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Prosper Health's Autism Resource Center
Featured Article
Social Cues and Autism: Why the "Missed Signals" Narrative Gets It Wrong
Consider this: a coworker asks you to complete a task, “whenever you get the chance,” and you take it at face value. Two days later, you find out the request was urgent, and your coworker assumed their tone made that obvious. Or another example: you're mid-conversation with a friend, and something in their face shifts. You notice it, and you're also tracking their tone, their words, and your own response, all at once. By the time it's processed, the moment to say something has passed.
If either scene felt familiar, you’ve probably been told that you missed something obvious. Maybe you’ve been called hard to read, rude, oblivious, cold, or “bad at people.” But inside, you know that’s not really what happened.
These messages put the entire problem on one person in a conversation between two people. This article looks at autism and social cues, including why social cues can be harder to read for some autistic adults, why misunderstanding is often mutual, and what can help in situations where it matters most.
Misophonia and Autism: Why Certain Sounds Feel Unbearable, and What to Do About It
Do certain everyday sounds — like slurping, tapping, or chewing — send you into a whirlwind of distress or discomfort? Perhaps it’s not just emotional, but also physical, and you can’t shove down the reactions no matter how hard you try. If this feels relatable, you might have a common condition called misophonia.
Research suggests a possible link between misophonia and autism. Autistic individuals are more likely to have sensory sensitivities, after all. In any case, misophonia is “a nervous system response and not a cognizant decision,” says Jacqueline Shinall, Psy.D., a psychologist at neurodivergent-affirming telehealth provider Prosper Health.
Delane, a 27-year-old autistic woman, experiences misophonia due to “human sounds” like eating. “It just feels like someone constantly poking at the same spot, to the point of overstimulation and irritation,” she says. “It takes a lot of self-control to not lash out.”
Let’s take a closer look at what misophonia is, what research shows and doesn’t show about its connection to autism, and how to manage it. Whether you're wondering whether misophonia may be a sign of autism, are autistic and want to understand misophonia, or are simply looking for relief, there's no wrong reason to be here.
The Fear of Being Perceived in Autistic Adults
Let’s say you’re about to go to lunch with a colleague, but you just need to make a few last tweaks on a task.
Your colleague is happy to wait for you and remains quiet while you finish up, but it doesn’t matter. You still feel like you’re being watched. Suddenly, your anxiety skyrockets, and completing your work task now feels impossible with your coworker standing idly by.
Many call this the fear of being perceived — and it’s become a viral shorthand for a much broader feeling — but for autistic and ADHD adults, there’s usually something more concrete that’s happening behind the scenes.
Autistic content creator Morgan Foley even made a video illustrating the fear of being perceived, in which she not only demonstrates how this feeling can present in several scenarios (work, socializing, chores, etc.), but also the thoughts going through her head in that moment.
After reading this article, you will be able to recognize this type of fear as a specific, explainable pattern connected to neurodivergence, understand why it hits differently depending on your neurotype, and identify at least one concrete step toward feeling safer while still being yourself.
Most importantly, this article will help you to answer the question, “Why do I hate being perceived?”
Black and White Thinking: What It Is and Why It Happens
“If I can’t do this project perfectly, I shouldn’t have this job, should I?”
“OMG, my friend canceled our coffee meetup. I knew she never really liked me.”
“My partner forgot I wanted to see The Odyssey this weekend. I think our relationship is in trouble.”
If any of these internal monologues sound familiar, it’s not because someone gained access to your innermost emotions: It’s because these thought patterns are more common than you may think, and they’re known as black-and-white thinking.
Before we delve into these patterns more deeply, know this: It’s okay if you’re unsure whether your black-and-white thinking is a problem, a trait, or both, even if you’ve been told that you tend to “overreact” or that you “can’t see nuance.” Examining this kind of dichotomous thinking doesn’t mean it’s a flaw to be fixed or even a symptom of a specific disorder.
These patterns are just one part of who you are, and you deserve to understand what exactly black-and-white thinking is, what’s driving these patterns, and if you should pursue support.
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Alexithymia Test: What It Measures and What to Do With Your Results
You’re at a social gathering, but you only know maybe one or two people there. Suddenly, your stomach starts to feel fluttery. Is it because you’re nervous? You ate something funny? Or forgot to eat entirely?
It’s okay if you don’t know.
While some people can pinpoint the cause of something like stomach butterflies immediately, it’s not so easy for others. This distinct challenge of identifying emotions and differentiating them from bodily sensations has a name — alexithymia — and it commonly co-occurs with autism.
If you’ve arrived at this article because a lifetime of confusion about your emotions led you to take an online test — and the results suggest you may experience alexithymia — you’ve come to the right place. You deserve to understand what your online score actually means, and the recommended next steps.
The most important thing to know about an online alexithymia test is that it cannot offer a clinical diagnosis. Alexithymia is not considered an official diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
However, after reading this article, you will have a much better understanding of what alexithymia tests actually measure, the limitations of these questionnaires, and what you can do with the information they give you.
Understanding the Window of Tolerance: A Guide to Nervous System Regulation
When autistic yoga therapist Elizabeth Walunas is inside her window of tolerance, she feels a sense of quiet in her gut. She can think and act in a goal-oriented way and handle stimulation sustainably. Walunas knows she’s left her window of tolerance when she gets “zingy and jumpy and twisty sensations of anxiety” in her stomach.
The window of tolerance varies from person to person, and everyone reacts differently outside of it. But the truth is, many of us spend a lot of time outside of our windows. This is especially true for neurodivergent adults, which is why cries of “calm down!” and “just relax!” don’t always land for our nervous systems.
By understanding the window of tolerance, we can learn how to better manage stress. In this article, we’ll explore what happens in our minds and bodies when we’re inside or outside our windows of tolerance, how to recognize when we’ve left our zones of tolerance, and what to do in both the short-term and long-term.
Autistic Burnout Recovery: A Realistic, Honest Guide
If you’re reading this and feeling physically drained, mentally foggy, emotionally flat, or like even small tasks are too much right now, you might be dealing with autistic burnout. You don’t need to take all of this in at once. You can move straight to whatever section matches your capacity today.
Autistic burnout isn’t just stress or being tired. It’s a real, recognized experience that often shows up after long periods of masking, sensory overload, and trying to function in environments that aren’t built for autistic people. The National Autistic Society, notes how it can affect thinking, communication, daily tasks, and sensory tolerance in a way that feels like your system is quickly running on empty.
Burnout is not a character flaw, and it’s not something you can fix by simply pushing through or “just resting.” The drivers are different, which means the recovery process is different too.
This guide is organized by stage: acute burnout, stabilizing, and rebuilding, so you can find what fits where you are right now. The goal isn’t to give you a list of things to do. It’s to help you understand what’s happening and what actually supports recovery at each stage.
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Types of Neurodiversity: A Clear, Inclusive Overview
Exploring neurodiversity as an adult can be equally exciting and intimidating.
Perhaps you’re noticing that, through the neurodiversity lens, certain once-confusing moments in your life are suddenly making sense. Or you’re still healing from lifelong frustrations, feeling misunderstood, and lack the language to articulate your unique experiences.
If this sounds like you at all, then you’re in the right place. This article will not only guide you through some of the most common types of neurodiversity but also help you understand how each neurotype actually shows up in adult life — and what your options are if you want to investigate further.
Autistic Inertia: Why Starting, Stopping, and Switching Tasks Feels So Hard
Consider the experiences below. Do any of them sound familiar to you?
- You know it’s time to get up for the day, but you’re unable to move
- You keep going on that work task even though you really need to use the bathroom
- You’re having a lot of trouble transitioning from a preferred activity to a necessary one (in my autistic daughter’s case, this usually means putting down the tablet to start her bedtime routine)
These examples only scratch the surface of a very real concept called autistic inertia. We know the definition of regular inertia is that an object will remain at rest or in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Similarly, Autistic inertia describes how an autistic person will commonly keep going in the same state they’re in, and it takes a greater energetic effort to change states, activity, or mindset.
Chances are, the people around you, including yourself, have misunderstood autistic inertia, possibly dismissing this behavior as laziness or procrastination. But nothing could be further from the truth. Starting tasks, stopping tasks, and switching tasks are all classified under the umbrella of autistic inertia and deserve deeper examination.
After reading this article, you’ll have a better understanding of what autistic inertia is, why it occurs, and how to recognize your own patterns. You’ll also learn recommended support strategies for yourself or a neurodivergent loved one who has this experience.
Spoon Theory and Autism: Understanding Energy Depletion
Have you ever felt like your energy levels aren’t matching what others perceive? You may look “fine” on the outside, but on the inside, your nervous system is working overtime, quickly eating up your physical and mental energy. For some neurodivergent people, this kind of energy depletion can cumulatively worsen until they’re completely tapped out.
“When my energy starts to run out, my first sign is that it gets harder and harder to smile,” explains Drew*, who was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 40 years old and self-identifies as AuDHD. “It doesn’t mean I’m not having fun, or not happy, it’s just my body’s way of saying that I’m losing control of my ability to mask.”
As his energy drains, Drew usually experiences “drastically reduced verbal communication,” speaking only when spoken to, and responding with a handful of words. Eventually, he says, these depleted energy levels result in his “crying uncontrollably and hiding in a quiet room or space, eventually falling asleep from sheer exhaustion.”
If you can relate to Drew’s experience, spoon theory might be a helpful concept for you. Spoon theory is a metaphor many autistic and neurodivergent people use to explain how sensory, social, masking, and executive function demands lead to energy depletion. It can also help non-autistic people better understand why autistic fatigue differs from general exhaustion.
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