You are not the same

OldLady With Autism

Addressing a common misconception about “functioning levels”

I visit many autism related group pages and read blogs, participate in forums, seek studies and information in many ways. I found this blog link here: https://neuroclastic.com/2020/11/06/myth-if-you-can-use-social-media-you-are-high-functioning-or-have-mild-autism/ addresses something I have been trying to say and explain very well.

One of the main diagnostic features of autism is our extreme profile of strengths and weaknesses in our neurological functioning. We have certain areas where we are able to perform the way an average (Neurotypical) person would, sometimes we function on an extremely higher or lower level than “average”, and the huge difference in the way we function in every day life is that we work in peaks and valleys continually because our ability to function varies so deeply from function to function, time to time, day to day, moment to moment. Our neurology is not reliable and consistent.

I have been working on…

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Tiniest Muscle with Real Pull

Living in God's Pocket with ABI

Greenhouse or Conservatory?

It was a wonderful surprise experiencing a major improvement in my short term memory after two hours of music therapy. I started the music therapy five years after my injury. Why not earlier? Mainly because I hadn’t known about the treatment.

My short term memory challenges impact several areas of my daily functioning. it effected my executive functioning, planning, keeping things organized and maintaining focus. There are probably other related elements but those are the elements that come to mind.

How It Happened

I was about 3 days into a minor building project, building a small greenhouse from repurposed materials, when I started my music therapy. In working on the building project I was struggling with the daily frustrations of having to remeasure the same things time and again. I take a measurement, walk ten steps and then question my recall of the measurement. Eventually I got…

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A Coronavirus Prayer

Prayers

Jesus Christ, you travelled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness.” At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.

Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care.

Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbours from helping one another.

Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.

Jesus Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.

Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with you in your eternal peace.

Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve…

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Watch “First video! Welcome :) A envelope insert for a junk journal” on YouTube

Setting Boundaries and the Autism Spectrum

Everyday Autistic

I am on the autism spectrum and have coexisting conditions, including PTSD and GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder). Because of my prior history and the nature of my neurology, sometimes I find it hard to set boundaries. Furthermore, it is a challenge to recognize when my boundaries have been crossed. Sometimes it takes me days, months, or even years to recognize I have been violated or mistreated.  That’s why it’s important to have a sounding board, like a support group or a trusted friend. And why it’s important to continually practice setting limits.

Being I am autistic, interpreting another’s behavior and intention often proves difficult. In addition, others might interpret my kindness, soft voice, and stature as a sign of weakness. Even as I am strong and confident, my demeanor and inability to notice when another has crossed a line puts me at risk. Examples include a supervisor criticizing and…

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Sensory issues are accessibility issues

YennPurkis

Last year I went  to a breakfast with some of the community leadership people in Canberra. It was at a nice cafe and two of the people at the table ordered an omelette with black truffles. The wait person cam over and shaved truffles generously on both the omelettes. I struggle with mushrooms and fungus and had never been in close proximity to truffles before. The smell emanating from the offending luxury breakfast was so overpowering I had to sit at another table some distance from everyone else. I imagine they may have thought I was quite strange but I really needed to be away from that smell. I actually had flashbacks of the smell for a few weeks. I would be doing my thing and suddenly I was back with the truffle smell! It was like it was inside of me.

That is a fairly clear example fos…

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Vaccines and autism: The link that doesn’t exist

Mental Health @ Home

Chances are, you’ve heard the idea that vaccines can cause autism.  This notion is championed by various organizations and individuals, one of the most prominent being actress Jenny McCarthy, whose son was diagnosed with autism at age 2.  She has an autism-related organization called Generation Rescue, and on its website is a guide to vaccine safety.  I was a bit surprised by how relatively toned down it was, but I got  more along the lines of what I expected with one of the places it directed people to go to for more information, the National Vaccine Information Center.  It includes a “cry for vaccine freedom wall” and a “vaccine victim memorial”.  They have a MedAlerts database of people’s reported adverse reactions to vaccines, and a search for autism spectrum disorder yields 391 case reports.  One thing that struck me as interesting was the seemingly random grab bag of multiple…

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The Recipient joy factor

I love sending and receiving happy mail so I just have to reblog this post xxx

Margarete Miller

A friend of mine, Miss Polly, brought a little illustration like this one about correspondence to my attention:

This is so spot-on! For me this is particularly true for the sending and receiving of mail art. Of course, you don’t always need to create mail art, you can just write a letter and send anything interesting that will lie flat in an envelope. What would interest you if you were opening a letter? Here are some ideas:

• An old or interesting photo or two
• A few stickers
• A neat bookmark
• An old or interesting postcard
• Some old cancelled postage stamps
• A little handmade notebook, blank or something stamped/written in it.
• A bunch of interesting papers to collage from (I get lots of these and love it 😉 )
• Tags or other small die cuts
• Origami
• Anything that’s rubber stamped

My good friend and correspondence artist extraordinaire Pamela, wrote a…

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Sensory Processing Disorder Research Study and Survey

21andsensory

Hi everyone – this is just a little blog post to let you know about a research study that I’m (and hopeful you will be) involved in.

I’ve been speaking via email to a super lovely student from the University of KOC (Turkey) who is studying Media and Visual Arts and has participated in design research for people with ASD. Now they’ve gone further with research and to specialise in design relating to Sensory Processing Disorder. A survey link was sent through to me this week and I am trying to share it with as many people as possible in order to help with the research!

Below is a link to the survey and it would be fab if you have a spare 5 mins and can fill it  out:

http://koc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_032S5XEHYXqKXad

Thanks! Any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below or @21andsensory on Instagram and Twitter.

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Autism and toxic friendships and relationships

YennPurkis

This week I said goodbye to a friend I had known for a long time. I sent her a message explaining why I needed to distance myself and was blocking her. It was a very hard thing to do but it had become apparent that our relationship was not based on mutual respect and that she had become a toxic presence in my life. I did not do this lightly but it got to a point of no return. I won’t go into detail because this post isn’t really about my friendship. It is about understanding, identifying and managing toxic friendships and relationships for autistic people generally.

Autistic people can have significant challenges around managing toxic friendships. A friendship may start out toxic or become that way over time. For people who may be isolated and lonely, the offer of friendship can be a welcome thing and it may be…

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