Packing up and leaving home

It’s time to try something new and attempt to do more for others with autism than just write the odd blog piece.

It’s time to add a little bit of glamour and a load of new features to the cause of giving you a valuable service. It’s time to get all glitzy and pull out all of the stops to give you a show that you’ll never forget!

Is all of this big build-up a little bit too much? Shall I just actually tell you what is happening, and why the title of this My Autistic Life piece seems a tad final?

Douze points

If I was a performer from a country that thrived on breeding success and positivity in the Eurovision Song Contest, I think I’d receive the maximum set of marks from a combination of televoting and national jury votes for what I have achieved in the last few weeks.

As a viewer, you would get to see my excitement and to a small degree, my exhaustion, when the camera focuses on my face in the green room and everybody would be cheering and going crazy around me.

There may also be a chance that I could be the ultimate winner and then have a moment to shine on a global stage, but that would only be possible if I work incredibly hard and take the opportunities which come my way to move forward. It is imperative to use the help that is offered to you by the people who believe in you.

Strength of a superhuman support network

I am autistic, and I feel that I’m capable of finding my own way in life and making a success of anything that I turn my mind to.

However, I sometimes struggle to cope with the good and bad days that inevitably come along once in a while. It is tough to keep my feelings in check and deal with any changes in routine or mood which can destroy an otherwise perfect day.

These may be emotions that everybody experiences and they are perfectly natural, but losing sight of everything that is important and going into a state of melting down is something that a child or adult with autism can do all too easily when things get stressful. They need support from special people in coming back from the brink of falling apart.

A chat with Kathy Lette

Kathy Lette is a writer who is witty, not afraid to speak her mind and is straight to the point on any subject that she chooses to talk about in her bestselling books.

Because of this, I was drawn to The Boy Who Fell To Earth, a book which has been written by Lette that tackles the relationship between a mother and a son who lives his life with autism by his side.

By being so straight and honest in the way that the lives of Lucy and Merlin are depicted, I was intrigued to find out why the decision was made to write about such a relationship and by finding out Lette’s reasons, the story becomes much more beautiful.

Three years, 21,000 views and a life-changing experience

My Autistic Life turns three today, and blogging about the effect that autism has on my life is something that has given me a chance to share my feelings on coping with being different.

Having an opportunity to not only talk about my own experiences but by doing so, give a confidence boost to autistic people and their loved ones who have complimented me on what is said on the blog, has changed my feelings about living with a disability that I never wanted through choice.

By sharing and learning, while chatting with a wide range of people in the public eye about being involved with disability including Lawrie McMenemy MBE, Sarah Spencer and The National Autistic Society as the leading autism organisation in Great Britain, the journey has been incredible and it still shows no sign of stopping.

The changing shape of Autistic Achievers

I’m currently working on a project that will hopefully benefit autistic adults in Great Britain if they want the freedom of having a job and earning a living of their own, and I’m pretty happy with the way that things are progressing.

Autistic Achievers will be great for me as I will be able to find employment as a sole trader, and it will be great for people who have lived a similar life to the one that I have as I’ll be looking to find tailored job roles for 79% of all autistic adults who have struggled to find work through any other means as the National Autistic Society revealed in The Way We Are: Autism in 2012.

Having written about my plans for the specialist recruitment agency in February 2013 on My Autistic Life, I’ve decided to inform you all of the changing shape that is Autistic Achievers and as ideas are growing on a daily basis, let you all know how everything is moving along as two long months have passed by.

Take a risk for once!

On a day where professionals and members of the general public that have had their lives touched by autism are trying to make others aware of the disability, it seems right to offer an alternative view on how autistic people could take positive steps towards changing the world themselves.

As somebody who lives with Asperger’s Syndrome, I have coped with having a disability for 26 years that has impacted how I learn about the world and function in it.

I have also developed a will to succeed, and I think a good message to share on World Autism Awareness Day 2013 is that autistic people can work towards showing anybody and everybody that being disabled developmentally doesn’t necessarily have to be a brick wall that holds progress back.