apparently autistic folks can only really connect with each other if a conversation has mutually engaging content whereas non-autistic folks can simply connect with contentless conversation, where the social interaction itself is engaging so the content doesn't have to be

this explains a lot of why i have trouble socialising with non-autistic folks

i feel literal pain if someone is talking to me about a thing i'm not interested in and i have to pretend to be engaged, especially if it's something they've already told me about before

didn't realise this wasn't a universal experience. i usually try to not talk about things other people don't care about to save them the same pain i feel, and was very confused why nobody else ever did the same, lol

@cinnamon i feel this too! maybe it's a thing that adhd overlaps with?

if i talk about a thing that i feel like someone else isn't into, i feel really self-conscious that i'm taking up their time

i think this is because it's very hard for me to focus on things that don't interest me, which makes it take a lot of effort to try and stay engaged with someone who clearly really likes a thing, because i don't want to trample on their enthusiasm

but i also don't want to put others into that sitch

@thingywott there is a lot of overlap with adhd and autism for sure

i didn't really realise how it all worked and how much of a legitimate spectrum autism really was until i watched this video recently, which does a good job at explaining the differences and similarities of the two things youtu.be/xQc5Feyl2GE

@cinnamon huh! i'll definitely need to give that a watch!

because like, coming at this from the opposite side you are, i see so much overlap, so it'd be neat to understand what the heck is going on with that, ahah

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