Alis Rowe's Blog, page 3

Understanding your autism can really help you

In the film, ‘A Day in the University Placement Year for The Girl With The Curly Hair’, The Girl With The Curly Hair is 21 years old. She has not yet been diagnosed with autism. Although she seems to have some awareness of her needs, she doesn’t realise her needs are because of her autism.

I thought it would be interesting to look at a few scenes from this film and reflect upon how The Girl With The Curly Hair might have viewed these situations differently if she had had a better understanding of her own autism.

It’s a good idea to watch the whole film before reading this blog article. To watch the film, please find it here under ‘Short Films’.

Let’s now assume The Girl With The Curly Hair has learned a lot about autism and, as a consequence, has a good understanding of herself.  Let’s also assume that The Girl With The Curly Hair has told Clare that she had an autism diagnosis but that Clare does not make any specific adjustments.

Here’s how some of the scenarios in the film could have proceeded differently…

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Why is information confusing for autistic people but not neurotypical people?

Autistic people often feel “confused” about information that is quite clear to neurotypical people.

Why is this?

A neurotypical person’s brain works differently. They can interpret a message, and even if the message is a little unclear, they can still understand what it means quite quickly. They have the ability to understand information even if the information is vague or ‘casual.’

On the other hand, an autistic person tends to absorb information literally and with great detail and precision. Neurotypical people often don’t present information as clearly and precisely as autistic people would like. Therefore, information can be very confusing for autistic people. They have to navigate or try to make sense of inconsistent or confusing information produced by neurotypical people!

Autistic people also tend to have close attention to detail, which means they are likely to notice inconsistencies, errors or unclear information. Neurotypical people may not have such close attention to detail, so they might not even notice when there is something ‘wrong’ or imprecise.

The ability to notice ‘wrong’, imprecise, inconsistent or unclear information is indeed an ability! It is a very useful gift to have for certain jobs or tasks. However, the downside is that life can be so confusing for autistic people who have this gift.

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The post Why is information confusing for autistic people but not neurotypical people? appeared first on The Girl with the Curly Hair.

10 Ways for autistic people to improve their concentration

Some autistic people have difficulty concentrating. In particular, they may find it difficult to pay attention to and concentrate on things that don’t interest them! This is part of the autism condition.

Additionally, it is common for autistic people to struggle with executive function. Concentration is a part of executive function.

Some autistic people also have an attention disorder as well.

Being able to concentrate is a key skill to have in daily life of course! On a wider scale, it is important because it enables us to learn at school and have a job. On a smaller scale, it assists us in doing the little day to day things such as being able to make a cup of tea rather than intend to make a cup of tea, put the kettle on, and then forget all about it!

Here are 10 strategies that may help an autistic person improve their concentration day to day:

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The post 10 Ways for autistic people to improve their concentration appeared first on The Girl with the Curly Hair.

“Attire is formal for dinner. See you later”

If you are autistic, do you ever struggle to socialise with colleagues outside of work, such as at team ‘Away Days’ or the Christmas party?

The Girl With The Curly Hair does!

Her time working at a science measurement and testing company included the big three-day annual science conference in a different part of the country. Part of The Girl With The Curly Hair’s job had been to help organise the conference. Gladly, her manager Clare then invited her to come along. Clare thought The Girl With The Curly Hair would feel proud to attend.

The Girl With The Curly Hair did feel proud. She felt very privileged actually and knew that it would be a special experience. She was excited to see her hard work materialise. However of course… because of her autism, the thought of attending also filled her with anxiety! Being out of routine away from home and mixing with unfamiliar people always terrified her.

After many days of deliberation, she decided to be brave and attend.

…And after the event had ended, upon reflection, The Girl With The Curly Hair felt the conference had been manageable. All things considered, she had coped quite well with it!

However, there had been one particularly stressful aspect of the conference… and that was the grand ‘conference dinner.’

Part of the schedule of the conference was that one evening there would be a special dinner in the prestigious dining hall where all the delegates of the conference would meet and socialise. The Girl With The Curly Hair had been terrified about this part of the conference. Let’s watch the following scene to see what happened:

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“I don’t like being squashed between people, it’s yucky!”

“I don’t like being squashed between people, it’s yucky!”

This is a thought that The Girl With The Curly Hair had in the dining hall. She had collected her food from the dinner counter and was trying to find somewhere to sit. Her preferred place was the end of the table at the back of the room near the door but, because the dinner queue was so long, this seat was now not available.

Instead The Girl With The Curly Hair had to eat her lunch in a busier part of the hall.

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The post “I don’t like being squashed between people, it’s yucky!” appeared first on The Girl with the Curly Hair.

How to cope with ‘endings’

A reoccurring challenge throughout my life has been how to cope with ‘endings.’ An ending could be:

Leaving school, college or universityLeaving a jobFinishing a series of therapy sessionsSomeone in a professional position of care for you (e.g. carer, counsellor, GP, physiotherapist) leaving their roleA colleague leaving their job

I’ve faced each of these scenarios and haven’t coped well with any of them. I find them terribly upsetting. 

One of the reasons that I find endings so upsetting is because they are a signal of change. They are a ‘transition.’ Autistic people often struggle greatly with change.

In this article, I will discuss some strategies I use to make endings a little bit easier. Endings are still excruciatingly painful, but these strategies have definitely made a difference. Other autistic people might find them useful as well:

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“I hope the librarian doesn’t mind that I come here all the time”

During her time at secondary school, The Girl With The Curly Hair used to spend her break times in the school library.

She thought, “It’s the only place that’s quiet.”

She also thought, “I hope the librarian doesn’t mind that I come here all the time.”

I found this second thought interesting. What did she mean by it?

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The post “I hope the librarian doesn’t mind that I come here all the time” appeared first on The Girl with the Curly Hair.

Small things make a big difference

Life can sometimes feel unbearably hard for autistic people. Many of us feel anxious on a daily basis and experience frequent meltdowns and shutdowns. Many of us find certain situations intolerable and we avoid them.

I always like to reflect upon the strategy that “small things make a big difference.” 

There are lots of small things that autistic people can do that can improve their mental wellbeing and make situations a bit easier for them. Never underestimate the importance of these small things!

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Understanding sensory discomfort in autistic people

Autistic people can have over-sensitive senses. This can cause them to feel distressed by ‘ordinary’ sensations.

If you are an autistic person who has over-sensitivity, or if you know an autistic person who has over-sensitivity, it can be useful to understand the following factors:

Peace and quiet is very important

Most autistic people really need time on their own. One of the reasons for this is that they need time away from sensory stimulation. It can be really helpful for an autistic person to have periods of peace and quiet every day. It is important for other people to recognise and respect this need and to not disturb them when they are having this quiet time.

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This article and our podcasts are available only to members of our community. If you would like to continue to read this article, along with receiving access to our exclusive animations, podcasts and special offers – please click the Subscribe today button. If you are already a member, please log in.

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Free Autism
Alert Card!

When you subscribe to The Curly Hair Project, 
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The post Understanding sensory discomfort in autistic people appeared first on The Girl with the Curly Hair.

10 Things to consider when doing something for the first time

Although trying a new experience can be exciting and worthwhile, it can also make lots of people feel very nervous!

Doing something for the first time can be difficult for everyone, including autistic people. Autistic people often enjoy familiarity and routine, so doing something new can be particularly hard for them.

Here are 10 things that an autistic person may benefit from thinking about when doing something for the first time:

1. Think about when the upcoming situation is going to occur

Sometimes we don’t have a choice about when something is going to take place, other times we do. When we do have a choice, it can be helpful to decide when the least stressful time to do it would be – for example, would the morning be less stressful than the evening because it gets the situation ‘out of the way’ first thing? 

Another thing to consider is how far in advance you might wish to schedule and plan for a new situation. Some autistic people find it least stressful to get whatever has been planned over and done with as soon as possible, others might want to give themselves a few weeks or months because they feel they will be more mentally prepared.

Recently I booked to do something for the first time. Even though I could have booked it for the following week, I decided to book it several months in advance. I felt the extra time would enable the idea to ‘settle’ in my mind. I also booked the appointment at a convenient time for me, a time which would not interfere with my usual daily routine (my usual daily routine is very important to me and other autistic people often feel the same way about their own daily routines).

Join The Curly Hair Project Community Today

This article and our podcasts are available only to members of our community. If you would like to continue to read this article, along with receiving access to our exclusive animations, podcasts and special offers – please click the Subscribe today button. If you are already a member, please log in.

Subscribe
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Free Autism
Alert Card!

When you subscribe to The Curly Hair Project, 
you will receive a free Autism Alert Card worth £6!

The post 10 Things to consider when doing something for the first time appeared first on The Girl with the Curly Hair.