Triggered by @jilles_com (link: next tweet), I was diagnosed with autism 18 months ago coincidentally in the same month my mentally retarded brother got the same diagnosis, followed by training.
I got a vocabulary explaining so many good and bad things in our lives!
#AutismDay
I got a vocabulary explaining so many good and bad things in our lives!
#AutismDay
https://twitter.com/jpluimers/status/1371469903123857416
First the promised link, as it is a start of a wonderful thread:
The diagnosis tremendously helped me get through all the treatments and care after my rectum cancer diagnosis 17 months ago.
Yes, these diagnoses were only 1 month apart!
#AutismDay
https://twitter.com/jilles_com/status/1377866128765116417
The diagnosis tremendously helped me get through all the treatments and care after my rectum cancer diagnosis 17 months ago.
Yes, these diagnoses were only 1 month apart!
#AutismDay
Being able to explain I'm autistic (as one does not look autistic at all: hello @biancatoeps), the consequences it has in approaching me, how to sense when I get overloaded and what happens when I do were key in getting proper care.
#AutismDay
#AutismDay
Care that was confused why I took Covid-19 isolation so well, which was because I'm really good at following routines/rituals when I understand they benefit me or the community at large:
#AutismDay
https://twitter.com/jpluimers/status/1347962464302936073
#AutismDay
The diagnosis also unconsciously enabled me to drop almost everything else in life like a brick. Now I know why: I had to in order to be able to survive at all, as without survival, I would be there any more for the people close to me.
#AutismDay
#AutismDay
This "drop everything like a brick" baffled my Eega, as this was totally different than my normal modus operandi: I hardly ever drop things.
I now know that this is also one of my biggest weaknesses: being so conditioned not dropping things sometimes bites back big.
#AutismDay
I now know that this is also one of my biggest weaknesses: being so conditioned not dropping things sometimes bites back big.
#AutismDay
Having a vocabulary around autism also helped me to better understand why things happened the way they did in both my life and various lives of people close to me, including my brother and my Eega.
In addition, I can now better communicate with them and others.
#AutismDay
In addition, I can now better communicate with them and others.
#AutismDay
That still often fails (you might think otherwise reading my streams of tweets, but trust me: communication for me is very hard), but not as badly as it used to.
#AutismDay
#AutismDay
It failed big time on Tuesday and I only could explain on Wednesday (it is one of the communication aspects I hate: only being able to see things in perspective very very late, often not being able to set things straight by then).
#AutismDay
#AutismDay
Tuesday had 2 important administrative deadlines. Administrative things are among the things I dislike very much, so they give me a basic stress level.
I did have enough spoons (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_the…) to get that done. But then things started failing.
#AutismDay
I did have enough spoons (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_the…) to get that done. But then things started failing.
#AutismDay
Two hardware things and a software thing broke down unexpectedly and needed research in order to estimate when and what kind of actions to take.
Those took many spoons, but also put me into "the zone" - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psy… .
#AutismDay
Those took many spoons, but also put me into "the zone" - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psy… .
#AutismDay
Being "in the zone" uses less spoons than normal, but hasn't occurred a lot lately as I'm still recovering from all the treatments, so I did not even consciously realise I was in it at all.
Suddenly, I got kicked out of the zone, causing me to be very angry.
#AutismDay
Suddenly, I got kicked out of the zone, causing me to be very angry.
#AutismDay
With the vocabulary and the workshops, I know how to handle that situation better, but not in my current state of recovery.
It has to do with awareness and being able to going slightly outside "the zone" to do minor communication, then go back into it.
#AutismDay
It has to do with awareness and being able to going slightly outside "the zone" to do minor communication, then go back into it.
#AutismDay
This was a tiny insight into where I am in the autistic spectrum.
It is a spectrum so every autistic person is having aspects in that spectrum, but usually in different places or with different gradations.
Those have cons, but also big pros, especially for work.
#AutismDay
It is a spectrum so every autistic person is having aspects in that spectrum, but usually in different places or with different gradations.
Those have cons, but also big pros, especially for work.
#AutismDay
The trick is to find where one can excel using the pros and coping with the cons, for instance by steering towards situations where cons hardly happen and pros happen very often.
#AutismDay
#AutismDay
I could tell many more stories and give lots more insights.
Others however are way better at phrasing this, so please read their work. A good start is this great book by @biancatoeps:
toeps.nl/shop/product/s…
It is just EUR 21, so get it while stock lasts (:
#AutismDay
/end
Others however are way better at phrasing this, so please read their work. A good start is this great book by @biancatoeps:
toeps.nl/shop/product/s…
It is just EUR 21, so get it while stock lasts (:
#AutismDay
/end
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