“You’re My Closest Friend.” -Noctis

Take 1 minute out of your day to examine this horror of a DVD I found. It starts with the cat with shaved feet, mouth and tail and gets weirder the longer you look at it.

God-damn crucial.

This may just be my experience as an autistic person, but the kids I’ve nannied whose parent’s complain of ‘bad awful in cooperative selfish autistic behavior’ are… Not like that? At all?

Like, for example, I cared for a kid for a while who was nonverbal and didn’t like being touched. Around six years old? Their parent said that they were fussy and had a strict schedule, and that they had problems getting them to eat. Their last few nannies had quit out of frustration.

So, I showed up. And for the first little while, it was awkward. The kid didn’t know me, I didn’t know them, you know how it is. And for the first… Day and a half, maybe? I fucked up a few times.

I changed their diaper and they screamed at me. I put the TV off and they threw things. Not fun, but regular upset kid stuff.

Next time, I figured, hell, I wouldn’t like being manhandled and ordered around either. Who likes being physically lifted out of whatever it is they’re doing and having their pants yanked off? Fucking few, that’s who.

Next time, I go, ‘hey, kiddo. You need a new diaper?’ and check. ‘I’m gonna go grab a new one and get you clean, okay?’ ‘Wanna find a spot to lay down?’ 'Alright, almost done. Awesome job, thanks buddy’.

I learned stuff about them. They liked a heads up before I did anything disruptive. They didn’t mind that I rattled of about nothing all day. They didn’t like grass or plastic touching their back. They were okay with carpets and towels. They liked pictionary, and the color yellow, and fish crackers, and painting. They didn’t look me in the face (which was never an issue- I hate that too, it fucking sucks) but I never had reason to believe that they were ignoring me.

Once I learned what I was doing wrong, everything was fine. Did they magically “”“become normal”“” and start talking and laughing and hugging? No, but we had fun and had a good time and found a compromise between what I was comfortable with and what they were comfortable with. (For the record, I didn’t magically sailor-moon transform into a socially adept individual, either. In case anyone was wondering.)

I don’t like eye contact. It’s distracting and painful and stresses me out.

They didn’t like eye contact either.

Is eye contact necessary to communication? No. So we just didn’t do it.

Was there ever a situation where I HAD to force them to drop everything and lay down on the lawn? No. So the thirty second warning came into play, and nobody died.

“But they never talked!”

No, they didn’t. And they didn’t know ASL, and they didn’t like being touched.

So you know what happened?

My third day in, they tugged on my shirt. 'Hey monkey, what’s up?’ I asked. And they tugged me towards the kitchen. 'oh, cool. You hungry?’. They raised their hands in an 'up’ gesture. 'you want up? Cool.’ and I lifted them up. They pointed to the fridge. I opened it. They grabbed a juice box out of the top shelf, and pushed the door closed again. 'oh sweet, grape is the best. You are an individual of refined taste.’ I put them down and they went back to their room to play Legos.

“But they didn’t say please or thank you!” “But you should be teaching them communication skills!” “But!” Lalalalala.

1. The entire interaction was entirely considerate and polite. I was never made uncomfortable. I was made aware of the problem so that I could help them solve it. There was no mess, no tears, no bruises, no shouting.

2. Did my brain collapse into a thousand million fragments of shattered diamond dust out of sheer incomprehension? No? Then their communication skills were fine. Goal realized, solution found, objective complete. They found the most simple and painless way to communicate the situation and then did it.

Kids are not stupid. AUTISTIC kids are not stupid.

I’m willing to bet real cash money that the real reason the last few nannies had quit had a million times more to do with their own ability to cope, not the kid’s.

To this day, that was the most relaxed and enjoyable job I’ve ever had.

And I know I don’t speak for everyone. All kids are different. All adults are different. But in my time and experience, pretty much 95% of all my difficulties with children come from ME not being understanding enough. Every single “problem child” I’ve worked with turned out to be a pretty cool person once I started figuring out how to put my ego aside and let them set the pace.

Again, not speaking universally, here. I’m just saying. Sometimes social rules are bullshit, you know? People are people

mE THOUGH

when you touch a Bad Texture™ and have to scrub at ur hands until the feeling is gone

Amidst the rubble of the Kingsman tailor shop, Eggsy and Mark Strong’s Merlin — two of the only people to survive the high-stakes hit — meet. [Director Matthew] Vaughn says that Eggsy’s orange smoking jacket is a sign that he hasn’t shaken off all his idiosyncracies and rough edges. “I can’t imagine Colin Firth having an orange smoking jacket,” laughs Vaughn. “It actually looks really cool. Dapper. Eggsy has his favourite orange Adidas tracksuit and says, ‘if it looks good in a tracksuit, why can’t I have it in a dinner jacket?’” [x]

Game Boy Color Promotional Demo (1998)

and the right videos

Bliss is weighted blanket and cookies

What I think "This Is America" means for us white people

To add onto the other "This Is America" interpretations, I think that part of the point of the dancing with all the surrounding chaos was to show the spread of parts of African-American culture (such as rap and different dances) into white appreciation and focus without the acknowledgement of the pain that the community that makes it is suffering. We white people can take in those elements that we like without having to worry about also experiencing the 'less appealing' parts of the culture like police brutality, gun violence, homelessness, poverty and other things that come as the product of systemic racism (which in America was made by our race). Maybe we would recognize it better if *some artist* paired depictions of the art we all love with depictions of black bodies being brutalized and desecrated at every turn. I think that's why he says at the end "America / I just checked my following list and / You motherfuckers owe me" -- because it's not fair that American culture can be taking in the richness and beauty of one of its subsets without owning up to the hardships it gave that subset to have birthed this art in the first place.

If we are going to appreciate African-American art, we have to support the African Americans who make it.

OMG WHAT AN AMAZING STIMBOARD!!!!! Thank you so much @autistic-knight-errant, this makes me so happy and I can’t wait to use it!!!! :D 

indigo glitter stimboard for @purple-37-bird

/x/ /x/ /x/  /x/ /x/ /x/  /x/ /x/ /x/

Taken from the Niflheim labs and raised as the heir to the throne under a strict hand, young Prompto spend the early years of his life confined to the palace reading about far off lands and interesting creatures across Eos. 

For the first time in his life, at the age of 20, Prince Prompto Aldercapt leaves Niflheim. With the company of his father the Emperor and Chancellor Izunia, they travel to Insomnia under the guise of a possible peace treaty with King Regis. Prompto believes his father and the Chancellor have other plans in mind. 

Niflheim Prince Prompto AU - Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4