As I was saying in part one, by telling the child, or children (depending on how many you have on the spectrum) what they did wrong, and then taking away something they like for a period of time is a great way to make them learn right from wrong. My parents had to do that with me when I was younger, and, for the most part, I'm not as much of a terror as I used to be. I just added the writing lines thing in the last post as an added incentive to behave. And I said I'd do that if I ever had kids.
But in all seriousness, kids on the spectrum are a challenge to be sure, but they make sure there's never a dull moment in your life. I mean, other kids can do that too, but a person with Autism is that kind that will keep you on your toes, and help you focus. But not just focus, but patience, kindness, and an understanding of what that person is like. There are quite a good number of things I could list about people with Autism, but I'll try and condense it down. One thing in particular is people with autism will take what you say literally. Like, when I was younger, like, maybe in kinder, or prep, or something, my mother once told me I needed to pull my socks up. What she meant was I needed to improve my work ethic. Well, I'd look down at my actual socks, and say 'But my socks are already up. Why do I need to pull them up?'.
It is frustrating sometimes, as I said in a previous blog post, when something changes. That something could be a change in routine, or something, and it's scary because I wasn't told about it. It can make me feel stressed, but I adapt more to change, even though it still catches me off guard sometimes. Another thing to consider is when I was in high school, I had no idea what was expected of me, during the very beginning. However, over time, I learned what was expected of me, so I tried to work hard, and do what I could. Although, looking back, I was very easily distracted.
Change, as I said, is scary for everyone, but for people on the spectrum, like my youngest sister and I, it's terrifying. When you're told about something changing before it happens, at least you've been given some warning as to what's going to happen. But when it's suddenly sprung on you, you feel like you're out of control. My stomach feels like it's been tied in the most complicated knots, my legs ache, even if I haven't been walking that much, and when I was younger, I'd feel a tightness in my chest, like my heart was in a vice. We've only discovered recently that for me, I've had pains in my legs, since my last heart surgery, even if I haven't done that much, and despite us constantly asking the doctors what the deal was, they dismissed it as nothing important. Well, it turns out, those pains in my legs were caused by, you guessed it, stress! It turns out that learning to drive was making my legs hurt, and my back feel like someone had wound me up, like a wind-up toy. Who'd have thought learning how to drive would cause so much stress? That's a blog post for another day though.
In year 11, I was asked to do an Oral Presentation for my Year 11 english class. Don't worry, this still ties in to my autism thing, just be patient. For this class, we'd watched a movie, 'The Black Balloon', which, again, as I said in a previous blog post, is about Autism, but a different kind to what I have. You'll have to see it to believe it. Anyway, this presentation we had to write had to be about a disability/condition, which we would research, and include an inspiring story about a person who had that disability/condition. You know, stuff like Autism/Asperger's Syndrome, Motor Neuron Disease, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), that kind of thing. Have a guess which one stood out to me the most. That's right; Autism. I made sure that, for the inspiring story section of my speech, I could write about my journey so far. My teacher gave me the all clear for that, so I did. To be fair, I did try and reach out to someone else, but they never got back to me, so that's why I made sure it was ok with my teacher that I wrote about me instead. Suffice to say, that was the single greatest presentation I have ever presented in the history of ever. In fact, it was so good, not only did I get an A+ for my work, but I got to present it on 3 other occasions. Once to my teachers, and staff at my High School, and twice at my course, where I was studying the year after.
I haven't found a full-time job yet, but I'm still hopeful I'll get one, one of these days. Anyway, that's my story so far. If you're interested in hearing more about it, let me know in the comments below, or send me a message on the contact me page.
Thanks for the support so far, everyone. I really appreciate it.
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