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It's life, Baby.

that's how it is [symptoms, neurodiversity, care] · By dan qui dam

Symptoms. Sticky Locked

A topic by dan qui dam created Aug 29, 2019 Views: 124
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Symptoms.

symp•tom /ˈsɪmptəm/   n. [countable] Pathologya physical condition that arises from and accompanies a particular disorder and serves as an indication of it – wordreference

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A symptom (from Greek σύμπτωμα, "accident, misfortune, that which befalls", from συμπίπτω, "I befall", from συν- "together, with" and πίπτω, "I fall") is a departure from normal function or feeling which is apparent to a patient, reflecting the presence of an unusual state, or of a disease. A symptom can be subjective or objective. – wikipedia

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The list of It's life, Baby, is composed of symptoms and "disorders". Many of these symptoms can correspond to at least two "illnesses". A lot of them are daily handicapping symptoms. None of them are chosen and it is extremely difficult (or impossible) to avoid them. This is were the "horror" is. That can be an awakened nightmare for so many people.

Plus, for some people, with neurodivergence, some harmless, even normal elements (silence, wind, sound) can put a person in a particular state, for example if it's outside the routine.

I'll use this post (editing sometimes this message) to list symptoms and talk about readings or discussions I have had. Feel free to post another message if you want to leave a testimony.

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[edit Aug. 29]

The two examples are from my (distorted) memories:

player A says “I got dyslexia” and player B answers with imagination: “That’s true, Andrew, but don’t forget you never give up and you’re a perfectionist: when you had to learn magic to become the wizard you are today, you spent whole nights reading and rereading the same pages, and then you would copy them in their entirety! You spent far more hours on books than any other apprentice. You never gave up and it paid off. I admire you for that.”
(The player A now have a name and an occupation, plus he learned that his character is very tenacious).

I got a friend who has severe dyslexia (and it includes some other difficulties than writing, there). But he worked on his memory (and I I think he already had an incredible memory), and he found his passion. For his passion, he never never never gives up. Even if it means multiplying the number of years of study. Talking with him about his passion is exciting: he has acquired a lot of knowledge. Practice is what is difficult for him but if he had the opportunity I would recommend him to give conferences because he knows enough to talk about many aspects of his passion, even though he's very young in his profession (due to the many years in schools)... someone should just be there to help him organize his thoughts and write for himself (even if he uses dictation software, and is so tenacious that he re-reads and corrects the slightest SMS until all mistakes are eliminated). I think the key for him was to find his passion, and then it will be to build confidence in his knowledge.

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The group can talk about these facts for some minutes, then player B says “I’m blind… ”and so player C answers, remembering an earlier ttrpg game (mixing groupe memories with his imagination) : “You’re the most clairvoyant blind-man in the world. I remember the time you guided us in a dark-night, when we were all blindest than you.. You’re familiar with moving using all your senses other than eyesight. This time, you saved all our lives… I thank you for that, because without you we’d all have been eaten by the monster.”

Here, it's about both a memorable Vampire: The Mascarade game I lived and two videogames I liked. In the Vampire tabletop roleplaying game, I played a blind character with a lot of points placed in Perception, so he was kind of a clear-sighted guide who guides to the goal when players don't know where to go. It was one of my best games, all ttrpg considered. The two video games that inspired this answer are De Profundis by Points Contigus and A Blind Legend by Dowino. The first one is a french interactive-fiction in which we play in front of a dark screen with only text (NPCs' words) beause characters are in tunnels where there is no light and they can see nothing, they just discover the tunnels by touching the walls and the floor. The second game is an french+english game in which you play a character in a fantasy world, looking for his daughter. The screen is dark, and you have to orient yourself by perceiving if the sound comes from the right or the left (playing with headphones). That's really a difficult game if your ears aren't trained, and it's perturbing at the beginning to have a blackscreen... Also, I remember a friend with one eye only, and he was fond of music and developed his ear to create harmonious electronic music.
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And the 3rd example is about what a beloved one is facing, each day:

And then player C says “I’m hyperactive with attention deficit disorder, I’m not able to focus on the same task for a long time”, etc., until each person has a memory corresponding to each symptom.

Player D (or player A if there are 3 players at the table) could have replied, for example:

That's true. I see every day that you lose your concentration during certain actions, like reading.... But you organize your time and manage it: when you have to read something, you make sure that it is not in the evening that you will do this action. Your organization and routines allow you to accept your loss of concentration and face it with your head up high. You're strong, and anticipating.