I’m aware a number of my close friends are diagnosed autistic. The commonality in this small group, is that none of them like to make phone calls? Generally, unless they get in a bad way, they’re fine if someone calls them. They just don’t want to initiate the call.
I have known people like this for thirty years so when I run into it, I don’t even blink. I like these people, definitely. They tend to be interesting. I have Uranus in my 7th house so of course I’m attracted. With Mars conjunct Mercury, I have no problem initiating any and all calls. It’s a nice match that shows how people come together.
Now I may wrong about this, but it seems the number of people on the autistic spectrum has exploded. At the same time, autoimmune problems have also exploded. I was hit with this particular bullet, when I was diagnosed with Lupus some years ago.
When I got my diagnosis, I was told of the increase in these types of problems. I was talking to the doctor who was doing an ultrasound on my hands. Inflamed hands – Mars Mercury, but anyway he said they were not sure if there was an actual increase of if they’d just learned to spot it.
At this point, there is a lot of talk everywhere about various ways to be poisoned. It’s not new but widespread discussions about it are. To be clear, people who had problems with “Agent Orange” were isolated as compared to the way discussion is less contained. It makes sense the information gets out there, due to the number of people affected.
I wonder what others think as I can’t draw a satisfactory conclusion regarding any point from any angle.
What do you think? Do you deal with any of these issues, personally or among your friends and family?
Personally I have Hashimotos. It’s an autoimmune disease linked to my thyroid. Many many people in my family going as far back as my great grandmother have also struggled with thyroid issues. Many of them have had the gland partially or even fully removed. That’s a pattern. Another pattern I notice in this part of my family is a suppression of speech. Speaking out is not something these people have done much of. They put their heads down and they worked. This is a cycle I’ve become aware of in myself and have put in great effort to mend. This started with my mother I think. She was the initial break in the line since before I was born. It’s been hard for her but she’s made great progress and I admire her for it. The tightness in my throat when I speak out is physical. I think we are seeing a time in existence when humans have an opportunity to recognize these long set patterns and make real change. Big and small scale. I became aware of my autoimmune issues when Pluto did a slow burn roll over my 6th house stellium (still not done yet). Hearing of people in my family who were long gone before my time struggling with similar symptoms convinces me they too had these issues but that was just common place in that time. So I thinks it a combination of awareness but also it’s like a festering wound humanity shares currently. Each in their own way. Affecting individuals and the collective as one.
Freakishly interesting. Thank you! 🙂
I, too, have Hashimotos. And both my sisters have thyroid disease as well. I was told that with one autoimmune disease you are at risk of developing another.
I suspect that likely suspects for causing it are toxins in water or food or mold.
Ah yes. I too see changes with changing the quality of my food/water/toxin intake. Of course only to the extent I can control. High quality water filter. Eating local organic produce when I can and using better house products in general. The thing I’ve realized in the past 6 months through taking those things seriously is that as much as those things contribute to my general well being nothing throws my body and it’s reactions off more than stress and my internal state. I can abstain from a daily beer and give myself all the nutrients but the second I am stirred emotionally my symptoms start to arise. It’s all so fascinating yet worrisome at the same time.
I had lunch with a woman yesterday recovering from thyroid surgery. Another friend had the same op. and had her vocal chords damaged. And another woman l know has Hashimotos …too many women with these issues. Lizard mentioned (beautifully expressed, by the way)’suppression of speaking’ ‘out’. This is 5th charka business. Women of a certain age often have this issue–it is about finding ones true voice…it is about speaking their truth and the consequences of not doing so i.e. physical damage.
My oldest daughter, my sparkly taurus 🙂 is an adult now, she’s been diagnosed with Autism. This is true for her, she does NOT like to make phone calls, at all! It unhinges her in an unhealthy way. With all my cardinal (especially merc/mars in my 1st & cancer) I have no problems making the phone calls. Actually, once I got over myself about making calls in my early 20’s, it’s not been an issue (I’m not autistic that I know of, but never say never I guess). So we’ve gotten to a solution that works for us, I initiate the calls and get the ball rolling and then she can step in if needed or finish the call if she needs to (I give this to her fixed sun and 6 placements in mutable).
My son who is an Aquarius might be a high functioning Autistic. I just always thought he was a little quirky but now that I have learned about the signs its very possible. I dont know how to approach the subject with my 37 year old son. I am not sure if it would help or hinder him.
I’m beginning to believe my daughter is high functioning autistic. She is about to be 18. I was just so ignorant about autism. I thought she was a little different. It’s getting worse, like a regression with age. I guess it can present differently with girls than boys.
I do feel like everybody is being labeled with autism now, including myself, a lot. I do NOT have autism, I do not have the symptoms, I did get evaluated by my HMO and I don’t have anything officially. But I feel like if you’re weird at all, these days you are labeled with autism. Everyone on the planet can’t have autism, you guys!
I’m tired of hearing how everybody, not kidding, everybody has it now. We can’t ALL have it. Sometimes you’re just weird without having a medical excuse.
I agree with your sentiment. It’s like awhile back, everyone used to be dx bipolar? And there have been other fads.
However, it does seem there are far more people with these characteristics then there were… thirty years ago. I think there is very likely a cause but I have no earthly idea what it may be.
Same with the autoimmune. I don’t think I had Lupus until I had Lupus. Where did it come from?
No one can really tell me but it really is like being stricken by some force,
From what I have seen, teaching chess to hundreds of kids, neurological disorders, including autism, are several times more common than they were when I was a school kid, when they were virtually unknown…I think it’s a product of many vaccinations before their nervous systems were fully developed…which did not exist in my day…
I think it is probably all of the toxins our bodies have to combat, and the complexities of modern life. Life was always stressful, but maybe it’s stressful in different ways than it has been for thousands of years. I wonder if it causes the symptoms of autism to become more pronounced, or just more obvious, than in the past.
At 58, it’s easy to see, looking back, that I’ve always had symptoms of Asperger’s, but nobody ever diagnosed me as such. I heard shy, lazy, irresponsible, disorganized, procrastinator,
daydreamer. These were considered quirks or flaws. I have been shamed for these things, but no amount of abuse has helped me to change any of this behavior. Only in the last decade have I recognized that there’s more to my story. And yes, I hate making phone calls. I have to psych myself up to mentally prepare to make phone calls. And if I can avoid it altogether, I will!
We collectively are better informed now, so the adults who labeled me with all those flaws might have been more forgiving, and perhaps more helpful, if they had known what the autism spectrum was back in the 70s and 80s.
The traits you describe that people have labelled you as (shy, lazy, irresponsible, disorganized, procrastinator, daydreamer) sounds a lot more like ADHD than Aspergers. I know all too well, having had a late diagnosis, after decades of being described as the same 🙄
I have no problem making phone calls though … When I remember to do it in the first place!
Yes, you’re right. I knew that. 😏
Developed autoimmune issues after having my first child. For several friends this happened too
Yes, same here. It seems like pregnancy triggers something.
Ditto – Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
i have autoimmune issues. i drastically improved my physical & mental health by adopting the autoimmune protocol diet. it’s now been over five months and i’m convinced there is a widespread issue of people being poisoned slowly by their food.
that sounds dramatic, but the changes in both my husband & myself were dramatic! the excessive sugar, preservatives, dyes, artificial crap we put in our food have effects we cannot know yet.
An after thought… I feel we’re overstimulated. Well, we all know we are actually. It’s a common fact. I don’t think as mammals we are meant to be advancing as quickly as we are with information overload. Screens and flashing lights and the added stress of childhood in general. I don’t think children even 20 years ago dealt with the level of general anxiety I feel most experience these days.
Modern life and electronics. Modern allopathic medicine needs a diagnosis to comply with insurance companies and, of course, there must be treatments most of which are worse than the disease. Individuals need to choose whether or not to get on that conveyer belt. And we are killing ourselves with chemicals in and on our food supply.
I’ve noticed this as well – the increase in autism/adhd/autoimmune diagnoses. My take may be very unpopular to some but I’ll share it anyway.
The pattern I see across these topics has its roots in the increased awareness and acceptance of therapy/counseling/psychotherapy/etc. As a society, the generations AFTER the baby boomers, starting with GenX, are starting to wake up to how messed up A LOT of our childhoods were and how traumatized we were by the dogma and societal norms we were raised in, AND how this trauma has affected their entire lives and all of their relationships. These generations are more likely to seek out mental health support (it’s now a huge part of social media) and that support alone breaks open a whole load of masks and personas we were all taught to operate from, within our families of origin. Women are a larger part of this group than men since we are severely under diagnosed as children.
The pattern looks like this from my perspective:
Human goes through some form of breakdown in their lives and they seek therapy > embarks on personal development path > realizes that they’ve been MASKING who they are for decades because they weren’t allowed to be who they truly are when they were a child > drops the mask > real symptoms are then seen clearly > diagnosis > clarity.
Therapists are now more trauma informed.
Radical acceptance of the neurodivergent is en vogue(as it should be).
Science shows us that when you add up the number of humans with any form of neurodivergence (including somatic diseases like autoimmune) and compare that to neurotypical, the divergence severely outnumbers the typical. We are millions of neurodivergents living in a world built for neurotypicals. That alone is enough to cause some serious health issues.
Folks are no longer OK with living a life of pain and disease. They want good, healthy, happy lives, but to get that they first have to dig into WHY they’re so sick and unhappy.
I have pondered these thoughts as well. A few of my adult friends miss appointments, are late, scattered, sometimes even rude, and they will verbalize that their ADHD or their “being on the spectrum” is supposed to be an excuse. I have some trouble with that. I have some high functioning relatives who take a shot glass full of drugs every morning and night, to wake them up, clear their heads from their ADHD (?) and then meds to help calm them and to put them to sleep at night.I worry over our society, and our weakening as a species,I really do. Testosterone levels are dropping in men, infertility at an all time high.. young people don’t move out on their own and learn to be independent for a looong time nowadays.. I am still studying all of this. It seems to be no one feels “SAFE” anymore.(And a worldwide pandemic did not help!) I was raised in catholic school (no excuses!) and a baby boomer,double whammy i guess.. .I feel I have no choice but to be responsible, on time, helpful,productive, and to make a difference somehow in my world, to give back to others. It can’t possibly be that so many people are truly autistic,bipolar, and can’t digest gluten.. can it??????? AUTOIMMUNE: Long story short: Our grown son was a healthy happy athlete till he got the second shot (vax) and now suffers greatly with autoimmune problems of great magnitude.. very sick.He got ill with Saturn on his Ascendant and now that it has moved to Pisces perhaps we will see some progress..that would be, very welcome,for my family. Crazy times. Much to ponder.
Increase in autism diagnoses = BIG profit for Pharma. Europeans watching U.S. TV ads must be thinking that we’re all sickly, as 8 out of 10 tv commercials are for Big Pharma!
It used to be the only people diagnosed autistic were white boys who were obviously impaired. Millions of girls and people of color were overlooked for decades, until the conversation spread and people started seeing themselves in these experiences. So of COURSE there are more diagnoses, as more people seek out real help for a lifetime of suffering. Feeling different your whole life, feeling “wrong” and never knowing what you did to be so offensive. Girls are socialized differently so the masking thing is HUGE for them and other marginalized groups. I believe that neurotypical brains thrive in capitalist environments and so that neurotype has been celebrated and embraced as “normal”. They’re the ego-driven psychopaths who do so well in the corporate/business environments I’ve worked in. We’ve got it all wrong.
I notice that “autists” are grouped together for marketing purposes. They are being targeted with ad content designed for them.
Here’s an example. The middle one is the best example, then the funeral,,, the third one as well, to a lessor extent.
They’re all funny. 😉
https://www.worldfamousinc.com/work/gamestop
How is this targeted to autistic people? It’s for gamers. So all gamers are autistic? And all autistic people are gamers? I’m confused Elsa.
I may see it differently than you do? I didn’t say “all” anything.
I do think the ad is targeted – “There is a place for us…” neurodiverse. Maybe watch it again? You may see what I do, or you may not.
I don’t know what to say. We’re different people with different eyes and different experiences. I am a gamestop fan and I love these commercials and their quirk factor.
I think they’re cute and very well done and I get where you’re going. But you did say the ads were targeted to “autists” which …? I’m neurodiverse as well but I’m not being targeted in this ad at all. That’s the point I was making based on your previous comment. Maybe I need to call ya and we can talk it out 🙂 phone calls over social media any day for me. Appreciate you Elsa.
Ha ha! Or maybe it’s me!
What I saw is the boy at the funeral appears to be legit confused why they were having the ritual. Plain neuro people would not be curious?
The girl with the… funko pop, right? She prefers it to the boy? Suggested??
The third one is my son and I… no, I didn’t do that to him but he grew up going to Gamestop. He and his best friend… in fact, when I first started blogging, my kids were HIGHLY featured on my blog because they’re both very interesting. I allow them to choose their names (that I would use for my blog). My son chose “Vidroid” and my daughter was “Mostaciollia” after her fave pasta.
I love that era. Man was was it fun. Everyone got along.
I think both my kids are “neurodiverse”. My daughter, certainly. My son as well. Half of what he says goes right over my head.
Re: marketing, it’s a strong interest of mine, as is gamestop. If you’ve been her long, you know I feel I am an outcast, fringe person. This does not bother me – born and bred. So I noticed these commercials. When it says “a place for us”, I think it means, people like me? Like my kids who LOVED to go get $1 for the game I bought!
But I did not see “all gamers” in those pieces. I saw neurodiverse. It may clarify further, if I mention I have always watched one of their sponsored watch parties… as well as a giveaway PS5 spots with one of the popular youtubers?
So these other promos were focused on other groups. I’m just looking around and I love these commercials because they take me back to some really happy times.
Like the huge RED koolaid spot on the carpet. “What happened?”
Both 10 year old boys, shrug. “Don’t know. It..” trail off!
Ha ha haha
I gotcha! I work in marketing so appreciate good ads too. And the implication is there as you pointed out, without being overt. AND, the representation is long overdue so yay for that. I’m glad you are open and willing to dialogue and see it for what it is, especially in your own kids. I can see clearly now my whole family on my dad’s side (who were always called “quirky” or “absent-minded professor” types) were 100% neurodivergent. It explains so much. And allows me to have grace for my father who would rage a lot, I know now he was having meltdowns as a result of overstimulation. I could tell he didn’t “mean it” somehow, I could see the frustration and confusion behind his outbursts. Certainly wasn’t easy tho.
I’ve always been an outsider too. Unfortunately my Libra rising self wanted to fit in so badly and I twisted myself into shapes to do so. What a waste! I dumbed myself down and did all sorts of asinine things in the name of survival. In the 80s, skinny girls with boobs and blond hair were all that mattered. Fat potatoes in glasses like me were bullied like hell. I had to adapt and it was WORK and my whole life has been this and now I’m burnt to a crisp and wonder if I will ever recover from 25+ years working in NYC with the sharks.
Anyway, I’m sensitive to how people talk about neurodivergence because it’s still so misunderstood and there’s this ridiculous stigma attached like you’re supposed to be Rainman or some shit. And I will add since it’s been brought up here: while I don’t think the environmental issues or pesticides or vaccines CAUSE neurodivergence (it’s always been around, we just didn’t have names for it), there IS a gut-brain connection and if toxins, etc reach a tipping point in an already oversensitive body, things can go haywire in ways we don’t understand.
Thanks for weighing in from the front line. Very interesting to read!
Autism–we’re noticing more. I escaped Dx in the 70s because I was female, and I got good grades. By puberty my friends began to notice I wasn’t as nurturing as a girl should be (I would’ve also id’ed non-binary if it was a thing), or emotional; just thought I was weird.
The auto-immune explosion among those pre-disposed is certainly related to the environment–pollutions of all kinds. How long can we cover the natural world with poisons before it affects people? And 2 generations ago they looked at those poor froggies in California born with birth defects and said, Hey, this is us in a couple generations.
And precisely nothing was done to curb our ways. I was so hopeful in the 70s! Star Trek and Bruce Dern up in his space bio-domes and Jacques Cousteau–thank goodness we’re on TOP of this thing!
…Right. 😕
The comment about hating to phone people made me laugh out loud because that’s me to a T! (And I have Uranus in 7 too – snap!).
There’s a huge anount more about autism on the web nowadays. For the last few years,there’s been an absolute explosion of information, after it seemed as if no-one was even researching it; I guess it was too “fringe”, because some of the “new” academic papers predate the sudden availability of the knowledge.
Autism (Aspergers now falls under the general “autism” umbrella, since DSM 5 defined it as such).
Autism is more than neurodiversity. It has a physical component as well, and a major part of this seems to be autoimmune problems.
I was diagnosed with Aspergers in 2011 at the age of 65, together with my son who was then 30. EVERYTHING fell into place for us (followed by quite an identity crisis on my part because I suddenly had to rethink who I actually WAS).
From an astrological perspective, it seems to me that the world has gone mad in the new millennium. All this has been documented by the astrologers, and OF COURSE we ALL have been triggered by these transits to our birth charts. Not even to speak of all the people who have this stuff in their birth charts if they were born since 2000…
Autism (Aspergers) manifests differently in females, and many more males have been diagnosed than females. Diagnoses for older autistics often started with ADD (not always with hyperactivity, ie. ADHD) and some other manifestations, with an occasional segue into bipolar, which used to be called manic depression (meltdowns?).
Sorry for my muddled post. I tried to say too much and ended up saying too little.
So I’ll just note down a few keywords and comments that may or may not resonate with someone…
Two of the main daily problems of having autism seem to be a generalised feeling of sometimes quite severe anxiety. Also alienation. We feel quite alone, we are unique (not in a good way), no-one is like us, no-one will ever understand us. I believe this may look like lack of empathy, and it probably is.
Generally, autistics are hypersensitive – to noise, to touch, you name it. The result is that we withdraw and seem to be cold and unemotional – the truth is that we go into emotional overload about everyday life. This can and does often lead to meltdowns, which can be devastating for everyone.
I particularly resonated to the posts by Maria and Madelina.
A number of genes have been identified as being connected with autism. Research is ongoing.
Vaccinations as a cause of have been given very bad press. I used to think that vaccines didn’t cause autism, but could trigger it. When my son got his baby vaccinations, he used to sort of retreat into himself. He always returned, but in a way it seemed as if he didn’t QUITE come back to where he’d been. This was so long ago that I barely even knew what autism WAS. Electric Ladyland puts this sort of thing very well.
I first developed gluten intolerance during my pregnancy. Hypothyroidism was next. Lactose intolerance followed.
In June of 2021, I was a lively and energetic 75-year-old who passed for age 55. Then I got my first covid jab. Within 2 weeks I was an old woman and I have spent most of the last 2 years in bed with long-covid.
I believe the Rh-negative blood types make one more susceptible to autoimmune issues.
I will speak again on your post, Elsa, regarding autoimmune issues. Please, please, PLEASE look into the Carnivore diet if your suffer from these problems! The evidence is out there, it’s just squashed by the “powers that be.” I would consider NO medical intervention as important as what you actually put in your mouth every day. And don’t be fooled by “If it grows in nature, it’s good for me” Plants have many, many structures of defense that are poisonous to animals and humans. They have evolved to create these toxins to keep us from eating them! This is not to say everyone should only eat carnivore style (butter,animal meat,tallow and eggs) all the time, however, using this diet to reset your gut, the most important part of your body for immunity, can clear up many types of autoimmune disorders. I’m not a doctor, and don’t expect anyone to take my word for it, HOWEVER, I dare you to do your own research. Making a dietary change is about the easiest thing anyone could do. Every body is different and so many factors are involved with illnesses
So please research first to avoid pitfalls and common mistakes. Your body has the power to heal itself but it needs you to give it a break from processed food and plant toxins so it can do the work of healing instead of fighting everything you keep putting in. Good luck!
I am fully aware of this. Thanks, Dion.