Published on 12, July, 2020
Good Evening All,
I would love to formulate a post diagnostic course for Autistics or even a book. One that contains all of the information that I wish had been available to me when I had been diagnosed. That information that you spend hours and hours foraging for in the information jungle that is the world wide web. Information that is slowly learned from time spent with other Autistics but that would be so much more convenient and time saving to have in a nice neat easy to read and digest format.
So, what information would you want to see in a post diagnostic course or book?
I like this idea. It might be difficult because we are all so varied. Perhaps the way you lay it out would be important. I always found it quite difficult to figure out if I fit into the 'top three traits' that are usually on a list. It's only when I read, or hear the experiences that others have had, that I get a flash of memory of something that has happened to me which makes me realise that the list isn't limited to just those traits. A more comprehensive list of each would make much more sense.
We are amazingly varied. In fact, that is one thing that I like about the group that I run for Autistic women, the diversity of individuals in that group is immense. But yet, we are all Autistic and despite our individual differences, we do share a style of thinking and processing that is unique to our neurotype.
The 'top three traits' - I'd like to discuss that further. How about what is the 'real life' version of those top 3 traits? How does 'restricted and repetitive behaviours' translate from the textbook into reality? Because there is so much variance between Autistic individuals, how RRBs translate will vary greatly. One person might be interested in the textbook trains/stamp collections/traffic lights. But another person might like to think repetitively about a certain person; another may be interested in beads/fabric/artists equipment; another still may specialise in their subject of interest (I'm quite sure this is the case with many university professors). We can't be pigeon holed can we, those 3 letters 'RRBs' covers such a vast array of interests and behaviours that it would be impossible to have it all neatly contained in a whole library let alone one book. But yet, perhaps a nod towards the very diversity of this trait? An acknowledgement that it can present in so many different ways, we don't all just sit lining up objects all day long.
Yes, of course. The 'real' experience of being Autistic. Not just what the textbook says. The textbook does not encapsulate the essence of Autism. How do we view our own Autism. What 'symptoms' are significant to us? What are the things that we struggle with. Again it's about translating the textbook to real life. So many things about my Autism, I learn from speaking with the other women in my group, they aren't written in any textbook that I know of.