Hello everyone happy autism awareness month! It's been awhile hasn't it?
The biggest changes that have happened since I last blogged? I graduated college with a BA in animation and a minor in art history and I moved back in with my dad temporarily till I find a job in the industry. When that happens I'll move to where that job is. In the meantime I'm working a job in an unrelated field to make money and save up.
So for a awhile I didn't know what to talk about. It's hard for me to see what's "autistic" about myself because I view myself as being normal which all people with autism are. We just have a different way of viewing the world, inputting information, how to act socially etc.
Someone asked me if I had "autistic tendencies" for some reason I find that a bit offensive because it comes off to me as a negative when some one puts it like that. Going back to think about it yes I do have "autistic tendencies"
Why don't we call them my "special skills" and well, weaknesses. It makes me sounds like a superhero XD
*some of this I have gone over in past posts, I'm just going into a bit more detail now
SPECIAL SKILLS
- never gave it much thought before because I thought it was normal but people with autism like to memorize facts or obsess over certain subjects. For awhile when I was younger I would memorize facts about different dog breeds. Now I memorize facts about superheroes, mainly Marvel but some DC too. I liked to memorize facts about greek mythology which actually really helped for my art history minor. As for subjects I obsess over anything involving superheros whether it's comics, movies, or tv, werewolves, phantom of the opera, and retellings of the persephone and hades myth. Usually the last three come around in cycles and not all at once. I would also like to know facts about my obsessions, the line tends to blur there.
(Did you know that skin walkers, wendigos, chupacabras, lupgarou, wervolf, all all different types of werewolves from different countires? According to a book I read awhile back)
-Super hearing, sight, touch! This can be a plus or a minus depending in the situation
- very good with animals (mainly dogs)! I've been told I'm good with animals and owners would be like " wow my dog never does that!"
- photographic memory! I tend to memorize things visually and not verbally. Or if I have a strong emotion attached to that memory.
- empathy, I find I'm pretty attuned to other peoples emotions around me.
WEAKNESSES
-The facts tend to stick. I find memorizing facts to be fun and relaxing. The only problem is if someone has a conversation with me about superheros that's all I'll want to talk about and I won't want to focus on other parts of the conversation. I know I come off as rude when I do this but it's not my intention, I just get really excited and it frustrates brother and I'll get kinda lightly scolded. I don't even realize I'm doing it till someone points it out.
Just remember that they're not trying to be selfish or self centered, It's just easier to talk about what you know and it's really exciting when you're able to talk to other people with similar interests. Not everyone will have similar interests though.
I learned in a autism group class teaching how to properly interact socially is that you need to remember to pass the "conversational ball" and not to be an interviewer. Since I took that class I feel I have gotten a lot better at conversing and listening to make sure I'm not just talking about what I want to talk about. It's something that I'll always have to remember and work on.
-I never had a problem with being overly sensitive to sights but I still am overly sensitive to certain fabrics. How they feel and how they fit my body. That's why a lot of the t-shirts I wear are cotton. Wear what makes you feel comfortable.
-Sounds weren't a huge issue but it makes for going out at night with friends difficult. Not as much as a problem anymore, depends how I'm feeling. Generally loud buzzer noises ( like at hockey games), sirens. and other overly loud things with sounds twice as loud compared to everyone else I think. I've seen other kids with autism have soundproof headphones, I should try carrying earplugs.
When I was little I was actually afraid of the sound of a flushing toilet.
- I never even knew wandering was a common trait with people that have autism but wow did I do that a lot! I still do but now I let people know and I'm aware when I leave a group of people I'm with. My mom had to keep an eye on me since I was three. This was probably why I was strapped in a stroller when I was little when we went to large places like disneyland. I wandered off in a Halloween store once and my mom called the police because she couldn't find me even though I was in the back of the store, I didn't tell her how would she know!
I never saw it as wandering off so much as exploring new things. There are plenty of stories about me wandering off I bet.
Not sure how to address this problem, Just don't put your kid on a leash! That's weird, people are not dogs XD
-eye contact used to be an issue when I was younger but mainly only happens now if I'm feeling flustered, panicked, scared etc. Basically when I'm feeling negative emotions. Think about it, looking into another personas eyes is a very personal connection. That's how I feel about it and it's hard to maintain eye contact when in a stressful situation. The eyes really are a window into the soul.
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There are probably more that I haven't thought of but I'll leave it at that for now, It was good to share my experiences of having autism with you guys again. It feels really good to share this with other people.
Talk to you soon!
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