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Ambitious About Autism Video
Former Member
Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
It's World Autism Awareness Day - will you join us in shining a light on the truth about life with autism by sharing the most ridiculous #autismmyth that you've heard? 
Here's the new video created by the charity Ambitious About Autism - where young people on the spectrum talk about the myths of Autism and the impacts that they have (including WhispersOfTheHeart!).
Here's the new video created by the charity Ambitious About Autism - where young people on the spectrum talk about the myths of Autism and the impacts that they have (including WhispersOfTheHeart!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYl5GuQOCAU0
Comments
And nicely done Whispers! :thumb:
It's also worth mentioning that Ambitious About Autism have also just launched an online community for people on the autistic spectrum: MyVoice.
It's aimed at 16-25s and is a space for people on the spectrum to connect, share experiences and offer each other support as well as get info and talk to experts about a range of topics (kind of like TheSite, but specifically for people with an autistic spectrum condition
If that sounds interesting, feel free to take a look!
I personally, have had some quite bad experiences in regards to Autism and have tried (and failed badly) to hide it. The problem for me is, it's pretty obvious. At least two people have said that.
Would you feel okay expanding on everything you've said, Melian? *hug*
Certainly:
Some of you may remember a thread in Relationships I started not to long ago asking how do I learn to communicate effectively with people. For me, this is a pretty serious problem and it's something that I tried to ignore for some time. Except, it didn't work and according to a friend of mine, it's obvious to him that I have some problems commnicating.
We've known each for a few years and we were talking last year and he used the words "even if they're as rubbish as you" and I responded with "er, thanks", thinking he was being rather rude! He then explained that he means "you" in general terms.
There was a misunderstanding over something this year and it was getting to the stage with him where I couldn't ignore it anymore and decided I had no choice but to explain to him that I have Autism. He's quite a bit older than me and before retiring in 2000, was a teacher. I know from what my parents once said, it probably wasn't something that he'd knowingly come across during his teaching career.
I emailed him. I explained that I have a learning disability called Autism which for me means that my understanding of language and communication skills in general aren't as good as they should be. He reples. He apologises and explains that he didn't handle the situation that well either. He then said that before retiring, he taught Communication at A Level and gave me some advice.
We met up the following week. He told me that he has a friend whose child has Autism. This was when he was growing up - the time when the only people who were diagnosed had severe behaviour problems and had little or no speech He said that whilst he does remember using the words "even if they're as rubbish as you", he doesn't remember why. He said it's not the sort of thing you can go around saying to strangers. He's one of these people who is rather sarcastic and seems to aim it me a lot!
Some of you may have heard of the Work Programme? Well, I was on that. I was told that because I'd just been diagnosed, my Autism can't really be that bad. I should point out that, before my Autism diagnosis, I was diagnosed with depression twice and OCD. I was also diagnosed with a pretty painful hearing problem and was told the same. (you can go to bed with normal hearing and wake up with this hearing problem - I did)
Not long after my diagnosis, I sought some help from social services - big mistake! They don't understand Autism at all. For me, some things are quite painful. I remember being taken somewhere with loads of people, which can also be rather noisy and I just walked out. (I can't cope with loud noises or lots of people) My "support worker" had a right go at me.
I then asked my "support worker" to accompany me to a meeting at college with "disability support". It ended up with both telling me that I can't possibly have Autism and it's actually anxiety I have. The argument being that there's a chance the "disability support"'s father may have Autism and I'm nothing like him. 2 things - it's a spectrum. I'm a female and he's a male. Males and females are completely different. I was told I just need counselling and everything will be fine. Except, it won't be. Counselling won't change the fact that I need routine, I can't explain that well (this is the problem I was getting at with the above) what I really need, it won't change my issues with relationships, etc. I remember asking what happens if I have sensory overload, which in my case is where it gets too noisy and I can't talk. I was told to raise my hand and say something. Um, I can't talk. It's happened once. I can sometimes sense it's starting and remove myself from the situation. This happened at Christmas - I explained it was starting to get too noisy and does my friend mind if we leave. He said it was fine. He had explained earlier in the evening it's a problem his wife has (and I do remember him moaning about it!) so it's a problem he does understand.
I no longer have anything to do with social services because it's obvious they don't understand me. They actually labelled me as awkward. I'm sorry; but you're making me doing soemthing that can be quite painful.
Sorry for the length!
I know these questions don't have much relevance to your post but just out of interest, do you find anything makes autism easier to deal with? For example, if I'm faced with a situation that I find quite difficult, it tends to become much easier for me if I have to be responsible for my nephew - or anyone else I care about, for that matter. Also, has your personal experience made you stronger at all? You say the 'problem' is that it's pretty obvious - or that's what people have said. Do you really see that as a 'problem' yourself?
I don't think there's anything that makes Autism eaasier to deal with - although, I do wish people would actually understand it's a spectrum and that if I do say it hurts (or I know it iwll) I'm not just saying that - it will. I do remember just after my diagnosis, I attended a local Autism group. There's two groups and I went to the first one and then there's the second one straight after and it started getting really noisy. I was aware at this point that my hearing was sensitive; but I wasn't aware just how bad it can get. It resulted in me going completely non verbal (this is rather scary) and putting my hands over my ears and being unable to explain what was wrong. But it was obvious what the issue was.
As for it being pretty obvious - do I see it as a problem - sometimes, yes. I find that most people, in the nicest way possible, don't actually care. It doesn't change anything. They just learn to accept that it's the way I am and that I won't do certain things. (I don't do things like parties because of the noise and amount of people there)