Janice Rael
Maybe it's literal, maybe hyperbole.™
- Joined
- May 3, 2024
- Messages
- 1,046
- Location
- Jenkintown PA
- Gender
- Surprise me, or she/her
- Basic Beliefs
- I believe I need to ask more people
WHY, though.
I need to know why, but, I sometimes feel it's just me. Then if I am in a social group with neurodivergent people, I can go off as I relate and remember.
This post is a result of engagement on social media in which a neurodivergent person suggested that cookbooks ought to have sections or instructions that explain WHY. WHY must we do this, why must it be done this way. WHY is it this ingredient and not that one. WHY do I flour the pan before I pour in the cake batter. Why do I use cake mix and not plain flour. WHY do I not lick the beaters like I did when I was a kid? Why do store bought eggs carry salmonella? Why why why. I made all this up for this OP here on IIDB, to illustrate my point regarding the kinds of WHYS an autistic or neurodivergent person may need to know, in plain language, in order to accomplish any goal, such as baking a cake.
I used to know the WHYs of basic grammar, which I incorporated into my puny human brain from before pre-K (sigh. Thanks, mom, you batshit fkn ... ugh) to about 2nd grade, then I was off to the races with reading and writing, but, not arithmetic. Now as an age 55 autistic/ADHD adult with brain damage from various concussions as well as trauma from abuse (measurable on an fMRI), I am lightly diagnosed with Hyperlexia (I read a lot), Alexithymia (I can't speak frankly or honestly or completely, so I don't), and Dyscalculia (I'm "bad at math"! "*giggle* *hairflip*").
In a Facebook (Meta) Group for neurodivergent people, I replied to a funny image that showed a dumb ad aimed at ADHD-havers, to sell a fake cure for ADHD. I replied, "I'd buy one that helped me become a True Knower of WHY I Opened a New Tab in my Browser, or, a True Rememberer of What I Meant to Search For Online." Laugh reacts happened, yay. My Skinner Box works.
Ok enough preface. Here's the copypaste I wanted to share with IIDB in a public and searchable forum. (it took me 56 minutes to find my replies so I could post them here):
*WHY* is the thing they need to tell us so we understand.
WHY.
For example, WHY ARE CATS? and also WHY WOULD I/THEY.
If we need to use question marks, they're really out of touch with us and everything.
WHY ARE CATS? deserves the eternal question mark.
I used to ask my mom WHY and she'd say "Put that question in the back of your head to ask God when you go to Heaven." Then she told me about how if I was a good girl, I'd get a gold house in Heaven, near God's neighborhood. The badder I was, the less fancy my Heavenly House would be. Oh, yeah, she said it. It got worse.
Anyway. Most people refuse to entertain my endless questions, my Whys, my Buts, and my Ifs. They shut down partway through my talk. They are not happy for me, and they do not let me finish. They don't know my memes, music, or references, and, they refuse to even consider the WHYs of things.
I do mean most people but I mean vaccine scientists on LinkedIn who only speak English and who have no sense of humor.
--- to be continued, down the Alexithymia rabbit hole, perhaps.
>> IIDB: Please reply with your ideas, opinions, facts and information, or jokes about WHY we want to know WHY and how to tell us WHY and HOW.
I need to know why, but, I sometimes feel it's just me. Then if I am in a social group with neurodivergent people, I can go off as I relate and remember.
This post is a result of engagement on social media in which a neurodivergent person suggested that cookbooks ought to have sections or instructions that explain WHY. WHY must we do this, why must it be done this way. WHY is it this ingredient and not that one. WHY do I flour the pan before I pour in the cake batter. Why do I use cake mix and not plain flour. WHY do I not lick the beaters like I did when I was a kid? Why do store bought eggs carry salmonella? Why why why. I made all this up for this OP here on IIDB, to illustrate my point regarding the kinds of WHYS an autistic or neurodivergent person may need to know, in plain language, in order to accomplish any goal, such as baking a cake.
I used to know the WHYs of basic grammar, which I incorporated into my puny human brain from before pre-K (sigh. Thanks, mom, you batshit fkn ... ugh) to about 2nd grade, then I was off to the races with reading and writing, but, not arithmetic. Now as an age 55 autistic/ADHD adult with brain damage from various concussions as well as trauma from abuse (measurable on an fMRI), I am lightly diagnosed with Hyperlexia (I read a lot), Alexithymia (I can't speak frankly or honestly or completely, so I don't), and Dyscalculia (I'm "bad at math"! "*giggle* *hairflip*").
In a Facebook (Meta) Group for neurodivergent people, I replied to a funny image that showed a dumb ad aimed at ADHD-havers, to sell a fake cure for ADHD. I replied, "I'd buy one that helped me become a True Knower of WHY I Opened a New Tab in my Browser, or, a True Rememberer of What I Meant to Search For Online." Laugh reacts happened, yay. My Skinner Box works.
Ok enough preface. Here's the copypaste I wanted to share with IIDB in a public and searchable forum. (it took me 56 minutes to find my replies so I could post them here):
*WHY* is the thing they need to tell us so we understand.
WHY.
For example, WHY ARE CATS? and also WHY WOULD I/THEY.
If we need to use question marks, they're really out of touch with us and everything.
WHY ARE CATS? deserves the eternal question mark.
I used to ask my mom WHY and she'd say "Put that question in the back of your head to ask God when you go to Heaven." Then she told me about how if I was a good girl, I'd get a gold house in Heaven, near God's neighborhood. The badder I was, the less fancy my Heavenly House would be. Oh, yeah, she said it. It got worse.
Anyway. Most people refuse to entertain my endless questions, my Whys, my Buts, and my Ifs. They shut down partway through my talk. They are not happy for me, and they do not let me finish. They don't know my memes, music, or references, and, they refuse to even consider the WHYs of things.
I do mean most people but I mean vaccine scientists on LinkedIn who only speak English and who have no sense of humor.
--- to be continued, down the Alexithymia rabbit hole, perhaps.
>> IIDB: Please reply with your ideas, opinions, facts and information, or jokes about WHY we want to know WHY and how to tell us WHY and HOW.