Telling people you have autism
“Will your life be better if you tell people you have autism?” This post is aimed at high functioning autistic and Aspergian adults, that are doing their best to live independently. Should you tell people you have Asperger’s syndrome or high functioning autism? I would say yes. Later in this article I will give my reasons why telling people has worked for me. But first a little background. For those of us on Read More
40 years to get an autism diagnosis
In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of older adults being diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. If, like me you were diagnosed with autism in your late 4o’s, we may share a similar story. It goes something like this: As a child in the 1960’s, or 1970’s, you suffered from anxiety and depression. You may have “stuck out” because you appeared different to the other children. You found Read More
Autism: Successful communication,10 things to make it easier
“Getting to understand how a particular autistic person likes to communicate, can be extremely rewarding” I’ve written this article from the point of view of a neural-typical person communicating with someone on the autistic spectrum. I created this list based on what works for me as an autistic person, and what I’ve learnt over the years as a tutor for the National Autistic Society in the UK. It’s really important to Read More
Is Autism hereditary?
Is Autism hereditary? In my mind absolutely yes, but not in every case. Time after time, I meet an autistic child that has an autistic brother or sister, or a parent of an autistic child that displays clear signs of autistic spectrum disorder, often undiagnosed. Can this be coincidence? I really don’t think it is. I see signs of Asperger syndrome in my own close family. This was what originally Read More
Is it Autism or OCD?
Are you on the Autistic spectrum and do you also have OCD? I had been diagnosed with OCD years before my autism diagnosis but it remains unclear which symptoms are OCD and which are autism. During an intense group of sessions at a specialist centre for OCD I found myself asking the psychologist if I have to count a certain amount of times because of my OCD or autism. He Read More
Autistic with a specific talent or ability?
Are you on the autistic spectrum and have a specific gift, ability or talent? I often write about the many challenges we face as autistic people trying to make our way in life. But there are also some benefits of having a unique perspective on the world. I am presently doing some research into abilities displayed by people on the autistic spectrum. I am very interested to find out how common Read More
The new autistic adults-how a diagnosis saved his life
I recently read an article by a 44 year old man by the name of Chris Goodchild. He was featured in an article called, Autism: how diagnosis saved my life. His story jumped out at me like a huge bolt of lightning. It was as if he was describing my life. He talks about how he had struggled his whole life with various mental health problems, including depression and self Read More
Autistic and working freelance?
Many of us that are on the autistic spectrum have high level skills that can be used in our career. “I have a constant battle with my own lack of confidence and low self esteem” As you may know by now, I am a person with high functioning autism. I am also a professional film maker and musician. I had a reasonable amount of success in these areas over the Read More
Autism and genius
We’ve all heard about the autistic “savant” that special breed of autistic person that has almost superhuman powers. They are great musicians, artists, software writers. Some like Kim Peek depicted in the film Rainman have incredible powers of memory. It is even thought by many people that Einstein, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook creator) and even Bill Gates are on the Autistic spectrum. Whilst they may not necessarily be “savants” they certainly display Read More
Autism: How meditation can help
Autism: How meditation can help This week I took part in a research study at a London university to see how people with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome, could benefit from using guided meditation and mindfulness to relieve some of their anxiety, and also help them develop more self awareness. I am a person with high functioning autism. I am also someone that has for many years been very interested Read More