A social enterprise helping people on the autistic spectrum and the people around them.
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4 Conversation techniques to add to your social script
Posted: 10 months ago
Many autistic people create for themselves a 'social script' to help them know how to interact in social situations. A social script is a guide for planning what to do and say inside a social setting.
The Girl With The Curly Hair uses a social script whenever she meets up with her friends. Specifically, she uses 4 conversation techniques:
How to improve your listening skills
Posted: January 22, 2021
Listening is a very important component of good communication. Many people consider themselves to be "good listeners"... but are they really?! Just because you are an introverted or a quiet person for example, it does not automatically make you good at listening. Communication is very difficult for autistic people and I have noticed that a lot of autism literature focuses on helping autistic people to improve their understanding and use of body language, tone of voice and eye contact. Listening skills are often overlooked. In this article I will give you some ideas on how to improve your listening skills. These suggestions are also going to be useful to neurotypical people. We should always remember that communication between neurotypical and autistic people can be especially hard. Misunderstandings are common. Therefore, it's even more vital for both neurotypical and autistic people to work on improving their listening skills, so as to be able to communicate more effectively with each other.
The 6 Golden Rules of Managing Sensations (animation)
Posted: January 11, 2021
The majority of situations can cause an autistic person to feel a degree of uncertainty. Even very common situations, such as going on the train or going to a GP appointment, can contain many unpredictable factors, leading to feelings of uncertainty. Neurotypical people don’t tend to worry to the same degree about uncertainty. They might not even feel that situations can have an uncertain outcome. This might be because they naturally have the flexible thinking skills to know what to do should something unexpected happen.
How to be a more constructive thinker
Posted: December 29, 2020
In any situation, we always have a choice over how we behave. We can try to choose to think constructively or we can think destructively. Consider it as though our thinking is either a tool (useful and empowering) or an obstacle (harmful and disempowering). Once this concept is understood, it gives us the ability to positively change our lives. By thinking and behaving as constructively as possible, life can be constructed in the way that we want. Thinking and behaving in a destructive way, on the other hand, can make life worse.
The Anxiety Continuum
Posted: December 19, 2020
Lately I’ve been reading about tendon pathology and there was one concept, called the continuum, that I thought was interesting and could be applied to anxiety as well as tendons! It reminded me of my view on anxiety: anxiety is not always bad. A small level of anxiety can even be beneficial because: It warns us of danger It helps us perform It helps us become more self-aware: it makes us think about what makes us anxious and what we can do about it It keeps us de-sensitised to things The continuum idea means that anxiety is reversible. It can be good and bad. It can get better and worse... I hope this idea might help you or make you think about anxiety in a different way.
The 4 phases of a meltdown
Posted: December 7, 2020
Having done quite a lot of research into the subject, I started to see that there may be a trend in the way autistic people experience meltdowns. The trend that I noticed was that there seems to be different 'phases' of a meltdown. I wonder whether if people are able to identify these phases and understand them, they will be able to anticipate and manage their meltdowns better. Might it also be true that if someone identifies and treats a meltdown early on then some 'symptoms' might be prevented? A person might also find that they will be able to anticipate the duration of their 'attacks', which can help them better plan their life and know when they'll be back to normal. Subconscious anxiety
Posted: November 25, 2020
Subconscious anxiety is anxiety that's just there. It might not be present for any obvious or particular reason. It causes an individual to feel nervous, worried or on edge throughout the day. Many neurotypical people feel anxious about a particular circumstance. For example, a neurotypical person might be anxious about the meeting they're having with their boss later. They can feel anxious all the time leading up to the meeting, but at least they know why, and the anxiety will probably go when the meeting is over. Autistic people (or anyone who has an anxiety disorder) may have something called 'subconscious anxiety', which means they feel anxious regardless of what is going on. If you think you experience this, or that your loved one experiences this, I hope this article helps you.
Using masking in order to communicate (animation)
Posted: November 13, 2020
Masking is sometimes the only way that an autistic person will be able to interact with other people. I made an insightful animation to explain this idea. Watch it below:
The Doughnut Theory
Posted: November 2, 2020
The Doughnut Theory is an idea for explaining tendon pain. It resonated with me and I thought it could be used to help us think about our approach to our autism… It basically means, “treat the ring, not the hole.” The hole is something that cannot be changed or influenced. Therefore, trying to “treat” it won’t work. Consider the hole of the doughnut to be the parts of you that can’t be changed, maybe some of your autistic traits for example?
Understanding ‘input’ and the importance of managing it
Posted: October 22, 2020
Autistic people can have trouble processing 'input'. Input is incoming information, for example sensory information from the environment such as a scent or a noise. Too much input can make an autistic person feel stressed and overwhelmed. Too much input can increase the chances that an autistic person has a meltdown or a shutdown. If you understand input then you will be able to have better control of your life. Read this article for a clear description of the 4 main types of input and for helpful suggestions on ways to manage this input, so that ultimately you will feel less overloaded!
Why it might not be a good idea to compare yourself with others
Posted: October 11, 2020
Over the years, something that has caused me to feel very unhappy and anxious is that I was comparing myself with other people. What I say now and the philosophy I adhere to whenever I think about comparing myself to others is: "I will only compare you to you" (or "I will only compare me to me") This is a very powerful line. I will talk about what it means in this article. Autistic people are prone to comparing themselves to others, but this can lead to poor self-esteem and anxiety. In this article, I provide strategies on how to stop comparing yourself with others and explain why the only person you might find beneficial to compare yourself with is you!