Task avoidance.

I do emphatically NOT have a solution to offer. Or sell.

I have call... a request?... for action.

To do lists and behavior mod ain't working. Let's do something... different?

I'm autistic. ADHD. I've observed my avoidant behaviors... crippling, disabling behaviors... for some decades.

Around deadlines. Promises. External commitments...

One career they destroyed? Mental health counseling. I savor the irony.

Cuz I've read, studied, applied, and even taught so many systems... meant to support these behaviors. Tried to create a half dozen or so for myself.

I'm a slow learner of new things. But I learned one lesson. Hard. Deep. Hurtful.

Insight ain't all it's cracked up to be.

We're all full up with executive functioning here. Our CPU... and GPU...? Both red lining.

I can't add ONE monitoring task without crashing. Not. One.

Knowing deep in my bones the symptoms of my impending avoidance, their causes, many techniques that "have worked for many"...

I have not been able to change the result.

All I get to do is... watch. Time after intermittent time. That's it. Sometimes I can work. Sometimes I cannot.

Support systems that I'm familiar with have failed me. Every one. Just given me demeaning, pathological names for my inherent nature.

Please no “helpful” diagnosed of PDA in the comments?

Oddly? This reminds me of this story...

I was just trying to sell my computer magazine in the mid 1990s. Unix World. Business to business computer rag.

I'm sitting in the Berkeley Peet's Coffee talking to a tech investor guru name I won't drop. Sparing all concerned embarrassment. It's going well. We're talking numbers. Detailed questions. I'm getting excited. He's smiling.

Suddenly. He taps the table. "So this all looks... interesting." Looks up from the VisiCalc spreadsheet. I remember gentle gray eyes. "Question."

"Yeah?" I'm ready for him to talk price. For my publishing company, staff, subscribers... ya know, valuables.

"Say... I buy this thing." He pauses. "I have staff. Pros. You're editor & publisher."

He sips his straight American coffee. It was a fad for a moment. A reaction against elitist caffeine. Along with coders refusing to wear ties. Looks away. Then...

"What do see *you* doing?"

Yeah. Instant brain freeze. Tied tongue. Stammering. Hello Neuro-Darkness, my old friend...

"Well... I'm. I'm... the idea man. I'm the heart and soul...of this thing." Think. *What's he want from me?*

I blurt out, " I'll make you...I'll make you... a ton of money."

Mother of All Awkward Pauses. In this life, anyway...

"Everybody's got ideas, son. It's who can execute them." Pause. Sets his empty cup of tragically unpretentious joe down.

"Listen, let's both think about that. I might like to buy your idea." Beat. Beat...

"I'll be in touch."

Never happened.

Not every article must have a moral. Or a to do list. Or a solution.

Sometimes I think a call to action suffices.

I do emphatically NOT have a solution to offer. Or sell.

I have call... a request?... for action.

To do lists and behavior mod ain't working. Not 7 Easy Game-Changing Habits I Just Invented. Not Nothing’s Getting Done(NGD™)...

Let's do something... different?

#AutismAtWork

@actuallyautistic @actuallyadhd @actuallyaudhd

I'm an #autistic imagistic thinker. In my 70s. But never realized it til recently.

Are you too? Maybe, like me... without realizing it?

Do you find yourself gesturing at invisible objects while talking, as if others can see what you see?

Let’s talk thinking in pictures…

#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent #AutismAtWork #Neurodiversity

Do you struggle to explain things linearly, because you get concepts all at once? Like puzzle pieces suddenly snapping into place?

But then get overwhelmed? Trying to explain that whole picture step by step?

Do you experience emotions as a complex package of feelings, colors, textures, sensations, images all at once?

Do you instinctively reach for metaphors & sensory details? Can’t explain concepts without them?

Does it feel like you're constantly translating your rich mental sensations into words? And they never quite get the full picture across?

Do you find it easy to get complex systems visually? BUT struggle to explain your insights in simple sentences?

Like you're juggling countless connected impressions? Struggling to string details into linear thoughts? Or find a topic sentence?

Do you often choose words that seem 'wrong' to others, even though they perfectly match the image or sensation in your mind?

And find yourself frequently saying 'Do you see what I mean?' or reaching for paper to sketch your thoughts?

This has led to decades of being misunderstood. For me.

Here's what helped:

I started telling people upfront, 'I think in images, so I might leave gaps that don't make sense to you. Just ask questions if I'm not clear. We'll figure things out.'

This simple acknowledgment often turns potential confusion into an engaging dialogue… almost an enjoyable game.

If you saw yourself in some of these questions, you might be an imagistic thinker.

It's not better or worse - just different. Understanding this can transform frustrating conversations into opportunities for deeper connection.

There's a lot more to talk about imagistic thinking - from problem-solving to emotional processing.

I would really love to hear YOUR experiences below! How do you navigate communication challenges?

More insights coming in a future article. Follow for updates.

@actuallyautistic @actuallyadhd @actuallyaudhd @neurodiversity