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EDC - Every Day Carry for Adult Autistics... The stuff I take everywhere to keep me sane!

A+B-C

I almost always travel anywhere with

A manbag (50 year old swiss army canvas and leather medical bag which i put a nice smelling leather strap onto, it has an unusual mechanism to hold it closed which I can fiddle with .)

Containing:

  • A Tiny Victorinox penknife (minichamp) which is great to fiddle with.
  • A Moleskine blank notebook in a really scuffed up nice leather cover, and a propelling pencil (0.5mm.. Must be Pentel 2B leads in the little orange oval tubes!)
  • A 100 year old wooden ruler in the back of the notebook (EBay..£10)
  • My latest design I'm working on for mechanical art kits I sell.
  • My carbon fibre walking stick, I need this because of terrible knees, but I can also collapse it and twirl it while I walk as its colourful, has interesting textures, fittings on it and is super light.
  • Noise Cancelling EarBuds
  • If I'm going somewhere likely to be really loud I take full noise cancelling headphones instead that fit well over my ears.
  • Something natural I've found like a feather or stone.. to remind me of somewhere I've been.
  • iPhone, possibly the greatest gift to autistics in the history of mankind!
  • A couple of cough sweets because if I need a moment to think in the middle of a conversation I just say I have a sore throat and take one.

I've found that pulling out a sketchbook and looking intent while designing something complex will typically mark you out as odd but talented which is better than odd and strange!

I've realised that even before my diagnoses, this was a way to carry things to help me integrate with the NT.  It helps if everything has a story, like the unusual bag and worn notebook cover, otherwise you really look weird drawing on scraps of paper you pulled out of a plastic bag with the stump of a crayon, even if its fulfilling the same function.

Whats your EDC (Every Day Carry) ?

Parents

  • This is really interesting! I certainly have a bag that I have to take every time I leave the house.

    This is the bag that I use, it is made out of canvas.

    Eventually they wear out and disintegrate into holes so I am on my third one now. It doesn't have any pockets and I wish it did, and also it doesn't have a zip to fasten to stop things from falling out, but because I am used to it now I always just replace it with the same type. I like the way the shoulder strap goes across my chest, it gives me a sense of security and I feel naked and exposed without it.

    So, the things I ALWAYS carry in my bag.

    1. Woollen mittens (even in the middle of summer)
    2. A cotton handkerchief
    3. A pair of sunglasses
    4. A packet of paper tissues
    5. A packet of ricola original swiss herbal lozenges
    6. A tube of unscented zinc oxide suncreen.
    7. A small unscented hand sanitiser.
    8. My blue Nokia 2310 mobile phone, in case of emergency. I do not have a smartphone!

    I do sometimes, but not always take a small notebook and pen. This is mainly in case I observe a crime and need to write down a number plate, although in the past I used to sometimes need to hurriedly write down a poem or thought. The problem is that if I am in a public situation, such as a waiting room, I freeze and cannot take anything out of my bag. If I try to or even think about it then my hands shake too much and it sets me off panicking even more so it is better for me not to move at all. 

    Not in my bag, but always on my person is:

    1. a very wide brimmed cotton hat. It protects me from the sun but more than that it makes a nice dark sheltered place for my head and face. It also makes me feel less exposed and hides me from the view of other people. I can pull the sides down over my ears and it muffles sounds a bit. I have five of these hats and they all have chin strap and a sturdy toggle to tighten under your chin to stop them from blowing off if it is windy.
    2. a scarf  (woolly ones in winter, and cotton ones in summer). They make me feel more secure and also I use them to cover my face when I am assaulted by offensive smells such as traffic fumes, cigarette smoke, smoke from people's bonfires or chimneys, people's perfume or the washing powder and fabric conditioner residue on people's clothes.

    If I go out when it is dark or approaching dark I also carry a high visibility vest in my bag or on my person.

    Sometimes there are other things in my bag, but these are the things that I will never leave the house without.

    Thank you for an interesting conversation.

    Also, I do not carry a pebble or feather with me, but sometimes I find one and bring it home.

  • in reply to NAS79256

    I forgot to say that usually I do not go anywhere where I have to be inside a building with other people, but on the occasion that I do, I also always take two face masks inside a ziploc bag; one to wear and the other as back up in case something happens to the one that I am wearing! I have never stopped wearing face masks even though nearly everyone else seems to have. 

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  • in reply to NAS79256

    I forgot to say that usually I do not go anywhere where I have to be inside a building with other people, but on the occasion that I do, I also always take two face masks inside a ziploc bag; one to wear and the other as back up in case something happens to the one that I am wearing! I have never stopped wearing face masks even though nearly everyone else seems to have. 

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