View a past chat on this topic here: July 2, 2023. Pattern recognition refers to the ability to notice and understand repetitive patterns in information or stimuli. It involves the brain’s ability to detect similarities or regularities in data, such as visual shapes, sounds, or sequences of events. #AutChat Some autistic and similarly neurodivergent people […]

View a past chat on this topic here: May 14, 2023. Dysautonomia is the medical word that refers to problems in someone’s autonomic nervous system – that means the things our body does on its own without us needing to think about them, such as breath and heartbeat. #AutChat There are many different kinds of […]

See a previous chat on this topic here: October 9, 2022. Autistic inertia is an autistic experience described as difficulty doing what we intend to do. Sometimes it is also known as monotropism. It can significantly affect the lives of the neurodivergent people who live with it. #AutChat Troubles with starting, stopping, and transitioning between […]

View a past chat on this topic here: April 10, 2022. Q1: How have you been coping with life during the coronavirus pandemic? #AutChat Q2: Have your feelings and coping techniques changed over the last two years? What about your access to things that may help you cope – such as financial support, telemedicine, sick […]

View a past chat on this topic here: January 2, 2022. Autistic/similarly neurodivergent people can have difficulty with reading and/or math, related to autism or to a different condition such as dyslexia or dyscalculia. #AutChat All autistic/similar #AutChat participants can answer today’s questions, even if you don’t have an additional diagnosis such as dyslexia or […]

View a past chat on this topic: August 29, 2021. Q1: Have you studied any languages other than your first? How many? #AutChat Q2: How old were you when you started learning the new language? Why did you start learning it? #AutChat Q3: What was easy about learning the new language? What was hard? Do […]

View a past chat on this topic: August 1, 2021. Some autistic/similar children are hyperlexic (early fixation on letters or reading) and/or hypernumeric (early fixation on numbers or math). You can read about these neurodivergent traits in a scientific journal here (PDF): https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/6/692/pdf #AutChat While people who are hyperlexic/hypernumeric may be labeled as gifted and […]

See a transcript of a previous chat on this topic here: April 18, 2021. Rejection sensitivity and rejection sensitivity dysphoria means hypersensitivity to criticism (or anything that could be perceived as criticism), associated with intense feelings of rejection. Here is more information: https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/rejection-sensitive-dysphoria #AutChat — Conversations about rejection sensitivity and rejection sensitivity dysphoria may bring […]

View past chats on this topic here: January 10, 2021 and April 30, 2023. Visual processing is the name for how our brains understand the sensory input we get from our eyes. For many autistic and similarly neurodivergent people, our visual processing works differently than it does in neurotypical people. #AutChat Differences in visual processing […]

View past chats on this topic here: December 6, 2020 and May 28, 2023. Questions: Chosen family can refer to friends, partners, housemates, support networks, informal cousins, and other close voluntary relationships that might resemble or take the place of what’s traditionally considered family (such as blood kin). #AutChat If you share personal information about […]