmingly difficult process. I still can really only let my mask completely down around my wife, when I am free to verbally stim or rock or flap my hands in joy, use echolalia, let out verbal and physical tics, etc. I can’t describe how freeing that is.
  2. Because of my “skill” at masking, I was more able to “pass” as neurotypical. The stress of doing this long-term leads to extreme stress, trauma, anxiety, and other mental health concerns. I myself have severe C-PTSD, social anxiety, a history of disordered eating, etc. I also live with fibromyaglia and chronic fatigue, and these become more severe when I have to mask for long periods of time. When you can’t understand why you are different and spend so much energy squashing yourself into a box, it takes a devastating mental and physical toll.
  3. Some special interests (which folks sadly tend to pathologize rather than celebrate) may be less obviously “unique” and may therefore go unnoticed. For example, knowing every fact possible about One Direction vs. knowing every fact possible about trains. My own intense interests include Japan, Japanese language, singing, writing, art, and fantasy/sci-fi books. These hobbies have lead me to my college majors and careers; I am fluent in Japanese and spent several years living in Japan. I now write and create art as a form of self-expression and advocacy.

There is so much more to this topic. One main goal of my blog is to hopefully reach people who are like me. Folks who have always been different, but haven’t known why. I want parents to understand more about their kids. I want professionals to challenge the stereotypes they hold and listen to Autistics.

My own diagnosis has been so beneficial, transformative, and life-changing for me. For me, the Ah HAH! moment was when I stumbled across Rudy Simone’s book Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome.

Below are the charts from Simone’s book that changed my life and started me on my search:

Aspergirls for blog.png

Used Simone Women and girls.png

Simone says of her charts:

“These lists are based on my research. While others may be coming to their own similar conclusions, I based these observations of Female AS on interviews with dozens of diagnosed women of all ages and educational backgrounds, from all over the world. These traits were threads that ran throughout their information and stories, tying us all together. As usual, I do not mean to say that all women with AS will possess all of these traits and I do not like putting us in boxes, but there was a need for an easy-to-read reference.”

While I identify as non-binary, anytime I would wonder if I could possibly be Autistic, I would pull up lists of traits and immediately shake my head, seeing the stereotypical and often male-oriented traits listed. It delayed my diagnosis by literal decades.

This chart was the first step toward self-discovery for me. From there, I found Amythest Schaber‘s Youtube channel, started jotting down realizations in a notebook…then one day, started a blog.

More and more, girls, women, non-binary people are coming forward on Youtube, in blogs and articles, and in person to talk about their experiences as Autistic individuals.

It’s about time the world listened.

Additional Info

On my blog, I recommend:

4 Things I Want People to Know About My Autistic Self

Autistic Collaboration Video!

15: Diagnosis & Coming Out

21: Coming Out (Again): Part 2, The Sequel

29: When You Don’t Believe I’m Autistic

30: Seeking Sara, Finding Alex

Other Resources

If you want to hear firsthand from other Autistics, check out the podcast Autism Stories, hosted by my friend Doug at Autism Personal Coach. Here are two episodes I appeared in, but there are so many more:

On late diagnosis (Under Seeking Sara, before Autistically Alex launched):

On gender identity as an Autistic:

Please check out the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN): https://autisticadvocacy.org/

Also be sure to check out: Autistic Women & Non-binary Network (AWN): https://awnnetwork.org/autistic-women-non-binary-network-

Twitter is a great place to find Autistics:

Mikhaela Ackerman, Edge of Playground: @EdgeOfPlayground

Autistic Science Person: @AspieHuman

Amythest (Myth) Schaber, Ask an Autistic @neurowonderful 

There are literally 1000s of us on Twitter!

Hashtags to search on Twitter: #ActuallyAutistic #AskingAutistics #AskingAllAutistics #RedInstead

Resources About Autistic Women and Girls:

Purple Ella’s Youtube video “Differences: Autistic Boys and Girls.”

  • This is a really cool video where she sits down with her Autistic daughter and son, discusses some of the ways that girls and boys Autistic traits tend to vary, and asks them about their experiences.

Purple Ella’s video “Autism: Here Come the Girls”

  • Ella and Ros talk about lots of topics related to Autistic women and girls.

Purple Ella’s video “Autism in Company: Diagnosing Women and Girls”

  • Ella sits down with her friend Ros to discuss how girls, women, (and others!) present differently.

Amythest Schaber’s “Ask an Autistic” Youtube series and tumblr.

  • Amythest is an incredible self-advocate whom I admire a lot. They are educated, sincere, and overall just a wonderful person. Their videos were some of the first things I saw about Autism.

Hannah Riedel’s Youtube channel.

Seventh Voice’s blog post entitled “The Gaslighting of Women & Girls on the Autism Spectrum”

  • An eerie, but accurate depiction of what many girls and woman face.

A great article by Fabienne Cazalis and Adeline Lacroix entitled “The Women Who Don’t Know They’re Autistic”

Excellent article about masking by Francine Russo entitled “The Costs of Camouflaging Autism”

An article by Scientific America entitled “Autism–It’s Different in Girls”

Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome  by Rudy Simone

29: When You Don’t Believe I’m Autistic

Welp, it finally happened. [Beware (or enjoy?): snarky post ahead!]

Over the last few years, I’ve been coming out to family, friends, coworkers, etc. in an effort to be more authentically me, mask less, feel comfortable in my skin, and help others better understand my boundaries and needs.

I have been very, very ridiculously lucky to have mostly positive reactions when I tell people I’m Autistic. At the very least, reactions have been surprised, but affirming. But I brace for the reaction of each new person I tell because I know that people routinely react ignorantly to Autistics coming out.

And it finally happened. I told someone (whom I no longer work with) that I wasn’t able to take on more of a workload because I’m Autistic and am feeling very overwhelmed. And her response?

Well—laughably—she first completely and utterly ignored me and continued on with the monologue she was currently wholeheartedly invested in. Then about 30 full seconds later she paused and said:

“Wait. You’re on THE SPECTRUM?!? Yeah, okay… we’ll go with that.”

She may as well have rolled her eyes given the tone she used.

She then plowed ahead with her monologue before pausing again and saying:

“Really? You’re on the spectrum? Weird, I can always tell when people are. I work with kids who… never mind.”

So, maybe not the most ideal reaction. (Yes, this is sarcasm. I can do sarcasm.)

Honestly, what I hated most about the situation was my reaction and the feeling of helplessness. I wish I had been able to directly call her out on it, but that’s something that takes time to learn to navigate in real time. I’m the type of person who needs time to really process a situation and react later. The type of person that takes a few weeks of simmering and thinking about a situation and then write a snark-filled post after fully processing.

And that’s okay.

What’s not okay is how this person reacted to me.

So let’s unpack her reaction together, shall we? Class is in session! (Still feeling snarky…)

A photo of a black woman with glasses in professional attire, paper in hand, teaching while writing with a marker.
Learning time! Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

1) “I can always tell when people are Autistic.”

Yeah… No, you can’t. I mean, sure, you probably can some of the time. But I’m sitting here right in front of you. I’m Autistic. And you didn’t know. Ergo… no. You cannot always tell. Autistics are all around you; you just don’t realize. So yeah. There’s my “highly logical brain” for you. Sending you common sense. For free. You’re welcome.

Okay, on to the next one!

2) “I work with kids on the spectrum./My brother’s best friend’s cousin’s niece has autism.”

Ok. Well, first of all… I feel bad for those kids. (Is that mean? That sounds mean.) Honestly, anyone that ignorant needs to be further educated before working with Autistic people.

Literally every person is different. Didn’t know I had to say that, but apparently I do. Why would you expect me to be like another Autistic person you know? I don’t shout “You’re neurotypical? But you’re nothing like my friend Sally!?” into your face while maintaining a disgusting amount of gross eye contact. Because it’s silly. Because it doesn’t make sense. Because it’s absurd.

Bottom line–humans are all complex and highly different beings. No two of us are exactly alike. Why on earth would you expect two Autistics to be exactly alike? As the popular phrase goes, “If you’ve met one Autistic person… you’ve met one Autistic person.”

3) “Yeah, ok. We’ll go with that” (insert nasty, sarcastic tone and/or eye roll for bonus jerk points)

Ohhhhhh boy.

So, first of all, you’re heavily implying I’m a liar. You’re implying that my psychologists and therapists are incompetent or misdiagnosed me. Or that I somehow tricked two mental health professionals doing independent assessments of me.

But more than that, you are denying my neurology. You are denying the entire structure of my brain, the way I think, and the awesome things that come along with that. You’re also denying the terrible things that come along with it. You are denying my experience.

You are being ableist, denying my struggles of past and present, denying my identity, being condescending and patronizing, and just generally being an unkind human being all in one go. It’s not a good look…

Bonus “Avoid alienating or pissing off an Autistic” Guide

4) “You hide it so well!/I never would have guessed!”

This. is. not. a. compliment.

I mean, I guess I kind of slightly sort of maybe a little get where people are trying to come from with this? Finding out that the person in front of you is a literal coping and masking wizard who is 1000% of the time exhausted is a lot. It is a feat. But it’s also messed up.

Think about it this way. As a kid, I knew very quickly in school that I was different. I didn’t have a name for it, but I knew. I was bullied relentlessly and I didn’t understand why. I even had a teacher who routinely bullied me.

It was so bad that I started to try to MacGyver together social camouflage to avoid sticking out. (Read 1: Operating Manual for a bit more on that.). My masking, ability to “pass” as neurotypical, and generally inflict extreme harm on my introverted self in order to avoid bullying and aggression is not only an exhausting production that I just don’t know how to turn off, it is the result of years of agony and bullying. Craving friendship and acceptance so much that I mimicked peers I admired. Subconsciously suppressing my neurology, personality, and desires to get by and survive.

After all, that’s such a huge part of why I started this blog—to explore who I authentically am at my core. Because I have had to put so much of who I am away in a little box on a shelf in the back of my mind. And I’m just starting to unpack that box now.

5) “You’re so high functioning!”

There are a few phrases that are bound to make most Autistic people angry, and this is one of them. For one thing, functioning labels are just completely skewed and narrow. Functioning labels hurt all Autistics. Period. (I’m not going to go too far into this, but will insert a link once I find a good one.)

You don’t see the emotional, mental, and physical fallout from my exposure to things like overstimulation, sensory overload, long periods of social activities, or a scary experience. You don’t see my meltdowns or shutdowns (usually) because I have learned to plan out my energy and ability to cope for any given situation or day. This is closely tied to Number 4. Performing “high functioning” comes at a high cost and is just not accurate.

6) “I’m so sorry.”

Don’t be. I love me. I love my neurology (most days). The issues I deal with are related to society:  ignorance, exclusion, assumption, aggression, bullying, inaccessibility, sensory assault, ableism, etc.

7) “Oh, like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory/Rain Man/(Straight white cis man or boy)?”

No.

A photo showing two people sitting at a table, having a discussion. There is paper and pen in front of them, and one person is actively listening to the other.
Listening time! Photo by mentatdgt on Pexels.com

How you should react to someone divulging information to you:

You may find yourself saying, “Okay, Alex. I think I know how to lessen my chances of pissing off an Autistic. So what do I do and say?” While I can only speak from my personal preferences and wishes, these are some things that I would personally love to hear when I tell people:

–Thank you for telling me.

–Thank you for trusting me with this information.

–Cool. My partner is too. (Notice how different this is from the comparison above in Number 2)

–I don’t know much about that. Are there any resources you recommend to learn more?

–I have some questions. Is it okay for me to ask you some?

–How can I better accommodate you?

–What are your needs? How can I help?

26: Sick While Autistic

Ah, cold and flu season. Never fun for anyone, but doubly less so for many Autistic people. I’m currently experiencing a particularly nasty virus and it’s been an interesting time reflecting on sickness while in bed with a virus for the first time since my diagnosis as Autistic. I’ve noticed a lot and it’s helped me unpack a lot of shame (and a little trauma) from a childhood of fairly frequent illnesses.

[Content warning: brief mention of trauma (in last bullet point), mental health complications of being sick (second bullet point).]

So let’s unpack some of it together, shall we?

    • First let’s consider that many Autistic people have chronic illnesses and conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue/M.E., Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, etc. We may seldom feel well on an average day, but may have learned to more-or-less cope with being chronically ill. Add in extra unpleasantness that only exacerbates our symptoms and we are champions for getting through any additional illness.
    • Consider also that many of us also have chronic mental health obstacles like anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more. The point made above applies equally to mental illness. We have a lot to deal with on a healthier day and added illness makes that fight more difficult.
    • Give some thought too to the terrible sensory components of being ill: inflammation, pain, fever/chills, aches, pressure, various disgusting fluids, the feel of a stuffy nose, sweating, headaches, being more overwhelmed by sounds, changes in sense of smell or taste, etc. For someone with Sensory Processing Disorder, that can be a lot. It can be so incredibly overwhelming and can induce panic and anxiety attacks.
    • When sick, routines get chucked out the window. Many Autistic people thrive on the familiarity, predictability, and comfort of routine. One of our biggest comforts that allows us to mask and tolerate a good deal is suddenly and completely thrown out the window!!
    • Brain fog from feeling unwell makes it incredibly hard to mask and communicate. Masking and communicating as an Autistic person can be a near-constant game of mental gymnastics and being sick makes it even more difficult to play that game.
    • Everything listed above puts us several leaps closer to meltdowns and shutdowns. People who might ordinarily have a few a year might find themselves much more likely to have them. (Also see my piece on 2: Meltdowns & Pillars to understand why this is.)
    • We may experience extreme changes in our ability to do things we normally can. We may struggle to speak, regulate or identify emotions, eat unfamiliar foods, avoid meltdowns, communicate efficiently, etc. And those abilities may change rapidly and often while sick.
    • Lastly, consider the fact that many Autistics may have some level of trauma associated with being ill for a vast variety of reasons. I myself had several horrible bouts of illness as a child that were frightening for me. I also have gone through more medical testing than many people twice my age and things associated with being ill can make me incredibly scared and childlike.
    Phew, that’s a lot going on, right??

    So what can we as a sick Autistic or a caregiver of a sick Autistic person do?

    1) Validate and praise

    Really look at the list above of reasons why being sick as an Autistic might be extremely challenging:

    -If you are being hard on yourself, please try to be patient with yourself and validate your feelings. It’s really hard to be sick. You’re doing well, and you’re going to get through this! Make a list of things you’re doing well: taking meds, sleeping a lot, drinking fluids, keeping calm, etc.

    -If you are caring for an Autistic, please have patience. We might seem “dramatic” or “childish” from your perspective, but I challenge you to exercise empathy (lol here) and patience as you imagine what we may be going through. Validate the Autistic’s experience by saying things like “This is a really hard thing that you’re going through, but you’re doing such a great job. I’m proud of you for hanging in there.” Praise the efforts of the Autistic, even if they seem like small things to you. Do NOT make comments belittling the experience. If you need to, step away for a while (when safe) and practice some self care until you are calmer.

    2) Consider temperature, texture, and taste

    When ill, the very best things for me personally to combat the unpleasantness of sensory discomfort are the three T’s:

    Temperature: Using a cool washcloth or a heating pad can give me some feeling of control over my body and my pain. Drinking a hot or cold liquid can also help to ground me and take some panic away. Taking a shower or bath can help majorly too.

    Texture: Soothing stuffed animals, squishing silly putty, wearing fuzzy PJs, etc. are all small things that can make a big difference in keeping calm.

    Taste: Using hard-candies like peppermint can help remind the body to stay present! (Be sure that you will not fall asleep and choke!) Sweet drinks or teas help me a lot too as do flavored things like Jello or similar.

    3) Make a surrogate routine

    Keep whatever you can in a routine–mealtimes, bedtime routines, etc. But of course many things will not be able to happen as usual. Try to make a temporary schedule with similar activities. For example, schedule times to read together when English class would normally happen.

    If that fails, make a temporary schedule anyway! Examples of things to include could be: take temperature, take medicine, drink fluids, watch TV show, sleep, rest time, Skype friend/family, shower or bathe, sensory time, etc. Knowing what’s coming up with some degree of certainty can help so much and it’s great to have a reminder of when you need to take medicine and when you last drank fluids.

    4) Chart a sick calendar

    For whatever reason, I know logically that I will get well, but on some level, I don’t. Being sick is such an all-consuming, exhausting, and sometimes scary thing for me. I need reassurance that I will get well soon.

    One thing I suggest is printing a week calendar and asking a loved one or doctor to help write out things like when the illness started, benchmarks for when the Autistic will probably be able to do certain things again, and a goal when they will probably feel much better. Feel free to make the benchmarks a period of a few days if you worry about making false promises.

    Knowing how long you have to endure something is the biggest step toward tolerating it.

    5) Make being sick less awful

    Pamper yourself or the Autistic. Watch some TV or a movie. Eat something yummy you normally save for special occasions. Play some video games.

    Now is a time for rest and relaxation. Put off whatever you can until another day. Those emails will still be there when you’re well. So will school projects and deadlines. If something is overwhelming, put it aside and do something to “indulge” in being sick: take naps, play games, etc.

    Take care of you because you are so so important.

Yenn’s Autism Show: Sara Earhart

I recently had the awesome opportunity to be interviewed by Yenn Purkis–Autistic author, blogger, presenter, and advocate. Their podcast is called The Yenn Purkis Autism Show (Formerly known as Jeanette’s Autism Show at the time of recording.)

In this episode, we chatted about blogging, the Autistic community, identity, and more!

Click the link or picture below to be redirected to the podcast! Both open in a new tab. (WordPress isn’t allowing me to embed the podcast here for whatever reason.)

The interview: https://jeanettepurkis.podbean.com/e/jeanettes-autism-show-sara-earhart/

A screenshot image of the podcast player showing Sara's interview. The title reads

Yenn’s links:

Podcast channel: https://jeanettepurkis.podbean.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeanettepurkisbooks/
Blog: https://yennpurkis.home.blog/
Website: www.jeanettepurkis.com
Twitter: @yennpurkis

We hope you’ll enjoy!

[Featured image description: On the lefthand side is a picture of Sara in front of Niagara Falls. Sara has sunglasses on top of her blue hair, noise-cancelling headphones around her neck, and a plushie duck in her hands. On the right is a blue box with the words “Podcast Interview. Talking about Autistic identity and community, blogging, gender, and more! The Yenn Purkis Autism Show: Sara Earhart” A small drawing of Yenn is pictured in black and white. They have their eyes closed and are smiling widely while holding a framed picture of their apartment.]

Video: Meltdowns & Shutdowns

Did you know that I have a Seeking Sara YouTube channel?

I make videos rather infrequently but am happy only making a few a year since writing is the medium that works best for me! Please enjoy.

What do I experience in a meltdown? What is a shutdown? What are pillars and how does paying attention to them help lessen my meltdowns/shutdowns?

 

Also, in case you missed it, I was recently published on both Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (here) and The Mighty! (here)

 

15: Diagnosis & Coming Out

If you haven’t already, please read my blog post 13: The Autistics Left Behind to better understand this post!

Welp, here it is!

Today is the day that I share my news with friends and family via Facebook. I was originally going to share my blog with everyone on Friday, but I’m too anxious to wait another day. *paces nervously*

One major reason I started this blog was to have a vehicle to come out to people about being diagnosed as Autistic. Masking my Autism has become so incredibly tiring and I’m really burnt out. I also feel like I’m hiding such a huge part of myself from the people I care about! (See: 6: Why I’m Writing This Blog for more on that.) I’ve been feeling pretty lonely and isolated lately and I want that to end.

So here we are. The story of how I got diagnosed.

Evaluation in Japan


I started my journey by accident in 2015.

I was working in Japan and seeing a Japanese psychologist (who’s fluent in English) for help with the grieving process after losing several people close to me. I’ll call my therapist “S” here for the sake of privacy.

Throughout the years I had sometimes wondered if I might be Autistic, but would pretty quickly decide that it must be impossible–I didn’t fulfill this criteria or exhibit that trait, etc. But I eventually stumbled upon some resources about how women and non-binary on the Spectrum often present very differently than men. (See 13: The Autistics Left Behind for more info on that.)

After delving into research about Autistic women, I tentatively started to let myself consider that I might really be on the Spectrum. I began to take some notes about my life and the way I experience the world as I continued to research about Autistic women. (The baby drafts of this blog!!)

I figured that someday–if I decided to be formally assessed back in the US–I would have all that stuff written down already. 

But I didn’t bring it up to my therapist. I was too afraid that she wouldn’t know about women presenting differently and about masking. I was terrified she would immediately shoot me down without assessing me. (It’s not that I was set on being diagnosed as Autistic. I was set on being assessed accurately and thoroughly–whatever the result.)

So I continued to quietly gather information and write down my self-reflections without telling anyone. It was an isolating, but adrenaline-filled time.

It wasn’t until 2016 when I had been seeing S for a full year that things changed. My family had come to visit me in Japan and I showed them around several cities throughout the country, acting as both guide and interpreter. When we were in Tokyo, I experienced an intense bout of sensory overload that led to a subsequent meltdown. (You can read about it in 5: Sensory Overload & Control.)

When I returned from the trip and S asked how it had been, I finally told her. I told her about the sensory issues I’d been having more and more difficulty with, the meltdown in Tokyo, the social fatigue, the wondering, the doubting, the researching–everything. Our session ran over time as she patiently listened to everything spill out. Then I waited as she thought and chose her words carefully.

To my surprise, S had been wondering if I was on the Spectrum as well.

I was really taken aback. I sort of sat there in shock for a moment before a huge smile crept over my face. “Really??” I exclaimed, euphoria rushing over me. I was just so relieved that she was taking me seriously.

I printed out the notes I had been writing on my life and handed them over to her during our next session with an anxious excitement. When she returned the pages the following meeting, we talked them over in more detail and she agreed again that she suspected I was on the Spectrum. She asked me to continue writing and agreed that it would be useful if I chose to seek formal diagnosis someday back in the US.

Over the course of the next year, I wrote feverishly. I couldn’t stop. I literally couldn’t stop scribbling insights and realizations onto whatever surface was available. So many things started to make sense about my life and I felt such a sense of relief come over me.

But I still wondered. I went back and forth between good days when I felt more “normal” and questioned myself, and bad days when the truth was presented and reaffirmed right before my eyes through a meltdown or extreme social misstep. I bounced back and forth between denial and acceptance.

Finally, as my time in Japan came to an end, S presented me with a referral letter. At this point, she had seen me in regular sessions for two years, read up on recent research about Autistic women published in psychology journals, and read all of my writing.

On July 10, 2017, she handed me a letter which contained the lines:

“While I have seen Alex, [they have] shown similar characteristics to Asperger Syndrome and Autism, such as sensitivities to various stimuli, panic attack due to sensory overload, fatigue after social interaction, and need to follow schedule rigidly.”

She went on to write that she believed me to be on the Spectrum and was referring me for formal assessment and diagnosis.

That letter was such a gift. I knew that with it, I wouldn’t have to start over completely when seeking diagnosis. I knew I’d have someone in my court (so to speak) and wouldn’t feel like I was going into an assessment completely un-supported.

Assessment and Diagnosis in the US


I began seeing my psychotherapist, M, soon after I returned to the US to get some help adjusting to life back in the US and to address a possible eating disorder. (I will address my eating disorder in a future post.)

After a few sessions, I felt comfortable enough with M to bring up Autism and I gave her the letter from S. She said that she would evaluate me over time as she got to know me, so we continued our sessions and left Autism on the back burner.

By late November of 2017, I wasn’t writing my book anymore. Not for months. I felt like I had stagnated in my self-exploration and realization. After digging deeper, I realized that I was once again doubting if I was actually on the Spectrum.

I brought it up to M and we explored why I was feeling this way. During that session, we realized that–after the initial deluge of self-realization and discovery–I had adapted and started doing things in ways that minimized meltdowns and sensory overload. I wasn’t “less Autistic,” just coping with things better and going through a time when my traits weren’t as noticeable–even to myself.

Next session, she brought in the DM-5 (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) and we sat down and went over the diagnosis criteria.

By the end of the session, I had my final, irrefutable proof.  I am Autistic.

I was expecting my road to diagnosis to be an excessively difficult, expensive, humiliating, and stressful process. I know that for many woman, it can be.

I’ve been very lucky. This has instead been a journey of good luck, strange happenstance, and unexpectedly compassionate therapists. 

After diagnosis, I’ve been hit with so many unexpected emotions:  fear, sadness, excitement, regret, doubt, rage, determination, grief, elation… It’s been an ongoing, never-ending process as I come to terms with who I am.

I feel a sense of grief and loss that I wasn’t diagnosed sooner, but also an odd and bizarre relief that I wasn’t. I feel excited that I finally understand myself. I feel fear for the future and uncertainty as I wonder what the future holds. I feel an internal struggle as I decide what my new boundaries and limits are, and how many of those are worth pushing and how often.

Recently, my overwhelming feelings are isolation and insincerity. More than any of the other emotions, these are ones I can’t bear anymore.

As I share this blog, I feel utterly vulnerable and more than a little terrified. But I also feel excited. I feel free. There’s a freedom that comes with realizing that I can’t control how people react to my coming out. I can’t control it, so why worry about it?

No matter the reactions of those I care about, this is a truth that needs to be shared. It’s time for me to come forward and say, “I am Alex. I am Autistic. I am me.”

6: Why I’m Writing This Blog

If you’ve read the post on my homepage, you’ll have a pretty good idea of why I started this blog.

I have three main goals:

  1. To look back at my childhood and the years before diagnosis, see where I started to mask my Autistic traits and to mimic “normal” behavior, and find who I am authentically.
  2. To give people on the outside a look into an Autistic brain and life.
  3. To reach out to others like me who have gone (or still are) undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

There’s another goal though. I’ve grown so much since I started to realize I might be on the Spectrum, and even more so since my official diagnosis. But it’s been pretty lonely. I’d love to connect with some fellow Autistics.

But I’d also like to more fully connect with my friends and family. Carrying around this secret has been really exhausting and isolating. I don’t feel like I have very many people that I can talk to about it all and that’s been frustrating and scary. I don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed about being Autistic and I don’t like feeling like I’m lying.

I also hope that sharing this blog with friends will help them understand my behaviors more. They’ll know why I sometimes wear ear plugs or make multiple trips to the bathroom at a restaurant (See: sensory overload). They’ll see how much energy goes into everything that I do. They’ll understand why I have to cancel plans sometimes even when I really, really want to see them.

I would love to talk about Autism openly!

If you are a family member, friend, or acquaintance, know that I don’t want you to tiptoe around me or my Autism. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or to treat me like I’m fragile. And I don’t want pity. I love to talk about Autism and being Autistic (it’s who I am and I love me!) and welcome dialogue when I have the energy. I only ask that you see my post on “What Not to Say” to an Autistic. It’s ok if you make mistakes (if you’re willing to learn), so don’t stress too much. Don’t feel like you need to walk on eggshells!

I won’t lie. I keep going back and forth about whether or not I should share this blog with anyone. It terrifies me sometimes. But it also excites me! And the thought of continuing to live with this secret and my masks is much more horrifying to me than being open and honest about who I am.

4: Spinning & Rocking

Spinning

While I was teaching in Japan, I often went to visit one of my favorite students in his private one-on-one classroom. He was in the first grade, Autistic, and the sweetest and funniest kid in the entire school. I’d often stop by to play and we really meshed well together. I understood his style of play and genuinely enjoyed myself. He knew I was a safe teacher who would always respect his boundaries and needs. We were buddies. But there was one thing that we didn’t have in common. He really loved to stand in the middle of the classroom and spin. One day while I grew nauseous watching him spin, a thought struck me.

“I never spun.” I shrugged and put it from my mind, remembering that all Autistic people are different–just as varied and unique as neurotypical people are.

It wasn’t until an hour or so later that it hit me. Wait… yes, I did. I spun obsessively. But not in a way that would seem out-of-place for your average American child in the 90s.

For a period of years, I would rollerblade for hours and hours every day on my own. And my absolute favorite thing to do while rollerblading? Spin. I would spend literally hours doing spins, skating in circles in the driveway, and spinning around support beams in our cement-floored basement.

Why did I do it? I remember it being extremely comforting. It was a time when my thoughts flowed naturally or not at all. I had mental clarity during that time, but was also able to just stop thinking when I wanted to. 

The feeling of spinning or skating in circles made my mind and body relax. There’s something very natural about a circle. Something beautiful. There’s no real beginning or end. It’s solid, predictable, and reliable.

Why did I like spinning so much? Perhaps it has to do with the sure, mindless, and unchanging certainty of a circle. Maybe it was something to do with the pressure on the body I could feel as I spun.

Maybe both. Or neither.

Rocking

Why do I rock when sitting and sway or rock on the balls of my feet while standing?

It feels so right. My anxiety drops away, I take deeper breaths, and my scattered thoughts slow. Rocking or swaying fill me with such a peace, calm, and genuine sense of wellbeing. Somewhere deep inside my chest something stills, unwinds, and then fills with a deep sense of assured peace.

Maybe it’s hard to understand, but it feels like getting home after a long day, being enfolded in a loved one’s arms, and sinking into a perfectly-temperatured bath all at once. It’s safe and blissful.

I’ve noticed that my rocking can give me a lot of insight into my mental, emotional, and sensorial states. The above-mentioned side-to-side rocking tends to be a soothing motion that might mean that I’m calm or content, especially if it’s slow. On the other hand, rocking front-to-back almost always means that I am in distress, panicked, or overstressed. The faster the rock, the greater the inner turmoil. 

Sometimes my body begins to rock involuntarily. This usually only happens when I am very tired. It’s a rapid, abrupt movement forwards and backward as opposed to my usual, slow and gently side-to-side sway. This is a clear warning sign that shouts MELTDOWN IMMINENT! (Take cover!!)

I realized that I often have a natural urge to rock to comfort or regulate myself, but that I don’t allow the motion. It’s just another thing that I’ve involuntarily suppressed in an attempt to pass as “normal.”

I’ve gotten better in the last year at allowing myself the freedom to rock when I need to. I almost always allow myself when in private and I’ve even gotten better at rocking gently in public when it will help me cope with a situation. Undoing years of masking and mimicry will take time, but it’s an essential part of unapologetically seeking my authentic self.

%d bloggers like this: