Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi folks,
Today was the first day of my week-long induction into my new job, working as an Individual Support Worker in day services in a local autism charitable trust. It was an interesting, if exhausting day. We all got to introduce ourselves and talk about our experiences with autistic people. I seemed to be the only one who'd worked in care for several years. Many people were completely new to it. It was great to see such enthusiasm, though, for working with people on the spectrum. Most of the people we'll be working with are severely autistic and need 24-hour support.
I was also the only person there with an autism diagnosis, which I mentioned - and which generated a flurry of interest. The trainers would often come to me for perspectives, and most people seemed generally keen to hear of my experiences both through working with autistic people and through my own personal experiences as an autistic person. I think this is really going to be a great place to work!
I was anxious as hell over the weekend - mainly about the journey there. I did a lot of planning, though (my car doesn't have sat-nav) and didn't get lost once, despite a lot of complicated city-centre navigation. I have a hopeless sense of direction, and one wrong turning would have left me in Nightmare-land! I feel so much better now!
How was everyone else's day today?
Tom
Good to see that you've all been active. Thanks for all your messages of support
Sorry to have been absent. It's been an exhausting week, and I've been getting home, having dinner, doing a little writing... and then flaking out. I've got to a crucial stage with the writing and I feel that if I don't do at least some every day, then I'm going to lose momentum. It's so important. I'm up to 86k words now and there's still a lot of ground to cover.
In other news... my DBS finally came through. I was half-hoping it would take a little longer so that I could have next week to try to crack on with writing - but they've asked if I can start on Tuesday. I am looking forward to it. I'm very impressed with the whole set-up. They really seem to take care of their employees. I just hope I can survive on 30 hours a week. I think it should be alright, though I won't have much money left over. But I'm used to living on peanuts, so it shouldn't be a problem!
Hope your days continue to go well.
Catch up properly soon.
Tom x