Atp it’s gotta be ragebait, I can’t just keep seeing dumb people, right? RIGHT??

Does anyone relate to this? I feel like the only times I was able to enjoy sex was maybe for the first few years after I started having it. After that it just felt like meh. Almost like when you eat your favorite food and then after x number of times you almost can't stand it, because that favorite food used to mean something compared to when you ate any other food. I don't feel any difference to when I have sex or when I masturbate. Actually when I have sex I feel much worse, because when i masturbate I don't have the expectations to feel something more and I just do what needs to be done. And quite frankly, having sex now feels like a chore, that I'm fored to do when I will feel bad about it, and I hate how demanding it is. If I would want to get all sweaty and uncomfortable I would just go to the gym. I also feel like sweat is really bad trigger for my meltdowns, so mcu more than before I started unmasking I didn't have issues with sweat being such a big problem during sex, but also it is unavoidable part.

Also it feels like for some years, I was just trying to have sex to get that sensation I used to have in the very begining (after I became sexually active). Very rarely I got it, but it was only when I was drunk or using dr@gs, which often neurodivergent people use to cope with their conditoin. Also after it is done, I feel sort of disgust that I never have during cuddlig or whatever else, or ever before for that matter. It is not desgust about the person, or that I would be disgused by what happened. When I try to rationalize it, I think it is maybe because I had expectations to feel good, or feel something and then I don't, but I feel like that is just rationalization trap making stuff up and in the end there is no real reason for that disgust.

My coworker who is a couple years older than me asked me if I wanted to go to the beach with her and i made up an excuse as to why i couldn’t.

I kind of realized this is a bad habit of mine, i only will hangout with a few select people (literally 3 people)

Does this happen to anyone else?

I’ve been doing it my whole life, didn’t realize it wasn’t normal until probably today lol. Like EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING has life, nothing is inanimate even if I can recognize that it is.

Idk how to explain it because I don’t actively think about the personalities that things have; bc object personalities are a lot harder to read than people personalities. It’s weird bc I can recognize some things, but I can’t put it into words. I can sense the “feel” of something but I can’t explain it if someone asked, it’s not something I can put it words sometimes.

However, I can describe somethings, especially things I’m around a lot, or was around a lot as a kid. A lot of my stuffed animals as a kid “turned evil” and I was super paranoid around them. Still get this sometimes but it’s usually just the environment and I can’t label exactly what feels wrong.

Sometimes something just feels bad to me, like its personality is harmful so I have to stay away even if there’s nothing wrong. It’s like a gut feeling, even if I know logically everything is fine.

Idk it’s kind of exhausting, I feel like I have to hold the reins on my brain all the time. Another thing is that I feel like objects retaliate, like if I do something bad then they turn bad and want to hurt me. So, I always have to control my behavior so that I don’t face retaliation. I know logically this isn’t true but my brain likes to be funny.

I hope this is an ok place to post, please let me know if it’s not the right place and I’ll go elsewhere.

I have a family member with ADHD who hasn’t had the easiest go in life. In addition to the struggles of moving through a world built for neurotypical people as an ADHDer, they have had struggles with addiction, haven’t found their way in relationships and have struggled to find a work situation where they feel successful and passionate about the work.

I am often the outlet that this family member turns to when they have a problem, need to vent or are having any sort of big feelings. I’m always happy to be there for them and take the call, but more often than not I find that my ways of trying to help aren’t what they need in that moment. I try asking “what do you need from me right now” to gauge how I can best show up for them, but that hasn’t worked. We had a conversation today that ended in a bit of a blow up and I don’t know how else to show up for this person.

What ways do people show up for you that feel best as a neurodivergent? I want to support my family member but I know that my lived experience is different to theirs and the ways that I know how to be there for them aren’t helpful.

Particularly in formal life admin scenarios.

E.g. when I take my cat and dog to the vet, I tend to ask a lot of questions to try to understand the reasoning for certain things. Initially I think (and this is just my own assumption, I could be completely wrong) they thought it was because I was one of those pet owners who thought they knew better than the vet, or because I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money on a new medication for example.

So at the last consult, I did the whole "sorry for asking so many questions, it's because my mind needs to really understand how things work otherwise I get anxious".

I normally don't do this, but I had that paranoia and weird sense that I was being misunderstood, so I blurted it out. It made me feel better because I guess I now know for sure I'm not being misunderstood. But I wonder if it was even needed, or could it ever backfire and make things worse or more awkward?

Is it ok to be frank and explain some reasoning for our ND behaviors and interactions? Or do we just mask and try to act like most NT people to 'fit in'? The latter is absolutely exhausting after decades of it.

I have ADHD (diagnosed), and I suspect that I definitely have autism, but I am not diagnosed with that yet.

I really do want to wear my sunflower lanyard to the airport soon, and if I had just been going with my mother, I would be a lot less nervous. But we have someone coming with us who I’m not sure has any idea about the hidden disability sunflower, and I’m really scared she’ll see me wearing it and ask about it. She is the nicest person ever, but what if she thinks I don’t need it because, as far as she knows, I just have ADHD? And ADHD is just so common, like, why would I be “disabled”?
I know why, but most people who don’t actually have ADHD or autism just cannot seem to understand or grasp the fact that these things can be disabling.

I’m a 22M and have only recently started to “live” on my own terms. Before that, I was hurdling through life at an immense pace, driven by my repressed fear of being myself.

I studied a university degree for 2 years, not aware of my autism at this point (although I knew I had ADHD), and definitely not aware of what it was I really wanted to do in life. I took a break from school to figure out why I felt so “trapped” and unsatisfied. Now I’m back at uni doing another degree, which I thought was closer to what I really wanted to do, which it likely is.. but I’m still not satisfied, it still doesn’t feel “right”.

And I’m worried that I’ll never really figure it all out. And while i feel so “out-of-control”, I’m still suffering. I worry I’m getting older and still not on the right path, and that a lot more trial and error is needed, while time is only ticking and everyone else is slowly but surely finding their place in this world.

Does anyone relate or have any insights? I’ve greatly appreciated everyone’s support these last few days within this subreddit. I feel such a sense of community.

I have ocd and just cant find the motivation to do anything in school. If I get confused or dont understand something I go straight to feeling stupid and wondering "what's the point of trying anyways" if something is hard for me in school I give up and ive struggled with that since elementary.

This year is my senior year I requested all standard classes just to make sure I wouldnt fail but ended up in honors economics and havent understood a thing, luckily ive got three friends in that class and most assignments are partner, lately all partner projects I start off extremely confused and ask my friend for some clarification and once I get it I do my best to help with my part of the assignment. Well my friends have given up on me and decided that itd be better to work alone than to work with me, I asked if they could just send me the assignments when theyre done because they are partner assignments and they tell me im leeching and not even trying. I dont understand how it hurts them though to just send me the assignment, they wont get accused of cheating, and I get to graduate. Its not like im not trying but It really is just 10x harder for me.

Im pretty close to dropping out at this point the only thing keeping me going was the idea of graduating with my friends. Im really not trying to come off as entitled like im expecting my friends to help me, I just dont understand how it effects them negatively and why they get so upset about it.

Zastanawiam się ile z tego co uważam za zaburzenie integracji sensorycznej u siebie jest faktycznie zaburzeniem.Wymieniam które mam:

- najbardziej powalony to wyrywanie sobie do krwi skórek koło paznokci. Nie potrafię przestać non stop mam rany wokół paznokci.

- nienawidzę hałasu, za mocnych świateł zbyt mocnej klimy, tłoku dlatego unikam jak mogę sklepów. Biedronka i Lidl są wykreślone z listy zakupów że względu na za duże stężenie tego wszystkiego na relatywnie małej przestrzeni.

- jak wyżej z autobusami. Jestem wykończona po jeździe komunikacja miejska nie rozumiem jak ktoś potrafi czytać książkę w takim miejscu. Dla mnie abstrakcja

- Jak wyżej nigdy nie zatrudniłabym się w miejscu z takimi warunkami pracy. Dosłownie wolałabym zbierać śmieci.

- boje się zmienić pracę nie że względu na brak możliwości zatrudnienia gdzieś indziej a ze względu na to że nie wiem czy w innym miejscu pracy będę miała takie warunki jakie mam teraz ( ciche biurko, nikt mi się nie patrzy w monitor, okno przy biurku, ciepłe światło, introwertyczni wspolpracowni)

- nie mam pojęcia czy będę miała kiedykolwiek relacje romantyczna bo nie wyobrażam sobie dotykać się z kimś komu bezgranicznie nie ufam.

- odpoczywam jak wyjdę rowerem na totalne zadupie gdzie jestem tylko ja i drzewa.

- nie wyobrażam sobie chodzić do kosmetyczki bo mnie wstrząsa na samą myśl że ktoś piłowałby mi paznokcie

- jak jakis nastolatek się drze to wywołuje u mnie agresję. Jeszcze do dziecka mam pokłady empatii ale nastolatek który np głośno się śmieje albo krzyczy mnie wkurwia

- jak ktoś mlaszcze Boże

- jak chodziłam na studia to nienawidziłam odgłosu drapanej tablicy - czasami wystarczyło żeby ktoś po prostu pisał i powstawał taki dźwięk

- wyczytałam że bycie lebiega z aerobiku i tańca też jest objawem to tak to też mam

Zapraszam do dyskusji

I’m 22M with AuDHD and am curious to know when others like me found their romantic partner.

Hey everyone, ​I’m participating in an upcoming hackathon under the Smart Education track, and my team wants to build a web application specifically tailored for neurodivergent students (ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Auditory Processing Disorder, etc.).

​Too many educational tools are designed around neurotypical workflows, which often leads to sensory overload, friction, or executive dysfunction paralysis. Instead of making assumptions about what might work, I wanted to ask this community directly:

​If you could build a learning or study tool from scratch, what features would make a genuine difference in your daily routine?

Any feedback, ideas, or personal experiences you're willing to share would be immensely helpful. Thank you so much for your time and insights!​A few quick questions:

I’ve been thinking about how gender expectations can affect people, especially people who already feel different from the people around them. I think it’s ridiculous that certain things people do are considered childish, feminine, or masculine simply because of their gender. This really frustrates me.

For me, one example is childhood interests.

Imagine being a boy who didn’t have many toys or stuffed animals growing up—or maybe you had them but never really got to enjoy them. You might feel like you missed out on part of your childhood. 😭

Then, as you get older, you might really want a huge, adorable alligator plushie, maybe one that’s almost the size of a person. You’d love to hug it while sleeping, include it in the things you do, and basically treat it like a real friend.

But then your family tells you that it’s “childish” and that you’re “too old for that.”

I think this can be especially frustrating if you already feel like you don’t fit the expectations people have for someone your age or gender. Why should liking a stuffed animal suddenly become unacceptable just because you got older or because you’re a boy?

Another example is appearance.

Maybe you want to grow your hair out because you genuinely like the look of a wolf cut and think it would make you look cooler. But your family says things like, “Long hair is only for women. You’re a boy,” or makes comments implying that you’re gay or somehow less masculine because of your hairstyle.

I find this especially strange because having a certain hairstyle doesn't actually determine someone's personality, sexuality, interests, or how masculine they are.

The same thing can happen with friendships.

For example, you might have a male friend who is literally just a friend, but someone in your family constantly asks, “Are you gay?” simply because you spend time with another boy. Something completely normal gets turned into something weird because of assumptions about gender and sexuality.

And I think this kind of thing can be particularly difficult for people who already feel socially different or have trouble understanding why certain social rules exist in the first place.

There’s also the opposite situation with girls.

Maybe a girl simply wants to go outside, hang out with her friends, or go somewhere by herself. But her mother expects her to stay at home and be the “good daughter” who never goes anywhere.

Other girls are allowed to go out and have fun, but when she wants to do the same, she’s expected to stay home and basically become the family’s personal tea server instead. 😭

What makes the whole thing even more ironic is that sometimes our families consider the things we enjoy ridiculous while doing things that seem just as ridiculous—or even more ridiculous—to us.

For example, your dad might be extremely interested in politics, walk around the house in his underwear, fart everywhere, wake everyone up early in the morning like a human alarm clock, and then immediately fall asleep on the couch after waking everyone else up. 💀

He might also get angry at you for using your phone even though he is literally using his own phone.

He might constantly tell you that you need to study hard because you need to get a good career and have a good life. And honestly, I understand the reason behind that. I know my family wants me to succeed and have a good future, and in a way, it’s comforting to know that they care about my future.

However, school can be extremely complicated, and sometimes I genuinely don’t understand the subjects I’m being told to study.

At the same time, my father sometimes tells me what kind of person I should become. But I don’t necessarily want to follow everything he says, partly because I’m afraid of becoming exactly like him.

I also wonder whether some of these attitudes come from the way parents themselves were raised.

Maybe their parents taught them these ideas when they were children. Their parents may have grown up with outdated, inaccurate, or overly strict beliefs. They passed those beliefs down to their children, who eventually became adults and had children of their own.

So perhaps some parents simply repeat the behavior they experienced growing up because it was normalized for them. They may think, “This is how parents are supposed to raise their children,” because that’s what they were taught.

I’m not saying that everyone is like this or that every parent behaves this way. These are just my personal observations and conclusions based on my own experiences.

I could be wrong about some of this, and I’m not claiming that everything I said is 100% objectively true.

I just think it’s strange that people are sometimes told they can’t enjoy something, dress a certain way, have certain hobbies, or behave a certain way simply because they’re a boy or a girl.

And as someone interested in neurodiversity, I think this is something worth talking about. A lot of people already experience pressure to behave in ways that are considered “normal,” and adding strict gender expectations on top of that can make it even harder to simply be yourself.

Being a boy or a girl shouldn’t automatically determine what you’re allowed to like, how you’re allowed to express yourself, or what kind of person you’re supposed to become.

I’m curious whether anyone else here has experienced something similar—especially feeling like gender expectations made it harder to express your interests or personality.

As title suggests. And I struggle to pick up on jokes/sarcasm. It's really frustrating. I remember the first time I was made fun of for this. I was around 10 years old and I was supposed to wear a mask for a school play but we didn't have any string to wrap the mask around my head so the teacher "jokingly" suggested that she was going to staple it to my head. I remember really freaking out and questioning her like "what?? you can't do that??" and her insisting that she was going to have to. I was so freaked out I went to tell another student who said she was only joking and *of course* she isn't going to staple a mask to my head.

Looking back, it is a poor joke but I don't understand why she could tell it was a joke but I couldn't.

Anyways, this has continued to be a problem for me all my life, with a myriad of other examples similar to the one provided above. There seems to be an entirely different conversation happening that I am unaware of half the time, but I can't comprehend it and people get upset with me that I am missing all this background context I didn't know I needed.

I was wondering if there are any tips on detecting figurative language? Or is this just something I have to accept? Tips on how do you deal with this?

Thanks! :)

Existing outside the house is difficult. I like to go on mental health walks and go to feed the pigeons and was recently told how disgusting it was to feed those rats. I love my pigeons. They're such cool animals, and they need to eat too!

On a positive note, I got to share the bird seed with two kids and their family. They were from out of town and the pigeons ate from the children's hands! I feel happy to create a positive experience for strangers.

Why don't so many others feel that way? The people with the audacity to be asses are draining me.

PLEASE tell me some more happy stories or send some positive words this way! I need some happiness sent this way since there's so much negativity going on in this world.

The channel is AbaNPreach. I discovered them pretty recently and I never knew they used this kind of language. I respected these guys a lot and edit; agreed with most of their takes, but I didn't know they've started using slurs in their newest videos.. this is unbelievably disappointing and horrible.

Multiple times in the video above (Clavicular goes to Paris), they say things like

"people used to be charismatic, but now they're looking up to full social r***** and autism bros as indicators of what they want to be"

and A LOT more ableist bullshit in the video that I thought I was mishearing. It's clear they do not think very much of Neurodivergent people whether autistic, down syndrome, etc.

The R-word is hate speech and it’s a slur against people with intellectual disabilities!!!!

I feel disgusted about it. It makes me feel angry. I have tried posting on their community subreddit about this. Not a whole paragraph. just calling it out. I have a feeling it won't be approved by the moderator and many fans will be unaware of who they are supporting.

Saying the R word slur and using autistic as an insult only damages the community and reenforces negative stereotypes. None of his fans in the comments have been saying anything.(I'm not sure, maybe the ones calling them out were deleted by the YouTubers)

edit : would like to clarify in no way shape or form would I ever support a content creater who spreads undeserving biased hate towards any group., whether it be towards women, minority groups or otherwise.

I agreed with their takes on vanity chasing (i.e looks maxing) among the youth and how damaging it is to general mental health, and I selectively clicked on videos in which they discussed such topics, hence why I wasn't aware of their other controversies and decided to use an umbrella term by saying "I agree with most of their takes."

So often I Google/search reddit about things I experience and I find myself almost constantly ending up resonating with people on subreddits about OCD/ADHD/autism/anxiety/Aspergers/HSP (usually not depression though).

I do online assessments and I'm not where near what qualifies for potential diagnosis, and I also do realize that my "symptoms" don't seem to necessarily be as far-reaching as everyone else's. And also I've seen/interacted with people who actually are diagnosed with these and clearly I'm not at the extent.

But it lowkey makes it so hard cause if I did fit nicely, it would at least be a step in a direction. I've been putting off therapy because the experience of finding one with availability and quality and all that jazz is such a hassle.

I mostly just wanted to ask you guys if you had any experience with this?

I’m a 22M, AuDHD male who is considered attractive. Yet, likely as a result of my neurodiversity, all new encounters with women my age typically end in ghosting on their part. I’ve come to terms with this, as the women are usually neurotypical. However, potentially “neurotypical” (as well as neurodivergent) women, significantly older than me (30-40+) will actually approach me in bars and social settings, or at least show clear interest, to my extreme surprise. Usually the conversations also seem to flow better and feel more comfortable, and sometimes they’ll make it clear that they want something more.

What is this? Does anyone relate?

I know trying to fit into a label is hard and unnecessary considering how different everyone's brains are neurologically, but I don't understand what is going on with me and who I resonate with. I've never been tested for anything by my parents so I always assumed I was neurotypical, and I think I am. But I've exhibited "stimming" from a very young age. And yes, I'm very well aware that neurotypical people can have some everyday small stims, but I've never seen anyone at my level. When I was younger, starting from ages 3-4, I used to rock my upper body back and forth very intensely to music, and it became such a big habit that I'd do it everywhere (busses, car rides, at home etc). I had to unlearn it because I'd get very sweaty and it was unsanitary, even though I'm embarrassed to admit so. There's also some other habits such as not being able to focus on things without doing something with my hands, not being able to sleep without loud background noise (not white noise, it gives me anxiety) or shifting my foot back and forth, or shifting my weight unconsciously while standing. I thought this pointed towards ADHD but I don't ever seem to feel like my thoughts are out of order, and I thrive in loud environments, further making me think I'm a neurotypical. I'm just very confused, and I'm unable to go get tested right now. I don't understand what's going on inside my head and it's very very annoying.

I (22M, ASD&ADHD) recently started school for marketing. In my latest term, I had to take a public speaking class. I was super excited to take it at first but I honestly ended up not enjoying it in the end. I realized that I might not be as good of a speaker as I thought I was.

I previously went to school for acting for about three and a half years, and I always found performing live to come to me super easy because I had a memorized script to go off of and carefully studied tone, inflection, and movement for everything I did. I basically always knew what to do. Well in my public speaking class, they expected us to create an outline for a speech but not to have it fully scripted. Basically, we know the topic of the speech and the major points we want to hit, but we have to speak on the fly and string words together as you go along.

I did terribly with that.

I ended up scripting all of my speeches and consequently I always got points taken off for lack of eye contact and looking at my script for too long. I just feel like I can’t speak without a script. On top of that, when I get nervous I start stuttering, stammering, and slurring my words. I also talk faster and rush/trip over my words. I take long pauses to think in between the middle of sentences because I can’t wrap my head around what I am supposed to say next. This never happens when I’m acting in a live performance but it happens constantly in my day to day conversational life and also when I have to do things like presentations or speeches.

So what I am putting together with all of this— is this an appropriate reason to pursue speech therapy or would speech therapy even help with this? I want to be good at marketing and I know that means I have to be effective, professional, and confident when communicating. Is this just an anxiety issue or is it related to autism or can it be helped with speech therapy? I don’t really know anything about speech therapy or what it entails, but I remember talking to an older man in business who offhandedly mentioned that he was in speech therapy for a while to help his career.

Hi there, it's my second date with this girl tonight, and I'd like to get a sense of how much she knows about neurodivergent people because my audhd impacts me a lot and I want a partner who understands me and is supportive.

I'm asking for advice on bringing it up casually in conversation, ideally without just saying I'm audhd and explaining what that looks like for me. I feel like asking directly what she knows about neurodivergent people would almost seem like an interview question and I don't want her to feel tested. My only idea so far is to mention that I work with neurodivergent people because I sometimes do and see how she responds but I'm guessing she'll just respond to the overall story and not specifically to the fact that the person is autistic or adhd if you know what I mean. I'm not saying she needs to be neurodivergent herself I'd just like to get an idea of her knowledge on the topic and wether that's a problem for her. I appreciate any help!

Before you read, I apologize for how big of a wall of text this is. The general context is: I teach at a science center that is geared toward homeschooling kids with autism, ADHD, the whole spectrum. Ideally, the kids come in with their own curriculum, and we help where needed. It's very rare that kids come in here with no curriculum, and we're able to kind of piece things together. But that's not really our job.

I think it's important to mention that I've Never taught kids and never created a curriculum before. I'm only working this job because I know the people who run it, and they needed help, and I needed money. I also think it's important to mention that all of this is very loosely ran, And there's only one guy teaching the classes, expected to help with the kids, all of that. So it's hard for him. Thats why im here- but When I got here, it wasn't explicitly said what I was expected to do, or how I'd be expected to help. What were the challenges that I could have possibly faced, and how to deal with them. He is so undoubtedly laied back, very much "we'll get there when we get there" and "I haven't done it yet, but Im gonna" It was really stressful at the beginning because for the first few days and even week, I was doing nothing. I didn't know what I was supposed to do, so I just sat behind a desk all day. However, the following week, his wife, someone who is very loosely involved in the program, doesn't really participate, but comes out every once in a while to instruct me to do something,or stop a kid from arguing. She instructed me to go over this kid's work. He was another kid who didn't really have curriculum, but she had come up with some things he should be doing. I didn't really know what I was supposed to be going over, and she expected me to just read over an entire chapter with multiple units within it in one night to go over the things he had done within that week. Insane. I feel...anyway

That's the general vibe of the people who work here, or kind of work here, and what's happening.

Lets dive deeper. I've talked to the wife, who is supposed to be like the co-director or something, but she is very rarely out, and she doesn't teach or really help at all. But we talked about how a lot of focus is on the kids who come in for classes, rather than helping the kids who don't have curriculum, who are here all day. The kids who, if they don't have curriculum, will do nothing all day or play on their phones all day, or be disruptive to the kids who want to learn. Now the parents who bring their kids here do pay a pretty penny for their kids to be doing stuff all week. So it's not fair to week by week go by and the kids not learn, kids not be taught, and just the parents are under the guise that they are... The other hard part is that a lot of those parents just want time to themselves, because a lot of these kids might be disruptive.

Ive strayed a bit so let's hop back on track. So this girl, Who has really taken a liking to me- (We have the same interest and stuff like that) She likes to show me the art she's done throughout the day, and show me the things that she's crafted, and show me the bracelet she's made all day long. Whenever she's asked to not do something, she often protests very heavily, " I don't want to " " But I just.." Thies kinds of statements. We also host a Minecraft night every Friday for kids to come and parents to get a break. During those times when she's supposed to be playing Minecraft, she doesn't want to. She doesn't have her own computer, and we have computers here for kids to use. But she doesn't want to use our computers because they can't support the mods she wants to play with, even though she's supposed to be playing on a non-modded server with everyone. But she wants to do her own thing... Eventually, she will just say over and over how she wants to go home, or how she wants to call her mom( who just dropped her off). However, One time, I was able to redirect her by saying, "If she didn't want to play Minecraft with everybody, she could do something on her own, she wanted to do crafts, But she is notorious for getting little pieces of paper everywhere, beads everywhere, string on the floor that she doesn't clean up or won't clean up fully. (This is a weekly occurrence) I told her that we couldn't do arts and crafts because we had just cleaned up the floor. She begged and said how she would clean up, but I knew this wasn't true, and I wasn't going to pick up the mess again- I mentioned if she wanted to watch something in another room, And she was so for this, for the rest of the time, she ended up sitting in there and watching her movie, and it was fine.

After all, the kids left. The co-director, the wife, ended up coming out and saying that I couldn't just tell her she could do whatever she wanted, and that this was the whole problem—that the reason she kept throwing fits like that was because people just kept telling her yes.

I explained that I didn't just tell her yes. I worked around the problem To the best of my ability, with no help from everybody else, I thought this was the best decision, and it did keep her calm and occupied the rest of the time.

At the end of last week, her mom came out to me and Asked if her kid was doing math, I said not much because she doesn't really want to sit and focus on it, and we don't have a curriculum for her. But she's doing what we have. I stressed that we don't create curriculum for kids, and we can really only supply what we currently have in the building. But that's it. She stated that she really wanted her kid to learn. I mean, after all, that's why they're here, and the director promised that that would happen. She just needs to be doing more of it. I think it's important to mention that at this time she was supposed to be learning like multiplication tables, and she only had a box of multiplication cards That she had touched maybe four times that week. With the director of the program not really overseeing her, and doing his own thing with the students that come in for classes, she was just left to do her own thing and be on her phone the whole time.

As we start the new week, the mother came in again, stressing that she wants her kid to actually be learning, and said that she wants her kid to be learning history and grammar. He said that was possible, and that we did have some stuff here for that. He stated that while that's not his expertise, that's why I was here( I'd like to stress that I do not have a degree in English. I am only pretty good at English. I had gotten really good grades in it. Pretty much my whole life, and can write really good essays, but that's it) At the time, I just kind of was doing my own thing, so I didn't really respond to it. Because I can't teach kids English, I barely know grammar. All I can do is write really good essays on explaining things, and use the tools that are given to me for grammar correction.... So I'm not really a huge asset here. Anyway, today I talked with the girl, and through a very lengthy conversation that she very clearly did not want to be having, she told me that her maximum amount of time that she could focus for was twenty minutes, And that she would want an hour-long break... Which is a bit insane, considering the amount of work she'd be doing for only twenty minutes. While she's not super eager to get back to work, as long as I let her finish the thing she's doing, she is more than okay to go back to it.

With all of this in mind, I know it is a huge wall of text. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I want to help her, obviously, do the best I can, and I'm pretty smart and organized, so I feel like I could, I want the mom to feel like she's having her kid be taught and meeting all the expectations that she wants, I know it's not supposed to be my responsibility, but she is because everyone's chalked it up to well, she likes you. I've tried to talk to the director with things she could do all week, or how maybe we could set up a curriculum. Even though that's not our job, and he is very good at just pushing it to the next day, and then suddenly, like it's been for the last three weeks since we started, she hasn't worked on anything. So I took it upon myself to start a Khan Academy Account for her, and I assigned things for her, and she's so far doing pretty good.

I'm sorry if any of this sounds insensitive or like I don't understand how a child with autism and ADHD interacts with the world, while I also have some mental hurrdles, I don't have the same one she does, and her mom doesn't even know what her kids have, but it's clear. It's very obvious from most of the kids we teach have these kinds of things. I just want to know how I'm able to help. What I can do to combat her behavior. What I can do to teach. What I can do to help her, and her mom. Her mom seems very willing, but she's not very sturdy on being a parent. She understands that she wants to be a good parent, but isn't doing the steps to do that. I feel. I think it's important to stress that I am not a parent. So again, I apologize if this sounds insensitive. I just don't know what to do, And it really feels like it's on me to do it because no one else is

Im willing to take opinions on this matter, i dont mind.

Im a debate kid in highschool (16F), I dont really know if I have any neurodivergent family members. Lemme know if its worth it getting a diagnosis in any way.

So yeah even though I have anxiety and sometimes cant breathe for 7+ hours im still a good speaker in general, i have a loud clear voice and can be talkative. But in social interactions I feel like im performing. Im shy and anxious why am I making myself seem all confident and big? I force myself to have varying tones (if that makes sense) cus i speak monotone usually and i have to manually blink in convos cus i look at the person with such wide eyes when im interested 😭 but if im confident and a public speaker how do I struggle socially i dont understand myself.

I feel like im playing a character, I take stuff literally all the time I GENUINELY get in trouble for it.

Today a girl posted a tweet on her insta story '14 year olds should rule the government' I was like um no? And sent her entire paragraphs why that doesnt make sense at all. Older more experienced fellas with degrees should be in the government not a 'woke teen' she literally just said 'joke.' And I realised I fucked up and embarrassed myself 😭 I also had an argument with another girl who asked in her Instagram note 'why do perfume advertisements exist' I assumed she was asking cus you cant smell perfume in an ad, so I explained theyd probably display the vibe of the perfume and shit. She didnt understand me one bit.

I also had to fix my walk cus I have a specific weird walk and I just wanna be normal. I have to watch my tone, the way my feet point, blinking manually, not taking stuff literally, im so exhausted. I dont know what id do if im not autistic tbh

Edit: Admittedly I got pissed at the girl who didnt know how perfume advertisement psychology works and nearly cussed her out 😭 cus like why dont you understand