I remember reading the story of the Princess and the Pea as a child and thinking, "I'd notice the pea". For anyone who doesn't know the story, it's a tale in which they proved someone was a Princess by placing a pea under a huge tower of mattresses. When the girl in question didn't sleep … Continue reading The Princess and the Pea was Autistic
Author: Rhi
Happiness
Everyone's searching for happiness. Everyone. We've got a world which tells us that if we could just live here, own this, wear this, holiday here, have these friends, have this job, and on and on and on, we would be happy. As an autistic rule follower I was lucky that I grew up in a … Continue reading Happiness
Mirroring
There are two types of mirroring, one is instant (whether conscious or not) and the other is delayed. I remember reading up on interview techniques in my early 20s (always researching). There was a chapter about the importance of body language. It talked about mirroring and how mimicking the interviewer's body language would make them … Continue reading Mirroring
Hyper-focus
Perhaps the functioning labels aren't so bad, if they could just be applied to me at different times. It's been a month of ups and downs, of achievements and limits. I have gone from the high energy and hyper focus of high-functioning-Rhi, to the shutdown and inability to do the simplest of tasks of low-functioning-Rhi, … Continue reading Hyper-focus
Success
They say success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration; well I've got perspiration. I've got perspiration coming out of my ears! ... Where was I? Oh yes, my sweaty, sweaty ears. But what happens when that perspiration and inspiration mean you hit your limits before you've completed the requisite socialisation? Sweatier ears for a start. … Continue reading Success
Accessible Autism
Access to services doesn't just mean that services need to exist, it means we need to be able to access them. I'm not good at contacting people. That is an enormous under-exaggeration. I am terrible at contacting people. If it needs to be done by face or by phone, I may never do it at … Continue reading Accessible Autism
Creative Autism
What is it about creativity and the autistic brain? I don't like generalising about autism, we're all so ridiculously different, but creativity is a theme that comes up often. Creativity in the arts, in science, in mathematics, in music, in the written word, in building, in gardening, in so much more. There's no correlation with … Continue reading Creative Autism
Hiatus
Maybe it's the change in weather as the Autumn leaves start to fall, but I'm in hiatus. I've been frantically busy for a month and now I'm feeling that energy hangover. From my aching joints, to my slow-moving limbs, I am tired. I feel distanced from the world at times like this. Cocooned in some … Continue reading Hiatus
National Poetry Day
I've been playing with poetry recently, and since its national poetry day I'm going to pop this one up. I had written it for a specific competition, but my executive function issues got in the way, and I ended up missing the deadline. Ah well. It's an attempt at a Welsh style called a Cynghanedd … Continue reading National Poetry Day
Overcoming autism?
I often read this narrative online, "So-and-so overcame their autism and succeeded at something." It makes me feel uncomfortable. It makes me worry that one day someone might say, "Rhi overcame her autism to write", which would be to fundamentally misunderstand both me and my autism. One of the positives of autism can be … Continue reading Overcoming autism?
Autism and Expectations 