It's hard to believe that 60 years ago today I saw Mary Poppins at the Leicester square Odeon. Time has flown by so fast! It still remains one of my favourite movies. 5 days later the trauma inducing awfulness of boarding school started. Just thinking about it caused tears to flow.
Flown by under an umbrella perhaps ? :-)
"The aim of Spartan education was, according to Plutarch ... “to make them obey commands well, endure hardships, and conquer in battle." "
I've recently heard the British Boarding School education system compared to this.
They're all areas which can drive any caring rational person to tears.
challenging misguiding authority, creating a pleasant and safe environment, preventing war - these all seem better aims for an education system to me -
but then maybe that just shows how little I know
Happy future!
To be honest I think,like far too many who were late diagnosed, I would've been bullied wherever I went to school.In terms of getting the help and support to thrive as an adult I was born several decades too early.Somehow, more by luck than anything else, I've reached the age of 68.
To be honest I think,like far too many who were late diagnosed, I would've been bullied wherever I went to school.In terms of getting the help and support to thrive as an adult I was born several decades too early.Somehow, more by luck than anything else, I've reached the age of 68.
I think it's used less than it used to be, but I currently have 160 feeds in my RSS reader. I've just added this thread to my RSS reader. I installed addons.mozilla.org/.../
I think the hardest thing after diagnosis has been actually asking for help, I'm too worried what people will think, I'll have failed and had to seek help, or avoid things I "can't do", so I white knuckle through it.
I've spent my life trying to be strong, I've not done too bad either, in my career I've done pretty well, I've got a wife and kids who I adore, so it's very hard to just one day tell everyone that although I appear fine on the outside and how much I truly so appreciate and love it all, , how hard it is to exist through pretty much every minute of my life, without sounding like I dislike them, dislike work, friends etc. or sounding like I'm making it up.
Therapy helped me understand that my biggest issue is me. I had spent my life thinking it was everyone else until one day I realised the odds of that being the case were slim and I was the common denominator. I don't know how to relax, have a bit of faith, trust and enjoy life, rather than second guessing, analysing and being paranoid about every minute.
Things that happened way back in school years still haunt me, i think they drive a lot of my current massive trust issues, as I'm still expecting the same things to happen, being let down etc. Even though it doesnt happen.
I so wish I could let go of all that , it's exhausting and leaves me feeling anxious and depressed most of the time, rather than enjoying it.
I'm not bold or brave enough to be an autism/disability/mental health advocate
You are doing it in your own way - that is something to be proud of.
As an aside, is RSS still on the go? I don't recall seeing this in a very long time.
doing what you have /are makes you an advocate in my mind :-) More power to your elbow! best is all relative in time and space - in my job I've spent a lot of time imagining people can get better when they don't much feel like it. Hehe I've sometimes even been right! all the best :-)
This may or may not seem silly. I'm not bold or brave enough to be an autism/disability/mental health advocate. I have however,for near 25 years, spread articles online that may help others. I've done it via the RSS feeds in my RSS reader. It's my way of trying to be helpful, in the best way I am able to.
I owe you a reply - suffice to say that so much of what you have shared I experience too and empathise. My suggestion is a bit off the wall, maybe foolish but nonetheless will do it. I try to think of a reason for why I am here and try to make it a good one. All the best :-)
I think there's significantly more help available re neurodiversity and going to college/university, than was the case when I was in my late teens. There was nothing for people like me when I was in school 1961- 1975. I was insightful and intelligent enough to know that my chance of coping with the non academic side of university was extremely low. That and major EF difficulties were hurdles too difficult to jump over in the mid 1970s.
I do agree however that when you get past the age when most people go to university, there's a serious lack of help and support. There can however be a lot of character assassination, being regarded as having a defective personality if, like me, you develop a severe mental illness. Struggling without anywhere near sufficient help and support from the (mental) health professionals is damn hard. There's no way I'd have made it to the age of 68, without the support of my late wife, and now my daughter- and granddaughters.
Same here, I'm 50 and if I'd known back then and people were told it'd have been worse. Any difference was exploited by bullies.
There wasn't a provision for neuro diversity then either, but to be fair from what I've seen recently, there's only really awareness and ability to o diagnose it now, there's little that seems to be available in terms of help once they have.
