Category: Dignity & Respect

Adulting: Having Trust

The Hiram G. Andres Center near Johnstown, PA, USA

I personally have witnessed the victimization and trust be compromised in not only autistic individuals but individuals both with and out mental and neurological health conditions. It, along with the awareness of those that we as autistics do not know, must be given the proper skillset in learning just what is appropriate information to share with others and what is not. Also, we must be aware of what is a safe to do and what me be skeptical and may result in us being victims at a moment’s notice.

Adulting: Value, Self-Worth and Non-Conformity

We must realize that no matter what negative comments come across that we as autists should be valued as a person who has a voice, intellect, and can comprehend what is going on around us. We must also realize that we are worth more than those negative voices come across at us and lastly, we do not have to do what others ask of us if an any way it doesn’t seem right or normal to us.

Wellness Wednesday: Gratitude, Goals and Addiction

First of all, to fill the void of free time during the COVID Pandemic, I have decided to start the new year by bringing back the Wellness Wednesday series that I started and never finished earlier this year. My Weekly feature will now be released on Thursday as a result of this change. Here’s to a good new year.

Paranoia & Mind Blindness

This can become very challenging to the autistic and if not properly processed can have a negative reaction in a social setting. It comes with second-guessing someone because of the inability to understand nonverbal social cues, which can cause a state of confusion, of mind blindness. Then in turn this is often over-compartmentalized by overthinking it with a negative spin, resulting in a destructive thought pattern where many feels as they personally have to defend what they are thinking to the specimen in question without re-affirming what they are actually thinking. When this is done, it can backfire on the autistic when this is done, thus resulting in a conflicting relationship and putting a further strain on what already could have been tense territory for the autistic.

Adulting: It’s OK to NOT Want To Be A Friend To Someone

Yes, almost every Aspie/Autistic want nothing else than to have a friend, right? But, what if that “friend” doesn’t have any similarities than you do or doesn’t value your input to the level that you feel they should? What if that friend makes you super anxious and causes you to go into a state of autistic burnout or shutdown so you don’t have to tackle the issue head on? Then, this is certainly no friend in any means.

Making Things Right

Autistics have many struggles in their lives, one of them is speaking up for what is right. Because a common trait in autism is that we are socially awkward and that we oftentimes lack the knowledge and skillset of speaking up to authoritarian figures when something is wrong. This can be further complexed with anxiety, a mixed condition in autistics that enhances the incapability to speak to those we do not have familiarity with such as in a retail or fast food locale.

Adulting: Doing The Simple Things

As we are entering yet the resurgence of COVID and if we haven’t been, I have taken notice of the many routines of autistics upheaved by this angry pandemic, myself included. It hasn’t been easy to adjust to the many routine changes this year, but with each transition it comes better. With that one must understand what may come easy to the neurotypical adult in many cases isn’t natural to the autistic person.

A Reflection on bettering myself

learning about myself and what I need to do as far as the adulting category in my life has been a paramount thing that I feel that I need to take action on to better myself. I am slowly realizing that I need to be more of an adult and not be trapped in the 5-year-old vacuum that I have been in during this current chapter