I've been wondering lately how Autism and addictive behaviors interact. For me, with food, I'm really connected to texture and taste- and that mixes in with emotional eating, seeking immediate stress relief. It's difficult to disentangle whether I'm: - Hungry - Stressed - Or limited by sensitivity

Apricot Jelly (Guepinia helvelloides) is a salmon-pink, ear-shaped, gelatinous fungus and always reminds me of rose petals. Rubbery in texture, is edible, and may be eaten raw with salads, pickled, or candied. Fruit in the late Summer and usually after a heavy rain. #fungifriends #photography

This is my first year not visiting my family for Thanksgiving. Wow, it's so relieving. No expectations. No having to grin and bear it. Just me, alone in my apartment, taking some time away from work for myself. Highly recommend it.

Leotia viscosa aka Chicken Lips. Newfoundland, Canada. #fungi #fungifriends #hiking

#fungifriends Dyers polypore!

Do any other Autistics get the equivalent of a "runner's high" after a full week of work? I come out of it feeling like I pushed myself to the limit and barely came out unscathed. Like the aches and pains are there, I'm just SO HAPPY that it's DONE that I can't feel them yet.

About a month ago I interviewed for my boss' position. The interview went badly; I immediately assumed my Autistic ass had failed the social interaction. Well... guess who just got hired?! I'm so over the moon about it. This is the next step in my upward trajectory and I couldn't be happier!

I know when I was a younger Autistic I struggled with learning to drive. It was an overwhelming activity-- and my instructor was loud and pushy. I ended up getting my license at 25 years old. I wrote this article for folks still learning to drive! What other advice would you give? bit.ly/3LwvKNG

I found some mushrooms! 🍄📷

Y2(are you o)k? My friends and I made a FREE art zine about the 1990s and 2000s! We accepted art and writing in July, now it's here!! It’s available on our website: bit.ly/4orwt1g We tried to capture a lot of the essence of the old internet-- let us know if we got it right! #zine #zinesky #art

Hey Autistics– what’s a random sensitivity you have that others don’t seem to have? My ex couldn’t stand the sound of styrofoam. Like, if you bought a new coffeemaker and it came in styrofoam packaging he would have to leave the room. I don’t like loud bass in music. It rattles me, in a bad way.

This book is a champion of civilian science. I LOVED it. It says so much about how the average, everyday person can engage with nature (and science as a whole) in their backyard. Accessible art about science is so cool! True science communication. I didn’t know birds were so interesting either!

Such a fun(gi) day! 🍄‍🟫 We’ve had so much rain that there were mushrooms everywhere I looked. 🍁 #fungifriends

Happy #Writevember all writing folks! This November I'm going to dig deep into my resources website for Autistics. And possibly mushroom facts posts again. We shall see... Anyone else have any writing plans for this month?

One of the best things I’ve learned as an autistic person is that I don’t *have* to live by neurotypical rules all the time The pressure can be immense. But it’s possible to slowly change that narrative I’m gradually allowing myself to rest more, socialise my way & find joy in my autistic traits ❤️

3,000 uploads to @iNaturalist as of today. My favorite mycena: Bleeding Fairy Helmets. The fall mushrooms are popping! 📷🍄 #FungiFriends #Mushrooms #Shroomsong

The best part of learning a physical art, like embroidery, is having the ability to make presents for people for Christmas! Sewing a present for my boyfriend atm. It's just a typical beginner's embroidery kit, but I think he'll love it. I'll show y'all as soon as I can! He follows my bsky so 🤫

A fungus photo a day: Saw the first toothed jelly fungus/Pseudohydnum of the season yesterday. Pardon my dirty finger. Another photo of nearby ones to follow. #fungifriends #fungi #mycology #naturephotography

"Autpunk." This is a word I've heard in Autistic spaces without an in-depth review of what it means. A good example of Autpunk is wearing the clothes that are comfortable to you without caring about your appearance. Are you familiar with Autpunk? I'd love to hear from you. Writing an article atm.

This is the same mushroom. The picture on the left is from yesterday afternoon. The picture on the right is from this morning. Isn't it amazing how different things can look from day to day. Nature is always teaching us if we take a moment to listen. Happy Mushroom Monday. 💚 #FungiFriends 📸🍄

Mushrooms are quietly fighting climate change 🍄🫶🌍 Fungi help forests store carbon by breaking down organic matter and linking with trees underground. These networks also boost plant health. See a mushroom on a fall hike? It’s part of nature’s climate toolkit. 🌱

My best advice to try to get a handle on shit right now? Make something. Don't care what. Don't care if it's good. Don't care if it's just a big ass house you made in Sims 4, just lose yourself in something for an hour or so. It' s like flushing the brain toilet.

Finished another embroidery! Starry Night is very special to me. For the past 10 years I've had it tacked above my bed. When I was unmedicated for Bipolar Type II, looking up at the beautiful brushstrokes and hopeful imagery (the stars are so BRIGHT) calmed me down. #EmbroiderySky #handembroidery

This mushroom is extremely cool!! Apparently this species is bioluminescent AND it also contains an anti-tumor protein. So neat!

I’m amazed and delighted that after 36 years at Wisley, 19 as a paid employee and 16 (so far) as a volunteer, I still come across plants new to me. This beauty is Isodon longitubus Kutani. 🌱 #flowersonFriday I’m off to Brighton for lunch with special friends.

Interview today for my boss' position. As an Autistic person interviews feel like a weird, recursive task. I'll be interviewing for things throughout my life, but every time it's less about skill/approach and moreso about how my symptoms manifest on the interview day. Incredibly frustrating.

Russula claroflava - Yellow Swamp Brittlegills #FungiFriends

Hard to believe how physical it is to be social as a neurodivergent person. You’re like “I was talking to people and now my whole body is worn out and I can’t look anyone in the eye.”

Just found this fantastic Autistic resource from @Neurodivergent_Lou on Instagram: bit.ly/4hmyIA6 It lists other ways that Autistic traits could present rather than the literal, EXACT definition (as interpreted by our often-literal Autistic minds.) Sent this to a few Autistic-questioning friends!

I don’t see many Fly Agaric in the Blackdowns so it’s always nice to find one 🍄😍🍄 #Fungi #Mushrooms

Hey Autistics-- Is "Autistics" an acceptable way to refer to ourselves? It's what I've taken to calling our group of people, because the alternatives are too messy. Maybe "Autistic people," but even that can feel like a mouthful at times. Why do I have to remind folks I'm a person? Thoughts?

A little friend from the same Russula patch outside of my workplace. One thing about mushrooms is that they're reliable-- if you found X species plentiful in 1 area 1 year, chances are they'll be there next year! You can never "pluck out" the main body of the fungi, the mycorrhizae, from underground

Blue snail wood burning✨💙🐌 #pyrography #woodburning #snail #art #painting

I love learning about nature because there's ALWAYS so much more to know. You start out learning 1 tiny area, e.g mushroom basics-- that takes a while to master. Then you realize there's a LOT we don't even understand as a species, like Why are some mushrooms stinky? To attract flies maybe? 🤷🤷

As an autistic person who finds incredible joy in research and learning, I really, really don't understand the whole AI thing at all. Like, look up the information yourself. Fall down an academic rabbit hole. It's fun!

My friend D spotted this little guy on our trip to New Hampshire! Apparently he's called "The Humpback" (Cantharellula umbonata)-- what a silly name for a mushroom! We were hiking at Moose Bog. If you're ever in the northern NH area I highly recommend checking it out! A peaceful little spot to hike

For #mushroommonday two slightly spooky-looking fungi found on local sites last week - the rather ghostly pale-lilac of a young Pearly Webcap and Blushing Rosette exuding droplets of clear red liquid. 🍄📷 #fungifriends

So much of my experience of being disabled + ambitious is the feeling of "failing upwards." Do you feel the same? There's a pervasive sense that if people knew my diagnosis, I wouldn't have been chosen for <thing.> A lot of the general public seems to consider Autistics stupid, damaged goods, etc.

My newest embroidery piece is almost done! I'm learning SO much about needlepoint even just working through kits. I'm still a beginner (I think this is my 4th piece) but it's so fun to learn. Lately I've felt inspired to get more into physical arts. Drawing and embroidery go hand in hand!

I have a meeting with my psychiatrist to discuss alternatives to Abilify. It's been a lifesaving medication for my MENTAL health, but unfortunately it's thrown my physical health off a cliff. I'm worried that the replacement med won't address my Autistic symptoms as much.

When I write about mushrooms, a few folks always have a snap reaction that it's my fault for any reader's future death via mushroom. Why must education about nature = death by nature? There's a way to be stupid about EATING wild mushrooms. But learning about mushrooms in general can't harm you.

Just got back from my 10-day trip to New Hampshire recently! It was SO lovely seeing so many friends and loved ones! At the VERY end of the trip we got lucky with some rain-- and that meant mushrooms! I think this one is likely a Poison Pie, aka Hebeloma crustuliniforme. So gorgeous! Thank you NH!

Happy couple #fungi #fungifriends

Autistics-- what's a dream of yours you've always wanted to achieve? Regardless of whether it's doable re: your neurodivergence. I REALLY want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. It's a backpacking trail from the Mexican to the Canadian border. I just wonder whether I would get too overstimulated..

So beautiful!!

Autustics-- are you on any medication for your Autism? I'm currently on Abilify. It's been game-changing for me. I can now tolerate sounds and textures that normally would have made me run and hide. The downside is how much weight I've gained on it. Easily over 100 pounds. Not good...

Hypholoma fasciculare - Sulphurtuft. #FungiFriends

... I was just accepted to an Ivy League. I'm an Autistic girl who spent 10 years getting a BA with a 2.9 GPA. I'm in total shock. I try to overestimate myself because hey, you never know. If you reach high, ask questions, good things usually happen... but this? Wow. Anything's possible.

Thinking today about how much being employed affects my Autistic self. I come home from each workday (I only work part-time) completely dead. My boyfriend says I only speak in 1 or 2 words, never in complete sentences, laid back in my chair, basically lifeless. Being employed is SO hard as an Aut

It´s all about fungi! Pluteus aurantiorugosus #fungifriends #mycology #pluteus