Sandy Draws Badly

[Agerbilatemycardigan]

Not sure if this appropriate to post here, but there's a Mumsnetter who's on Twitter and does some fab cartoons. She's just posted one today and I think it's brilliant.

Excellent

That's fab. I hadn't heard of Sandy Draws Badly, just followed her - thanks

She’s an absolute genius and one of art’s most unsung jewels. Trufact.

Shame the autism spectrum one is completely wrong. It doesn’t mean that at all.

Very good.

We used to have a ZX Spectrum.

That's really good!! OT but I used to love playing Jet Set Willy and Atic Atac on my old Spectrum!! Everything was so much simpler in those days, when men were men and women were women.

Yeah, autism's not quite "HFA" vs "severe", I wish.

It’s a shame because one factually innacurate bit that can easily be refuted detracts from the rest of it.

The autism spectrum just means that different autistic people will behave in different ways. It’s a Spectrum Condition i.e. no one set of behaviours shared by everyone. It’s not a line from severe to mild, those labels are often deemed offensive too, since they don’t quantify how autistic someone is, they usually apply to the IQ of the individual.

Sorry for the derail, but I spend so much time correcting this shit.

Cliques, my kids have ASD, which is why it came to mind.
It’s a silly cartoon to make a point that has nothing to do with ASD.
Apologies if it’s bothered you.

It’s ok, sandy. Sadly my autistic “needing everything to be correct” will not be silenced - even when I completely agree with the point of the cartoon

Oh I always thought ASD referred to it being a spectrum from severely affected to more functioning. Learn something every day, thanks for posting cliques.

I like it too, but I wish it were more clear that the binary refers to sex and not gender. I'm quite happy to acknowledge that gender expression is many and varied....

Thanks, Quentin. It’s a common misconception

I love it. Have been really enjoying Sandy’s cartoons when they pop up on my Twitter feed.

For a more detailed take on the autistic spectrum, I really like this one: the-art-of-autism.com/understanding-the-spectrum-a-comic-strip-explanation/

Explains why someone like me (Aspergers, high IQ) can be completely non functional in some situations.

I do get that it’s not meant to be an in depth analysis. I am like above poster, ‘but but... must correct everything!’

I don't think it's fair to say there is no concept of a spread between mild and severe autism - it's not on or off in the sense of having a blood test or something, and while some people might be judged autistic by 10/10 psychologists, others might not earn that diagnosis from all experts as it is subjective.

pisacake, that’s why it’s a spectrum, and why it can be difficult to diagnose. For example, someone who may appear “mildly affected” may have just learnt that responding to sensory pain results in punishment and criticism, or they may simply respond in a less conventional way that isn’t recognised as a pain response. From the outside that looks “mild”, but I would argue that that person may be far more affected than the autistic who reacts immediately and can be removed from the stressor. The variable for looking mild versus looking high functioning, is usually whether or not the person has an additional learning difficulty as well (most autistic people don’t), rather than anything to do with quantifying their autism.

“Mild looking” Autism is linked to a 9 times higher than average suicide rate in autistic adults. I don’t think that’s a mild statistic. Autistic adults are often told how mild their autism must be, with no knowledge of diagnosis or severity of any issues.

Whether it is useful or not (and I don’t think it is), it is not what the autism spectrum represents. Hence the objection (that was gracefully responded to).

^^ I've just attempted what I feel is a long rambling post on the Mermaids thread, but yes my issue with the ASD example is that it's not a line, and was going to post the colour wheel link but someone beat me to it.

I think what I was trying to say on the other thread was that nothing linked to a 'spectrum' is linear. Nothing about brains is linear. They're plastic and unique to each individual. This applies to people with autism and people without (the autistic brain presenting certain extra challenges for the individual, sometimes very severe, sometimes less so and as the comic shows, completely unique to the individual)

Brains however, can learn new things and change opinions based on experiences. (Again autism may present challenges in how much the brain is capable of learning depending on severity and areas affected.) Sex is binary though, with intersex.

I'd go as far as saying a spectral sphere is a better visual image but harder to put into 2D.

People with 'Mild looking' autism are often more self aware and so more aware of how they struggle with social norms resulting in a great deal of anxiety and loneliness.

SandyDrawsBadly there's nowt like blowing your own trumpet

Told you I'd make you famous

Completely disagree with the autistic spectrum. That is not what it 'looks' like.

But otherwise, very good

Thanks @Agerbilatemycardigan.

Although, next time you decide to try and build up my ego and post one of my drawings can you chose one that won’t end up with my ego getting kicked in the tits as I get told how wrong I am.

That's one of those funny things I don't understand, perhaps because I'm autistic - corrections from me are never about a kick to the ego, and I never take them personally either. It's just a need to get stuff right!

Sorry SandyDrawsBadly I'd make a shit agent wouldn't I?