The things that have helped you most?

Animals are such a great way to reset ey, and I should definitely find a therapist

These are some great ideas, love the fluffy blanket one, I do that but hadn't even noticed I was doing it! Lol

For me, I have found the following to help me greatly:

1. Time. Allowing myself the time to process my diagnosis. This is a long process and is full of ups and downs. I need to allow myself all the time it takes. This extends into other aspects of my life too though, so is very transferable.

2. Writing my thoughts and feelings somewhere (like here) in order to explore them properly.

3. Alone time. This is a chance for me to stim, explore hobbies and explore my special interests. This time is important and purely for me.

4. Intense physical exercise. For me, that involves weightlifting, but others enjoy more cardio focused activities.

5. Music and reading. I enjoy both of these things, so they really help me to escape reality whenever I feel the need.

6. Keeping an eye on my energy levels in order to avoid burnout. Learning to say no to others, in order to preserve energy in times of need, is a really important skill.

There will be lots more, but these are where I’ve landed so far.

I may have to steal one of these for my list because I literally forgot I do it until I read your post. XD

Things that help me:

• Breaking down big tasks into lots of little pieces to prevent overwhelm/help executive dysfunction
• Reading lots about the experience of other autistic adults to know I'm not alone
• Owning a pet- my dog doesn't judge me, people accept his need for routine more than mine, stroking his fur is a sensory joy and a stim that doesn't bother anyone (quite the opposite, in the dog's opinion!)
• Noise cancelling headphones
• Therapy to deal with the trauma of going through school as an undiagnosed autistic kid
• Natural light, which is the opposite of whatever sensory hell is going on with fluorescent lights in shops

• Staying off social media. *
• Not camoflaging/masking unless I absolutely have to.**
• Accept the stimming and just filter it into more subtle forms.
• Lean into comfort things, fluffy blankets, old movies, calm music etc.
• Give up meat and dairy,  andy anything else that is too difficult to digest, nothing wrong with topping up on fortified foods and multivitamins if you need to.
• Call people I'm going to meet on the phone before I meet them in person. ***
• Breaking down big tasks into lots of little pieces to prevent overwhelm/help executive dysfunction (BattyBats reminded me I do this so I stole it.)

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Skip this next bit  tbh I just felt compelled to write explainations for some of them.

* I'm of the opinion everyone should be off social media anyway, since the advent of sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Parler, Whisper, and TikTok the human psyche has been horribly damaged. The Ad for them should read "Want to invite a slury of cults into your house in the next 5 mins? Then YOU should join Social Media!" XD

** If I'm going to meet new people I weigh up the pros and cons of just being open about being autistic from the start. But I never mention it in forms unless I really have to, I like to have control over who does and doesn't know so a document just existing to get read by anyone willy nilly is not something I want out there. AFAIC it's my diagnosis my business, nobody else's. If I don't want to mask or the mask slips and they think I'm a bit odd so be it, I'll deal with that when I'm good and ready. But Almost everyone outside of a professional work related setting just gets hit with it right off the bat like "Hi I'm Sam, if I do or say anything that seems like it could be a bit autistic that's because I am."

*** Because I don't have to look them in the eyes on the phone or worry about what I look like, I find it helpful to have a polite chat even if it's just a short "Hi _name_, I'm just calling to confirm our meeting is in _location_, and at _time_ is that correct? Yes okay then, that's great, thank you, see you then." and after that goes well they are 1, not a total stranger anymore, and 2, because their tone will be pleasant I can chase away thoughts that they must instantly hate me for no apparent reason when we actually meet face to face, which makes teh actual meeting more relaxed.
If there is more than one person in the actual meeting I will just focus on the person I already spoke to on the phone, and give a courtesy glance at teh other person only when they speak specifically.

www.nytimes.com/.../breathing-exercises.html