Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
I’ve been a bit hesitant to post this as we seem to live in a society where saying you’re not keen on dogs is viewed on the same level as saying you enjoy burning children’s Christmas presents, but here goes.
I’ve always been very wary around dogs, and have never understood the growing fascination with owning/taking pictures of/talking about them. It’s not a fear as such - I just don’t really get it and I find them unpredictable. Particularly when their owners have them off the lead, and think shouting “It’s okay - he’s harmless!” as their four-legged friend bounds up to you is a substitute for being in control. This is exacerbated by the fact that I like running, and whenever I’m running towards someone walking a dog off the lead I automatically get anxious because I don’t know if it will keep calm or suddenly bolt and get under my feet as I run past. I even under up slowing down as I approach these situations as it causes me to hesitate!
I always just figured I was a bit miserable, but in the light of my ASD diagnosis I thought I’d put it out there to see if anyone felt similar? I see a lot about autistic people having a love of animals but not too much of the opposite, so I don’t have high hopes!
I absolutely adore dogs and all animals (I'm one of those autistics who prefers them to people) but I completely understand that some people are wary of them! Someone might have a phobia or just general anxiety around certain animals and all pet owners should be considerate of that.
I hope none of what I said below offended, CR. I think it's lovely that you have that affinity, and I slightly regret my comic exaggeration lest it inadvertently hurt anyone's feelings. Obviously people used to dogs and that slight dog smell in a home find it a nice thing. I think they are also sensitive to people's moods, so when I come in all sketchy with fight or flight it makes them a bit wild. If I could be more centred when in a room with one, they'd probably chill out quicker.
No offence at all, your post made me smile actually - your description of encountering dogs while cycling in the 80's was brilliant! And even though I love dogs I also wash my hands as soon as they get licked
I feel calm around pets because an animal simply doesn't care that I can't make small talk and they won't judge me for stimming or being awkward so I feel like I can unmask around them. But the replies in this thread are really interesting to me because I never thought about how the unpredictability of dogs could cause stress to an autistic person but it makes total sense.
The wasps made me laugh because both me and my partner are afraid of them. We had a giant queen in our bathroom last summer and my partner shut it in there and asked me "what are we going to do about that wasp?"
There is no 'we' in this situation. It's every person for themselves.
I'm completely with you on the daddy longlegs thing, I've always been scared of them. The secondary school I went to used to have swarms of them and some of the boys (bullies) used to scoop up handfuls of them and shove them down girls blouses!
Wasps and bluebottles are pretty annoying but nothing freaks me out as much as crane flies / daddy longlegs The way their legs hang in that weird way as they're flying and that tapping noise they make as they hit off the ceiling and walls - it's the stuff of nightmares for me! It doesn't help that they're prone to just flying straight at you when you walk into a room... whenever there's one in my house I have to get a family member to catch it and put it outside because otherwise I can't relax.
I'm fine with most other spiders, except those house spiders that grow to a gigantic size and can move faster than the blink of an eye
The only thing that would stress me out more is a bluebottle or wasp or something getting into the house. All that chaotic richocheting and sounding aggressively loud fills me with a terror that I know I should be embarrassed about, but at 45 I'm still unable to deal with. I've spend hours locked in one small room while a fly 1/500th my size takes charge of the rest of my house. I'm very careful to try never to let anything fly in. Windows can be opened only a fraction, the front door can never be left open for longer than it takes to step through it.