Really interesting presentation and I found a lot I could relate to. I'm a 44 year old autistic man who has OCD as well as some specific phobias. It's clear to me that most of my anxiety is connected to both sensory difficulties as well as fear of change and fear of my not being able to engage in my interests. For example my OCD is centred on fear of illness/contamination. I'm terrified of getting even a cold because a) the physical symptoms of a cold (or any other illness) are very distressing to me in a way that I've noticed aren't for other people. b) The unpredictability also really frightens me: not knowing if and when I'lll get ill after being exposed to a possible risk and c) getting ill completely disrupts my routines and prevents me from participating in my interests which I find extremely difficult and unsettling. In the case of one of my phobias, fear of thunderstorms - the loudness and unpredictability of thunderstorms is super distressing for me and so I fear them a great deal and worry a lot if they are forecast. I also more generally (distinct from fears of illness or specific phobias) have a strong fear of anything happening in life generally that will disrupt my day to day routines, and the more intense my interest in something is the more anxiety there is that something will get in the way to prevent me from engaging with it. I also have social fears - though I have no diagnoses of social anxiety disorder - that in part are concerns about negative judgment/rejection - but are also rooted in how awkward social interaction is for me and the confusion that comes with it which is in and of itself uncomfortable - as a result I'm much more comfortable and really not very anxious, when in social situations that are organised and when I know a) how long it will last and 2) when it is focused on a fixed topic.

thank you so much <3 useful source

A friend's younger sister didn't potty train until 8. Her mother thought she couldn't potty train because of autism. Her teenage sister had enough and just kept putting her on the toilet and got her trained and dressing herself.

Just came across this channel and I'm finding it extremely helpful as a newly diagnosed ASD.

Sensory difficulties are making autism very hard to live with.

Regarding low energy and week. Did the authors assess for EDS?

ABA is dangerous and leads to severe mental health issues and PTSD. Please don't promote this.

Thank you. In some way, shape or form, I felt validated.

Excellent presentation !

What a wonderful lecture/teaching. This has been so helpful to me. I am an autistic woman in my 30s and looking to become a therapist for other women on the spectrum. Self awareness and self acceptance has been the driving force for my trauma recovery. Thanks Dori for inspiring me today.

Frankness, honesty. Patience and kindness. Wow! I am a 56 year old female and only began to understand that I am probably autistic. These 4 tenets of frankness, honesty, patience and kindness would have gone a long watpy to improving every aspect of my life. My mother would say things like "you know what boys want" and I would respond "No! Tell me!' Her response "Don't be coy with me!". I was in my middle 30s before I figured out what she was trying to say. That was decades of guilt and confusion that could have been avoided with these opening 4 tenets of my post.

I struggle so much with this...

i wish there were CC for this.

I feel more tired and older than I should! Not sure why I’m here, body is screwed

Your presentations are very sincere and I really appreciate your work.

This is like a breath of fresh air. To hear how other women are coping with this... diagnosed or as yet undiagnosed.. I have been hitting walls trying to understand myself... FINALLY!!! I am understanding the whats, why's, how's... of myself. This is like reading a book of my life. Even others' stories.. thank you for this information. So so much. No one notices.. no one cares.. no one tries to understand. It's constant feeling like an outsider. I am glad to find a community that does get it.

Omg to be locked away in a library 🎉❤😊 yes!!!!!

9:19

✅

Gosh so spot on for me personally.

Fantastic! I started doing this on my own years before my AH HA moment. I am a detailed planner. I even list all of the loads of laundry I need to do. And I like to check off!

This is so confusing...It seems like so many of the factors overlap each other. :(

Promo-SM

17:09 "their stuffed animals are like family members" I am 32 years old and I feel called out 🥲

as a 23 year old with self diagnosed asd, this is hella fascinating.

The gulping😫 Great info though!

My two oldest boys were diagnosed when I was 25. I knew then. All of the things that we had in common were "symptoms". I'm 37 and only just now okay with saying outloud "I am an autistic mother of autistic children".

My parents (mother especially) were trying to fix me.

I did very well as a child, although looking back I had issues with ADHD (which also went undiagnosed), but when I was a teenager I started having tantrums. I felt like my brain was melting and took out all my upset and anger on my parents (possibly because I trusted them enough to let loose). Looking back I think that was the autism, i started having problems in middle school and that got worse in high school academically and socially and I think I was having autistic meltdowns. I believe I was heavily dissociated during class as well (which absolutely didn’t help me academically) As a kid I’d skip meals, not because I had an ED but because I just didn’t notice I was hungry. Dinner was always a family thing but breakfast and lunch wasn’t necessarily and unless the meal was part of my schedule (ex a school lunch) I would often forget. There were a number of weekends I had as a teen where I’d only eat dinner because I’d just forget to eat the other meals. In my 20s this changed to binging somehow and I gained a lot of weight, I think because if I couldn’t tell when I was hungry I also couldn’t tell when I was full, but also eating a lot made me feel better emotionally since I felt like such a failure. In my 30s that shifted to alcohol abuse and I lost weight in an unhealthy way (I was never diagnosed with alcoholism) and now in my forties that’s shifting back to binge eating again. I hate I can never find balance. I never really had problems with lights or sound or smells, but I do prefer to have my EarPods in all the time even if I’m not listening to anything. Usually I am. I think that’s the ADHD though, seeking mental stimulation. One thing I do constantly when I’m alone is practice social interactions. I’ll replay something I did previously or something I read in a book and hold entire conversations from several view points with myself. I’m sure I sound insane when I do it but I’m not hearing voices or anything. I call it practicing. I’m embarrassed to do in front of other people but sometimes I fake it with my EarPods in so people think I’m just arguing with someone on the phone lol Thank you for this video.

Some great points very true and helpful.my schooling was so very traumatic.i had so much trouble taking in and learning was bullied by the whole school.told I was dumb stupid not able to learn But was very creative

This was great. Especially loved the last 4th example casually added in.

Dori, what an excellent presentation! Thank you so much for bringing more understanding to this. Your videos have been so helpful to me and I appreciate you!💯👏🏼

This content is priceless. We want more from Dori Zener!

Yeah I have autism and I am vegan. I love animals and don't eat them.

I finally told the HR department that I’m autistic after having been told by union rep not to tell anyone 10 years ago. They asked me to tell them what I needed. I asked them if they’d helped anyone else with autism and they hadn’t. Not only did I have to prep for a new job, I had to teach them about me and other autistics. It was beyond my capacity at the time. We need supports for educational institutions and businesses to give support for their autistic employees. It shouldn’t be the job of the employees exclusively to teach others. It is exhausting.

To other viewers: As a stressed autistic parent of autistic children, this webinar summarizes the main components of CBT, induced further anxiety, and wasn't very helpful. She gets started with tips at around the halfway mark. Apologies to the speaker and hosts.

I have autism but I was misdiagnosed with schzoid personality disorder. I'm looking for a better psychologist. I've had anorexia since I was 17 and I still have it at 36. I gain weight and I hate it and not happy and than I restrict severely but I'm at a normal weight for now. It wasn't good for me when I was diagnosed because I don't know how to advocate for myself.

This is a very detailed description that is much appreciated. Thanks for allowing (and expecting) respectful comments. Very interesting that most American women with autism videos have no comments allowed.

Autistic people who are physically violent/abusive tend to fall under a subcategory of abusers called reactive abusers, Abuse that is done in response to being abused themselves Eg: an allistic will gaslight and sabatoge an autistic person covertly and the autistic will retaliate by attacking their abuser with a weapon

Very insightful and helpful presentation. I am 43, undiagnosed, and relate very much with the descriptions of a high-functioning, high-masking female with autism. I also chose one girl to copy in junior high and high school, flitted amongst social groups without really being engaged in them, was obsessed with conventionally female interests such as bands, boys & fashion, learned to stim in the privacy of my home, etc... I recognize these characteristics in some of my closest female friends as well. Thank you!💞

youtube suggest brought me here, it's good to learn far and wide and autism is one part of learning the varying experiences people have on earth! - by mico

In a layman’s perspective I have encountered where people who are making a judgement about someone that many would just say ‘autism’, they instead implied that they maybe have learning challenges. This seems to have more utility rather than just ‘o they’r eautistic’ bc whoever was saying this didn’t simply just look at ‘social context’ but seemed to gather intuitively a bigger picture, where if one has learning challenges it can then impact social interaction at some point as well.

Dr. Stock is so engaging! As a BCBA with ADD on the verge of burnout, he has reignited my passion for learning and teaching about ABA. Thank you for doing what you do, Dr. Stock! I know you are preparing some fantastic future BCBAs.

I don’t like cats

that comment about the library hit me. I spent so much time as teen (skipping school because it was with boring or awful) in the city library. Mainly in the history and psychology section. I loved that I was left alone there, that I could find information in the depth that I needed and that people were required to quiet.

Excellent Part 1 and 2

Very much so

I can't agree more with this. I wish all health professionals can hear this.

This lady really makes all my struggles valid, I'm 23 and just realized I might very well be on the spectrum, I've always known I was different from others and I masked a looot to the point where I picked up neurotypical behavior unconsciously that people around me think I'm social which I'm not, but being on the spectrum just explains everything from the moment I was born and how different I was as a child and why I was the I was to its just so ugh, I feel like I got my closure.

IN this area the Psychologist community is way behind and not meeting our needs in general. Some exceptions may apply. Any expertise in that field has become a for profit business model.