I found a mostly neurotypical conversation about an autistic guy, and this is why I will never feel safe around the majority. Ever. And how many can define autism? I would be shocked if five percent could explain something other than eye contact or something social. Their arrogance when speaking about autism is so foul and nasty. If you don’t know what something is, let it go.

How arrogant to say someone isn’t autistic when they can’t even describe how autism shows up on a daily basis. Pure arrogance…just because they are in the majority and don’t have to know this stuff. Congratulations? Give 10 non-social reasons why an autistic adult might have difficulty living alone. Can they do it? Of course not.

Why can’t they just speak English? Just learn English. Don’t be here if you can’t speak it. Why can’t they just speak normally? Just be “neurotypical.” Don’t be here if you can’t do normal. Conform!

Just enjoy being in the majority and having the world made for you. They don’t have to learn about autistic people or anyone. Must be nice. Enjoy it and stop demanding people be like you. It’s not going to happen because it can’t. They think they can change autistic people. (Without knowing anything about it…) Well, some people want a cure for autism. Why not be the person who does it? You could be rich. A billionaire.

I know some people in “minority groups” would like to have a word about things being easier. Especially Black women who are very stressed and have the physical symptoms to show it. Interesting how they mask too. But not the same way, of course. But “masking” and discrimination are the issues, and high stress is enough to cause illness, which is how it shows up.

And others mask, but if it’s not enough to cause illness, no one cares. OK. too brutal. But if it doesn’t lead to things like Alzheimer’s that lead to death, then um, maybe we can chat at Starbucks later. They think, “I mask too.” Whatever. Missing the point again. Don’t be clueless. Don’t think you have to be included in everything. Look it up. There is a lot of research, podcasts, books, etc.

I don’t like the term “mask” and rarely use it, except right now, but “camouflaging” is the other word. So not crazy about that either. It can’t be summed up in one word.

Btw, one big difference between a non-autistic person who feels they mask a lot is that on weekends or during breaks from work or school, they usually get a break from “masking”. They might be alone or with family or friends. Being autistic in the world means rarely getting that break. No nervous system reset. There are probably tons of differences, but this is the one that breaks people…never getting a break. Ever. Hello, burnout!

It’s constant rejection and judgment if you don’t act a certain way. It’s always being questioned for being the way you were born. It’s having an awareness that they don’t have, therefore, it’s not valued. It’s not getting the job. It’s working just as hard and putting in more hours, while always having less.

I could go on, but I have a long to-do list today, so that one green paragraph is a decent start. ONLY a start… And they want to just call it “masking”? Um, nope. It’s cruel. It’s discrimination. And the dominant group is saying we have to do it for resources and survival, so why not call them out instead of saying we are “masking”?

Once again, people come up with a term… and then, in our society, we use it to blame or shame the person. I read the research daily, and they always talk about what people in the minority do. It’s rarely WHY it happens. Because of them! What they do. I don’t like it when people in the minority don’t call them out. They shouldn’t have to do it daily. They are exhausted by just existing, but when talking about the issue, call them out. Don’t take it on.

It would be so much easier to just talk about my cats. Or maybe not. Can you believe I have two cats? They were adopted together once before, so they are kind of like brother and sister. They have known each other since 2025, I think. At least that long.

Anyway, I left them alone for 30 minutes on Saturday and expected to come back to Cats Gone Wild, but no. D was waiting at the door. Probably not because he missed me, but because he wants to go outside. I would love to make that happen, but I’m so overwhelmed by S not eating enough and D not drinking enough.

Plus, the shelter lady is pestering me about taking them to the vet. Fair…if S wouldn’t run away if I do anything odd or look at her the wrong way. I touched her carrier for one second to move it the first week, and she went into hiding for 3 whole days. I only deal in reality, and I don’t know what to tell her…you want magic? I can probably take D to the vet because he might get into his carrier, but I’d want a two-week break in between visits. In burnout land, nothing occurs back-to-back.

Taking 2 new cats to the vet on the same day? We must live on different planets. But I did make an appointment for both on the same day, even though I feel it’s not realistic. I will visit their fantasy land. It seems required sometimes. It might work. It’s possible…?! But it’s not on their timeline. I’m such a failure.

And that is only about the cats. I’m not mentioning to her that I’m overwhelmed and stressed. Who are these people who consider no context? Don’t worry. I know better than to try to explain if it doesn’t come naturally to someone. So, just the necessary facts, and she can do whatever.

As far as personality goes, S is obviously timid, so I haven’t seen if she loves toys or other things. She will ask for food and not eat it. And D is not shy. D likes humans! Needless to say, I find that odd and troubling. Who likes people more than cats? Actually, I’m learning from cat experts that cats tend not to like other cats. Fine. I get it. But PEOPLE? Disturbing.

What I Did This Week

Music of the Week

Books of the Week

I finished 3 books this week:

^{A Stranger in the Family by Diane Saxon  (Fiction) My rating: ★★★★ (really 3.75)  Had a decent experience reading this book, but I hated the ending. It ruined the good feeling for me. I guess I really wanted the book to end one way, even though I’m usually fine with a surprise. So the rating of this book is hard. The truth is: I enjoyed reading the book, but the last 10% ws WTF. It should probably be a real 4 stars, but whatever. 3.75 it is.} 

^{The Pilot’s Daughter* by Audrey J. Cole(Fiction). My rating: ★★★★ (really 3.75). This book got a decent rating because the author kept it short. Fast pace. I would have been more annoyed by certain cliches if the author had dragged it out to 350 pages, as so many authors do. This wouldn’t go on my top recommendation list, but it’s a decent, fast read. I’m currently reading another of her books, which, so far, is much better.}

^{The Guilty Ones by Kyla Stone (Fiction). My rating: ★★★ (really 3.50). Rating books and having something to say about them is tough this week. I thought I would love this book by the way it started. However, it became soap operish about 20% in. So it became a slow read quickly. But I found the ending mostly satisfying, which is very rare for me. From my notes after reading a few chapters: very PLL, sleepover, and then missing}

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I had NotebookLM create whatever it “wanted” about my June reads, and it created the following image. I will say I had way more DNFs than what’s listed. I don’t make a point to track books I don’t finish. Just because once I’m over a book, I’m not thinking about it anymore, so going back to say I only read 20% is not top of mind.

Quote of the Week