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The world obliges me to do something, so I create.
 Society wants me to belong, so I observe.
People force me to react, so I rebel.
They want me to stay still, so I paint.
Life requires me to live, but I am dying. . .

 Know autism better. 1

16/1/2014

22 Comments

 
There are more autistic people around You than You may think.
And even if person is not autistic, why not to try to understand them instead of calling a creep for simply acting differently?
Here You can find my another post about autism "I'm not the one who needs to be fixed, it's You who is wrong".

World loves to tell me what to do. And even more particularly what not to do. Do not speak, it says to me. You talk too fast. You talk too much. You talk about wrong things. And when I stay still, it asks to me to speak. It blames me for not interacting with everyone around. World just loves to tell me how I should live. And many people require me not just to live, but behave the way they want me to.

So, my part one of problems autistic people face or more particularly I face, later maybe there will be some more.

I do not own any rights to those pictures, they all are from Autistic Problems Tumblr. Going through all those pictures made me to think, wow people actually have the same problems like I do. I'm not the only one.
The chances that someone You know is autistic are pretty big, so accept them as they are and do not try to change.

Physical contact.

Picture
This is very simply: do not touch other people without their permission.
Do You feel like giving a hug? That's fine - just ask before and be prepared that sometimes You will hear no. And NO always means NO.
I like hugging and other physical contact only because of the social message behind it. I feel happy when members of my favourite band hugs me - not because I would enjoy the actual act of hugging, but because I know the social meaning behind and this social meaning means a lot to me.
But would not like a stranger hugging me into the street. Anyone I do not know touching me is a nightmare. I do not go to hairdressers because of that, I ask people I know and trust to cut my hair (with demo against fur trade as an exception).  Being in the place surrounded by a lot of people is a disaster for me.
So yes, please, do not touch other people without their permission.

Obsessions.

Picture
Sadly that's so true. People are interested (sometimes) to hear about my special interest for the first time, maybe for the second, but after hearing about the same thing again and again, they are literally asking me to speak about something else. The thing is that sometimes it's not up to me to stop before it's finished. . .
One person said that I'm like a train (and I like trains!) when I speak about things I like. I cannot stop.

And even worse is to fake that You are interested: like to ask for my second favourite number and after explaining which number it is and why it's my second favourite number forget about that in a couple of minutes. That shows that You do not listen and do not care what I have to say. Well, why bother to speak then?
But I still think that things I like are so awesome! And if someone is up to speak about perfect numbers - oh well, I love to speak about perfect numbers, especially about the first perfect number.

Food issues.

Picture
A lot of autistic people have food issues.

For example I cannot stand some kind of food touching each other. I don't eat spicy food or put sauce on it. Also I would never eat something that looks or smells differently than I expected. I am surprisingly picky about vegetables, particularly for a vegan, I cannot stand the texture of most of them.
Sometimes I feel that the list of things I eat is shorter than a list of things I don't.
People are so obsessed with food that it makes very hard to be around them while they are eating. Most of them try to make others to eat something they do not like or comment on their eating behaviour. If You know someone who is autistic, please, do not do this mistake and respect their choice. 

Picture
How You can help person who has similar issues with food:
  • don't assume that You know better what person likes and dislikes, if You like pasta with sauce it does not mean that others will. I do not put sauce on my food and it's perfectly fine for me.
  • don't try to make person to try things they do not want to. I'm scared to death to try unknown food most of the time. It takes abnormally amount of energy to eat something I'm not prepared to.

Picture
  • don't assume others want to eat something different. I love to eat the same things all the time, when I still was in school there was a time I was eating pasta every day for years. And it felt good and safe.
  • choices. Sometimes for autistic people it's very difficult to make choices. For me it's particularly difficult when it comes to food. I'm panicking to decide what to eat in restaurants, public places or at other people's houses. The best person can do to help in this situation is to suggest what to order, ask to separate food, ask to remove something from the meal or to add something. And the best to order the meal, because some people like me are really scared to order things for themselves.

Knowing everything about autism.

Picture
Or rain man.
Or any other film with character who has autistic traits.
First at all, it's not possible to know EVERYTHING about something, and also comedy shows are not reliable way to learn about autistic people and their experiences.

So, please, even if You watch almost all films with characters who have some autistic traits, don't assume that everyone is like them. I love to finding those traits in characters, but no, not every autistic person is like that.

Ignorant people are the biggest problem. People who try to make others to be like them. Think and act the way they call "normal". People who judge others for being different or liking strange things. Why is it socially expectable to be mad about football, but not about number 6?

Maybe You will think after and will be able to understand and accept others as they are.
Thanks for reading.
Copyright © Lex Kartanė

All rights reserved.
All works are copyrighted and not to be used without the permission of the author.
22 Comments
Lizza
16/1/2014 04:03:25 pm

thanks for writing this. I have son with asperger and he is so picky about food, and after reading this all i start to understand this better, that he might not like complex food, but he eats only yogurt and nothing else, and only with strawberries, to make him to eat something else, it's impossible, have almost to force feed him to make him get vitamins!

Reply
Rebecca
17/1/2014 06:25:45 pm

very thoughtful post. i know it can be hard to speak about problems, but it;s helpful for other who dont understand issues so well.
would never assume that people so overthink food - great reading.

Reply
AIWS
23/1/2014 12:44:03 pm

Thank You!

Reply
Criss
20/1/2014 06:52:12 am

Honestly cant relate to this. I have AS and my first and most tenacious obsession was and still is food. I love eating, thinking about food, talking about it......I think it is to do with routine and sensory satisfaction. Food is comforting and we tend to eat at fixed times. Food can also be controlled: we can choose what we eat, how much and when.
I could easily eat 5 muffins all at once and still beg for more.

Reply
steve
20/1/2014 02:03:50 pm

excellent piece, enjoyed a lot ;)

Reply
Agnie
20/1/2014 02:38:20 pm

i dont have autism but dont like people standing to close or touching expecially stepping into my private zone
closing all the borders and trying to intervene my own space.

Reply
Kate
20/1/2014 08:29:09 pm

Holy heck, I never knew anybody else has a thing for the perfect numbers!! You could talk at me all day about that shit & I'd still be listening. :)

P.S. - I love everything about this article. Excuse me while I go catch up on all your previous posts.

Reply
AIWS
23/1/2014 12:45:42 pm

WOW! That's so cool (about perfect numbers), which one is Your favourite? Where do You live?
And thanks for Your nice words.

Reply
Kate
25/1/2014 11:09:44 pm

It's hard to decide which is my favourite. I only know by-heart the first 6 & their proper positive divisors, but I use those sequences very often when things are overwhelming or I have anxiety. I really like the pattern of the 8th: 33550336; & aside from the perfect numbers, the number 8 is very special to me for the weird reason that 8*8 = 64 --> 6*4 = 24 --> 2*4 = 8. lol. So the fact that it's got 8 digits, I really like. And the 6th perfect number, 8589869056, also has a good feel when I repeat it; plus, I like that it has 3 digit 8s because 3*8 = 24 --> 2*4 = 8... hahaha. Sorry that got so long & rambling! I know I'm probably a bit odd!

What's your favourite perfect number? Do you like other numbers? I'm desperately wanting more time to read more about the history of perfect number discoveries.

I'm in Australia - whereabouts are you?

AIWS
5/2/2014 04:52:04 pm

My favourite number is number 6. Not nly because it''s the first perfect number, but the most perfect from all other perfect numbers (all dividers are prime numbers except 1, also 1 is the first number, 2 is the first and the only one even prime, 3 is the first Mersenne prime), and they all go after each other. That's so perfect. Cannot think about anything else that could be more perfect.
My second favourite number is 42. And my third favourite number is 28.
At the moment I'm in UK, too far to meet and speak about numbers.

Kate
13/2/2014 11:20:43 pm

Yes! I love 6 for all the reasons you detailed. I guess I'm just a little obsessed with the number 8 right now..lol.

It's a pity we live so far apart - being able to talk numbers with someone is rare. Feel free to add me on Facebook if you like (or not!): "Adamantium Kate".

:)

Yasir
23/1/2014 07:09:29 am

I don't know what are Perfect Numbers. :/

Reply
AIWS
23/1/2014 12:44:37 pm

I'm more than happy to explain if You are interested.

Reply
Yasir
24/1/2014 06:28:35 am

Yeah, of course I am !!! :P

Yasir
25/1/2014 07:28:16 am

when will you explain. i'm waiting :P

Kate
25/1/2014 11:33:27 pm

Hi, Yasir. Sorry I just saw your message. It's always a smile for me to see someone who's interested.

Basically, perfect numbers are those where the number's "positive proper divisors" (excluding the number itself) sum to the perfect number itself.

For example, the first perfect number is 6. The positive (> 0) whole numbers that divide evenly into 6 are 1, 2, 3, and 6. Leaving out the 6, when you sum 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, the perfect number.

Another example: the second perfect number is 28. The positive proper divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 28. Add up 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28. Pretty cool, hey. :)

There are currently 48 confirmed perfect numbers, all even (it's unknown currently whether odd ones can exist). They range in size from a single digit (6) to 34850340 digits long! There is a long history of studying the perfect numbers: the first 4 were discovered at least as early as the ancient Greeks, while the most recent was discovered just last year. They have been studied by greats of mathematics including Euclid, Euler, & Mersenne (they are related tangentially to the better known Mersenne primes).

As far as I can tell, there are no grand practical applications of perfect numbers, but they continue to be studied as curiosities. They do have a long history of use in religions/mythologies.

Sorry that got so long! Hope that answers your question. :)

Reply
Yasir
30/1/2014 10:41:30 am

ok :D

It seems to be very interesting. :D

i wanna know more.

There's a definite way to find them? or we have to do trial and error with each number?

Kate
25/1/2014 11:33:36 pm

Hi, Yasir. Sorry I just saw your message. It's always a smile for me to see someone who's interested.

Basically, perfect numbers are those where the number's "positive proper divisors" (excluding the number itself) sum to the perfect number itself.

For example, the first perfect number is 6. The positive (> 0) whole numbers that divide evenly into 6 are 1, 2, 3, and 6. Leaving out the 6, when you sum 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, the perfect number.

Another example: the second perfect number is 28. The positive proper divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 28. Add up 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28. Pretty cool, hey. :)

There are currently 48 confirmed perfect numbers, all even (it's unknown currently whether odd ones can exist). They range in size from a single digit (6) to 34850340 digits long! There is a long history of studying the perfect numbers: the first 4 were discovered at least as early as the ancient Greeks, while the most recent was discovered just last year. They have been studied by greats of mathematics including Euclid, Euler, & Mersenne (they are related tangentially to the better known Mersenne primes).

As far as I can tell, there are no grand practical applications of perfect numbers, but they continue to be studied as curiosities. They do have a long history of use in religions/mythologies.

Sorry that got so long! Hope that answers your question. :)

Reply
Kate
25/1/2014 11:34:06 pm

Hi, Yasir. Sorry I just saw your message. It's always a smile for me to see someone who's interested.

Basically, perfect numbers are those where the number's "positive proper divisors" (excluding the number itself) sum to the perfect number itself.

For example, the first perfect number is 6. The positive (> 0) whole numbers that divide evenly into 6 are 1, 2, 3, and 6. Leaving out the 6, when you sum 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, the perfect number.

Another example: the second perfect number is 28. The positive proper divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 28. Add up 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28. Pretty cool, hey. :)

There are currently 48 confirmed perfect numbers, all even (it's unknown currently whether odd ones can exist). They range in size from a single digit (6) to 34850340 digits long! There is a long history of studying the perfect numbers: the first 4 were discovered at least as early as the ancient Greeks, while the most recent was discovered just last year. They have been studied by greats of mathematics including Euclid, Euler, & Mersenne (they are related tangentially to the better known Mersenne primes).

As far as I can tell, there are no grand practical applications of perfect numbers, but they continue to be studied as curiosities. They do have a long history of use in religions/mythologies.

Sorry that got so long! Hope that answers your question. :)

Reply
Kate
25/1/2014 11:36:04 pm

Oops, sorry about the triplicate posting. It kept saying there was an error & not showing the post.

Yasir Hikari
30/1/2014 10:53:31 am

if you would like, you can add me on fb. my name: yasir hikari.

Kate
13/2/2014 11:21:54 pm

Hi, Yasir. I would like to add you, but I couldn't find your profile. If you'd like to add me, my FB is under "Adamantium Kate". :)




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    AIWS

    AIWS is a strange invention in this planet - a machine with a brush, pen and camera in its hands. It just observes and pictures the sad and cruel reality of everyday life. If You do not get it, do not worry too much, it just means that You are average. But of course You are more than welcome to read, think about and even share Your very important thoughts. Just remember: the majority of humanity does not interest AIWS at all, so please, do not feel offended. It's not You, just Your mediocrity.

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