this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
31 points (97.0% liked)

Autism

9768 readers
592 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts do not need be related to autism, off-topic discussions are allowed. This is a safe space where people with autism can feel comfortable discussing whatever they feel like discussing, as long as it does not violate the standing rules.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.
  10. No bots. Humans only.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I have always struggled with meditation. I don't think I've ever been able to successfully meditate and the advice that people give me does not work.

I have ADHD (Inattentive), autism and OCD/CPTSD and I can't stop the constant stream of thoughts, it's like my brain has a problem with authority and is like "oh, you don't want me to think? I'm just gonna think even harder" so folks advice of "just quiet your mind!" does not work at all.

The other advice I was given was "just let your mind wander" and that's not an option either. If I let my mind wander, it pivots fast to dark, traumatic, intrusive thoughts and/or replaying every cringe and embarrassing moment of my life, so up to this point, all of my attempts to meditate have never worked out.

If there's anyone with similar issues to mine that has been able to meditate with success, I'd very much appreciate some advice to help me along.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

During my twenties I put in the work (years thereof, although some results came within months and I still keep in practice, among other things it's good for getting to sleep) and got a reasonable grasp of silence meditation. Generally this involved repeating a mantra for a while and then letting silence happen for as long as it would and then starting the mantra again, silence again, rinse, repeat.

It is hard for me to overstate how useful this has been for the rest of my life, I had intrusive, circular, exhausting thought patterns, now I can just will them to shut up. So peaceful. There are other benefits, but that seems the one most relevant to you. Key takeaway here is, it's like a muscle, you have to keep exercising it, and there's only so much you can do in any day that is helpful, indeed overdoing it, trying to make it happen faster, will just discourage and exhaust you, as it would injure a muscle, or it certainly did me. Just keep at it, to be cliche, it won't happen overnight, but it will happen (at least it did for me, and it's glorious).

[โ€“] Blackfeathr@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Silence meditation seems to be what I'm looking for. I desperately need the intrusive and distressing thoughts to go away, so I probably should be working on what my mantra will be. I really appreciate this advice!!