People keep telling me 3 books is impressive and IT’S NOT IT’S A FAILURE

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Lindsay edit: Go a minute into this video.

I vote you get extra credit.

-Lindsay

Note: The blog is not ending. Ever. We will be in our 80s, and Samby will still be making me cry by mentioning thylacines.

Although, hopefully, by that time they will have made some progress in cloning the beautiful tasmanian tiger.

-Lindsay

[Picture of an eagle on a red and blue background. Top text reads: Take out huge textbooks at Library. Bottom text reads: “Is that light reading?”]

The librarian said this to me at the library today. I understood the joke!

Question for you guys: What, to you, is the biggest advantage of having autism?

To me, it’s my intellect. I’m stupidly smart, I won’t deny it, and my memory is frankly just scary-good. I mean sure, I can barely do linear algebra outside of physics, but I can memorise pi to 1000 decimal places and I have accurate, fluid memories from when I was 9 months old onwards (though they’re somewhat sparse until I was 2 and a half).

— Abby

I have bought a violin and I was willing to learn how to play it. But I can’t stand its sound, not because I can’t play it, but because I can’t regulate the sound volume, unlike a mp3 reader. Let’s just play the piano.

[Caption - Will touch other people and their clothing compulsively / Hates being touched]

Actually, I personally don’t mind touch in general. It’s only strangers touching me, or when it’s a sudden touch, that I actually mind. In general I actually require touch, since I’m hypotactile and need lots of textures to stop myself melting down. This often results in hugs. LOTS of hugs. All the time. It makes people uncomfortable. And I need hard pressure, so I have a lot of blankets on my bed, and I wear heavy clothing with semi-rough textures (not enough to chafe but not too little so that I can’t feel it).

— Sam

(Wow, I’m flip-flopping between Sam and Abby today like no-body’s business)

[Caption - Spends three days coding / can’t spend three minutes paying attention in class]

This is a real issue, because class is just plain dull. I learn something, then don’t need to keep hearing or practising it, because I know it now. I can’t cope with having to slow down to the same speed as everyone else. As a result, I generally have to flick through the book to learn something new, or just ignore the lesson completely and do other work once I’ve finished. Drives the other kids and the teachers mad.

— Abby

[Caption - TOP: My headphones are not a fashion statement
BOTTOM: They are a necessity]

This is in response to people who say that my wearing headphones in public rather than earbuds or earphones is just a phase or a fashion statement.

Yeah, no. I need these to function. I’m not as easily overstimulated as most hyperauditory aspies, mostly because of extensive occupational therapy, but I need some form of dampening device to prevent my ears from exploding in pain and confusion.

— Sam

Note, I changed the caption template. Better/worse?

[Caption - Waits for the end of each season of favourite TV show / So that they can marathon their special interest]

This might just apply to me, but I definitely do this, especially if I’m halfway through the series/season when I join it or notice a new season has started.

— Sam