It was only days after my official autism diagnosis that I felt compelled to download and install an app I had sworn never to.
For many months, I had been observing how many content creators were resharing their videos that seemed to be created on TikTok. I wanted to see what the app could do to help me create short videos as well.
I was absolutely entranced by some of the creative ideas. The fact that they were 7-60 second bites of extreme dopamine-inducing videos was extremely satisfying to my neurodivergent brain.
My first videos and therefor advocacy work, were about my neurodivergence. I am autistic and I have ADHD.
There is also a LARGE DID community on TikTok, so I was careful to make certain I shared several of my diagnosed alphabet soup to connect with other people with my same “funny zip” of my brain.
When I had been on TikTok for less than a week, my autistic brain began matching the frames of several other neurodivergent adults, realizing my choice of a cat eye frame was quite a popular choice among our subpopulation.
So, I made a video about it.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe4w19Js/
I discovered with my video about anxiety, making short videos helps get your view rate up quickly. And they are fun.
Then I shared my lyrical essay in eight parts. It took some work, but the result turned out some decent views and I was able to share the information in short bites for those who can more easily intake their information that way.
Like me.
I soon found that the videos I created and shared on TikTok allowed me to share quick content on other platforms, such as YouTube, taking advantage of their new “shorts” feature and Instagrams reels.
I did learn that as with any other content, if it is created in another app, the home app will deprioritize it. In other words, it is better to create a video in a video editor, then share it on each platform without getting the watermark of one social media platform shared on the other.
https://youtube.com/shorts/BBiCucqsRAs?feature=share
Do I use my advice? Not often. I have found TikTok is just too easy to use, and most times I don’t have a lot of time for video creation. This may change in the future, who knows.
Getting on TikTok was one of the most expansive things I could do for my neurodivergent friend’s list. It is an app that is seriously built based on ADHD attention span, and it works well for those of us neurodivergents.
The algorithm gets us.
When May came around, I was ready! I recorded videos in both directions, reading my informational article about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and my diagnosis as well as my lyrical essay about what that diagnosis felt like.
Both of those pieces were refreshed and recycled for a broader audience, but for few days, I will be continuing to produce original content about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and its comorbidities.
Because? It’s Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness month and it is time to make people AWARE of this connective tissue disorder and all of its manifestations!
Come join me on TikTok! Let’s make more awareness videos and spread some love and lighte!
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe4w2df6/
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Maggie Slighte 