Many autistic people perceive rejection or failure as intensely painful emotionally, however RSD is not a diagnosis, just something many autistic people can experience, but not all struggle with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kate, who is autistic, shares: “I think that being autistic in a world set up for neurotypicals<\/a> leads to an almost constant sense of feeling like I’m doing everything wrong and second-guessing so many of my interactions. This feeling, coupled with some formative experiences of actual rejection, have made me almost hyper-aware that people might not understand me and will reject me.” She also says that she tends to assume people are upset with her if they give a shorter response to her question, if they take a while to reply to messages or are quieter than usual, giving her the intense sense of urgency to fix whatever she did wrong. They become hypervigilant of everything people do and will notice any slight change and perceive it as rejection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rejection from not meeting neurotypical standards can cause autistic people to experience RSD and mask at a much higher level than neurotypicals. Masking is behaviours that does not come naturally and engaging in these behaviours constantly is stressful and can lead to burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How Autistic People Can Cope With RSD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Community support and connection with people with similar experiences. Having a safe and trustworthy social circle can help. People being patient and communicative on why they may be acting a certain way helps with not assuming they\u2019ve been rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How I will use this research:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it will be helpful to share with my team to add context and understanding for what might be happening in the MC\u2019s mind every time they interact with another character. It brings back the Social Anxiety aspect of the game as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n