Empty Inside: An Autistic Zine, Vol. 1: Interoceptive Hyposensitivity

Empty Inside is a personal zine exploring what it's like to be autistic in small, everyday moments.

Volume 1 focuses on interoceptive hyposensitivity, which is a sensory processing difference where a person has reduced or muted awareness of their body's internal signals. Many autistic people experience this, and it can make everyday needs like hunger, thirst, or muscle tension difficult to notice until they become urgent and overwhelming.

If you've ever wondered why some needs sneak up on you out of nowhere, or if you're curious about sensory processing and everyday autistic experiences, this zine offers insight and strategies for managing those challenges with compassion.

This 20-page zine features 19 original photos and is the first in what I hope will become an ongoing series exploring autistic differences and their everyday realities -- the things you won't find in the DSM-5.

With Empty Inside: An Autistic Zine, Vol. 1: Interoceptive Hyposensitivity, you'll receive both a print-ready version you can print and fold into a physical zine and a digital edition designed for comfortable on-screen reading.

Future volumes will explore alexithymia, monotropism, dissociation, aphantasia, prosopagnosia, and more. (Though perhaps not in that exact order.)

Download and print the zine

Digital edition

1. Download the digital edition PDF.
2. Open the file in your PDF viewer, and enjoy!

Print-ready edition

1. Download the print-ready edition PDF.
2. Open the file in your PDF viewer.
3. Select the following settings and print:
   • two pages per sheet
   • print on both sides of the paper
   • flip on short edge
   • portrait orientation
4. Stack the pages, fold them down the middle, and enjoy!
5. Optional: Staple or stich along the fold to bind it together more securely.