Since the pandemic I haven’t often felt disabled by the world in the same ways as I did before. I have routine and patterns and I work from home the vast majority of the time. But there will always be events that I need to attend that leave me with the difficult decision; do I … Continue reading Autistic Social Hangovers
Category: work
Meltdowns
I have to sit with this. This feeling that I’ll never accept and that will always frustrate and ruin what would otherwise be just fine. I am overwhelmed. I have been overwhelmed for a while, but I’ve been in denial about it. Denial is always worth a try. As with all-things-autism, it’s not as simple … Continue reading Meltdowns
We All Need to Work More Autistically
The other day I was at work and was hit by a revelation. It had been nagging at me for a while - I could feel that something had shifted. But I never would have predicted that I would be facing the world of work with a social advantage due to my autism. I’ve had … Continue reading We All Need to Work More Autistically
Virtually Accessible Interviews
Almost three years ago to the day I wrote about a gruelling interview process that took me months to recover from. Reading through it recently it struck me how different my experience of interviewing has been during the pandemic. It’s not a perfect process and I don’t want to pretend that it’s easy, but in … Continue reading Virtually Accessible Interviews
Resilience
People often question the resilience of autistic people, but I believe they are more resilient than most will ever know. I salute you all #ActuallyAutistic
Autistic Art
I’ve been thinking a lot about being an autistic artist. I’ve been thinking a lot about everything. There’s been a lot to think about during Lockdown, a lot to realise and come to terms with. I’ve been thinking about being an autistic artist, and what that means, how it works for me. There can be … Continue reading Autistic Art
Lockdown Limits
I’m lucky. I’m enormously lucky. I keep telling myself this, because it’s true. In many ways my life is very similar to my normal day-to-day world, but the pattern has changed completely. I have less time to write and be creative than I normally do, the helpful social media posts about how much we can … Continue reading Lockdown Limits
Meltdown
This week I had my first meltdown in a really long time. The cause was poor communication from an organisation. It included unclear plans, a changing schedule, not being informed of those changes, and concluded in a social lie that is supposed to be an acceptable way of communicating, but is actually really painful. There’s … Continue reading Meltdown
Neither Use Nor Ornament
It’s been a funny old year, and it’s not over yet. Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in hiatus? That’s how I’ve always felt. I’ve constantly been waiting for life to begin; constantly holding off for things to happen; constantly thinking, ‘Once I’ve finished this bit, I can start doing that bit’, but that’s … Continue reading Neither Use Nor Ornament
An Open and Fair Interview
There have been various intangible variables floating on my horizon, and they have been draining my reserves. I usually use those reserves to share and enthuse, and I have missed doing that. I’m going to share something difficult. I am a perfectionist and hate to get things wrong. I am going to share a … Continue reading An Open and Fair Interview