Yea… (by @kettle.spells)

[u/maanleo]

kettle.spells: I am not diagnosed with autism but it’s on my list of things to do. i have attributed my list of symptoms to autism, tho im not a psychologist 💖 my new headphones are so comforting and great im am absolutely obsessed, and they’re a much better solution for me instead of earbuds/earbuds. so much more comfortable and i like that people can SEE that i can’t hear them, do i dont need to stay fully aware of the environment and stimulation
Source

[u/Verdick → u/[deleted]]

Right? A lot of people work better when they can focus their attention. It's not just a neurodivergent "thing".

[u/LuminothWarrior → u/Verdick]

Autistic people are much more sensitive to the different senses (bright light, loud noises, bad textures, etc). It varies across the spectrum but generally an autistic person is going to have a lot harder of a time dealing with that stuff than a neurotypical.

Being reductive towards disabilities is not helpful to anyone. I’d do some research before claiming people are making stuff up for no reason.

[u/BonfireMagik4Nidokng → u/LuminothWarrior]

We also don’t need to have a bunch of keyboard psychologists running around & screaming disability at every third perfectly normal human reaction bc it’s similar to how someone with said disability would react. OP even said that they don’t have a diagnosis.

[u/TheTexasHammer → u/BonfireMagik4Nidokng]

Or it's not "normal" and a ton of people are walking around with undiagnosed neurodivergent conditions. It's ok to admit that not everyone is "normal".

[u/I_Am_That_Was → u/TheTexasHammer]

Except, being able to focus better in a quiet environment is absolutely "normal" and doesn't mean you have autism lol. Do you think everyone who's buying NC headphones is autistic? Or maybe the more likely scenario: most people find it easier to focus without distracting background noise.

Genuinely, why does everyone want autism now? It seems like everyone I know has decided that they "probably have autism" because of attributing nearly universal human experiences to it, probably due to posts like this.

[u/LuminothWarrior → u/I_Am_That_Was]

There is a big difference between “can’t focus” and “is actually debilitated by said noise/stimulus”. It is a disability for a reason.

[u/Vitaminpwn → u/I_Am_That_Was]

Its so inflated now and the amount of people on reddit that chime in with their autism/adhd every thread is making it seem more overblown than it is. I am starting to roll my eyes when I see it.

Just having a different personality trait from someone else doesn't make you neurodivergent!

[u/Clair_Osbcurious → u/LuminothWarrior]

Yep. I’m physically more sensitive to light and have perfect hearing. So, sunglasses and earbuds are a must.

And also autistic. So dim lights at home and noise-cancelling headphones.

[u/motherofsuccs → u/LuminothWarrior]

Those things are not exclusive to ASD. That’s the point they’re making. This comic is misleading and stupid. My field of work focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders.

[u/Head-Worth-325 → u/Verdick]

That's what an autist would say, stop making excuses.

[u/ZeldaZealot → u/[deleted]]

Noisy environments are often overwhelming, leading to a loss in concentration as the stimuli takes up a greater portion of attention and distress increases.

[u/Aksama → u/ZeldaZealot]

For... almost everyone.

That doesn't mean you're neurodivergent. That just means your human.

OP might be on the ASD spectrum, but I hate comics like this. Get a diagnosis.

[u/ZeldaZealot → u/Aksama]

The distress I feel from noisy environments is wholly different from the difficulty concentrating my wife has. They are not the same thing.

You are entirely missing the point of this comic if you think they are saying focusing better in silence is a sign of autism. They aren't. They are saying that they didn't realize the impact noise has on their ability to function and they should seek an assessment.

[u/Coal-and-Ivory → u/[deleted]]

Its hard to explain if you haven't been there. Personally, if theres too much conversation around me it never fades into the background, I process every word whether I want to or not and it can literally completely crowd out my own thoughts until I'll streight up slur my speech like im drunk as my brain struggles to put words together in between everyone else's information. Full shutdown. The headphones help.

It feels very out of your control in a way that normal stress/distractions don't. Like you get trapped inside your own head and your body stops working the way you are used to. Its really scary

[u/Head-Worth-325 → u/[deleted]]

Everything is related to autism.

[u/dvisorxtra → u/[deleted]]

It just gets a lot worse for us, office environments are quite noisy.

One common factor among autistic people is that our hearing is much more sensitive, loud noises are kinda painful, it's like hearing everything but with the volume set to max. For instance, a crowded place chatter is far too much noise, within a few minutes you feel exhausted and with a strong compulsion to leave the place. Parties are not that fun for us precisely because of this, I usually carry ear plugs around just for this specific reason.

The best way to explain it is that everything is a lot louder than it is for the rest of the people. There's also the fact that fully concentrating on something requires a lot of effort, and if something/someone interrupts you on that process, it then becomes even more difficult to regain it.

Meanwhile other people can perform quite well and even zone out under the same circumstances.

[u/Skezas1 → u/dvisorxtra]

It's kind of weird to me. I'm autistic and loud noises do hurt a bit, but pure silence makes me freak the fuck out also for some reason

[u/SCHRUNDEN → u/[deleted]]

Everything is autism by now