Beany Brain #54: Transitions and Humor

Author

Abigail Munday
August 12, 2025

Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!

Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.

Table of Contents

Photo by Abigail Munday (farmer grandma refused to be in the photo)

Transitions

56 hours.

That’s how long it took us to get from the UK front door to our Japan front door.

It’s a long story and involves stuck wing flaps, circling over the English Channel to expel fuel (weird to watch, honestly), doing a U-turn and landing back in Heathrow a couple hours after we departed, tarmacs, buses, taxis, a hotel, more taxis and buses, plane computer problems, more delays, long-haul flight, another delay on our next flight.

I’m so thankful that a kind friend picked us up at the final airport in her van and brought us bentos and blueberries and smoothies. And another friend had left us a pot of flowers on the front porch for when we arrived at about 9:30 PM on that Saturday night.

We had planned to get back on the Friday morning.

But you know, the best laid plans of global travelers…

We’ve been back a bit over a week but my brain and body still have not completely caught up.

As an autistic person, I struggle with transitions as it is.

Change is hard.

Imagine you are watching a highly anticipated movie at the cinema:

You are completely captivated by the storyline, your senses are dialled down due to sitting in a dark, quiet room, and your brain is 100% focused on the characters and the action occurring on the screen, until, right before the crucial final scenes…

The movie is suddenly stopped, the bright lights return, and you are told that your current movie is being swapped for a different one. You are left feeling disoriented, confused and desperately wanting to know how the first movie was going to end – who was going to die? Were the main characters going to end up together? Does the bad guy go to jail? Why on earth is this happening?? The opening credits for the new movie begin, but you are not ready for this because your brain is still so focused on missing the ending of the first movie.

As Autistics, we are faced with multiple transitions like this movie scenario every day. Life moves at such a fast pace, and we are expected to transition from one task to the next without any difficulty whatsoever.

That analogy is a helpful one.

Here’s another example of plans gone awry:

Normally, we go to McDonald’s on Saturday mornings for breakfast as a family.

But this past Saturday there were lines of cars and people to get in the restaurant.

At 7:00 AM.

Same thing at another McDonald’s.

We gave up and had bacon and eggs at home.

Turns out the Japanese McDonald’s are giving out different special Pokemon cards with Happy Meals each Saturday in the month of August.

No Micky Doo’s for us this month then.

It threw me for a good few hours on Saturday.

Unexpected.

Expectations.

Change.

Plans.

Disappointment.

How do I deal with not having the usual Saturday breakfast?

How do I deal with changes in time, culture, home, food, language?

Very carefully.

Very slowly.

Very gracefully.

And it certainly helps to know why I have extra struggles in these situations.

Photo by Abigail Munday (yes, it is what you think it is)

Humor Me

We knew a Japanese pastor who used to read a translated Christian Korean picture book to the children in his church.

The main premise: Jesus was a piece of poop who ended up as compost and new life came up as a result of his sacrifice. I think somewhere in the book he was flushed down the loo, too.

There’s a lot of poop talk in Japan.

And the sign above is from the women’s bathroom (I have it on good authority that the same one is in the men’s room, too) at a local family-run soy sauce and miso factory.

Yes, it’s different kinds of excrement, and it cracks me up every time I see it.

I don’t think it’s meant to be humorous though.

Their products are probably supposed to help you have the proper poop.

In case you’re wondering…

Yes, neurodivergent people can have a sense of humor.

No, it might not be how neurotypical people expect it to be.

Sarcasm and dry humor can be tricky for ND (neurodivergent) people to pick up on because the situation in the joke might be the opposite of what’s expected, or the facial expression of the joke teller might be deadpan.

But goodness me, I know some funny autistic people, especially with ye old worde play.

I love me some words.

But honestly, you could just as easily show me some cartoon poop.

Yorks and Lancasters: pretty violent

Yeehawesome!

Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?

  1. The StoryGraph: a website where you can plug in a book title and get reviewers’ “moods,” which can tell you what they think is the focus of that book. I try to avoid books that are too dark or violent, and this helps a lot.

  2. Instagram sisters raise neurodiversity awareness: Two neurodivergent sisters in the UK run a program to deliver neurodiversity training for companies.

  3. Episcopal priest Joseph Yoo talks about his autistic son and answers the question people ask him about whether he’s ever prayed for his son to be healed. I think his answer is thought provoking: “You don’t fix masterpieces.” Watch the video and let me know what you think.

Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness

Wonderful Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.

Photo and smile editing by Abigail Munday

Today’s Beany-full Summary:

  • Change and transitions are hard for autistic people.

  • ND people have a sense of humor, but it is probably different than NT (neurotypical) humor.

  • Go forth in Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?

Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.

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