As someone with Aspergers’ who fights like hell to “human” on a daily basis… and fucking hell does not succeed most of the time :D, I do want to ask you all… especially during the holidays… to reach out and check on the people in your life who are neuroatypical. AND REALLY… if they are kids.
It’s not only a struggle to work within the mirror maze of society and people but also with ourselves. It’s an invisible thing and it’s rare people around us adjust. We’re told to stop being eccentric, being too weird or to just get over it.
If you know of someone who is being shoved into a box of someone else’s making, please see what you can do to help. Sometimes it’s just even listening. Or standing up for that person’s right to exist as best they can.
It’s a Rabbit Hole here, Alice… and it doesn’t seem to end.
My grandson is on the spectrum. He would once have been given the Aspergers label but in UK now everyone has the Autism label and then any special help needed is personalised. He goes to a special school for children with challenging behaviour (not all autistic) and is highly intelligent but has social/behavioural difficulties. He is upset at the moment because he has missed all the end of term activities at school through being absent with a virus. The school are great – previously he was in a mainstream school and that was a nightmare for everyone – for him, for the school, and for his parents. It was worth all the struggle to get a diagnosis and a statement followed by funding for special ed. He loves maths, science and IT so we’re hopeful that he might end up employed by one of those firms that have a positive attitude to people on the spectrum. He also has the highest reading age in the school – he’s 11 and it goes up to 16. Doesn’t stop him having meltdowns. We have to be on our guard all the time because people can be so unhelpful – in parks, supermarkets, etc. I do think the general public are not made fully aware of the entire issue but I also think things are improving.
From on the other side of the rainbow glass, I can tell you it’s a constant struggle and there are a lot of days when we just CANNOT anymore. There’s no “out” for us socially but we can learn coping mechanisms. That’s the best gift anyone can give us. A way to deal the chaos and noise and everything.
It does get better with some time but we have to learn to listen to ourselves and know when to say… Stop. I need space. I need silent. I need to not be here. I need to reset.
That’s the hardest thing for us to learn.
My youngest son (21) has asperger’s and it is always an uphill battle for him. He struggled in school and was bullied so horribly I had to pull him out. He was hospitalized once because it got to him so bad.
He loves and lives for music and is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to classic rock bands especially Kansas.
Even now as an adult he still struggles but he works a job he hates and loves because it puts him in the public and he says makes him a better person.
Thank you for sharing, Rhys. Being transparent with your readers is very endearing. I pray you have a wonderful Holiday. ✨⛄✨
Asperger’s is… such a struggle. I do feel his pain. Oh and I love classic rock. Music does really help. It’s a constant in my life and I’m so thankful for it. It minimizes the noise around me 😀
He says the same thing about the noise. When he was younger there was no taking him into stores with all the cash registers and Buzz from electronics. Not to mention the people. Nowadays it is simply all the noise in his head he has to quiet down.
For those of us who don’t have asperger’s or other challenges on the spectrum, we have only a small idea of what people like my son go through. He is my Super-hero!