Colours
National Autism Awareness Week 2015 blog 2,
Do you know someone who is autistic?
I bet there are people you know who are, but you aren’t aware!
I get this all the time, when I tell people I have a diagnosis of mild autism, people are shocked and I usually get comments like:
‘Well I would never have known’
‘Really?’
‘No, you can’t be’
‘You hide it so well’
It’s hard work to try and understand the world outside of dyslexia, talk to me about dyslexia or specific Learning differences, I can hold my own and am rather competent (even if I do say so myself!), but talk to me about local gossip or the latest episode of Eastenders and you’ve lost me!
Ask me to organise a conference, a Dyslexia Information Day or like my latest venture Dyslexia Awards, then I’m your lady, but ask me to attend a ceremony, a party, or visit somewhere that is new or has people I don’t know that isn’t work related, watch me squirm! Or find a way to run!
Once I know people and once I know what to expect I am fine, for example I have the privilege of sponsoring our local Shropshire Young Enterprise award ‘Best Team’, the first time I went I needed my dad to come with me, so I could cope, now I am fine to go alone and really enjoy the situation, in fact I would even go as far as to say I really look forward to it every year and am over the moon & I wait with baited breath for confirmation that I can sponsor the award again each year! Things like getting up on stage to announce the winner and present the award is a total pleasure, as it is recognising the hard work of the fantastic youngsters who have won the award, but put me in a room for an awards ceremony, where I have been short listed for an award (like the Business for Children awards recently) and its different story, I find it hard to cope with the noise, the people and the entire event, it takes me a good 24 – 48 hours to be able to function properly after such events. It’s worth it but its hard work and I have to have a family member or close family friend with me to stand-in / represent me in the moments that I have to disappear outside or to the toilets, to escape the sensory overload I experience.
I am not sharing this for pity, it is what it is and I am what I am, plus I love the work I do and the opportunities like sponsoring the Young Enterprise and BizMums awards, celebrating excellence, I just wanted to share this so it raises some awareness of autism.
For more information about Dyslexia and SpLD training please contact:
Elizabeth Wilkinson elizabeth@theddc.org.uk
www.theddc.org.uk
follow-on twitter @EliTheDDC @DyslexiaInfoDay @DyslexiaAwards
Information of Dyslexia Awards coming soon!
