228 Results in Strategies

How reactive are you?

Someone who is unreactive might never say or do anything at all. Someone who is very reactive might talk too much, might talk inappropriately, might stand too close to people, be too "touchy-feely", or they might attempt to 'take over' an activity being done. The former is what you probably understand to be an autistic introvert, the latter an autistic extrovert.

Narrow minded or narrowly focused?

People on the autistic spectrum are often described as being "narrow minded." The definition of narrow minded is not listening to other people's views, which has negative connotations such as being self-absorbed or stubborn. Autistic people can be like this... however, there is another way to think about narrow mindedness: how about considering it as being "narrowly focused" instead? And being narrowly focused has plenty of benefits...

Performing your best performance: 5 steps

Most people want to get the best performance out of themselves. They want to do something the best they can. These situations can be anything, such as: giving a talk, hosting an event, having an interview, participating in a competition, performing something either in front of others or just for yourself. There is a method we can follow to increase the likelihood that we perform at our best for whatever situation we would like to be at our best for.

4 ways to get better at anything

Are there any things that you wish you could do but find hard or can't get started? Have you ever got really excited at the thought of being amazing at something? Have you ever had dreams of writing a book, creating an item of clothing, producing a song, being a spectacular dancer? Autistic people can get quite passionate and one track minded about things. They can have impulsive ideas and immediately want to convert them to reality. The problem is, what happens when you realise that that plan or idea you had wasn't as "easy" as you first thought?

Why autistic people should do sport

One of the ways in which I have learned to cope with my Asperger's Syndrome is to participate in a sport. My sport happens to be Olympic weightlifting but yours could be anything. A sport can teach you many important lessons that carry over and help other aspects of your life. In this article I will discuss this in more detail.

When are expectations of people damaging?

One of the greatest challenges I experience with my relationships is the other person not adapting the way they interact or work with me despite me telling them that I have ASD. It's incredibly frustrating and disheartening having to deal with people who aren't flexible, but it happens to me so frequently that I am used to it.

Controlling what you can and managing what you can’t

One very important lesson I have learned which helps in many areas of my life is: controlling what can be controlled and executing strategies to manage what can't be controlled. A strategy I use to deal with such situations is to work out what, right now in that situation in that moment, can be controlled to my benefit.

How to develop self-confidence and belief

People on the autistic spectrum are prone to suffering from low self esteem. This usually stems from childhood, where a child who does not fit in, such as someone who is autistic, is likely to be bullied. Many autistic people are really interesting individuals with useful and sometimes amazing skills. So how can we help someone who is autistic appreciate their uniqueness and skills and therefore become more confident and have a stronger belief in themselves?

10 ways to deal with unreliable people

I sometimes describe myself as being like a robot. In fact, other people often remark on how routine, reliable, disciplined and predictable I am. It is a characteristic that people admire about me. They tease me about it but then they also say that they wish they were more like me! The main drawback of being so reliable is that the majority of other people are not as reliable, so there is actually a mismatch a lot of the time between me and other people.

Linear vs non-linear thinking

I have been reading about the idea of linear and non-linear thinking. Linear thinking is "ordered thinking in which one thought follows another in a straight line". This is in comparison to more non-linear thinking in which thoughts are "a bit more varied and each thought links to another in more than one way". This is my rough summary! Of course human beings and their thoughts are far more complex than this in reality. If I illustrate these two types of thinking, it might look like this: