My hands smell of soil, they are stained and scratched, dirt embedded under my fingernails. I like to call it a gardener's manicure. I usually hate anything under my nails, sand grates and teases me terribly, but not mud. Not the evidence of a job well done. I am quiet now. After a week of … Continue reading Tomorrow the World
Author: Rhi
Finding a Voice
Yesterday the world changed. It was a tiny shift. A momentary slide. Barely a bubble in the wake of a wave. Small but powerful, I've been knocked off my feet. Yesterday the National Autistic Society (NAS) ran a course for Autistic people who want to do Public Speaking about Autism to help the world understand. … Continue reading Finding a Voice
Mother’s Day
I'm not a lover of cards. In fact I loathe them. Little demanders of time and obligation. They sit there demanding to be bought and written and sent as tokens of love. And I don't. I don't send them, because they don't mean anything to me. Particularly at set times of year. An arbitrary day … Continue reading Mother’s Day
Autism Awareness: Are we nearly there yet?
I spy with my little eye, something beginning with AA! Not not Alcoholics Anonymous. No, not the Automobile Association. I'm talking Autism Awareness! In the run up to Autism Awareness Week and Day and Month and Millennia, I've been thinking about what it is I really want the world to be aware of. Most people … Continue reading Autism Awareness: Are we nearly there yet?
Autism is the Key
My husband always says you can find me in the logic. My actions are always reasoned. There's always a clear pattern to follow. What that meant, before I knew I was autistic, was that all of my logical conclusions about who I am were deeply flawed. That I misjudged and misconstrued both my own motivations, … Continue reading Autism is the Key
Stop Looking over my Shoulder!
I hate people looking over my shoulder, it's the worst. They're close and intrusive and they're stealing my actions with their eyes. It's even worse when it's me. I am so fed up of me looking over my own shoulder. She's ridiculous. I'll be messaging someone a cheery, "How's things?" And she throws in a … Continue reading Stop Looking over my Shoulder!
A Perfect Day
It's my birthday soon. My husband asked me what I'd like to do for the day. Which is a big, open question. The biggest and most open, yawning-cavern-like question, based only on my own desires. I am thinking. What would my perfect day look like? For a start it would involve a lie in. A … Continue reading A Perfect Day
International Women’s Day
It's International Women's Day, and I haven't done anything to prepare for it. I haven't made any wishes or baked a cake... there's a chance I don't know the etiquette. Perhaps instead I shall talk about autistic women and celebrate them. I'll begin with one of the reasons I started this blog (mainly so you'll … Continue reading International Women’s Day
Duvets and Bears
It's Monday. The sky is a wrinkled sheet of grey. The dawn chorus is chiding me for staying beneath my duvet just a little longer. Just as I brace myself for a change in texture, from brushed cotton to cold clothing, the rain starts to patter and I falter. Today I have made space to … Continue reading Duvets and Bears
Feelings ARE Thoughts
I've been thinking about thoughts and I've been thinking about feelings. For years I've wrongly categorised those two things. I've always seen them as two separate entities controlled by two different systems. I'm adjusting my thinking. 'Thoughts' is the umbrella term for the movement of ideas and actions around my head. Feelings I often associated … Continue reading Feelings ARE Thoughts
Autism and Expectations 