That’s been an issue for me as well. DDG is my default search engine, but the majority of the time I have to add the !g as it struggles with context. It’ll find plenty of results matching the words I type in, but not quite understand that how those words are arranged matter.

Pick up orders have improved my shopping experience so much! It’s allowed me to try new recipes and meals too; I normally tunnel when I physically go shopping and don’t have the energy to look at or try new things.

Fortunately, this is something I solved by establishing a set of routines which I do not deviate from. Each day is a repeat with minor variations depending on the day of the week. This helps me keep my place spotless, eliminates any mental energy put towards figuring out what to eat, and makes things like shopping less stressful as I just place the same pickup order each week. The BIG struggle for me is when I make the effort to change my routine for people (friends) to accommodate plans and they cancel on me or try to change them last second. I don’t think they will ever understand how much energy it takes for me to change my day and mindset for them.

I believe you can edit .doc(x) files using Google Docs.

It’s odd where people draw the line. It’s pretty much the same as previous generations fawning over radio personalities and all the Oprah’s and such. To me, modern influences are equivalent to radio/TV hosts - personalities which are paid to promote and market products and lifestyles. Just because there’s now more and more specific niches for them, doesn’t make them any less valuable in the people’s lives who enjoy them and their content.

My favorite has been locally hosting Automatic1111’s UI. The setup process was super easy and you can get great checkpoints and models on Civitai. This gives me complete control over the models and the generation process. I think it’s an expectation thing as well. Learning how to write the correct prompt, adjust the right settings for the loaded checkpoint, and running enough iterations to get what you’re looking for can take a bit of patience and time. It may be worth learning how the AI actually ‘draws’ things to adjust how you’re interacting with it and writing prompts. There’s actually A LOT of control you gain by locally hosting - controlNet, LORA, checkpoint merging, etc. Definitely look up guides on prompt writing and learn about weights, order, and how negative prompts actually influence generation.

I feel this. A few months ago I lost all my energy to maintain my mask- completely removed myself from my friends because I couldn’t be the person I wanted to be for them. The energy it takes to be patient doing things I don’t want to do, showing interest in things I’m not interested in, and supporting people who can’t support me just drains me. While it’s been moderately lonely as I also wfh, it’s a bit liberating having a completely consistent flow throughout my day; all that mental and emotional energy I can now put towards me. Familiar cycle though… Once I glue my mask together, we go again!

I tend to think world building should explain why certain races in an RPG behave the way they do. If your world building includes reasons why gnomes behave in a way where there is overlap with autistic traits then I don’t see the harm.

What traits are you referring to? Are they more isolated and keep to themselves? Explain what happened to their race to encourage that behavior. Also, just because a race is isolated, doesn’t mean they want that- sometimes they are forced into isolation and it’s not a natural thing for them. Are they tinkerers? How did they get started in that and where do they get materials? How do they contribute to the world as a whole? If there’s an option to exclude them outright, then it feels like there might be a hole in the lore of your world.

I personally connect with people easier through games. For me, it removes the feeling that I have to entertain someone through some branching conversation. There’s less pressure knowing we’re focusing on the same task or goal and conversations feel more natural based on what we’re doing or observing. It’s also helpful to see how people approach obstacles and how they handle/display their emotions.

This is great. Article explains the method and sample size. This could be a great tool, and I hope it can be applied to any age. Many people who are on the spectrum and are high functioning can go most of their lives without a diagnosis while struggling to understand why the world feels so different to them.

For an Epilator, I use the Braun Epilator Silk-epil 9. Epilators will take getting accustomed to, especially for more sensitive areas. I recommend taking it slow and just focusing on one area per day at first!

For shaving/hair removal, my favorite method is hair removal cream. I was absolutely amazed at how easy, painless, and effective they are! I have one for intimate areas and another for everything else. I’ve not had any burns or encountered razor burn-esque irritation or discomfort. A couple days later I use an epilator on any areas which might have hair starting to poke through.

I ordered an IPL that will get here tomorrow that I’m super excited about!

Especially considering platform availability. I think it says more about ToTK being 3rd on a single platform vs the other two being available on multiple platforms.

A few years ago I had a specialized photography hobby which turned into a small business. I enjoyed certain aspects of branding and really liked connecting with people who had similar interests, but the daily weight of interactions eventually bubbled to the point where I no longer enjoyed running things. I realized towards the end that I probably needed someone to handle all the interest and scheduling communications. This has happened with a few things in my life- the eagerness, excitement, and positivity of whatever I’m into gets snuffed out over time by the growing expectations to communicate with people interested in my work. It’s made getting into new things difficult for me.

Yes, the razor burn can get extremely uncomfortable!

Same! I do a few things like that. If someone makes a pun which people laugh at, I don’t force myself to find it funny; I just look at the person and then smile inside while people try to explain it to me- no, I get it, it’s just not actually funny or clever to me, but listening to people try to explain why something should be funny is amusing.

I taught myself, but I had to find the right way to learn- it had to be visually stimulating and engaging. I can’t do the Udemy style video courses. I’m not sure if it’s the same as it was, but I super enjoyed Codeacademy. The courses were all interactive and visually showed me what I was doing. They were also in small chunks and built upon each other. Also, know that while most languages appear different, they’re all fundamentally doing the same thing, so try to find one which feels fun for you; once you’re proficient with the basic concepts, you’ll start seeing them in every language!

It kind of comes down to the overall craftsmanship of the jeans. I started paying more attention to the seams, stitching, and where things lined up on my body. I had good luck purchasing from smaller brands which appeared to value the ‘legacy’ of denim- not something I really think about, but I was happy they did.

Look for raw denim! The real stuff- it’ll feel thicker at first and will take breaking in. You’ll be paying 100+ most likely, but they’ll last you a lifetime. Brands are really dependent on the style/cut of jeans you’re looking for. Not up to date on brands anymore since I haven’t had to buy a new pair in over ten years. My favorite brand was/is Rogue Territory, but I’m not sure if they are available in the EU.