@axnxcamr @actuallyautistic

There's a real problem faced by "highly-capable" or "gifted" kids:

Things are easy for them, until they're not.

And when things get difficult, it's often because the kid coasted by on their IQ without developing the skills they'd need when things got more complex than they were able to brute-force with their brains.

I know this happened to me, and it's only as an adult that I learned more about why.

Autism is often co-morbid with executive function impairment and atypical sensory-processing.

Learning skills to help counter executive functioning issues and techniques to deal with over-stimulus when it comes to task completion can dramatically improve quality of life and burnout issues with tasks that suddenly seem to be too great to surmount.

Take this with some salt, I transitioned from psychology to computer science half-way through my college career.

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#Autism #ExecutiveFunctioning #ActuallyAutistic #Burnout

@alice @axnxcamr @actuallyautistic That's literaly my story.

Have been the 'best' in class for years ( only competition was with the girls, who work harder than boys) until I failed.

I wanted to be a 'forest guard' but was told it was too easy. When I selected english as first foreign language they told me I was lazy...

School was torture most of the time, esp junior high school where I got bullied because I was so 'weird'. IQ diagnosis at 13 did not really help, the 'psy' was an asshole and the results were expectations from family were raised instezd of adjusted.

Ended up jn the Navy ( try watching effing liners on a radar screen in the Middle of the night with ADHD. I was very good during rais but fell asleep otherwise). Then I moved to IT and got an OK career 'cause computers understand me better.

I realized I'm #actuallyautistic at about 50, learned about exΓ©cutive dysfunctioning some years later ( I thought I was lazy) and about ADHD at about the same age. In my family ADHD are expected to be physically hyper active, and the understanding of psychology is void.

Trying to work my way through this at 58 ain't easy everyday, and it took a burnout to learn this.

@Twoflower @alice @axnxcamr @actuallyautistic

Oh the f'ing "lazy" flag. Got saddled with that one through my entire childhood. (Try "stuck" or "frozen" or f'ing "exhausted," MOM) It's still a stick I reflexively beat myself with if I don't apply a LOT of conscious attention to giving myself grace.

Angels Praise Dani Donovan who validated my entire existence with this one image: #adhd

@cavyherd @alice @axnxcamr @actuallyautistic
Even today, I'm sometimes strugling to get out of my f*ing chair to go do something I LOVE. I'm only realizing why I did not do much in terms of photography, or wildlife photography (which is my true calling and has been for my whole life)

@Twoflower @alice @axnxcamr @actuallyautistic

...Yep. Twoflower, meet: My Life 😭

@cavyherd @alice @axnxcamr @actuallyautistic the positive point there is that understanding this I can better help my son

@Twoflower @alice @axnxcamr @actuallyautistic

Oh, absolutely! Gods, how my life would have been different if my mother had realized I was paralyzed by my brain & not "just lazy."