Oh man, you just found the PERFECT term. The blob! I feel like us autistics need something like, um... the tether? Something like the rope those little kids hold onto when they're walking down the street in a group so they don't get lost (ugh, I'm so bad at description, I mean something like this - http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4326773091_db25fbe84f_o.jpg) but also so they don't bump into each other. We need our togetherness but we also need our space...
Grappling hooks sound good, but also kinda potentially painful. :O Maybe something with a carabiner, so you can hook on or hook yourself as you want to. Or one of those break-away collars that cats have in case they get stuck on something and need to get out in an emergency...
My goodness, how relatable is this!! Funny thing about blobs: why is it that they sound OK in theory, but as soon as you begin to assimilate, you want to break free before you suffocate in a haze of neurotypicalness?
Well, for me at least, I don't go into a group setting expecting to "assimilate." I hope that I might find one individual or a small subgroup there that I connect with. But it rarely works that way in practice. It's difficult to separate off from the group as an entity. So, you find yourself left with the blob.
Yeah, I get it. For me, I can't help but feel that the blob wants to change me. "Oh, you should be more outgoing" or "Wow, what do you mean you don't like shopping? *gasp!*" I kept hearing that haunting refrain you illustrated: "ONE OF US!" For me, the whole experience usually makes me feel like Number 6 in The Prisoner. "I am not a number, I am a free woman!"
WHEW!
ReplyDeleteAnd YAY!
Exactly how it feels when we're FREE of the blob!
Yep, those blobs, they can be tenacious suckers.
DeleteAnd sneaky too!
ReplyDeleteChris
Oh yes, never underestimate the power of the blob...
DeleteI'm so impressed with this one, it gives that old horror film The Blob a whole new meaning :)
ReplyDeleteOh man, you just found the PERFECT term. The blob! I feel like us autistics need something like, um... the tether? Something like the rope those little kids hold onto when they're walking down the street in a group so they don't get lost (ugh, I'm so bad at description, I mean something like this - http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4326773091_db25fbe84f_o.jpg) but also so they don't bump into each other. We need our togetherness but we also need our space...
ReplyDeletewonderful comic! :D
- Hanne
Hmm, yes, a tether could provide some distance from the blob... as long as it's easily disconnectable. Or perhaps a grappling hook?
DeleteHey, a grappling hook! Like the one from Legend of Zelda Wind Waker!!! That would be awesome!
DeleteJust make sure the ends are blunted considerably... that would hurt otherwise.
Chris
Haha, but does a blob feel pain?
DeleteGrappling hooks sound good, but also kinda potentially painful. :O Maybe something with a carabiner, so you can hook on or hook yourself as you want to. Or one of those break-away collars that cats have in case they get stuck on something and need to get out in an emergency...
Delete- Hanne
lol This is so apt and a perfect illustration :D I hate getting stuck in the blob!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, how relatable is this!! Funny thing about blobs: why is it that they sound OK in theory, but as soon as you begin to assimilate, you want to break free before you suffocate in a haze of neurotypicalness?
ReplyDeleteWell, for me at least, I don't go into a group setting expecting to "assimilate." I hope that I might find one individual or a small subgroup there that I connect with. But it rarely works that way in practice. It's difficult to separate off from the group as an entity. So, you find yourself left with the blob.
DeleteYeah, I get it. For me, I can't help but feel that the blob wants to change me. "Oh, you should be more outgoing" or "Wow, what do you mean you don't like shopping? *gasp!*" I kept hearing that haunting refrain you illustrated: "ONE OF US!" For me, the whole experience usually makes me feel like Number 6 in The Prisoner. "I am not a number, I am a free woman!"
Delete