The "I Don't Want The Generation That Grew Up Eating Lead Paint And Breathing Asbestos Making Decisions

I see you disabled people who don't know your family medical history because your family members couldn't/wouldn't/weren't allowed to go to the doctor and never got diagnosed, or don't know your family.

I see you disabled people who didn't know you were disabled growing up, physically or mentally, maybe because your parents didn't have insurance and couldn't afford it/wouldn't take you seriously/didn't think it was a problem because they had it/doctors couldn't figure it out.

I see you disabled people who have bouts of an issue that you grew up with, that are/were infrequent enough that you never really thought about it and dealt with it on your own, and when you have one in front of people who weren't medically neglected, you wonder why they look so horrified as you describe it.

I see you disabled people who didn't/haven't had any amount of care or accommodation for their disability since it started, because you couldn't get diagnosed.

I see you disabled people who grew up thinking everyone had the same problem as you and that it was normal and so you accepted it, because you didn't understand how the human body worked and had no real frame of reference nor the language to ask for help, or the people around you saw it and just ignored it.

I see you disabled people only now understanding that what you experience is abnormal, and that there are things that can be done to help it, make it easier, or at least help you understand yourself better.

I see you disabled people that will never be able to get diagnosed or get the help you need, whether from being poor, lacking insurance, or any number of reasons.

This shit is hard, and there are people who will never quite understand your struggles. It doesn't seem to get talked about as much, but I wish it was. Please know I love you, and you aren't alone.

Once again, leftists are forgetting disability in their activism.

The vast majority seem unable to acknowledge how dangerous a Trump presidency will be for disabled people along with other minorities.

hi, sorry to be on anon but i recently realized im a klepto and looking through the tag you seemed nice. i was wondering where you meet other kleptos online? like without getting like triggered (if thats the right word) or just a bunch of puns smh

Yee fucking haw, I get to write something again. Hi internet people, tis I, Ko, the reoccurring guest speaker. I think this is my...third? post. Something like that, but ok, answering stuff time. Hey, no worries being on anon, it's there for a reason right? I seem nice...but it's a trap! Jk, I mean, I try to be nice, but does that go well? It's a mystery.

Ok, so I've never actually seen an online space for kleptomaniacs in the wild. I did a little search thingy on discord and the relative rest of the internet (I don't have facebook so I didn't check there) and 99.9% of all of them were lifter bullshit, saying stuff like "Omg, I'm such a klepto" *shows off intentional shoplifting haul*. So yeah, not totally a great space. Like, not trying to start shit, but lifter community, quit using the word klepto. I don't wanna be associated with you when you get arrested. If you're stealing for the point of showing off, and not because of a mental disorder or a genuine need, I think you gotta take a good look at yourself.

So this is going to sound pretty sucky, and I feel bad for having this as my general answer, but I think kleptomania is going to be one of the rarest communities to find. There's a lot of shame associated with the disorder, (I'm sure you know, I'm just tossing general facts out there for some odd reason.) and like I for one try not to talk about it unless I'm asked like I am now, which is totally cool. Anon, no self doubt allowed, I'm glad you reached out and you seem like a chill person. Basically what I'm saying is that I'm pretty sure there's not really an open community for kleptomaniacs that's free of triggers and puns, just because no one really sits down and talks about the realities of it. Real talk though, I hate the puns. Like if someone's first reaction to hearing that I'm a kleptomaniac, idk, I will be sad and annoyed XD

So yeah, sorry, this totally isn't a helpful answer, buuuuut I will totally one hundred percent keep my eyes open and ask around to the few other kleptomaniacs I personally know, kay? For now I'd keep scrolling through the tags like you are now. It might take a hot second to get through the bullshit, but I'd bet money that there's at least three good people out there. And hey, if you have any questions or just want to vent, I'm here for you I guess XD-Ko

Activities to cope

There are many ways to cope with pyromania.

A few activities one can try that are relatively harmless are:

- watching fireworks

Be it watching videos, or watching them at any events near you

- watching chimney fires

There is always, if you have it, a channel on tv just for a chimney fire, there are plenty videos on YouTube for just that, and if you have one yourself that's even better. Of course this can extend to bonfires and campfires as well.

- watching candle flames

Safely lighting candles in your own home is a very easy accessable activity. Tea lights and other candles are pretty inexpensive and easy to find at dollar stores along with lighters and matches. I recommend scentless candles.

- watching flame art

There are many videos on YouTube around artists who involve fire in their craft, from flame eaters to charcoal artists or match artists and more.

- burn paper scraps or old homework

Safely burning small bits of paper or papers that no longer surve a purpose to you like years old assignments, preferably doing so over an ash trey or better yet in your backyard, and watching the flames eat away at the paper can be fine.

- igniting a lighter

I mentioned this one in a few previous posts and it's one I do frequently myself, turning on a lighter and watching the flame it creates. Be careful not to ignite it around anything flammable and if you try touching the flame do not let your fingers linger on it long, a short motion over or through the flame is relatively harmless. Though the slower you are and the more you linger a surface burn on that spot will show up. So be very careful.

- watching fire on the news

There are (sadly) always reports of house fires and forest fires, you can always turn on the news and see if there's a report that day or search for old recordings of such online.

- the gas stove.

This one only works if you have a gas stove, and it's one I urge you to have a lot of caution with. But turning on the gas stove and watching the blue flames on the burner can be alright. In fact you can cook something with it like popcorn or eggs if you feel like it. snack bonus!

- hot coals

Hot rocks, hot packs or anything that heats up if you don't have access to hot coals can be fine. While none of it is actually fire, you do get to feel the heat and warmth of something and for some this can be an okay fix even if temporary. Please be very careful with what you put in the microwave or leave out in the sun.

Are there any activities you do? Do you have a favorite?

What other ways do you cope?

Sia’s overwhelmingly offensive movie, loads of comedians raising money for an organisation that wants to find a ‘cure’ for autism and now Elon Musk presenting himself as representative of people with ‘Aspergers’- this is really the year of celebrities deciding gang together to fuck over autistic people huh?

Gods, the Storm post makes me so unbelievably angry. I think it says something about the community that we're erasing one character's extremely dangerous powers to act like she's being a dick to someone with powers that aren't anywhere near as dangerous just because people don't want her to be right.

Like, this is a crystal-clear example of y'all refusing to listen to people with higher support needs. I'm just saying. The parallels are crystal clear.

Communicating about problems is hard for me.

I don't know why. If I'm having a problem like I'm sick or I'm having a migraine or I can't do something, I can't just tell people that verbally. It gets harder to make my thoughts come out of my mouth. I stutter and I pause and I use a lot of filler words and even then, usually I can't actually say what's wrong. If I can manage to say it, I can't... like, if I tell my manager that I can't do a specific task right now and she pushes back and says there's no one else to do it or that if I can't do it she'll send me home, I can't stick up for myself. The second I meet a tiny bit of resistance, I always fold. I always try and force myself to stick it through. Even if it's an issue where I really, really need to go home, I can't communicate that with my words.

Writing out what I need to say is better. I can write out my thoughts and feelings way easier and better than I can speak them. So I write down what I want to say. I explain the issue, and I explain why said issue is causing a problem and why I need some intervention here. But even then, actually communicating with that is hard. Because it's hard to just hand my manager a note. It feels weird. Like, socially, it feels like I thing I absolutely should not be doing. But say I manage to give her the note. Now I need to explain why I am handing her this note and we're back to the first problem. And if she chooses to push back, I still can't help but fold.

I don't know what it is. But it's hard to deal with

"Brain damage" only sounds like a harsh and offensive way to describe brain injuries because people constantly use it as an insult. It's a totally neutral descriptor of what it is. I have brain damage. My brain is damaged. It's not ableist to call it that, it's ableist to call people you don't like brain damaged because you think it's an inherently bad thing to be.