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.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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!
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
COMUNICATION and TELLING TIME
Hi guys it's been awhile, I've been having a hard time thinking about what else I can talk about and then inspiration hit me!
COMMUNICATION
Whenever I call my family this is what they always say EVERY TIME
(family member) "Hey is something wrong?"
(me) "No why do you think something is wrong?"
(family member) "Well you never call so I just assumed."
different relative later....
(family member) "Hey is something wrong?"
(me) "Why does everyone keep asking that? I'm not stuck in a well or anything I'm just calling to talk."
That should not be the reaction you get when you call family or friends, I'm really bad at communicating with people. I'm not forgetting about them I just don't think of doing it and I should because keeping in touch with those close to you is important. I also ask myself, "Why do I have to call them? Why don't they call me?" Then I remind myself it's important to take the first step when you really want talk to someone. When I went to Peers group at UCLA we talked about communication and one of the exercises was exchanging phone numbers with someone in the group and calling them.
I think that was a very good exercise, one I'm still working on. I'm thinking of making appointments in my cellphone calender that is going to remind me to call my family and friends at a certain time on a certain day that way I stop getting the reaction I showed you above.
Sometimes it's hard to communicate with someone in person because you should make eye contact which can be uncomfortable, I think doing scheduled phonecall chats can boost someones confidence to the point they're going to want to hang with them in person. That's just my opinion.
TELLING TIME
I also mentioned Telling Time in the title because that is also one of the things I'm still having trouble with. I felt really embarassed learning how to tell time in elementary school because I was really slow at understanding which hand meant what and other clock lingo. Learning how to tell time was like teaching me another language. I still don't understand it, reading a traditional clock takes me about about 2 or 3 minutes where as an average joe can just glance at a clock and say what time it is. There's also that whole "It's half past ten" sort of thing, I get really REALLY annoyed when someone says that because I'll just give them a blank stare until they just say what time it is normally. I don't understand what they're saying and personally why can't they just say it's 9:50 instead of getting fancy about it?
My mom is still trying to teach me clock lingo. I'm very stubborn about learning it because it makes me mad that I can't understand it as easily as other people.
I feel other kids with autism feel this way about other subjects whether it's telling time, reading, math, or whatever. Just keep working with them and let them know their doing okay. It's not a bad thing that you don't learn things as fast as other people, it's about the journey not the destination. In time I'll learn how to tell time properly and I'll feel really good about it knowing even though I struggled I persevered.
COMMUNICATION
Whenever I call my family this is what they always say EVERY TIME
(family member) "Hey is something wrong?"
(me) "No why do you think something is wrong?"
(family member) "Well you never call so I just assumed."
different relative later....
(family member) "Hey is something wrong?"
(me) "Why does everyone keep asking that? I'm not stuck in a well or anything I'm just calling to talk."
That should not be the reaction you get when you call family or friends, I'm really bad at communicating with people. I'm not forgetting about them I just don't think of doing it and I should because keeping in touch with those close to you is important. I also ask myself, "Why do I have to call them? Why don't they call me?" Then I remind myself it's important to take the first step when you really want talk to someone. When I went to Peers group at UCLA we talked about communication and one of the exercises was exchanging phone numbers with someone in the group and calling them.
I think that was a very good exercise, one I'm still working on. I'm thinking of making appointments in my cellphone calender that is going to remind me to call my family and friends at a certain time on a certain day that way I stop getting the reaction I showed you above.
Sometimes it's hard to communicate with someone in person because you should make eye contact which can be uncomfortable, I think doing scheduled phonecall chats can boost someones confidence to the point they're going to want to hang with them in person. That's just my opinion.
TELLING TIME
I also mentioned Telling Time in the title because that is also one of the things I'm still having trouble with. I felt really embarassed learning how to tell time in elementary school because I was really slow at understanding which hand meant what and other clock lingo. Learning how to tell time was like teaching me another language. I still don't understand it, reading a traditional clock takes me about about 2 or 3 minutes where as an average joe can just glance at a clock and say what time it is. There's also that whole "It's half past ten" sort of thing, I get really REALLY annoyed when someone says that because I'll just give them a blank stare until they just say what time it is normally. I don't understand what they're saying and personally why can't they just say it's 9:50 instead of getting fancy about it?
My mom is still trying to teach me clock lingo. I'm very stubborn about learning it because it makes me mad that I can't understand it as easily as other people.
I feel other kids with autism feel this way about other subjects whether it's telling time, reading, math, or whatever. Just keep working with them and let them know their doing okay. It's not a bad thing that you don't learn things as fast as other people, it's about the journey not the destination. In time I'll learn how to tell time properly and I'll feel really good about it knowing even though I struggled I persevered.
Monday, May 13, 2013
4 months in france! wow!
Bonjour!
So I've been in France for almost 4 months now and It's been a blast. Being here has taught me many things and I'll never regret coming.
Out of all of my classes French language class has been the hardest....again. Sadly they don't have tutors here but I have been offered help from the staff and my friends. If you ever need help never be afraid to ask. Languages like math and science are very difficult for me because they are very technical. It's been a struggle but not as stressful as when I was taking French in the Fall. French is a hard language too (sometimes I wonder if I should have taken spanish *shrugs shoulders*). I just remind myslef that "this too shall pass" and to just keep on truding; don't give up. That moto's worked pretty well so far.
I'm more sad about going home because I have to take math in the summer but I'm ready. I've been gone for awhile and I miss cali, my fam, in n out, sushi, movies, my tele shows etc. Plus my scanner! It's really hard to try and post your artwork on line and still have it look good without a scanner. Also I wouldn't mind having acess to the rest of my art supplies.
Oh! When I go back to school next year I have an appartment! I have a student who is in my major/friend/she is also autistic. She has aspergers syndrome; mild enough to function at college but she gets stressed easily so I'm hoping that by rooming with her I'll be able to help her relax more and open up a bit. She's a very talented wonderful girl and I am very excited to have her as a roommate. AUTISM GIRL POWER UNITE!
Again if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Avoir!
So I've been in France for almost 4 months now and It's been a blast. Being here has taught me many things and I'll never regret coming.
Out of all of my classes French language class has been the hardest....again. Sadly they don't have tutors here but I have been offered help from the staff and my friends. If you ever need help never be afraid to ask. Languages like math and science are very difficult for me because they are very technical. It's been a struggle but not as stressful as when I was taking French in the Fall. French is a hard language too (sometimes I wonder if I should have taken spanish *shrugs shoulders*). I just remind myslef that "this too shall pass" and to just keep on truding; don't give up. That moto's worked pretty well so far.
I'm more sad about going home because I have to take math in the summer but I'm ready. I've been gone for awhile and I miss cali, my fam, in n out, sushi, movies, my tele shows etc. Plus my scanner! It's really hard to try and post your artwork on line and still have it look good without a scanner. Also I wouldn't mind having acess to the rest of my art supplies.
Oh! When I go back to school next year I have an appartment! I have a student who is in my major/friend/she is also autistic. She has aspergers syndrome; mild enough to function at college but she gets stressed easily so I'm hoping that by rooming with her I'll be able to help her relax more and open up a bit. She's a very talented wonderful girl and I am very excited to have her as a roommate. AUTISM GIRL POWER UNITE!
Again if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Avoir!
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Ask Me Questions
Bonjour! I am in France and I have been here since the beginning of February! All is well!
So I got to thinking, maybe YOU guys have questions you'd like to ask me. Send in any questions about autism that I may have not covered on this blog or if you want me to write a post about a certain aspect of autism that I have not written about and I'll answer them as best as I can. Or if you just want to talk and get the opinion of someone else who is autistic that if fine too.
Avoir Darlings! Chow!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Bon Voyage!
Hey everyone! So I'm here at Chapman University working on a documentary for interterm, as soon as that is done I will be off to France on Jan 30th. Now I know some parents worry that their children won't be able to travel long distances due to their autism. I'm going to try to put those worries at ease.
What my parents did with me was the casual sleepover. Then I went to a summer camp for two weeks. I had an okay experience, I'm not going to lie it was hard. Not because of the camp but because of the people. I then went to summer camp for 8 years in Wisconsin ( I went the first 4 years for 4 weeks then the next 3 years 6 weeks and the last year for 8 weeks. Wish I went for 8 weeks more!) after that everything was easier. It was all about transitioning me into being comfortable about not being home. I of course wrote letters and had days for phone calls. Last summer I was in Italy for a month and now I'm going to be in France for 5 months!! Very exciting. I can't deny I'm going to be nervous but I know that I will be able to call my parents when I want to.
(Also it helps with preparing them for college! I have dates set up for when I call my parents so they know how I'm doing)
What I suggest if your sending your kid off, make sure they have an open line of communication but not too open or else they'll want to say all the bad experiance too and I'm not going to lie that there will be some but that's life and you can't hide your child from it all. But they will make fond memories and great friends! And I bet their are camps out there for kids who are autistic. I went to an all girls camp, I think you all know how girls can be. I know there are camps that have therapeutic horses which I HIGHLY suggest, I love horses and have heard wonderful things about an autistic child working with horses. Something about an autistic child and horses just click!
If you have any questions feel free to ask, sorry if this post was not as informative!
What my parents did with me was the casual sleepover. Then I went to a summer camp for two weeks. I had an okay experience, I'm not going to lie it was hard. Not because of the camp but because of the people. I then went to summer camp for 8 years in Wisconsin ( I went the first 4 years for 4 weeks then the next 3 years 6 weeks and the last year for 8 weeks. Wish I went for 8 weeks more!) after that everything was easier. It was all about transitioning me into being comfortable about not being home. I of course wrote letters and had days for phone calls. Last summer I was in Italy for a month and now I'm going to be in France for 5 months!! Very exciting. I can't deny I'm going to be nervous but I know that I will be able to call my parents when I want to.
(Also it helps with preparing them for college! I have dates set up for when I call my parents so they know how I'm doing)
What I suggest if your sending your kid off, make sure they have an open line of communication but not too open or else they'll want to say all the bad experiance too and I'm not going to lie that there will be some but that's life and you can't hide your child from it all. But they will make fond memories and great friends! And I bet their are camps out there for kids who are autistic. I went to an all girls camp, I think you all know how girls can be. I know there are camps that have therapeutic horses which I HIGHLY suggest, I love horses and have heard wonderful things about an autistic child working with horses. Something about an autistic child and horses just click!
If you have any questions feel free to ask, sorry if this post was not as informative!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Sarcasm, jokes, and flirting
Hello Everyone! Today I thought I'd talk about the understanding of sarcasm, jokes, and facial recognition/body language.
A lot of the time it's hard for a person with autisim to recognize social cues if they're subtle. I.E. jokes, sarcasm, and for the girls out there flirting. Things along the line of subtle body language or change in voice pitch.
SARCASM AND JOKES
I was really bad with these when I was younger, still am but to a lesser extent. When people were being sarcastic it took me awhile to figure out that there's not really a change in voice pitch. It made me seem like I took everything literally and that I was gullible. I felt like such a fool but I've learned to cope, it just takes lot's of practice and listening to understand when people are being serious or not. Some people I know are REALLY good at being sarcastic and when I find out they weren't serious I feel hurt that they were trolling me throughout the whole conversation. I've learned to not take it seriously, it's hard at first but through time you learn. One of the things I wish I was good at was jokes, not the ones where it's obvious but the ones with subtle gags, my major in college is digital arts and my professor has this saying for stories "That's the gag!" It took me at least half of the semester to figure out what a "GAG" was. I took the meaning of a gag as "knock knock whose there" when in reality it's something like when a person is about to sit down and someone pulls the chair out and they fall, subtle things like that. My first few assignments revolving around gags didn't turn out so well because I didn't understand the concept of a gag, I felt like an idiot. NOW I get it which is good, we had to show our work to the class and most of the time no one got mine because of this (so embarassing) but you live and learn.
I personally LOVE being autistic but this is one of the few times it's annoying
If your a parent PLEASE exlpain how sarcasm works if they don't understand because that's also what prompted people to make fun of me because I took everything literally (not obvious things but believable things)
When it comes to jokes that might just be a me thing, I tend to get to caught up in detail when telling a story, which is what a joke is, a funny short story. I've just stopped telling jokes and don't do meme's, I let the funny come naturally instead of forcing it.
FLIRTING
Flirting with me is like flirting with a wall, it wont react. This relates to sarcasm because both involve sublte body and facial language. I still haven't gotten over this, I can tell if a guy is flirting if they're being obvious which I don't want, makes a guy come off as over confidant or annoying. So I'm stuck in-between a rock and a hard place. My friends say I'm oblivious, which I can't totally deny but that's not completely my fault I JUST CAN'T TELL. I ask my girl friends how they know if a guy is flirting, some have given me useful advice, I also ask my guy friends mainly my siblings how if they like a girl they let her know. Lot's of my learnig on the art of flirting comes though Q and A.
So all of you mothers or fathers with autistic daughters out there, explain how flirting works (when they are in 7th or 8th grade) if they don't understand.
SIDE NOTE
If anybody want's a topic that they feel needs explaining let me know or request a topic you feel your child is having issues with I'll answer your questions as best as possible. Remember this is MY take on being autistic not a professional opinion this is just personal experiences coming from someone who is autistic. I know that it's hard for someone who is autistic to express how they feel so my goal is to try and give you a perspective on how they might be feeling and how to go about it.
Have a happy thanksgiving! gobble gobble!
A lot of the time it's hard for a person with autisim to recognize social cues if they're subtle. I.E. jokes, sarcasm, and for the girls out there flirting. Things along the line of subtle body language or change in voice pitch.
SARCASM AND JOKES
I was really bad with these when I was younger, still am but to a lesser extent. When people were being sarcastic it took me awhile to figure out that there's not really a change in voice pitch. It made me seem like I took everything literally and that I was gullible. I felt like such a fool but I've learned to cope, it just takes lot's of practice and listening to understand when people are being serious or not. Some people I know are REALLY good at being sarcastic and when I find out they weren't serious I feel hurt that they were trolling me throughout the whole conversation. I've learned to not take it seriously, it's hard at first but through time you learn. One of the things I wish I was good at was jokes, not the ones where it's obvious but the ones with subtle gags, my major in college is digital arts and my professor has this saying for stories "That's the gag!" It took me at least half of the semester to figure out what a "GAG" was. I took the meaning of a gag as "knock knock whose there" when in reality it's something like when a person is about to sit down and someone pulls the chair out and they fall, subtle things like that. My first few assignments revolving around gags didn't turn out so well because I didn't understand the concept of a gag, I felt like an idiot. NOW I get it which is good, we had to show our work to the class and most of the time no one got mine because of this (so embarassing) but you live and learn.
I personally LOVE being autistic but this is one of the few times it's annoying
If your a parent PLEASE exlpain how sarcasm works if they don't understand because that's also what prompted people to make fun of me because I took everything literally (not obvious things but believable things)
When it comes to jokes that might just be a me thing, I tend to get to caught up in detail when telling a story, which is what a joke is, a funny short story. I've just stopped telling jokes and don't do meme's, I let the funny come naturally instead of forcing it.
FLIRTING
Flirting with me is like flirting with a wall, it wont react. This relates to sarcasm because both involve sublte body and facial language. I still haven't gotten over this, I can tell if a guy is flirting if they're being obvious which I don't want, makes a guy come off as over confidant or annoying. So I'm stuck in-between a rock and a hard place. My friends say I'm oblivious, which I can't totally deny but that's not completely my fault I JUST CAN'T TELL. I ask my girl friends how they know if a guy is flirting, some have given me useful advice, I also ask my guy friends mainly my siblings how if they like a girl they let her know. Lot's of my learnig on the art of flirting comes though Q and A.
So all of you mothers or fathers with autistic daughters out there, explain how flirting works (when they are in 7th or 8th grade) if they don't understand.
SIDE NOTE
If anybody want's a topic that they feel needs explaining let me know or request a topic you feel your child is having issues with I'll answer your questions as best as possible. Remember this is MY take on being autistic not a professional opinion this is just personal experiences coming from someone who is autistic. I know that it's hard for someone who is autistic to express how they feel so my goal is to try and give you a perspective on how they might be feeling and how to go about it.
Have a happy thanksgiving! gobble gobble!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Hi I'm still here
Hey sorry I've been gone, too be honest I've been weirdly spacey latley and I'm not sure why. It feels like the inside of my head is floating if that makes sense. Also I have college work I have to get done so when I have less work I will post more stuff.
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