As the last blog post was sharing about how I got to experience accommodations in the outside world such as needing space, ventilation, and headphones, I am now working on finding new ways to help improve my quality of life by learning of things that benefit those with similar challenges of what I have.

It is nothing short of a miracle that I was diagnosed at a time when things like autism and the Internet were not as prevalent as they are now. I had the Internet and received my diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome, now an outdated term. It has since been umbrellaed under autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as part of the revision of the DSM-V in 2013. Nonetheless, back in 1998, we had two things, the diagnosis, and the Internet. Professionals in my community were learning just as much as we were, and the world is not connecting to others online as fast as it is today. Sending packets of information via snail mail was more of a thing than servers and cloud drives. Technology just was not up to that point.

I mention all those things because things have certainly changed since then. So, now that I am independent and well, it is time to work towards finding tools that are more useful in improving my quality of life and allowing me to manage life’s challenges much more efficiently than what I have done in the past. While the Internet provides a vast knowledge base  of tools to aid in situations and from day-to-day, the evolution of social media has allowed the connection with others around the world in a safe manner to show how autism is lived in the ways that they are now. Though other individuals are mostly younger than I, it is the tools and sometimes the similarities of knowledge that provides me with more skills, tips, and tools to help me continue to flourish in my journey.

As such, while the Internet has given me the base to talk about my life of nearly four decades, with the powers of social media and other technological tools, I am able to reach my lifetime experience to others and even share similar experiences with others by commenting on other’s post under my autism profile so similar experiences can be helpful. It is also knowing that the well versed and seasoned moms along with some individuals themselves have written their life stories so it can be shared with the world. By connecting with their social media platforms, I know of their published works and can take a deeper look at what has helped them or what barriers they have faced in their journeys.

After everything that has happened in the past several years, it is time to start to realize that there are new ways to address the issues that I am having. I am listening to my therapist, taking my medication exactly as ordered and working in many other ways to protect my mental health and my stability. Therefore, I deserve to finally work at making my life much easier to manage when for so long it has been difficult for me to get through some of the most challenging moments. You can never stop learning and I believe that. There are things that can help me . I just need to see what they are and discover whether they are a help to me or not. I have been stuck so many times in so many situations where it has been challenging for me to do things that come so easy to other people, and it becomes frightening and frustrating at the same time. I just want to experience life in a more comfortable way without having to be on edge all the time. I deserve it because I have been through so much the past several years and it is time for me to do what I need to do to find ways to help make my life easier in all my moments.