“Confronting a new diary entry appears agonizingly close to the experience of losing one’s virginity. Pressure, the conflicting needs of getting it over with and delaying it for as long as possible, the timidity masquerading as confidence until I can no longer fool myself of my gross ineptitude and lack of command over my organs.”

“Many autists do struggle in a world that has been determined and structured by allists, particularly in educational and work settings. Theoretically, if these environments can be re-structured and re-determined so that an autist can flourish, the ease with which they interact with this environment would mean anybody observing would think everything was normal. This means that those who control the environment control what is normal.”

“Using the voice as a switch feels like cheapening ourselves. The voice has energy requirements and so it is a limited, and therefore a precious resource. The voice activated assistants do not care about you and are only concerned with listening, keeping a record of the functions you request, and providing you with information that will take more of your money or more of your time, and you have to use an integral part of yourself to get any use out of it.”

“Excruciating physical pain for extended periods of time tends to elicit the most powerful response, and I think a case can be made that it is this response that the sadist wants to see and experience as it gives them pleasure. This opens the doors to consider inflicting pain on others as a perverted desire for intimacy. ”

“Viewing time as circular protects us from the burden of thought, but it also creates the burden of finding meaning in recurrence where there perhaps isn’t any.”

“Neurodivergent fiction for adults seems nonexistent. Which is surprising, because the possibilities for creating neurodivergent narratives to demonstrate what life behind the mask is like are infinite. This concept of wearing a mask seems widely misunderstood as it is taken as a passive act – the neurodivergent put on the mask in order to function in public spaces. What is frequently missing from these discussions is that the mask is not just put on, it then has to be maintained for however long is necessary.”

“If we do not want to feel the pain of others and we want to offer our advice with no understanding (things that are currently fostered by popular neurodiversity messaging), how can we ever really understand the pain of the neurodivergent? Our willingness to understand the pain of others remains a crucial question within our collective morality. ”

“Put simply, there is no etiquette in a system of communication that has been designed to promote a person’s popularity, and this is fed by the idea that conflict creates drama, which creates interest, which is good for business. The system is also designed precisely for quick responses, boosting the chances of somebody replying while they are still feeling hurt and more likely to level insults or go all-in on an ill-advised response.”