Going to be lots of driving around today. But at least Maive is making me biscuits for breakfast.

This post is for casual conversation if you don’t feel like making a post of your own.

  • paultimate14
    3·
    1 day ago

    I was already in a bad mood this morning. Then my bf sent me an article about some study in mice that claims a new drug can “reverse autism-like symptoms”.

    I’ve looked into the article and corresponding video segment, and everything about it is shady. The news company itself, the anchor (formerly of Fox news) interviewing current the current HHS National Autism Coordinator, who directly reports to a guy who spreads a TON of disinformation about autism in the US. The drug itself, which over the past few years has been touted by influencers as a miracle cure for aging and Alzheimer’s and long covid and more. The study itself, which was partially funded by the absolute worst autism-related org (see Rule 8).

    I know he means well and is trying to be helpful. He loves going out to chaotic and social things and wants me to be able to join him and the rest of the polycule. But that’s also just… Not me.

    • pedantichedgehog@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      1 day ago

      What the fuck

      Do “autism-like symptoms” include being introverted?? Is that a symptom to be cured now?? Even assuming the study is real, what the hell do mice with “autism-like symptoms” look like? Are these mice not making eye contact? Are these mice adverse to specific textures?

      • paultimate14
        2·
        1 day ago

        The study seems to be convinced that inducing inflamation in a pregnant mother can less to brain inflamation in the offspring. The offspring also, supposedly, have “mid brain overgrowth… Reduced reciprocal social interactions… Increased repetitive behaviors”.

        The whole concept of animal autism is a bit sus. Heck, even diagnosing humans seems like more of a vibe than actual medical science at this point.

      • paultimate14
        1·
        1 day ago

        Well, there’s the saying that “if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person”.

        I looked around on the internet this morning to see other perspectives. On BlueSky I saw one guy reacting to the article with positivity, saying he would love to be able to take a pill to “turn off” his autism for a few hours. There is a strong argument to be made that I have personally used alcohol and marijuana in similar ways in the past. Since I got diagnosed, I’ve been weighing the pros and cons of using weed for social situations purposefully.

        I like who I am. I think a lot of people, both autistic and allistic, are too obsessed with cramming every moment of their lives with social activity. I have known people who openly admit that they seek the company of others because they actively fear being alone with their own thoughts. We are surrounded by billions, maybe trillions of dollars of advertising budgets and hostile algorithms that are trying to push people towards social interaction for profit. Bars, restaurants, events, social media, etc. I wonder how many people ACTUALLY like these things versus how many people are being convinced that they should like these things. Or how many people just have a bad relationship with themselves and are looking for an escape.

        I am worried that the existence of such a medication could make it harder to establish boundaries. Choosing not to take it could be seen by others as a choice to be antisocial.

        • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
          2·
          1 day ago

          Addiction takes many forms, and socializing is certainly one way to do it.

          I think most people do like a little socializing, a little company, a little connection, a little belonging. I find what I want more than anything is true friendship, and the shallow socializing that precedes the possibility of friendship is untolerable to me. If I could smoke pot for a few years to tolerate that until I found a few real friends, maybe? But likely the marijuana would be part of the relationship, and it not being high would change the dynamic, probably for the worse.

          What I’ve managed to do most of my life is just this: be online. With the ability to choose what I want to talk about without boring other people (they don´t have to read the way they´d have to listen in a friend group), without competing with others for space, without tolerating conversations I find boring, without burning my bridges with people who will remember and judge me forever (more of a problem on Lemmy, actually).

  • pedantichedgehog@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    2 days ago

    Some folks I know are organizing a charity auction. I felt like I should donate something; it’s for a good cause. So I went through my fabric stash and box of patterns, and decided to donate a tie and some stuffed animals.

    So now I need to sew a tie and some stuffed animals. I’ve cut out the tie pieces already (ties are super easy, it turns out!) but I’m still working through the many tiny pieces I need to make a godzilla stuffy.

    The good news is that this has given me the motivation to actually start on the godzilla stuffy project. I’ve promised a godzilla stuffy to my kid for christmas (so am making at least two), but I’ve just been procrastinating starting because that’s months away.

    • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      1 day ago

      Yeah, you’re back to normal now that your brain’s compensated. Now if you go off it, you’ll be worse than normal until your brain adjusts again.

  • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    1 day ago

    My Gregg shorthand is coming along. I’m realizing that I just love learning stuff, and half the fun of learnign a new thing is learning HOW to learn it!

    For Gregg shorthand, it’s taking new forms and making index cards with them and just going through them all every day and adding a few news ones every day.

    I found my anxiety about writing them “wrong” and thereby learning them “wrong” was unfounded. What happens is that my brain sort of gets closer and closer to what the platonic ideal of the form is, and I just edit the cards as my ability to distinguish improves.

    For instance, today I made a card for “crane” but the “n” looked more like an “m”, something I might have shrugged off earlier, but now was glaringly obvious–so I just edited that card.

    Anyway, Gregg can be quite beautiful and evocative by accident. Below is the form for “dream”.

    Though, under review, that D is ridiculously long, longer than what should be the M, so it might be fair to read that as “dreen”, but that’s not a word.

  • RebekahWSD
    3·
    2 days ago

    I’m actively at the doctors office.

    Likelihood is

    “More blood work. See in several months”

    At least this room has the cat photos in it.

    Edit - It’s become “What will my insurance cover, do they need to change dx and proooobablyyyyy otherwise this mammogram gets done laaaate in the year”