Something I think people who don’t live with chronic illness don’t understand is that there is a big difference between resting to get better and resting to avoid getting worse.

2024 LESSONS

jan: being alone does not have to mean being lonely

feb: you don’t have to have everything figured out to move forward

mar: you can’t take back the things you’ve said, but you can apologize for them and that is worth something

april: being productive can come in many forms

may: the small things in every day life can be so beautiful they make the days bearable

june: your negative thoughts do not equal your reality

july: new beginnings can be beautiful if you let them be

aug: there’s no right or wrong way to move on if you’re not hurting anybody

sept: you can’t be productive if you’re drained. take time to recharge.

When I say autism is a spectrum I mean. Some autistic traits include:

Excessive talking - Non-verbal and no talking

Little to no eye contact - Excessive eye contact

Can’t read a person - Can over analyze a person

Socks 24/7 - No socks 24/7

Super high IQ - Below average IQ

Constantly under-stimulated - Constantly over-stimulated

Hyper-sexual - No sexual attraction at all

AUTISM IS A SPECTRUM NOT EVERYONE SHOWS THE SAME AUTISTIC TRAITS

When I was younger and researching the autism diagnosis criteria and symptoms, I thought “oh I couldn’t POSSIBLY be autistic.” Because when I read “takes everything literally” I thought it literally meant EVERYTHING and I was like “I don’t take EVERYTHING literally, just most things!” And I just realized the other day that it didn’t actually mean EVERYTHING and that was an overstatement.

WAIT WHAT

it’s okay to have fun before work

ITS OKAY TO HAVE FUN BEFORE WORK

It’s OKAY to have FUN before work

#ITSOKAYTOHAVEFUNBEFOREWORK

ITS OKAY TO HAVE FUN BEFORE WORK

What Can Passing the hEDS Criteria Look Like?

To pass you must meet the requirements of all 3 criteria sections. This is what my assessment looks like for reference! Reblog to help spread awareness.

Criteria 1: 8/4-9

First is testing for hypermobility. Most often used is the Beighton Score (which isn't perfect). The Beighton Score is a quick method to test for hypermobility. You must score 4-6+ out of 9 depending on your age.

1. Each pinky finger you can bend 90+ degrees backwards gives you one point.

2. You can also gain a point for each thumb that can touch the inside of your forearm like this.

3. Each elbow that hyperextends beyond 10 degrees gives you a point.

4. Each knee that hyperextends beyond 10 degrees gives you a point.

5. And if you can place your palms flat on the grounds without bending your knees you can gain one point. (this is the only one I can't do)

Criteria 2: 2/2-3

Feature A: 5/5-12 Feature A looks at certain indicators of a connective tissue disorder. You have to have 5 or more out of the 12 listed to pass.

1. Unusually soft skin. Every EKG I've had, the cardiologist had been unable to keep the stickers on me because of how soft my skin is.

2. Unusual or unexplained stretch marks. These stretch marks are unexplained because they appeared before puberty.

3. Arachnodactaly by a positive thumb sign. This means both hands, when I make a fist, the entire nail of my thumb extends past the edge of my palm.

4. Mildly stretchy skin. This is most prominent on my biceps, neck, and collarbone.

5. At least 2 sites with atrophic scarring. Here are the major scars that qualified in my assessment. Though I have tons of these all over my body from various nicks and cuts.

Feature C: 3/1-3 Feature C assess if you have problematic or painful chronic symptoms.

1. Musculoskeletal pain daily for 3+ months in 1+ limbs

2. Widespread pain for 3+ months

3. Recurrent joint dislocations/instability in the absence of trauma

Criteria 3: 3/3

Because hEDS is diagnosed based on exam and exclusion, it's important that there is no other explanation for the symptoms. This means you must pass all three of these requirements.

1. No unusual skin fragility (could be Classical EDS)

2. No other heritable or acquired connective tissue disorders that could explain symptoms.

3. No other diagnosis that include hypermobility like other forms of EDS, Marfan Syndrome, etc

Some other things that factored into my diagnosis:

Just like to share:

Studies show that people with joint hypermobility, Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), and hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD) have a higher likelihood of being autistic than would be expected by chance.

im begging for help at this point.. my name is snow. i am autistic and disabled. i have been in the shelter since july 2024. before being in the shelter i have moved from place to place. my mother couldn't help as much since her place is pretty small, and she takes care of my little sister. my grandmother can't help either, due to being disabled herself, and living & staying with the person who had done things to me as a child. she doesn't believe my trauma so she chose him over me. things have gotten pretty difficult since i came into the shelter, as i no longer can work due to being both mentally and physically disabled, so paying this debt off for both banks has been a struggle. yes, i said BOTH. discover AND bank of america. i barely eat or drink so i sleep all day to avoid spending my food stamps. i barely make it passed the 15 of every month. i have had jobs in the past, and all have just got rid of me or fired me due to constant physical illnesses. this shelter does not help with laundry needs, feminine products or soap; so the cash i get every month goes to that rather then food or drinks, and even paying my cards off. the food here is never properly cooked, and the milk we get is always expired before it's time. anything helps. please. i even have a paypal which can be sent money. anything helps such as money for food and drinks.

reposting again. please, please, share.

Damn true. Even those who can't medicate for personal reasons, your pain is still valid.

Image Description:

A bearded man wearing gray sweatshirt holding a block of message, written:

“DEAR HEALTHY PEOPLE

PLEASE UNDERSTAND

THAT

MANY CHRONIC PAIN

MEDICATE TO NO PAIN' WE MEDICATE TO HAVE A HOPE OF BEING A FUNCTIONAL HUMAN BEING”

I'm seeing more and more teachers today who actually want to help their autistic students, they just don't always know where to get the best advice.

I'm just hoping that those teachers look towards autistic advocates to find the answers they need.

If I can have one wish for upcoming autism month it's that more people recognize that the spectrum includes people who are medium support and such, maybe include us in conversations more. I can't tell you how much arguments in this community forever feel like low support versus high support, and I'm left feeling invisible and like I belong nowhere.

Yes I will never need the amount of care some others do, no I will never need as little care as some others do. It's hard to make anyone understand, family or friends, that this is how I am. They know I'm not high support, and anything else they see in media is usually low support. When I was diagnosed, my mother exclusively read books about or by low support autistics. So to them, that's what they often expect me to be like, or to achieve one day. Everyone calls it a spectrum but most people still treat it like just, a coin with two sides, forgetting everything that isn't two extremes.

having just one friend who is also chronically ill makes me feel better, even though we don't have the same illnesses she gets it

also it makes it really different between mental illness and physical illness

some of my “former” friends with mental illness could not empathise with my chronic illness because they could never imagine themselves living with nagging discomforting pain on the daily

Maids, cleaners, janitors, and sanitation workers are all the most important people of civilization by far. Even 12 hours without them is VERY noticable and they simply need to be highly compensated for it

'Six AM', 1930 - William Wolfson

Hi, I'm a janitor. The facility I work in had its first floor flooded with sewage and while a restoration company came and sucked up all the water and placed fans everywhere to try the place out, I still cleaned the entire floor and threw away all the contaminated furniture. Same thing happened last year, but only a couple of rooms flooded on that floor and it was only water from a sprinkler system. This year was so much worse and I feel like no one in management gives a shit. The entire upstairs was absolutely going to shit because I was focused on the downstairs. Despite the work I do, I have to beg folks to spread around my little bear commission posts every month because I simply can't afford to live on what I'm paid lol

So, truly thanks to everyone who makes and shares posts like these recognizing sanitation workers. It's really a thankless job.

Does anyone out there know of any good apps for gamifying tasks?

I read that Habitica is one of the best apps for gamifying tasks! Here’s a reddit discussion for more resources.