Intro:
There are two different types of Autism. Autism with a learning disability, and autism without a learning disability. The following parts are based on similarities within the lives of those of us with autism but without a learning disability. While it looks different for all of us, because we are all unique, I wanted to share my own experiences with autism and BDSM with the purpose of bringing awareness to the autistic people within the community. There are more of us than we even realize.
I hope to give people insight if they are curious enough for it, in (hopefully) bite-sized chunks. Writing is sort of my thing, though, and I’m passionate about this subject, but I’ll try very hard to maintain your attention with smallish parts. Unless you want more. I’ve got autism and I’ve hyper-focused on psychology and…well, that’s a whole other monster 😊
I often get the “I wouldn’t have even thought you were autistic” comments, and I want to change what autism looks like to the average person (including anyone struggling with their diagnosis). So, here is me: I am a sub. I have grown within the community for the last 11 years, but I’ve known since a young teenager I was just a little different than other girls my age. I struggle with CPTSD, which will be woven throughout the series a little, but I plan to do another series about CPTSD and BDSM to create more awareness about it. Because, again, there are more of us than even we realize.
Today, the day I decided to write this series, is my last day in college classes before I graduate with my BA in Psychology (with a focus on mental health). I wasn’t diagnosed with Autism until I was 32, as it isn’t uncommon for females to be missed. It presents differently in different genders AND different people.
I’m also a single mom of an autistic little boy. I work full-time in a job that I love and make good money and that has opportunities for growth. I have goals, BIG goals. Publishing novels is one of them. Being a researcher in psychology. Helping people heal from childhood trauma. Healing generational trauma in societies. I have autism, but I can accomplish every single one of my goals, stated or otherwise.
Basically, we get all A’s in the same classes as you, too.
I have friends. I have always gotten along with everyone well. I’m considerate of others and I can empathize with them. I’m not emotionally stunted from autism. I’m also human with very human flaws. I make mistakes, but it’s certain they are always with the best intentions. I can take responsibility for myself and my behavior, and autism isn’t an excuse for a chronic crappy attitude or mistreating others.
So…I appear “normal”. I look it. I act like it (as much as I can). I’m intelligent, competent, nice...but I struggle to maintain eye contact with you even though I want to. Friendship only goes so deep with 99.9 percent of my friends, because I struggle to stop masking long enough to let you know me. I’m getting better at that, just being me. I’m incredibly hypersensitive to sounds, touch, and lights. I am known at work for my use of detail, same for the editing phase of my writing. I hyper-fixate on certain topics and it can be hard to get my brain to focus on anything else. Below you can find some other common traits that occur with Autism.
· Difficulty with the back-and-forth exchange of conversation
· Difficulty with nonverbal conversation skills
· clumsiness
· Anxiety and depression
· Difficulty with social interactions
· Restricted interests
· Desire for sameness
· Distinctive strengths
· Remarkable focus and persistence
· Aptitude for recognizing patterns
Understanding Autism & my journey within BDSM so far.
I usually don't like surprises. I like everything to be clear, planned, and expected. I want to know every little detail about everything so I can be sure I am ready, to be sure I know how I'm going to react. Ready for social engagement, ready on a mental level, just ready in general, you know?
You also know life doesn't work like that. I can control what I can control, but I can't prepare for absolutely everything, as much as I'd like to. When life hits me...it really does a number. I don't think that's really surprising, though. Being overwhelmed by life is a universal experience. We can all relate to that, regardless of whether you're neurodiverse or neurotypical.
But I'm not neurotypical. I have spent my whole life trying to hone skills to make up for what my brain can't understand. Autistic people sometimes have a really hard time putting themselves in the shoes of others. Even the phrase "in the shoes of others" makes me visually see myself LITERALLY putting on someone else's shoes instead of the concept of trying to understand how someone else feels. I hate the fact that I have CPTSD and childhood trauma because it obviously sucks, but I've considered more than once how it helped me find ways around "limitations" I'd otherwise face, or balanced out weaknesses I had. Especially once I began addressing that trauma and SAW the ways I could utilize how the trauma helped shape my brain. How I could utilize the strengths I'd developed because of it, while simultaneously getting rid of unwanted behavioral patterns. Also, my autism plays a huge part in my obsession with psychology (in that I hyper-focus on it, and in turn, hyper-focus on my healing).
My need to control everything, with the main goal of controlling how *I* react, is to ease some of the anxiety and difficulties I have with social situations. Literally, if I am not alone, it's considered a social situation to me. And I MUST prepare for it. You can imagine the internal arguments I have with myself at the beginning of any D/s relationship. I *crave* submitting. It brings me a peace that takes soooo much effort to obtain in other situations. The eventual structure and trust that's part of a healthy dynamic is something that I thrive on. For autistic people, routine is huge. It is for me. Like most people, some days I handle disruptions better than other days. Unlike neurotypical people, disruptions in my routine can lead to meltdowns. On the days I have a really hard time handling the disruptions, meltdowns are a flight/fight reaction. My reaction is one of flight, fawning, or freezing. Sometimes all three on really fun days. But it takes a lot of unseen work on my part to build relationships of any type, and maintaining those relationships can be just as difficult.
You can imagine what it must be like for me to have a partner who is transparent, understanding of this, and thrives on routine himself. I like rules, and most Doms like giving rules, even for just the fun of it. I like knowing what's coming. Knowing if I behave a certain way, there will be a certain outcome. It makes me feel SO safe and secure. It lets me be myself without fear of judgment. I can be open, communicative, and unafraid. I don't have to worry if I have the mental space to have strong social skills today. I KNOW what happens. I know the outcomes.
So, that leads to part one of the series.
Communication.
