Sorry, I've tried to add more info.
Yes. Endeavour Morse is the first that springs to mind. I'm sure there are others, but would need to think about that more.
Yeah, IT and engineering (particularly elec, mechatronics and aero) have a very high proportion of people on the spectrum.
I only sought and received a formal diagnosis last year, despite being aware that I met the DSM V criteria for over 15 years prior. I had toyed with the idea over the years, but only pursued it last year for health reasons. Getting a diagnosis meant that I had a few more levers to pull with my employment.
Some selections from my report (I was diagnosed as an adult, but my mother was interviewed as part of the process):
- Sitting in small places/repetitive movements e.g., as a child sitting for hours under mums sewing machine playing with buttons
- Limited playing with toys but fixated areas of interests
- Not allowing foods to touch each other, noted issues with colour and texture of foods
- Very formal language even as a child no child talk
Orchidaceae
joined 2 weeks ago
I think I understand. It sounds like "family" movies or shows with emotional content are particularly intense for you (I don't think they "pander to your emotions" as such, just that NTs experience and regulate their emotions differently and these films are not made with the autistic experience in mind). Books and comics are likely much easier to process since it's just visual sensory input (and typically not intense input at that) without the auditory nor all the body-language cues.
One of my relatives (now deceased; he was never diagnosed but in retrospect some of the traits are obvious) always struggled with shows and movies aimed at children and families - he found them too emotional - where as crime shows, mysteries and documentaries were far more palatable. Certain scenes in films are overwhelming for me as well (emotional montages are often the most likely trigger), but usually it's the just overall volume level or if there's a lot of visual flashes/flickering that is taxing for me.
I can't be sure what will work for you, but based on my past experience, people have less familiarity with the sensory issues associated with autism than they do with individual sensory issues (e.g. flickering lights and epilepsy, or sounds and hearing/balance complications). Perhaps you could mention that you have sensitive hearing and that loud noises like shouting are painful, or rapid movement/visual flashes are very distracting. What have you tried thus far when trying to explain the issues to people around you?