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.

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.

Being passionate about presentation

Almost every person with autism has one or two interests that mean an awful lot to them, sometimes being things which they talk about at any opportunity.

As they are so enthusiastic about what they like, they feel the need to talk about their loves and even if the person that is on the receiving end of the conversation isn’t interested, there is still a desire to chat and chat and chat.

Usually, such an interest is popular with others such as trainspotting or planespotting but others are quite specialist, and I want to educate you all on something that I love which is a hidden part of the life of any television viewer.

Turning depression into success

If you have ever suffered with depression or anxiety, you will know how much of an impact it can make on every aspect of your daily life.

It can be tough to wake up in the morning, find the desire to eat and drink or think that there is light at the end of a very dark tunnel. The feelings never seem to go away and even though you try your hardest to be happy, it feels impossible to smile.

What is important to know though is that these fraught emotions are only in the mind, and that there can be hope for the future. Success and a fantastic future can come from reaching a low ebb and I have the experience to say this.

Introducing Autistic Achievers

I have been working on a business idea for the last four months which I believe can change the way that autistic adults are treated in Great Britain, and the time now seems right to share it with you all as readers of My Autistic Life.

Finding employment is something which I and other people with autism have found tough, and it is a shame that it has to be that way.

There is a sense of independence and accomplishment that can be instilled in a person by having a job, and sadly that is something which people with autism are being denied as a 2012 report from the National Autistic Society stated.

Latching on

Are you a latcher, or do you suspect that a close member of your family or a friend may be one?

It’s nothing to be worried about and it’s not something that you can catch by being in contact with somebody who latches.

However, you do need to be careful of the signs and make sure that when you begin to feel that a friend is moving too close to you and relying on you too much, you evaluate the situation and keep the latcher at a safe distance.

The Graduate

On the morning of Thursday 22nd November 2012, I achieved something which has been the biggest goal that I have tried to achieve in my lifetime to date.

I’ve graduated from a BA (Hons) degree course in Sports Journalism at Southampton Solent University and by doing so, escaped from a four-year hold of mental distress and ill feeling that made me look at my life in a completely different way to how I seen things before I began studying.

Sure, the classification of the qualification which I ended my time at university with is something that I still feel odd about, but I can now appreciate that I have gone a long way along my own personal journey by living independently, making friends and studying.

Is it professional to be unprofessional?

For a couple of months now, there have been a few occasions where I have began to question my faith in professionalism and generally, a lack of common decency towards others.

I’m not entirely sure if I’m just reading people in the wrong way, whether they are looking for contributors to feature in a documentary that is being made by themselves as part of a television production company, whether they are a receptionist at a hotel or whether they are part of a customer services team that is essentially looking to find employment for unemployed members of society, but it is something that is starting to affect my belief in professional behaviour.

I am not looking to name any names or make it too obvious about who I am targeting by writing this post, but I want to share my thoughts about how it is making me feel when I’m being treated like a second-class citizen.