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

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.

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!

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).

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. 

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.