Published on 12, July, 2020
I find it incredible, at my tender age that not only I'm autistic but also that I still get anxious at large gatherings. I've been to plenty of parties, anniversaries, weddings and funerals, and yet I've never been able to accustom to these things. Our yearly family party is coming up next month and God am I feeling the anxiety rush already! I love seeing the family, especially my grandkids but my God the idea of so many people and all that noise all at once is utterly petrifying.
I'll cope - I always do, I'm going to pour a wee whiskey and then I will hide in my study with my books. Quite nice actually, my grandson Matthew always joins me in my study - too young for the whiskey but he loves reading, in to all the classics. Ah-ha top lad!
This is my way of surviving a party. Show your face for five minutes, pretend to smile, laugh at jokes you don't understand and then when everyone gets bored with you and goes off to drink and talk with more interesting people, hide in your study - and don't forget the whiskey!
Sounds like a good plan :-)
Anxiety about such gatherings doesn't reduce by repeated exposure to them. That is a myth. They tend to not get any easier for autists as we still have the same social struggles, the same sensory overwhelm from the noise and multiple conversations all at once. Studies have shown that autistic people do not habituate to sound by repeated exposure the way non autistic do. In fact sensory sensitivities can worsen as we get older.
I've noticed this with a lot of things as well Autonomistic
Like going shopping. No matter how much I do it I never get used to different surroundings and new people
Constant anxiety all the time
I'm not sure exposure to things always works like a lot of professional say it does.