♾️ Autism Awareness Week! ASD Creators, Share Your Work! ♾️

Hey there, diagnosed at my fourth year here, so I spent most of my life at special middle schools and high schools. It's only until recently (3 years ago) that I joined college, the first place I'm at that isn't orientated towards people with autism.

I'm most likely not aware of all the effects my autism has on myself and the people around me, but I do know I sometimes have trouble with distinguishing certain sentences people say.
For example, it's sometimes hard for me to tell the difference between teasing and an actual threat/insult. Which is why I can jump to conclusion when somebody else would laugh along.

I don't think my drawing has a lot to do with my autism, rather it is something I consider separate from my daily troubles.
I also don't have an autistic character... yet. I felt like even though I am diagnosed with autism, it's hard for me to write an autistic character because not everyone with autism experiences it the same way.

But I do plan on introducing a autistic character in my planned comic, Square One. They'll be slightly based on my own experiences with autism, so I'm curious to see how they'll unfold in the plot of the comic and how people will see them

Also here's my comic (but I'm pretty sure most of the people here already know that )

hi I’m ghost, I was diagnosed with autism 3 years ago, I’m currently 17. my comic Mirror Monster has been one of my main special interests which is why I’ve been able to work on it for so long. having autism keeps me dedicated to my creative projects I guess, but socially it’s really a detriment to me as I’m also hyper self aware and have trauma based anxiety (trauma coming as a consequence of me being autistic long before anyone knew what was wrong with me) so I usually keep myself from interacting with others as much as possible. idk it’s kind of a mixed bag

HEY! I have been diagnosed since I was a baby
It's so great to see ASD creators getting some recognition.

Oh hey I'm autistic too. I don't know when I was diagnosed, but I learned about it in high school. It explained why I was always singled for being weird at best, and treated like some kinda dangerous animal due to past meltdowns at worst \ default. It caused me to put on this Tough Guy (tm) mask and grow socially reclusive even when I left school and went on to be in uni. It was slightly easier there, since I didn't have the old bad rep, but I still kept to myself because I always have this fear that if someone sees me have a meltdown they'll treat me like a beast again.

On a brighter note, both my fan-comics are products of very intense special interests.

Bestia's Wrath is a product of my love for SWTOR's Dread Masters, these characters probably being my most long-running interest so far. As of 2018, about 5 years of building up the characters and getting better at art went into the comic, and I think i've gotten much better at art since then, so I can give these characters the awesome art they truly deserve IMO.

I kinda ended up projecting a lot of myself onto one of them, Styrak, whom I also made Bestia's husband in the comic. I eventually arrived at headcanoning him as autistic. This is probably the first time I talk about it in public, but it partly is inspired by the fact that there isn't really much representation for autistics where the character isn't like, a cute child-like genius savant. I suppose my take on Styrak's character COULD fit into the "asshole man" stereotype mentioned in another post here, but he's less asshole and more extremely reserved and reclusive and easily drained by social interaction unless it involves his interests. Bestia is one of the few people who aren't draining for him.

Lost Firstborn is a product of my love for DC Comics' New Gods. I don't have as much to say here. I just enjoy Jack Kirby's world, and wanted to create a backstory for my character that would kinda fit into that world.

I got diagnosed with ASD about a month ago actually. I’m still not super knowledgeable about how it affects me outside of some executive functions, but I’m learning more. Definitely coming back to this thread to see others’ experiences

I don’t think I have any interests as intense as how I’ve heard special interests/hyperfixations described, but I tend to repeat actions or phrases because they’re comfortable. Sometimes I’ll repeat sentences I think of out loud at least twice. I like doing inking exercises just to make lines over and over. I listen to songs on repeat for way longer than I think most people do. I thought that was just my higher tolerance towards listening to the same few songs through years of band class, but maybe after you listen to the full 10:30 version of Do I Do six times in one day and wake up to it the next day, there’s something else going on lol

Even if wasn’t aware of it before, I think my autism has helped me with my comic. I feel like I’m more perceptive of how people talk and how conversations can flow. It really helps when I come up dialogue.
I don’t have any coded autistic characters in my story, but I’d like to write one in the future, even if they’re not in this story.

I was diagnosed with ASD In the latest year, as I was attending Therapy session for Depression and the topic came out during one of the sits (I was suspecting to have BPD, but later tests proved ASD instead, and was theorized in my family over the years).

This discovery, and further investigation toward many behaviour to me normal but that for many were "Odd"... or assumed was just bad behaviour... Did in part influenced the characterization of Alfredo, and his Foil, the Chancelor Right, both are in the ASD, both are either seen as Odd by their peers, or misunderstood, especially Alfredo, who is part also of his "Coming of Age" Journey, which will have many obstacles, because, like Me, He does not think to do bad things or inapropriate one, He just don't get them at face value, there always have to be someone to tell Him, altough, in the worst way, like a critic, like He is just a bad kid... but while Alfredo have someone to also help him in his upbringing (In a waay), the chancellor is the opposite, He just goes on his way and don't listen to no one else, convinced of being... "Right" Badum Tsss... Thus, never try to change, always trying to keep his routine, to enforce the right "Order" in everything... the Empire as well, if not, the world!

Also, being ASD in a way affected my creative process, because when I write, what I'm more careful are DETAILS... If I noticed something either makes a plot hole, or don't make sense in later parts, I halt the writing and revision, and go back to try to fill the gaps, by "Entering my own world", and from the Character perspective, their habits, their sorrounding (Such as Trains schedules... if someone remember and old Thread of mine), and their world, I try to find that element that makes the thing "Work"... It may take quite a while, and sometime lead to blocks, but when I'm satisfied, I go like a rocket (An Example, Recently there is a Character that is supposed to be introduce later, but was name dropped in the latest episode... but recent development of the main story writing lead me to change Her race and surname, in order to fit Her character better... It was originally supposed to be another Marocca, "Frog Woman", but since I didn't introduced many Main harpies Character rather than just one, I've decided to turn her into a... "Magpie" type Harpy... Not gonna tell why thou)... But one thing is sure, Once something is in comic form, that is official and decided.
It's not easy though working when you overfocus on the littlest details, sometime it became so stressful that you just want to procrastinate.

GENRE: Fantasy, Sci-fi Drama
There are so many people in the World of Gaia, each one of them has a story to tell, of events that changed their life drastically, both for the better and for the worst...
One start, and Five stories, of the preluding events that mark the beginning of the Story, of "The Golden Garden".

Set in a "Fantasy" world with Sci-fi roots, "Stories from the Golden Garden" is a Graphic Novel anthology that, following the Prologue, will tell 5 short stories about a few individuals, all connected by Destiny, while they celebrate 4 Holidays typical of their world, and also with the Origins of the Main Character, and that will all lead to the main story of "The Golden Garden".

I don't have a work as of yet but I am writing one that should be going up in May. Keep your eyes open for Adventures of the Exiled!

I was diagnosed a year or two ago and it explained how I acted and funny enough, when I was still small, my sister called it and told my mom; but she didn't really believe it.

I guess it caused me to see things differently and think outside the box a lot. Though, I did have a fair share of unfun portions of my life.

Yes hello I am VanVeleca, I learned I had early childhood autism last year and this is my novel, MikoMooMaa

There's actually a whole month for Autism awareness/acceptance. If you wanna know more this topic may help

Hi! I'm Spade and I haven't been able to be officially diagnosed due to covid....but everything I was diagnosed with as a child are all now attributed to autism instead of their own things like when I was a kid so It's only been in the last 2 years that I've realized I'm pretty neurodivergent because for years I was just told I was "picky". I've always been hyper sensitive to touch, feel, texture, sound, light...everything p much and get overwhelmed in new places pretty easy. I've always avoided eye contact and people have often misread my face because apparently I don't emote a lot but never thought that was the case because I feel things so strongly. Learning about autism really helped recontextualize a majority of my life and helped me understand myself in new ways. I pretty much always have autistic characters in my comics and I'll keep adding them because I'm tired of mainstream media depictions of ASD woo boy

Hi! I'm not autistic, but I know someone else who is! I met Liz Pritchard through Lights! Camera! Access! an organization who helps people with disabilities get into media. She is most active on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paperbagcomic2