Their brains are wired differently and some things that work for them won’t work for us. There’s a chance those tips and tricks won’t do anything for you, which might make you feel like a failure. You aren’t! If something doesn’t work, move on. It’s okay.
2) If you have executive dysfunction, laziness and lack of motivation is not your problem
When you struggle with executing tasks it may feel like you are lazy and aren’t motivated enough, but that’s not necessarily true! You might be hella motivated and still not be able to do a task. Trying to motivate yourself in that case will only make you more frustrated.
3) Get distractions out of the way
Little things that would not distract a neurotypical person might distract you, in which case you won’t be able to work to your full capacity. Build a sensory friendly environment with no noises, bright lights, bad smells, etc. Use ear plugs or music if you need to. Get stim toys if you stim a lot to concentrate. Good environment is very important and is probably the reason why you struggle at school/college/uni where your senses might be overstimulated.
4) If you tend to hyperfocus, learn when it happens
Hyperfocus can be incredibly useful for studying, so if it happens to you, try to identify when it happens. For me I tend to hyperfocus when there are absolutely no distractions (for me that often means when I have headphones on and I’m alone). Then replicate those factors to get more done.
5) Learn ways around executive dysfunction and limited energy
This is the most difficult part. Studying when you have problems with executing tasks and limited spoons (energy resources) is tough. Here’s how you can deal with it.
6) Understand your priorities
You will not be able to do as much as NTs do in one day. Deal with it now. Understand that simple tasks such as brushing your teeth or talking on the phone also require energy. So prioritize. Assume you can only do one thing today, the most important/urgent one, and do that first. Then the less important thing. And so on.
7) “Don’t half-ass things” is a lie
Half-ass things. Quarter-ass things. If you can only do one math problem today, do it. That will be one less math problem later. If you can only read a few pages of a textbook today, do it. It’s also easy to think “if I can’t write the essay and finish that project today, might as well do nothing”. That’s a lie too. Do a small thing but do something. Do something badly but still do it. You might be able to fix it later. There’s no shame in being disabled, no matter what society makes you think.
8) Do the most complicated thing first
If you have several tasks and one requires more executive functioning, do that first. Your planning skills are probably at best right after you wake up, before you have time to spend any energy. So that’s the best time to do tasks with many steps or to plan tasks ahead.
9) Rest and take breaks right
It’s important to take breaks in between work, but you have to do it right. You might be tempted to do something useful for a break to be productive – like take a walk or read a book or talk to someone. Do not, or at least do not unless you are absolutely sure. Switching to another task requires mental energy, so that will only deplete your energy sources.
For breaks, do something ridiculously easy. Go on social media. Listen to a song and sing along. Watch a YouTube video. Stim. Daydream. Even lay down and close your eyes for five minutes. Just don’t switch to tasks that also require energy.
10) Don’t try to learn by repetition
Studies show that learning by repetition doesn’t work for us. It will not help you make more connections in your brain. Instead, do different tasks. Read from a book. Write down important points from the book. Read them out loud. Try to repeat them without looking. Pretend to explain it to someone. Answer questions related to the material. Draw it. Watch a video about it. Make a mnemonic for it. Whatever. Just don’t sit there reading it again and again.
11) Be kind to yourself
Your energy levels and capabilities will fluctuate from day to day, and you can’t always know how it will turn out. On some days I can write an essay from scratch in one sitting. On others I struggle to make myself a cup of tea. That’s normal, and it’s not your fault. Blaming yourself for it will only upset you and make it less likely that you do at least something today.
Imagine it like this: you are playing a game, and the difficulty setting randomly switches every day. On some days it’s on easy and you get through five levels with no problems. On some days it’s on very difficult and you can’t even get to the first checkpoint. That’s okay. Say to yourself, “my abilities haven’t changed, the difficulty changed”. Today, just get to that checkpoint. Tomorrow you might get through five levels.
12) Learn from other autistic people
For any other problem you might come across, other autistic people are the best source of knowledge. Allistic parents, teachers, friends, mentors, etc are likely to not understand your problem at all, or give you bad advice. Instead consult the real autism experts – actually autistic people. There are plenty of us who got through school, college and/or uni. Reach out to them. They will help.
Good luck!
was tagged by @odetosleepyjoshdun (hi!! thanks for tagging me i love these :3) to give u the first 10 songs that pop on shuffle
i’m going to use the music from my entire computer bc my phone’s out of immediate reach, might not be 100% representative of my current music taste (which is… Homestuck, Oomph!, more Homestuck, vaguely a couple unrelated songs, and Homestuck)
Protect me from myself ~ Broken Edge (ok that one’s from a sample that came w/ a metal/hard rock magazine i used to buy regularly. can’t seem to find a link to it it’s not very well-known)
A Jewel Traced Through Coal ~ Dimmu Borgir (!!! i’d forgotten how much i like their stuff despite my Everyday Jacket being literally printed w/ one of the covers(? is that the right word) for that very album)
Asgard ~ Therion (YES!!!!! yes one of my favourite albums ever!!!!!! yes just fuck me up)
Judas Be My Guide ~ Iron Maiden (look i don’t even listen to that much Iron Maiden i just have their entire discography on my laptop and it’s a Bigge Discography With Many A Song :T)
Freunde bleiben ~ Tokio Hotel (LMAO remnants from middle school. idk about other countries but here in France around the… late 2000s? Tokio Hotel got really super fucking popular out of nowhere and it faded away just as quickly lol)
Courtroom Shuffle ~ LOFAM 3 (more Homestuck. i’m impressed there wasn’t more i’ve got nearly a thousand Homestuck-related songs on my computer out of 6,220 total)
Alrighty then friends, lets talk about art styles!
What exactly is an art style, anyway? Well, it’s a combination of the formal elements of art that is unique to you. To put it even simpler: it’s all down to your tastes.
Colour: what sort of colour palettes do you use? Are they all warm colours? Pastel? Analogous? Colour theory is a whole subject of its own, understanding it is a key part to making your art your own!
Shape: Shape design is really important to distinctive art styles, and it’s a very tricky topic to explain. Certain shapes are pleasing to the eye, a large part of it is due to line dynamics, and contrasting shapes.
Tone: do you like to use a lot of contrasting values in your work? Or do you prefer a softer, dreamy kind of value range?
Tone ties in heavily with understanding light, and is closely linked with Colour!
Texture: do you use texture in your work? Do you use thick brush strokes? Do you prefer things to be smooth and clean?
Form: form is about how three-dimensional your work looks – do you have a lot of depth in your work? Or is it flat and graphic, like hieroglyphics?
Good form in your art is down to understanding perspective and anatomy. This isn’t the same as Tone, you can use Tone to enhance the Form in your art but you can convey a 3D form with lines alone!
Anyway. Let’s look at some examples shall we?
What makes up Steven Universe’s style?
One thing that sticks out to me is the Colour – the palette is very warm and often contains a lot of pinks and warm blues.
If you look at the characters, the Lines are very bold and clean, and while there is not a lot of Tone there is a lot of care put into the Form.
There is not a lot of Texture in the characters, the colours are all very clean and flat and different materials are not coloured any differently.
In the backgrounds though things change! There is a lot more colour variance, the brushes used are textured and the lines don’t quite meet the colours giving it a rough sort of look.
The backgrounds often have a dream-like quality I feel
The shape design in steven universe is very strongly based on one particular shape per character – steven is made of hearts, garnet is made of squares, pearl is made of triangles, and amethyst is made of ovals!
The backgrounds are also very graphic, with big blocks of colour used to represent clouds and the like.
Now lets take a look at Splatoon’s concept art
The first thing to note is that there are no Lines – solid blocks of colour are used instead, the contrast between the Colours is what separates the different Forms.
Unlike Steven Universe, Splatoon is full of Texture – heavy grungy brush strokes are used, and several colours are used to make up one surface instead of solid flat colours.
Speaking of colours, that’s a really key part to Splatoon’s art direction!
The colour usage is largely neutral colours – greys, browns, dull greens, dark yellows – with select areas of extremely bright vibrant colour. The neutral tones are used to provide a lot of contrast, and it’s like. my jam hot damn thats the aesthetic
On a complete flipside though, how about we take a look at A Link Between Worlds?
The art style of the paintings in the games is extremely distinctive – bold Lines, heavily textured brush strokes, patchy blocks of colour, and very flat forms. Also very distinctive is the use of white lines!
It’s like if you took the linework from Steven Universe and combined it with Splatoon’s textured colours, but removed the 3D form. See how combining the different elements makes a new style?
Now then, how do you develop a style? It’s all well and good looking at styles, but how do you do that yourself?
Well! You do what you like! I suggest making a moodboard of your favourite artists so you can figure out what it is about their art that you like. Is it their use of colour? Their lines? The shapes?
I personally have a folder on my computer called ‘aesthetic’ which I have filled with art that really inspires me, I look through it when I’m feeling directionless!
Once you identify what it is you like about other people’s art, you can strive to incorporate it into your own work. That’s the secret to making art you love!
Your art style will develop naturally as you study the fundamentals of art, it’s your interpretation of all the elements of art that makes up your style.
Imagine Dirk diving down to the ruined city below him and scavenging not just for food and supplies or scrap, but for weird stuff. Just things he’s never seen before that give him some clue as to what life was like on earth. Things he’d have no clue what they’re for and he can’t look them up online because he doesn’t know what they’re even called.
He’ll find something like a corkscrew and be completely baffled as to what it was used for and he’ll use it as a tool while working on robots. Or he’ll find a soup ladle and be like wtf it looks like a spoon but there’s no way in heck this would fit in someone’s mouth (on that note, would he even know what spoons are for?). So he collects them and builds a horse statue out of them because what else could they possibly be for??? And his entire living room is filled with his collection of all these weird gadgets and gizmos and thingamabobs. And he spends a lot of time looking at them wondering what it would be like to live in a world filled with such wonderful things.
i couldn’t help myself!! this was just too cute
!!!!!!!!
He asks Jane and Jane is like “ur fucking with me right? Stop being such a goofball”
Oh heck yes! And he’s like “Ah, yeah, of course. Shit, can’t fool the master prankster, huh?”
“Darn straight, buster! You expect me to believe you’ve never seen a lemon juicer? A hot place like Texas probably has lemonade stands all over the place in summer time. Try harder.”
And Jane doesn’t get an answer for a solid ten minutes while Dirk googles “lemon juicer” and “lemonade stand” and “lemon.” And he has to resist the urge to ask her what lemons are like, so instead he changes the subject. “Anyway, check out this weird fancy belt I got. It’s got pockets, even though they don’t hold shit too well.” And the prankster’s gambit goes entirely to Dirk’s side as he proudly shows her a black lacy strapless bra.
“…. Touche, Dirk. A low blow, I must say; but I think I underestimated your pranking prowess. Rest assured it won’t happen again.” And she signs out.
Dirk is very confused and decides it’s best not to ask Jane about these things until she’s ready to believe he’s from the future. Fortunately, Roxy is able to clear up the weird belt issue later while laughing her a off.
♈️ Aries were the vanguard, they invented the custom arrows. The purpose of the horns was to stake their claim on the target or territory.
♉️ Taurus arrows are tied together with a lace that has a bull’s nose ring at its end. Taurus are stubborn and don’t ever give up so their arrow can be used as a spear if the fight demands it.
♊️ Gemini made their arrows so that they would avoid routine and boredom. So, as they’re extremely thin, Gemini arrows are the only that can be shot together, the number of arrows in each shot is always changing.
♋️ Cancer are deeply sensible and easily hurt so they designed their arrow in a way that long fights are avoided. Their arrow is the most painful and cannot be removed.
♌️ The fletching on a Leo’s arrow is made out of lion’s mane. The arrows are used to protect the Leo’s kingdom – it may be anything, from home to a partner. Their jewels work as fuel for incendiary shots.
♍️ Virgo’s perfectionism made them extremely picky about their enemies. Although their arrow seems delicate and calm on the outside, it only takes one shot to kill.
♎️ Libras are the diplomats of the zodiac. Their arrow’s tip resemble the pans in the scale of Justice. Just like “Justice is blind”, so is its arrow’s tip. It is meant to end fights; not be part of them.
♏️ Scorpio have the tail of a scorpion on their arrow’s tip, which is poisonous and it kills their victim slowly. Scorpio have a natural secretiveness so they chose not to change their arrow’s fletching – after piercing an enemy in battle, it’s hard to tell if said arrow came from a Scorpio.
♐️ Sagittarius were not influenced by Aries custom arrows. As natural archers, their arrows were always the shape of their zodiac sign. These arrows can travel unbelievable distances, and are often mistaken by shooting stars
♑️ Capricorns were always resistant to big changes so they decided to modify their arrow only once and never again. The fish tail in the place of the fletching is reminiscent of their sign symbol (a sea goat). It can change the direction of the arrow after being shot, making this arrow impossible to escape.
♒️ Aquarius are know for their inventivity and originality. They improved the arrows transportation forever: instead of a quiver their magic arrows are carried on a water bearer (resembling their sign symbol). To pick their arrow they pour it from the bearer.
♓️ Pisces arrows were the last to be created. As Pisces is the sign of mysticism and spirituality, their arrows are capable of piercing the enemy’s soul. Much of this arrow’s characteristics are yet unknown.
queerhomestuck 