My name is Ashley Lauren Spencer. Owner of The Autistic Innovator®. Supporting the autistic, ADHD and neurodivergent community since 2020. 0 trackers online store for our community. Also the owner of the autistics.life mastodon instance. #AuDHD #ActuallyAutistic #neurodivergent #ADHD
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2026-08-04T03:52:10+02:00 Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® The obsessed competitor manually trying to tank my SEO from all these sources, by loading 5 to 7 pages in 2 minutes and leaving, well I just looked at analytics sources and instead of hurting me, the manual efforts made algorithms think people must really like my website, so it should show my site to even more people. Its had a very positive effect on my visibility, and increased the number of store visitors. So now I’m like Yes please keep manually obsessively trying to hurt my rankings. 😄 npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I found this old photo from June 2021. This cat was a stray at my apartment complex. He went door to door meowing at everyone’s door to get someone to adopt him. He was tired of living outside and decided he was going to get adopted that day. I got on a cat rescue Facebook group, and found a rescue to pick him up. He instantly trusted the man with the cat carrier because he understood he was going to be adopted. Got adopted very quickly and moved into a $2M home. #CatsOfMastodon https://autistics-life.s3.bhs.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/746/008/987/626/016/original/8e5e87e35ac2f7ca.png npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® This is embarassing AF, but I think I have to ask everyone for help with this... Our host for https://autistics.life has been very gracious about not shutting off our server because the bill has been unpaid for 2 weeks. They know I'm working relentlessly to get enough money to pay for it, but things are just really bad, and I mean really bad. It's a great thing I'm a hopeless optimist who refuses to quit and never doubts that I can pull myself out of this financial destruction. After 6 months in a row of financial ruin, it's all caught up with me at this point, and I'm doing my best. So would people like to help me pay for the server this month? I pay $79 a month for it. I HATE that I have to ask this, but I can't expect the hosting company to keep waiting for me to have that much money. I made a donations link with my PayPal Business account: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=UZNZH65G2E5HN npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I have a strong aversion to Walmart brand food now after how sick it made me. All that processed food started giving me headaches, and now I have acne. I haven't had any acne in years, not since my regular diet was garbage food and energy drinks. I ate these gummy sharks with no food dye in them, and it made me so sick now I hate candy. There was this Walmart brand cherry cola I drank, and every time I drank it I got really sick. I missed on the label it had Red 40 dye, and that's why I got so sick drinking it. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® My brain is a machine. All these ideas I've never thought of before are flooding into my mind like I'm channeling something. Feels like creative freedom. All my weekly emails were written like personal letters, and in this case they actually are personal emails, because I am emailing all 749 people on my email list individually to let them know I've moved, and ask if they want to stay on the list. I'd think nothing would annoy people more than sending a mass email after 3 months of silence. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Now that I know the chew industry’s secret that most are 3D printing chews, I’ve seen the code language on how they get around it. “durable, chew safe materials” “food grade materials” Materials = 3D printing The ONLY chew safe ‘material’ is silicone, and silicone made the right way in sterile specialty silicone manufacturing facilities. If they’re going out of their way to say anything but silicone, it’s 3D printed. I’m on to all of them now. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I’ve seen chew designs that have intricate detailed designs on the chew, and it’s baffled me how did they manufacture that chew. Silicone can make tactile texture, it cannot make detailed designs. Those intricate design chews are all 3D printed, that’s how. #ActuallyAutistic npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® This is the most wtf price drop I’ve seen in this Walmart rollbacks list. That is some significant scamming Texas SNAP. https://autistics-life.s3.bhs.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/517/298/167/518/804/original/46884d7c51237049.png npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Now that in Texas SNAP can’t be used to buy soda and sugary drinks, the 12 pack brand name soda prices dropped from $9 to $5. Energy drink prices also dropped. Candy prices and fruit snacks have all dropped too now that no one can use SNAP to buy candy. I don’t know if chips were included in that SNAP law, but those also dropped. Bags of Lays chips went from $6.46 to $2.50. Family size boxes of brand name cereal went from $7.49 to $4.44. I’m looking at Walmart’s rollbacks list and 98% is stuff people can no longer buy with SNAP in Texas. Walmart was massively scamming Texas taxpayers with inflated prices paid for with Texas state money. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…m7l3 I think in their case they now see authenticity as profitable which is why they’ve hijacked my entire identity. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® The data harvesters are very angry. https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/116/339/799/230/182/678/original/3be6220948350c2c.png npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I proudly tell everyone "I work for myself and answer to no one." Yet I do whatever my cats want every time they scream at me. Although sometimes they just want cuddles and hugs, and that is an acceptable demand. #CatsOfMastodon https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/116/137/386/715/629/718/original/ed9b06675e0d56fb.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Dinah was non-stop screaming for 15 minutes. Then I gave her a long hug and she stopped screaming. #CatsOfMastodon https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/116/115/679/553/613/046/original/a190fc4e41039582.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Cat reality vs LinkedIn https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/116/088/153/824/979/713/original/d37d9562349c44b7.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Dinah will not let me go into my office and work. She just screams like she's dying if she's not on my lap at all times. #CatsOfMastodon https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/116/047/129/771/278/745/original/a4918c6924910763.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I'm learning from how I feel right now that I need to slowly introduce food so his body doesn't go into shock like mine is. I ate 3 baked chicken tenderloins, and that was apparently way more pure protein at once than my body can process. So if this can happen to me, it can happen to Sam, so I should slowly give him a little bit more food each day. I'm hoping for the best. He's a young little man. He shouldn't have to die so young because his last owner caused a heatstroke. I'm doing my best. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Apparently stealing packages in Texas is a state crime. Fewer than 10 packages can get you up to 1 year in jail and/or $4,000 fine. The more addresses a thief steals from the longer their jail sentence and thief's criminal charges level increases. If a thief steals packages from an elderly or disabled person their punishment is harsher and could lead to longer jail sentences. Interesting. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I see "tri sodium phosphate" in ingredient labels a lot. I got curious and went to the Home Depot website and searched "phosphates", and there it was, bags of tri sodium phosphate for treating dry wall to prepare for painting. There were also tri sodium phosphate substitutes marketed on the bag as safer for the environment and safer to use. Now why would a chemical sold in Home Depot be in our food? That seems deliberate and put there just to make us all chronically ill. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Do you like my kitten galaxy leggings? https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/115/344/660/462/526/001/original/ca26872572dd1fdc.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® All over Meta networks there are so many ads for this "company" called Prosper that's selling cheap autism assessments for adults. I think this is the same person who was selling their $400 "autism assessments for adults" to a lot of vulnerable autistics on social media, but then she got caught as a grifter who isn't even licensed as a therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist nothing. It was all fake. She sold the autism assessments over tele-health and claimed she was licensed to do assessments in any state, meanwhile she wasn't licensed at all. I blocked the Prosper accounts. Stuff like that pisses me off. It's sickening! #ActuallyAutistic npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® This horrendous month is over and my paycheck is much less than my rent and $1,200 less than last month. If it weren't for my family member sending an odd specific amount of money for my birthday that happens to be the exact remaining amount I need so I can pay my rent, I'd either be setting up a payment plan for rent with management, or I'd lose everything and be out in the streets. The divine forces in the universe who kept me and my cats basic needs all met 4 dire months in a row has kept a roof over my head even in the very most dire circumstances. I trust that things will work out again during October, just like they did in June, July, August, and September. Unexpected miracle money always showed up at the right time. Me and my cats did not go hungry, electricity is still on, bills are paid, phone still on, have all my meds, and I even gained all my weight back that I lost from having no food in May. I did not go without thanks to the divine forces in the universe looking out for me. I asked for a miracle in May so I could survive and many miracles followed for months fulfilling all my basic needs. One cannot be helped if they don't ask. I trust that things will be okay next month too. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I think masking is so hard for us because every time we do it, deep down it makes us feel like we're not good enough. #ActuallyAutistic npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Every day with a cat is the best day. :blob_cat_heart: #CatsOfMastodon https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/115/188/642/466/303/759/original/b18998ae4ac662a9.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® My store traffic is really bad this month. 30% of my traffic is from countries that can't buy. I've been tracking the visits from only the 5 countries I sell to, and it's pathetic. The conversion rate for those visits is still good and a lot higher than it was in July before I made all the website updates, there's just barely anyone visiting the store. Can't make a sustainable living if there's barely any store visitors. Not sure how to generate a lot more traffic without ads. Autistic and neurodivergent people hate ads, there's no money for ads, I read over 200 million people use ad blockers... All I can think of is just be everywhere on all social media. It's the only way I can think of to generate a lot more traffic npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…gtf6 I reset the computer to factory settings 2 days ago. Nothing worked before I reset it. Even the Settings app wouldn't work. I can't download the Microsoft Calculator from the Microsoft Store either. Nothing will download. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® When the last Windows update crashed my computer and corrupted all the files and SSD, I happened to be logged into the security sensitive websites I use to run my business. I think when the computer corrupted and crashed, it blocked my PC from accessing those websites. I can't even write my weekly email because Klaviyo has blocked this computer's access to my account. It works on my tablet, so not my internet IP. Just this computer. I can't access Shopify analytics either. Quicken has also blocked this computer's access to my account. This is the only working computer I have. 😭 npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Today is The Autistic Innovator's 4 year anniversary! I fucking made it to this day and still in business! Back in April after the tariffs, I was so scared my business would go under and I'd just be another failure statistic, but here I am getting to celebrate this day. Next stop, the 5 year anniversary! 🥳 npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I paid a 27% tariff on very small $59 order. Every time I order inventory it feels like I'm being beaten mercilessly by the government for the crime of needing products to sell. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…y3mz Banks charge the merchant (me in this case) a $15 chargeback fee, and when people file ridiculous claims, the bank withdraws the amount refunded + a chargeback fee from the customers bank account and returns both to me. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…y3mz Yep. Banks and PayPal penalize customers with fees for filing those kinds of chargebacks, but people do it anyway. My only fraud chargeback was ruled by the customer's bank to be a fraudulent fraud chargeback. Bank ruled it was not a fraud transaction and I got my money back. Banks will de-bank people who do that. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® There are people who think... well, I broke this product I bought that was delivered 2 months ago, but the store's return window ended over a month ago, I'll just call my bank to file a chargeback and tell my bank it arrived broken and defective, and I don't need to contact the merchant because I read the return policy and my return window ended over a month ago so I already know they won't give me a refund, but my bank will give me my money back as long as I don't tell the bank I've had the product for 2 months. *sigh* npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I got a message through my store's contact form with an email domain that is a school district but ends in .us instead of .gov. The message said they want to place an order and need my w-9 to place the order. I forwarded the message to the IRS phishing department. If you get tax-related scam emails, you can forward them to [email protected] npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I spend too much time dragging myself down with "why did I do that I should have done __" Instead of thinking okay I know better now it's fixed, I keep agonizing over my mistakes until I get physically ill from not letting it go. Torturing myself because I can't go back and change the past and undo my mistakes is unnecessary. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Autism season 🍂 #ActuallyAutistic https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/995/244/249/879/206/original/1a2359727b02f815.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® People were constantly complaining on a Meta network about Instagram's new live location map that shows your location to your friends anytime whether you like it or not. I told people stop sharing their location with Meta and any other app because it's used to track you everywhere you go, and if Meta doesn't know where you are then there's no map. Meta shadowbanned me and now I can't post lol npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…el4d It's been getting a lot worse lately. I've been getting a lot that aren't even related to online retail. Stuff like medical software for nurses and doctors, office building maintenance, one emailed saying "I can help you land 1-3 long term clients." Some about customer service agents offering phone support. Like what? npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…el4d Ugh. I'm just going to start blocking every URL who cold emails me. I finally stopped getting the loan shark cold emails after I blocked 128 email domains and they all got a nasty auto message saying I reported their domain as spam and it has been blocked. Finally got taken out of those databases haha. Maybe it will work again if I do it to everyone lol npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…el4d I hope they crash and burn and go out of business forever lol. All this explains why no one ever goes to the store website, because if they actually went to the store website 75% of them wouldn't email me. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…el4d That would explain why I'm being flooded with cold emails about their ai. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I got this cold email today saying they did research on my business through Apollo lead research and it shows I have 5 employees. I think these lead research sites just make up shit. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I'm at the stage after months of stress starting when the tariffs hit where I'm developing physical illness symptoms. I don't get allergies. Now I'm congested and sneezing a lot. Dizzy. Pressure on the ear drums. Bit of vertigo. Entrepreneurship gets really f*ing rough sometimes. It was the turning hypomanic + depression at the same time that sent me over the edge into total exhaustion. Add on top of that my grandfather passing away and since I'm disabled and can't drive I can't attend the funeral. Just a lot of stress all at once. Still trying to hope for better days. Not really sure how to rest. My work drive keeps overpowering everything. Like if I rest now everything will fall apart. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Fellow #ActuallyAutistic / #neurodivergent : Do you ever struggle with being verbally incoherent, but able to text just fine? 2 days now the part of my brain that connects my thoughts to verbal expression barely works, but I can text/write just fine. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…jx7w Maybe just a human thing. There's also the all food I have at home needs to be cooked and I don't want to cook so guess I'll just starve or get takeout lol npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Now that my store is almost 4 years old, I'm getting harassed by brokers wanting me to sell my business to their clients. Never! The store is me and would fail instantly without me and the level of care and empathy I put into my store. It's also the only thing I know how to do and sell. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® In another instance of it seems like something is looking out for me... Last month I had to sacrifice a lot of my income paycheck to cover all the inventory I had to buy with cash or I'd have no income and every month would be like May. A few days before the 1st of July, I get an email from a county corrections and parole office saying they have a restitution check for me. I completely forgot about it. Back in 2018 my boss at my job was going into my purse, writing down all my credit and debit cards one after the other and charging thousands of dollars. I went 3 months without any access to my money because she kept stealing it from me. After I figured out it was her I turned her into the police and she was arrested at work. Part of her plea deal was she has to pay me back everything she stole x2 for pain and suffering. Then a week ago I get a letter from the corrections and parole office asking me to call them. Turns out they've been sending 2 years of payments to my old address, so now they sent me a big check that gives me a cushion in the bank while I continue to replenish inventory. They had 2 years to email me, but they waited until I needed it the most. Money randomly shows up to keep my livelihood and business in tact. Timing always seems to be perfect the last couple of years. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…0qap I have a double opt-in email so if they forget to uncheck the subscribe box at checkout they get an email with an opt-in link to subscribe. They won't be subscribed unless they choose to click the link in the email. Does that help to not annoy people? npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I asked this question on other sites, but I'll ask it here too: What things do online stores do that annoy you the most? #onlineshopping Consider this market research. 🙂 npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® The battery on my new Lenovo M11 tablet was draining fast and it didn't make any sense because the tablet and battery is brand new. It's supposed to last all day. Turns out it was the Facebook app running in the background nonstop spying on everything I'm doing on the tablet and using all the battery power. Deleted the app. Problem is fixed. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I did good with my business social media for 2 days in a row and one of my posts blew up on one network and got 72.5k impressions and 6.3k likes. I'm too tired to think of what to say now. I don't know how these influencers keep up with it. I've noticed all the big autism X accounts never came back and went to bluesky, but now they either don't post on bluesky, just repost politics with no posts, or they post about politics. Seems like a lot of the autism influencers gave up on all that. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® My store is having a very good week. Yesterday was like Christmas time! With amount of orders and daily profit, yesterday was the 2nd best day I've had all year. I've actually had to go to the post office every day this week to drop off orders. Last time I went to the post office every single day (Monday to Saturday) was December. I'm going later in the day now so I can get more orders dropped off same day. Makes happy customers. 😁 npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…85tn I used to live in a small town next to the river, and that is where they shot off fireworks. I was inside the house and it sounded like shrapnel was raining down on the roof. I was inside screaming and having a meltdown. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® When I was 12, I would not let myself watch a PG-13 movie because I was not 13 yet. I took the PG-13 rating very literally. My parents said it was okay but I said no I have to be 13. After my 13th birthday, I said okay now I can watch this movie. Somehow the autism was missed. #ActuallyAutistic npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® :blob_cat_giggle: https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/803/788/888/130/558/original/bb1d775e85185b3c.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Me lol https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/779/336/232/888/278/original/f202b44f772c4d80.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…zuzz I don't have the room for the 3D printer. My office is drowning in storage containers with inventory. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Now that I'm not dropshipping anymore, my store's returning customer rate went up 61%. Which means I'm getting a lot more repeat customers now that everything is USA shipped. Just got to focus on bringing back all the bestsellers I lost. I got the plushies today. Ordered some black and gold tissue paper to wrap the plushies in and black and gold thank you stickers to hold the tissue paper in place. Also some bigger black boxes to ship them in. All my boxes are black. It will look very nice. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Just want to say I appreciate those who have stuck around and not given up on me. I know many things I said about a specific topic on my previous mastodon account made many never want to talk to me again. There's been some I talk to every day and suddenly they disappear. Since here on Mastodon I'm much more vulnerable about things, it helps me appreciate those who stick around, while it makes those who walk away sting a little more. Other social media (X and Instagram), I show different sides of myself. I'm more entrepreneurial on X because that's what the algorithm rewards. Instagram is more autism and neurodivergent focused. Here I'm a lot more honest and all sides of myself. So thanks for sticking around. ❤️ npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® My autobiography has officially been published for 24 hours. In that time I've sold 4 ebooks and 3 audiobooks. I went into this with no expectations with no idea of whether people would want to read/listen to my life story or not, but wow! 7 book sales in 24 hours. 3 of those in the last 2 hours. I put myself out there all the time with no idea ever of what people think of me. I'm so happy people want to read/listen to me tell my life story 🥹 It means a lot to me! npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I wrote my (short) autobiography. There's a lot of things in this book even people who have known me for decades don't know about me. There's an ebook & audiobook. Both aren't perfect, but I did it all myself. This morning I didn't know how to master audio recordings, but I was determined to finish the audiobook today. After re-recording 2 chapters at 4am, I spent all day learning how to use an audio engineering program, and mastered the audiobook all in one day. After a 14 hour work day, the ebook & audiobook are finally live in The Autistic Innovator. I got super vulnerable in this book, and now people will know things about me that I've always hidden. Audiobook: https://shop.autisticinnovator.com/products/the-autistic-innovator-an-autobiography-audiobook Ebook: https://shop.autisticinnovator.com/products/the-autistic-innovator-an-autobiography https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/554/103/694/193/006/original/3c62db1e7a091990.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® This is the best news ever! Secretary of Treasury and the Vice Premier of China negotiated yesterday and today in Switzerland, and they came to an agreement that for 90 days the US will lower China import tariffs from 145% to only 30%. China lowered their US imports tariffs from over 100% to only 10%. Both countries admitted they never intended to completely cut each other off, so this is the first step. Yay!!!! npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…dyep I can't afford to pay anyone else to do it for me. It's either I do it or it doesn't get done. I'm on track to be homeless and credit tanked by next month if I don't do something and get these sales up. I don't even have a single dollar I can put towards food. I bought the cats food instead of buying myself food. I hope my business survives. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Looked at jobs and freelance sites. I have no job skills, don't have a bachelor's degree, and the only thing I know how to do (e-commerce) is a conflict of interest to employers. I have no other options than hustle my way through another month. So I just got to suck it up, get over my insecurities, liven the F up, and get on TikTok. I've made sales just from commenting on videos, plus sales from ads, and organic video. I'm majorly hurting myself not doing any video at all. Just need to get over myself and do it. Found Sephora's list of foundations with golden skin tones. There's actually a foundation that looks like me! It's more motivating if I can actually look like myself in videos. I can take all my videos with my Pixel 8 true tone too. :BlobCatSmiley: npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I'm the type of autistic who is bad at masking. I also can't read facial expressions and body language. No matter how hard I try to mask my real autistic self is too obvious. I was exhausting myself trying to mask and bad at guessing what people were thinking. Always socially lost. All the autistics I've known in person don't struggle with this stuff. Any other autistics like this? #ActuallyAutistic @nprofile…67cd npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I stopped doing my ADHD cleaning 10 minutes a day to get and keep my apartment clean. Backfired on me twice. What I put off for weeks took me only 30 minutes to clean up. It was an oh sh*t I need to get this place clean now or I'll get in trouble with apartment management. Suddenly I was motivated to clean. #ADHD #AuDHD npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Accurate 😄 #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #neurodivergent https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/466/787/265/434/058/original/ac01bc1c1c8a158e.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® It's much easier for me to get to know an autistic person. "What are your interests?" is my lead. Then finding interests in common. Followed by personal things. Allistics I'm just lost. I get in trouble for asking the 'wrong' questions, and asking them autistic questions got me bullied and treated like I was severely defective. I don't know what they want me to ask. It's like we speak completely different languages. #ActuallyAutistic npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I think what they are calling an increase in severe autism cases where young adults have to wear diapers, go on the floor, break their parents bones from how violent they get, extremely aggressive, etc, I really don't think that's autism. I think something else is probably happening, and these specialists all hate us so they are labeling it autism when it's actually something else. I think since some of what they are calling severe autism cases is non-speaking, they're just misdiagnosing those super severe cases. I saw a parent say their "autistic" kid threw them across the room and broke their ribs. Other parents said they have broken arms from how violent their "autistic" kids are. These kids they are calling "severely autistic" are incredibly violent. Autism doesn't make someone violent. It's got to be something else. And in the process they will try to eradicate us over a misdiagnosis. What do you think? @nprofile…67cd #ActuallyAutistic npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Autism has been around since forever. My great grandfather spent all his time by himself with his special interests inventing things. Sounds autistic to me, just like his diagnosed son. #ActuallyAutistic https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/389/383/111/545/999/original/a793ae292234c55a.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® All this autism controversy stuff has made my mind go down a rabbit hole of my early 20’s, and a lot of stuff is making sense. My dad never told me that he thought I’d never be able to take care of myself because of how autistic and ADHD I am. So many things my dad did to try to give me a good quality of life. I didn’t know it was because I can’t take care of myself. But I resented anyone and everyone who tried to take care of me. I wanted to take care of myself by myself. Life was over a decade of hellish disaster after I didn’t accept all the help. Makes me wonder what my life would have been like had I not been so stubborn. One of those it would have been really good to know way back then that I’m autistic. My life would have been very different, and a lot better, had I known. The disaster ride didn't end until I learned I'm autistic at 35. But oh well, I’m in a good place now and life will continue to get better. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® First handmade product arrived today. Made by The Fox's Burrow. They're mini weighted frog plushies. https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/361/516/560/861/170/original/9883b4c05b833c62.jpg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® While RFK Jr was talking about profoundly autistic people who can't take care of themselves and will never do basic things, while I was never as severe, I wasn't that far above that. Schools told me I was dumb, failed 10th grade, dropped out in 11th grade, GPA of 2.5 in college, jobs all fired me for being slow and socially inept. I'll never be able to have a good paying career job and exist in the normal world. I'm too autistic and not smart enough. I was pushed to find a husband and get married because I had no hope of survival. I'm literally too autistic to have friends and romantic relationships. All the issues and fights I've ever had in friendships and relationships were caused by my autistic traits. I couldn't handle all the touching from cuddling and affection in dating without getting so easily sensory overwhelmed I'd have a crying rocking hysterical meltdown. Then they'd get mad at me. So I've just said fuck people. RFK says autistic people "will never go on dates" so guess that's accurate for me. I think about it often how much easier my life would be if I were a smart high functioning autistic. But I'm not. So hearing RFK Jr call people like me a disease that needs to be cured and that I'm a burden who destroyed my family. I was the kid whose parents resented me because of my autism and how "difficult" I was. So hearing that speech hurt. Really hurt. I cried after watching that speech. I'm not a disease. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I wouldn't say that I'm feeling confident, but I'm feeling more hopeful now. China shipped was a third of my income. I'm facing a will I even make enough to pay my rent situation, and can my business survive after these tariffs. But I'm finding ways. Bulk ordered my bestselling China made fidgets and my top selling spinner ring all from US suppliers. Already sold a fidget that just got here a few hours ago. That's a sale I wouldn't have gotten if I didn't have it here. There's also handmade items arriving this week. There's no way to predict how this month will go. But maybe I'll pull off a miracle and it will all be okay. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Any small makers who makes spinner rings and/or other types of fidget jewelry? 3D printed spinner rings work too. I can't find a single USA made supplier of spinner rings. All the "brands" labeled Made in USA are China made rings. All the Etsy sellers are in India dropshipping China rings to US customers. I can't find a single fidget jewelry maker in the USA. My store's fidget jewelry collection is very small right now, so this is an immediate need. Please boost to help me and fidget jewelry makers find each other. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® Are there any small makers of fidget toys and fidget jewelry in the USA who would like to sell their fidgets in my online store for autistic & neurodivergent people? I'm looking to buy fidgets in bulk from creators, makers, etc. You will get full credit on the listing and paid upfront. Please share to help me and fidget toy makers find each other. 🙂 #ActuallyAutistic #neurodivergent #ADHD #AuDHD npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…85tn I'm on there. We follow each other, I just don't use my account. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® I get up for 2 seconds and they take my spot on the couch. https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/132/855/964/185/087/original/c084a559345b1ea9.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…85tn when I price author’s ebooks at $9.95 they don’t sell, but people buy a lot of them at $8.95. Your paperback is listed at $19.95 and there have been sales of that more than the ebook. In Autistic Bookshop your ebook sold often at $7.95 but not $8.95, but I guess since The Autistic Innovator is a different crowd, people don’t buy the ebook at $7.95, so will try $8.95 like everyone else’s books. I’m glad you said this because I owe you money. I sent the money to PayPal and then forgot. I’ll pay you when I get home from the post office. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…85tn it’s just a lot of experimenting with price and changing it until people start buying it. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…85tn It's a big guessing game to figure out what people think something is worth and what they are willing to pay. Like with the spinner ring I designed, I had it listed for $24.95 and 1.5 months later hadn't sold a single one. Then priced it at $19.95 and still no one bought it. Now it's at $22.95 and I've sold a lot of them at that price. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® My store is doing better this month than last month, thankfully! I had one day that was like christmas time with how many orders and the total sales for the day. Sales came from Google, email list, gift cards, some direct that I don't know where they came from. All in one day! 67% of what I've made this month comes from inventory, and that's the stuff I raised prices on. Probably why I'm doing better this month. 🙂 One inventory luxury fidget wasn't selling since November, but raised the price $5 and I've sold a bunch. Funny how that works. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® It’s cold so I wrapped Nikita in a blanket. :comfy_blob_cat: #CatsOfMastodon https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/036/171/119/726/570/original/e90bee754e8ef3c6.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® It took converting this video from 1080p to 480p, and then compressing the file 3 times to get this video to upload into Mastodon. It’s my autistic ADHD story. #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #neurodivergent #AuDHD https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/114/033/161/366/512/720/original/1ae88676302004d7.mp4 npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® @nprofile…85tn Sounds like money laundering to me. Fences do not cost $70,000. npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® They fell asleep like this on my lap. :blob_cat_aww: #CatsOfMastodon https://autistics.life/system/media_attachments/files/113/987/230/685/312/180/original/ae8122276c64d860.jpeg npub1cr9362wfxmyz0mdh4gruhrls49et6l6ay5ejvh5p4s7h99mmsu6skz78cj The Autistic Innovator® There’s this very successful entrepreneur who said when you are an entrepreneur and business owner you’re going to be alone a lot. He said your life is so different from the norm that the people around you can’t relate to your life, and you’ll be alone a lot because of it. Maybe that’s part of why I prefer being by myself with cats 24/7. My life is so far from most people’s lives. My last 2 romantic relationships were constantly complaining about my dedication to my business and why did I work so much when I work for myself. They felt deprived of attention and felt I put my business first before them. It made me just want to be left alone and not deal with people at all. At least now I can do whatever I want without someone complaining about it.