20 Results in special interest

2 rarely emphasised ways of coping with change

Many people struggle with change and it is well known that autistic people struggle with change even more so. There are primarily two types of change: 1) chosen change and 2) imposed change. The pandemic is an example of an imposed change. If you are interested in learning more about how people react to change, I recommend reading about the Kubler-Ross change curve. The Kubler-Ross model suggests that, after a change, people go through 5 different stages and feel 5 different emotions, and they eventually come to accept the change. The change becomes the new normal and the person gets on with their life. I think that it is quite interesting to note that the way people react to chosen and imposed changes is remarkably similar. Even chosen changes can cause feelings of anger and grief, for example. Although it is helpful to learn how to deal with the emotions associated with change, there are at least two other, lesser talked about, factors that people might benefit from learning to manage. These two things have actually benefited me far more than learning to cope with the 5 feelings in the Change Curve. So I want everybody to know about them! So, here are two rarely emphasised things that happen to us when we go through change and ways to successfully combat them:

How to find your strengths and achieve your potential

Like many autistic individuals, I was a completely terrified adolescent with zero self-esteem. This meant that any abilities I had or potential skills I could have learned were restricted by the discomfort I felt in being myself. I was so preoccupied with wondering why I was different, why I didn't fit in, and trying to make myself "normal", that I was not able to appreciate my strengths (I didn't even know I had any!). Combine this with my experience of school where I was known as The Person Who Did Not Speak and who no one (apart from the bullies) paid any attention to, my strengths were not visible to anyone else either. Consequently, I never really recognised my strengths and certainly never utilised them. It was not until much later in my life that I started to realise that being different was not all negative. When I was young, I saw being different as being purely negative and I was extremely uncomfortable with who I was. It was only once I became comfortable with myself - many years later - that I was able to recognise that there were many good qualities in my character. This leads me to the point that: in order for a person to best utilise their potential, they have to first recognise what it is. They have to recognise what they are good at. If a person is very unhappy with themselves, then they will probably not be able to think about any of that. Their headspace is consumed with comparing themselves to other people and feeling inferior. So how can an autistic person best achieve their potential?

10 tips for learning online

The internet has given us amazing opportunities to learn anything we want without leaving home. However, learning from the internet is a bit different from learning in a classroom. Here are 10 things that help me learn information when I am using the internet: 1. A clear objective I find it difficult to learn unless there is a clear objective, goal or learning outcome. That's why I like tutorials that have clear titles, descriptions or opening paragraphs that tell me exactly what I am going to learn.

The work-life balance: how to achieve it

Working or studying full time exhausts me to the point where I am not normally able to do much else during evenings and weekends. I know that a lot of neurotypical people say their work is tiring but I observe that most neurotypical people can still have a 'life' during evenings and weekends. This is in comparison to autistic people. I have read so many autistic people's experiences of work and education and how it completely exhausts them or leads to burnout. 'Free time' ends up being 'recovery time' and relationships, hobbies and 'life' suffer.

How to cope when you can’t do the things you love

Nobody likes it when they have to stop doing something they love doing for a reason outside their control. For example, having to stop exercising because you have an injury or being unable to sew because you have arthritis. Or what about no longer being able to do something because you physically moved away? These experiences are upsetting and perhaps even more upsetting for people on the autistic spectrum.

Why have I become more introverted?

I quite often read that people feel they become more introverted as they get older. I was wondering how this was relevant to autistic people. Let me investigate...

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.

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?

Is it good to get outside your comfort zone?

There is some thinking that getting out of your comfort zone has lots of benefits. First, what exactly do we mean by 'comfort zone'? It generally means the activities we do that make us feel safe and comfortable, as opposed to activities that make us feel anxious and stressed. I think maybe when we think about comfort zones for autistic people or people with disabilities, they need to be thought about a bit differently. For example, I'm not sure getting out of my own comfort zone is always a good idea. In fact, I'd say that most of the time for me now, it's a bad idea. Defining your comfort zone I personally have a small number of situations that are inside my comfort zone. My house is obviously my comfort zone. My local area is my comfort zone. The way I choose to commute, by my bike, is my comfort zone. The places that I most frequently visit are my comfort zones. My routine is definitely my comfort zone. My hobbies and the way I do them are my comfort zone. My family is inside my comfort zone. My friends are inside my comfort zone (but only in certain contexts, see later). My places of work are probably just outside the edge of my comfort zone.

What is my personality and what is my autism?

I was once asked by someone, "How do I know if my behaviour is because I'm ASD or is it merely who I am?" It was a good question and one that I have many times pondered over myself. There's not a clear or easy answer.