Thinking Person's Guide to Autism

Even though another investigation failed to find evidence of plagiarism by Black autistic professor Jason Arday, the "race realist"- & billionaire-aligned group that campaigned to malign Arday is doubling down with a "private inquiry” into his Cambridge appointment: bylinetimes.com/2026/10/21/j...

No TPGA Newsletter this week—but if you need an autism information hit, you can always peruse our very useful and extensive archives of expertly written and deeply researched issues: buttondown.com/TPGA/archive/

I sometimes feel like I'm the only autistic person who likes seams in socks (I miss them if they're not there) and tight clothes. I hate stuff that brushes against me. Also need a bra to avoid movement. I really need serged edges to fidget with, too. I do it so much my digits have lines.

As of Sunday, voters in North Carolina between the ages of 18 and 25 are voting at 2.1 times the pace they did in 2022 and Black voters are voting at 1.6 times the pace they did in 2022. #NCPol #NCSen #NCGA thepoliticalspectrum.substack.com/p/theyre-att...

This is interesting and beautifully clear.

"A veces, es útil ser capaz de describir cómo encajamos en ese espacio entre no verbal y totalmente verbal. Nuestras experiencias de expresión y lenguaje pueden afectar qué opciones de AAC tienen más sentido para apoyar nuestras necesidades."

With intermittent speech, a person can speak some but not all of the time. Maybe they’re out of energy, overloaded, or sick. Certain environments can be harder to speak in. For whatever reason, they can sometimes speak, but not always." @yesthattoo.bsky.social: www.assistiveware.com/blog/intermi...

The "lace" on bras for big breasts, which has a.) the texture of a blue plastic Ikea bag and which b.) they insist on putting on the lower part of the wires, so that it keeps digging into the most tender part of your under-breast/torso for 18 hours. Torture.

I host an inclusive Halloween party every year so my little shawties can enjoy the holiday the best way for them

Friends, you get to do Halloween however works best for you and your crew. (And that includes autistic adults who still enjoy the holiday, or avoiding Halloween entirely.) But if you're going to participate, we have experience and advice! At TPGA: thinkingautismguide.com/2010/10/havi...

Sock seams are of the devil.

A texture can be perfect today but be too much tomorrow I don't know until after it's on sometimes, this includes my very skin.

I'm not keen on tags in clothes, gloves are especially vexing.

stella is the lady on my phone who tells me where to go. i opened maps yesterday, only to discover that THEY FIRED STELLA!!! i am beside myself with grief and rage. tech needs an autism setting for "don't you dare fucking change anything unless i say so". @thinkingautism.com

Anything my dry hands rasp on is anathemic. Likewise fake fur.

jeans are of the devil

I remember seeing girls go straight from the pool to the bathroom barefoot, running to the toilet and back without tiptoeing or even missing a step. I wondered at them as much as I wondered at high diving competitors on tv during the olympics. To this day I can’t stand anything gritting on my feet.

Oh god, this! I had to pause a DIY task today because I realised I was rushing and being sloppy because my focus was on my sock being twisted and feeling weird and making me aggy. Took off the socks. Stress evaporated. Task completed calmly and to a good standard.

And heels on hard floors

I mean, socks generate stress for multiple reasons and are possibly in league with Satan. Also, those ribbon hangar loops inside tops? The ones on the shoulders? They slither like assassins to try to wrap around my neck and then itch and itch. Cutting them out leaves icky, rubby bumps.

Women’s non-stretchy fabric shirts need sleeves with room. I don’t want the circulation in my upper arms cut off just because they’re not by my side all the time. Just bought a shirt at Dangerfield from the men’s section because the women’s version sleeves in my size were tight af.

Any constricting garment: bras, tight waistbands, a fit that I can't move freely in. Also, mushy, grainy food textures, which rules out a lot of frozen vegetables.

Every bra I’ve ever owned the straps fall down wtf

Hoodies need a full zipper or I feel like I’m choking and either too hot with it on and too cold with it off.

Autistic people who want to convey what a bad texture feels like could use this phrase: "a place of immense horror and anguish." Also try to make your face look like the dog's expression.

I appreciate the new shirts/tops with no tags at the back of the neck, they have the info either screened on or on a tag at the left hip.

All my graphic tees have stretched out necks. I buy a lot of them in the men's department because I like big flappy shirts.

No to belts. I used to wear them but I can't tolerate them now. And I can't find a pair of jeans that stay up so I guess I'll just stay home!

GRAIN! Grain grain grain grain grain. Grain has to do with how the pattern follows the structure of the fabric, whether it hangs straight, or if it will twist on the body. I cannot STAND when fabric is twisted and off-grain.

No I cannot wear wool directly against my skin. Yes, even merino. Even superwash merino. Stop suggesting it. I ADORE wool as a fibre, it's a dream to wear for breathability and warmth, but I need a layer of plant-based something between my skin and the wool, because it's pokey (EVEN MERINO).

Wool. Can't even wear it with layers underneath.

I found measuring myself using this calculator was the key to comfort. Turns out I was way off, size wise share.google/yVnZcBtoFLht...

So many things are nightmares when you've got both autism and the kind of sensitivity that comes from fibromyalgia. I generally dislike clothes and any material can become hated if it sits wrong.