Same thing: I like being trans. My life is better for being trans than it would have been if my parents had given me a detrans pill when I was a toddler.

Same thing: I have psychotic experiences, and I have tried so hard for so long to cure them. But I realize now that the real problem was my war against the experiences - the rejection of them, the fight to be "sane", the insistence on seeing myself as broken.

Diversity has value - both for society and spiritually for the individual.

It’s one thing to be “informed” & another to be screamed at hysterically. My system goes from stoic silence, to a brief period of barely audible grumbling, to hysterical screaming.

(It is mentioned in the genetic diagnostic I got after my first breast cancer).

#ActuallyAutistic

Exactly. And I agree with you about where that problem lies.

Yes - I could do without my nervous system making my body go into literal agony (physical pain) when I'm distressed, stressed out, or upset by something. That would be nice to not have (although, then again, I guess it is informing me that something's amiss..)

Ouch! And yes, it's very explicit, isn't it... "functioning"

🥰

What hurts me is the distain most people have for autism, and try to change me, boss me around, and do anything they feel will motivate me to be doing something I dont want to be doing, because "everyone does it"

I am not like most people.
I want people to appreciate me for who I am, different, not deficit.

Society's general perception of autism is the problem, not me.

Looking into the origin of the phrase 'high functioning autistic' really opened my eyes. They want what they can use.

I've long felt exactly what you said in the first t00t and remember refusing a particular therapeutic intervention 20 years ago (EMDR) because I feared it would change who I am. That was many years before realising I was autistic. Life is bloody hard being #ActuallyAutistic but it is who I am and I love who I am.

What I do not love is how difficult it is to be me in a society that doesn't want to know who I am, let alone accommodate me.

My words were:

"And anybody who indulges in anthropomorphism, e.g. "Oh look, I stepped on my dog's paw and he yelped... do you think he might feel pain?" (okay, I'm exaggerating a little) is frowned upon.

It's traditionally considered silly and 'womanish' to attribute feelings and thoughts to anyone who doesn't look like us or speak like us."

It certainly is! Anthropomorphism my ... (ahem)...

I mentioned it too, in my article here: https://www.neurofabulous.org.uk/furries-and-therians.html

(and apologies for the images: I genuinely didn't know they were AI generated, at the time, and I plan to change them - they were just stock photos)

And there is *always* someone who profits from this.

I'm pretty fed up with that kind of attitude as you might imagine.

Apparently I'm anthropomorphizing animals, which is a science no-no. I am assigning human-like qualities to them, based on the undeniable observation that they act similar to humans when placed into similar situations.

That's not how it's done! *tuts in science*

Clearly it is significantly more ethical to discard the evidence in front of us, so we can continue to abuse other creatures at will.

This is done ...

I completely agree. I wouldn't want a "cure" if where was one - but that's when referring to the condition as a whole. Certain bits I could sure do without and actively work on changing: like being able to recognize emotions by facial expression (or to be able to show my own more clearly).

Why? To find out whether fish felt pain.

Their conclusion? They exhibit some behaviour patterns that suggest they could, but more research (i.e. electrocution) is required. You can't be sure, after all.

If this seems particularly disturbing, as if it's just some psychopaths using science as an excuse to live out their sicko fantasies ...