Blogging about autistic experiences- do you have any experience or suggestions?

Nigel said:

I started doing a blog, very recently, about my own experience and thoughts on my Autism.  So I am not 'experienced', but I can say just writing about this has really helped me unmask to myself.

Hi Nigel

Thanks for sharing your experience! I am so glad blogging has helped you in this way, that’s great!

Nigel said:

Under all the diverse ways we live and can cope woth/cannot cope with there does seem to me to be many commonalities. For me that really helps to see.

Great, this is why sharing lived experiences is so impactful!

Good luck with blogging! Thanks for sharing your experience.

If you want to read more blogs about autistic experiences Neuroclastic, Autistic Village and Neurodiverse Connection are all good places to start.

I started doing a blog, very recently, about my own experience and thoughts on my Autism.  So I am not 'experienced', but I can say just writing about this has really helped me unmask to myself. I did not realise how much I was in denial about, and how I had created a false perspective on my own life. As my blog is very new and not advertised I get just a handful of readers, and to be honest I like that. I don't feel the whole world is looking at me, so I just feel comfortable being open in that situation. I did the blog partly to help me self express, but I did want to help create a grassroots level connection...not necessarily a connection where we communicate, but where we can observe others going on this journey of life through an Autistic lense. It helps me a lot to read of others internal experiences, to understand myself, obviously others, and know I am not alone in this. Under all the diverse ways we live and can cope woth/cannot cope with there does seem to me to be many commonalities. For me that really helps to see.

The irony is that I don't have the attention span to read blogs. But I'm thinking of doing one.

Perhaps because in the course of doing my research I found very little in the way of blogs about Autism. Particularly independent ones.

So I say go for it.

Absolutely! Thanks.

IKR yes that's the great thing about blogging it gives a platform to endlessly talk about the things we love - which when you're addicted to info dumping is a dream come true! LOL!

Ausomely Autistic said:

Thanks, maybe having my own blog is a future plan.

Yes definitely keep it aside to do when you're ready.

Fantasy said:

I had a blog site a couple of years ago, mostly during covid. I was blogging about autism and my special interests and I really enjoyed it! I've thought of starting it again but I really don't have time anymore because I'm working so much.

Thanks for your reply. It's great that you enjoyed blogging so much, I think it is a great career avenue for autistics like us as we literally get to infodump about our passions!

It's a shame that you can't continue as you are working so much.

Thanks, maybe having my own blog is a future plan.

Hello!

If you have Microsoft Word you could write out a blog just for yourself. That way you can test the waters and see how you get on, and whether it's for you or not.

I had a blog site a couple of years ago, mostly during covid. I was blogging about autism and my special interests and I really enjoyed it! I've thought of starting it again but I really don't have time anymore because I'm working so much.

Ausomely Autistic said:

 I have thought about starting my own website dedicated to blogging about autistic experiences but I don’t think I am ready for that yet.

Take your time. There's no rush at all to do anything.  Please let us know if you decide to go ahead with blogging in the end, I'd love to read yours.

I just hope you're able to stand your ground and don't let any negativity get to you. There may well be valid feedback etc but you'd want to hear that from friends/family, not an angry stranger on the internet. 

HMO said:

I wouldn't want you to get into a position where people on social media begin to attack you for/accuse you of speaking for the entire autistic community.

Of course not, thanks for being so considerate. I can only speak or write based on my own autistic experience, however the majority of the autistic community may relate as there are some common experiences.

We are a very beautifully diverse community.

I blog constantly, been doing it for over a decade. Not about autism, though

Thanks for replying! Great, what do you blog about?

 I have seen lots of blogs powered by Wordpress, thanks for suggesting this!

If you want to write for other sites, just Google "autism blogs" and reach out to them about guest posting. Many people will be open to that.

Brilliant idea, thanks!

It's good that you have it worked out and a much clearer idea than I did. For me it was something I fell into and was just trying to make a go of but I didn't really consider the negative aspects.

I wouldn't want you to get into a position where people on social media begin to attack you for/accuse you of speaking for the entire autistic community.

I would occasionally tweet a random thought (e.g. "the autistic experience of never feeling welcome anywhere") and it would get 15,000 likes or something. I'd struggle with that because I'd put pressure on myself to read every response. That's on me for not using social media healthily though.

I blog constantly, been doing it for over a decade. Not about autism, though. A platform like WordPress is a good place to start because it's easy to use, has a community attached to it from the start, and you can upscale your efforts as you go along. There's a free version, too, for getting started,

If you want to write for other sites, just Google "autism blogs" and reach out to them about guest posting. Many people will be open to that.

HMO said:

I think that's important. Remember to set your own boundaries and put yourself first. I know of people in this realm who find people can latch onto them and rely on them a lot, and that is likely to get very overwhelming.

Absolutely! Setting your own boundaries is so important. But I think at the same time, sharing lived experiences is what leads others to discover and reflect on their own neurodivergent identities, if I can help someone understand who they are, that is huge. I would love to play a small part in someone’s autistic or otherwise neurodivergent discovery!

If we didn’t share our lived experiences there would be no progress in terms of understanding autistic experiences and other neurotypes.

I understand what you mean about people relying on you but if I were to consider blogging about autistic experiences full time, I would try to treat like a job as it is a job. However, autistic experience is also my dedicated interest and what I spend most of my time and thought processes on so there is obviously a lot of overlap. Because of this I think I could easily and enjoyably spend all my time on this.

Ausomely Autistic said:

Thanks for reminding me about this, I want to write blogs that I am really passionate about and as part of that I think it will have to include some information about me personally in order for anyone to relate to it.

However, I think one way I can avoid people asking for support is by not allowing comments if I were to have my own website. In the future, I do want to be able to offer support to other autistic people including with self advocacy and understanding their own autistic identity.

I think that's important. Remember to set your own boundaries and put yourself first. I know of people in this realm who find people can latch onto them and rely on them a lot, and that is likely to get very overwhelming.

Opening yourself up to others in and of itself is not a bad thing but if people want to reach out to you, maybe there's a way that's possible where it doesn't impact you negatively. It could get overwhelming having to deal with a potentially high number of messages/DMs.

Ausomely Autistic said:

If you don’t enjoy something anymore, that’s a definite sign that you need to stop. I completely understand what you mean by blogging being a lottery after all you can never be sure that someone will like your idea and agree to commission a blog.

I definitely would not do what I did and rely on it as a 'job'. There was good that came out of it for me (a piece in the Metro and the BBC News website), at the time anyway, but it all quickly went south.

I think trying to get my website seen by others got to a stage where that wasn't enjoyable either, and the thing which stopped it all, I'm almost grateful for (even though my personal life has suffered massively).

Thank you so much! I am glad you appreciate my positivity about autistic experiences! I just want to help other autistics develop a positive autistic identity too!

 I appreciate the fact that you write some very in depth replies and posts too. We all have something different to contribute.

Hi HMO

Thanks for the recommendation, I will research!

 I do remember discussing this with you before.

HMO said:

When you put yourself out there in the public eye (so to speak) and you're being very vulnerable about your personal life, inevitably people will turn to you for help and support. That's not a bad thing by any means, but you just need to be prepared for it.

Thanks for reminding me about this, I want to write blogs that I am really passionate about and as part of that I think it will have to include some information about me personally in order for anyone to relate to it.

However, I think one way I can avoid people asking for support is by not allowing comments if I were to have my own website. In the future, I do want to be able to offer support to other autistic people including with self advocacy and understanding their own autistic identity.

HMO said:

I also did make my own website, but I guess the whole thing felt like too much of a lottery. I'd have to pitch ideas to websites, I'd have to get myself noticed somehow, and it got to the point where it wasn't really fun for me anymore. 

If you don’t enjoy something anymore, that’s a definite sign that you need to stop. I completely understand what you mean by blogging being a lottery after all you can never be sure that someone will like your idea and agree to commission a blog.

Thanks again for this very informative reply!

I don't read blogs but I always value your contributions here. I like how you keep it positive but realistic. 

We've spoken about this very briefly but I did make a go of this earlier in the year. It came to an end because it had to, but while I didn't mind it at the time, in hindsight I don't think I was ever really prepared for it.

When you put yourself out there in the public eye (so to speak) and you're being very vulnerable about your personal life, inevitably people will turn to you for help and support. That's not a bad thing by any means, but you just need to be prepared for it.

I also did make my own website, but I guess the whole thing felt like too much of a lottery. I'd have to pitch ideas to websites, I'd have to get myself noticed somehow, and it got to the point where it wasn't really fun for me anymore. 

There's another organisation called 'The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism' if you want to try them.