Life with Aspergers

My Parents; Bill and Doris holding me at Hornsby Heights, NSW 1969 Today is Mother's Day in Australia and apart from presents and food, one of the traditions I have is to put a bit of effort into the card that I give my mother. Often they're hand-made but even when they're not, they usually have a poem inside. They're always intended to be funny because my mother has the best laugh in the world.  I'm not a brilliant poet and like my blog posts, I don't spend much time editing my work. I prefer things to be original.  As such, there's probably only 10 minutes of work in here - so don't expect Shakespeare. My mother and I with my sister Maree. A Mother's Day Poem Thank you for being there for me, T'was not an easy thing to be. When to the shops you would go, My eiderdown would be in tow My hands would wander to every shelf Especially glass - I couldn't help myself And when I sneeze everything was game. My sleeves would ...

I love Christmas. I love all the flashing lights, the familiar Christmas carols and the decorations. I didn't really enjoy visiting relatives when I was little but now I really love the opportunity to catch up with people I haven't seen for a long time. Unfortunately, my view isn't the most common view among people with Asperger's syndrome and many people find Christmas to be a special kind of torture.  In this post, I'll be addressing some of the ways that you can prepare for common sensory issues which affect adults and children during Christmas and similar festivities.  Establishing Safety Establishing safety wherever you go is probably the most important advice I can give anyone with sensory issues. Sometimes pushing the boundaries on your sensory issues can backfire and particularly in children, can lead them to run straight into dangerous areas.  Giving them safe places to go and safe people to go to will greatly alleviate the strain.  Choose a Safe Ar...

In movies and television shows, characters with Asperger’s syndrome are often portrayed as feeling very little emotionally or physically. It’s also quite common people to suggest that a character who shows little emotion or sensitivity to have “Asperger’s-like” traits.  In Star Trek, there are characters like Spock, Data, Seven Of Nine and the Doctor who, while not "Asperger's" as such are often referred to as "Asperger-like" in their behaviour.   In the big bang theory, Sheldon has the most “Asperger’s-like” qualities and of  course, there’s Doc Martin. While for the most part, these characters aren't immune to physical pain, they're shown to have increased levels of tolerance -- and when it comes to mental pain, they're often depicted as "unaffected". There’s clearly a perception out there that people with Asperger’s often feel “no pain” or “reduced pain” but how accurate is this? Nobody feels “No Pain” To be clear, nobody f...

Color my Senses: The Sensory Detective Coloring Book by Paula Aquilla BSc, OT, DOMP is a colouring book with a difference. It goes into detail on the human sensory system and covers not only the five “major” senses of taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing but also three less discussed senses;  Proprioception; knowledge of where your body is in relation to the world. Interoception; knowing how you feel inside (eg: stomach grumbling) Vestibular; balance and movement  As a frequent reader of books about autism, I'm very much aware of these other senses but I think that this is the first time I've found all three in a book aimed at children. For me, that makes this the most accurate (perhaps the only accurate) kid's book on the sensory system today. Having introduced all of the senses, the book uses a “crossing the road” example to show how the various senses work together. It's a very effective example. At times, the level of detail is astoni...

The Littlest Inventor by Mandi C Mathis (Illustrated by Danielle Ragogna) The Littlest Inventor is a children's picture book which tells a story about adjusting to sensory difficulties with some very sensible "inventions". These days, I'm finding myself reading a lot of really thick textbooks on the subject of autism and sensory processing disorder.  As a children's book with limited text and some gorgeous illustrations, this was an absolute breeze to read.  I really enjoyed it. At around 30 pages with one or two lines of rhyming text every couple of pages, it's the perfect size for a bedtime story or to read in the classroom. The story is about a boy who goes shopping with his parents and experiences a sensory overload. (Mild spoilers follow) The senses covered include sight, flickering lights, sounds in the form of chatter and smell. The ordeal in the shopping centre leads to a meltdown. When the boy gets home after the experience, he heads...