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Things I can't do - a thread of potential humiliation but one that will hopefully make folk more aware of #autism and #disability generally. Feel free to add your own. Here goes...
#autistic
#autistic
1. I cannot make a phone call. Not really anyway, not without extreme stress and often distress. I absolutely hate it and even thinking about it makes me go cold.
2. I cannot tie my shoelaces properly. They come undone very fast and I have never figured out why. I have two degrees.
3. I cannot listen to two people at once, even if one is just laughing of something. My brain overheats.
4. I cannot guarantee I'll remember anything. If I write a list, I'll forget to look at the list. If I look at the list, start to do the thing, I'll forget to do the thing as soon as something distracts me.
5. I cannot plan for the future. I just can't. It's like it's not there. I live on a very day to day basis.
6. I cannot look people in the eye without feeling deeply uncomfortable. This is not because I'm somehow bad.
7. I cannot be told what to do. If someone tells me I have to do something, my brain rebels in the most brutal, immediate way. #PDA8
8. I cannot throw or catch. Never been able to. Made my life at school a misery, as throwing is like the Most Important Thing for boys.
9. I cannot change my plans. If something comes up, I'll just rumble on like a steamroller or stop dead and cry.
10. I cannot organise a piss up in a brewery. Honestly. I wouldn't be able to. I can't organise anything along those lines.
11. I cannot spend time around people without needing a long time of isolation to recharge.
12. I cannot be in crowds of any size.
13. I cannot easily speak up in a three-or-more way conversation.
14. I cannot have a social interaction without replaying it dozens of times afterwards, anxious about what I did wrong.
15. I cannot relax. Not really. I get close but it's not really relaxation.
16. I cannot focus on a single task for much more than 15 minutes.
17. I cannot stop moving my feet if in any way stressed. (stimming).
18. I cannot break my daily routine without suffering extreme stress and anxiety.
So there we go. There's a load of stuff I can't do, mostly due to being #autistic. Hope it was an insight.
