Outside I am always in dark sunglasses (and a hat …
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regarding the chronotype discussion that came up elsewhere as well… in addition to autistic i’m clearly just made to be outside at night, or maybe just to be at high latitudes where it’s often dark and gloomy (like Vermont). I get a form of seasonal affective disorder associated with climate change and dud seasons or weather not doing what it feels like it should, but extended cloudy stretches that are part of the natural climate don’t bother me much if at all.
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I love reading these responses! and OP, thanks for the post!
I got diagnosed with ADHD last year after knowing I’ve had it for a long time. Throughout my 27 yrs I have had a fascination/hyperfixation with earthworms and have gotten various reactions from people when sharing that. From disgust and ridicule to wholesome curiosity. Par for the course.
iNat is pretty nice because I’m finding people who know a lot about invertebrate zoology and biology and I’m learning a lot about something I’m interested in (as far as my short experience here.)
It also drives me to be outside more and, as a disabled person who is home a lot, sitting in my backyard and learning how to identify the birds and watching the squirrels play has brought me a lot of comfort. Sharing that feeling is just as good.
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I have my settings set to change to warmer colors after 9 pm. The white background takes on a noticeable off-white tone at that time. Presumably, I could set it to do this all the time if I needed to.
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I got some blue light-blocking reading glasses, which throw up an nice blue reflection over my eyes when I’m in front of my computer and on a video call. I totally look like someone from Dune who’s had a bit too much spice.
I should say, I have no idea if the blue light blocking does anything positive for me.
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Ah, that’s awesome!
I atually got my colorimetry reading while i was in Britain, i couldn’t find anyone in Vermont who reliably does it. (and I was in the UK anyway). But i don’t think it’s much of a thing in this part of the US. That being said if the blue ones work that can make it a good color for you. I expected blue to be my color too, but it ended up being purply pink. it really makes colors vivid and i am excited to see if it makes me better at identifying plants!
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Nature keeps me sane (or sort of sane), however, last year I went bush for my sanity and broke my ankle which had to be screwed back together and I wasn’t allowed to put any weight on it for six weeks. So while I was sitting around with my ankle raised, I watched a lot of YouTube videos and one of them was about autism. I watched it and it was good to learn that stuff but it didn’t mean much to me at the time. Then of course, YouTube being the way it is, it suggested another autism video about how autism is different in women, so I watched that too. IT CHANGED MY LIFE! It gave lots of examples instead of just vague umbrella terms, and most of the examples triggered memories of my childhood that had been forgotten for so long. I watched more videos and kept being reminded of more things that made it impossible for me to pretend that I wasn’t autistic. All the weirdness in my life finally made sense, and at the age of 60 I started to get to know myself.
Nature is super important to me and with iNaturalist I can share my excitement in what I find, with people who appreciate it and get excited along with me, unlike my fairly supportive but uninterested family. And I can get excited with others about their finds, and it opens my eyes to other things I could be looking for. And it is very affirming to be told that an observation has been valuable to someone or is a new species or something like that. I’m so glad I was introduced to iNat and I am very appreciative of all the people who make it work, in all their many ways. Well done, all of you!
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For people talking about computer light, don’t know if it helps, but I use f.lux to limit the ammount of blue light. Its generally set to decrease light as the sun goes down, but you can change things, or have constant levels. The main thing I need to remember with it, is to pause it when working on raw images, otherwise it will misrepresent colours.
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Yay for that wonderful self awareness process! if you haven’t checked out Yo Samdy Sam on Youtube yet you should check her out, she talks a lot about how woman (or woman-programmed) autistic people act differently. Though it doesn’t apply to everyone. Turns out i am a lot more similar to ‘woman autism’ than ‘man autism’ probably because i’m not really gender conforming at all (which is also common with autistic people, lgbt rates are very high)
interesting.
I also have the more “female” autism traits, and was diagnosed later in life.
Although I definitely consider myself male and I am 100% straight. So that’s confusing. I tend to have other “non-autistc” traits that have been called “girly” but I don’t get what they are talking about most of the time. It doesn’t have anything to do with my physical attraction or attributes.
Also, if I’m autistic, how are any of my traits “non-autistc”?
That never made any sense to me.
Anyway, I suppose my lifelong interest (obsession?) with ecosystems is an autistic thing that is not considered feminine?
Although, my interest in drawing, painting and watching butterflies is?
I don’t understand.
Sorry, this was a little bit of a side track. I was triggered by the male/female autism thing, which led to the male/female interests, which are confusing because people are confusing.
I lost track of my point.
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The “female-type” autism can occur in males and the “male-type” autism can occur in females. They’re just more common in the sexes they are named for.
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If you want an example trait, “toe walking” (a walking gait without much/any heel strike) is a common one for AMAB autistic children, and girls/women, and fairly uncommon for cis neurotypical boys/men.
One trait (or even a big handful) does not gender make - and I wouldn’t look for clarity in very complex behaviors as higher level interests tend to be, but there are traits that are a little more isolated that many will agree roughly follow gender lines.
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I got linked this thread ages ago and only recently got around to making my forum account (iNatter for a couple years though! Executive dysfunction is a toughie). Wanted to jump in and share that I’m an ADHDer who has had nature as a special interest as early as they could remember! I was always dragging my parents around to new places so I could catch bugs or playing Animal Crossing where I could catch bugs and fish virtually. Awesome to see other folks who have similar lived experience and have the courage to share it here!
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One reason I love to isolate myself and become immersed in nature is to escape. I love humans, but they can be incredibly frustrating and ridiculous.
Nature doesn’t tell you things like, the sensory overload you had that resulted in unconsciousness, while everyone else was fine is “completely normal. Everyone gets overwhelmed sometimes.”
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I’m sure people mean well when they say things like ‘everyone gets overwhelmed sometimes’, but it is one of the most frustrating things to hear. It takes a painful and worrying experience and decides it’s not really unusual at all, also implying that you shouldn’t bother trying to fix the issues you’re facing.
A more cheerful question: I wonder why it is that so many people don’t find nature overwhelming? In some ways there aren’t fewer sensory inputs than in a city, yet it is so much less tiring to be in . . .
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My idea is that it is evolutionary memory. Similar to when an animal is aware that it is in the “wrong” habitat.
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I’ve seen this idea suggested but I haven’t read any more rigorous study of it, but it sort of makes sense to me… that being inside is excessively understimulating and your mind goes crazy trying to find things to do. Plain walls, square rooms, sitting in one position for hours… When you’re outside both your body and mind are active and regularly shifting focus between different things, so there’s less concentration fatigue.
Actually I just looked it up and a related term is “directed attention fatigue”, and the Wiki article mentions exposure to nature a lot in the section on research into treatment.
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I hadn’t heard of directed attention fatigue but it makes sense and I probably have had it. My soon-to-be cure is retirement, followed by more time in nature.
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Generaly, there aren’t fewer sensory stimuli but there are fewer intense sensory stimuli and not as many things that require immediate processing.
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Guys I finally got diagnosed with autism (specifically Asperger’s Syndrome)! I have suspected it for years (I’m 18) but haven’t been officially diagnosed until now. It explains so much like my absolute obsession with plants, sensitivity to loud noises and lots of action, somewhat odd behavior, and social awkwardness. I love that there is such a large and supportive community here; I just joined the Neurodivergent Naturalists project!
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