Anything, but Ordinary

When I was a kid, my brother and I were besties. I couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything or go anywhere without him. I couldn’t be away from him. In the early days of elementary school, if I didn’t see him on the playground at recess and lunch, I would get anxious and I would start to panic. I would start to tear up and race around the school yard until I saw him. I needed to see him to prove that he didn’t leave me alone. The first instance of separation anxiety was when I was ki

When it comes to socializing, it’s a challenge with someone with autism. We try to make friends, we want to make friends, but we don’t know how to approach people. We don’t know when it’s a good time to go up to someone and talk to them. When we do get the chance, we don’t know what to say or how to say it. We don’t know if the person we’re talking to is listening just to be nice or if they feel like they have to listen because they know its rude to walk away. We feel like no

The beginning of a new year is always exciting, but it can also be a time where people look back on the past year and wonder where the time went and wonder if there’s a way to slow it down. As we get older and look over the past, we tell ourselves if we can make the new year our best year yet. No two years are the same. We go in with an open mind, but as the days and months go on, life throws us a curveball, something we don’t expect. People take the new year as a challenge t

ADHD means Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and it can look a lot like Autism. When someone has one or the other, they can have difficulty focusing, they can also be impulsive and have a hard time communicating. Both ADHD and Autism are two different conditions. Autism is related to developmental disorders. Language skills, behavior, socializing and the ability to learn are affected. People with autism have a hard time connecting with people and making friends, wherea

You would think that Halloween is a rough time of year for someone who is on the autism spectrum, but depending on the person, Halloween can be the person’s favorite holiday. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, even if I don’t do anything to celebrate it. I don’t do much in the month of October. I would love to be able to do all things Halloween, but there’s nothing much you can do when you spend a lot of time by yourself. I’ve been going trick or treating just to

Moving is hard just by itself, but the real challenge is deciding if moving out of town is the right move. Starting over is scary for anyone, even for the most confident person. I’ve been wanting to move for a while. After spending some time living in an apartment, I’ve decided that I want to get out of apartment living. At first, an apartment was the right choice. Since I’m by myself, single, I hardly, if ever socialize or have people over, living in an apartment felt right

Everyone has a way to recharge their batteries. Some people like going out with friends, others like to go home after work, put on their pajamas and watch their favourite shows. I’m the type of person who likes being alone and not talking to people after having to deal with the public all day. Being around other people and dealing with all sorts of different personalities for more than a couple hours makes me overwhelmed and anxious. There are so many types of people in the

You can’t tell by looking at someone that they have Aspergers. Depending on the person, it’s obvious that they’re on the spectrum. Some people use it to their advantage and succeed in their career. Other people want to keep it to themselves just in case they get treated differently because of it. If you're good at something, why not use it for good? Share it with the world. You never know who may need someone like you to look up to. Some people have a hard time connecting wi

I was 24 years old when I moved out of my parents’ house into a basement suite. My mom thought it was the right time. She wanted me to learn how to be more independent and living with my parents wasn’t going to help with that, but I knew that I wasn’t ready to move out even through when it was time I did move out, I didn’t want to be that close to my parents because I felt like the closer I was to them, the better chance that I would rely on them to help me with day to day st

Sleepovers are weird. I’ve never been a fan. I’ve had them, I went to them, but I never felt comfortable. Even when the person was my best friend, I just wanted to sleep in my own bed. There are a few sleepovers I had as a kid that made me think. “What was I thinking?”. The one that sticks out in my head was one I had for my birthday. At some point during the night, I went upstairs and slept on the couch leaving my guests downstairs to fend for themselves. I was over it and