Welcome to Steve’s Aspie Adventures



Whether you are reading this as a parent, carer, friend or are on the spectrum yourself, a warm welcome to the blog and I’d welcome your comments. I was diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition as a teenager. Throughout my life this has brought unique challenges, deep lows but also very happy times. I hope with this blog I can share some of my experiences, challenges and successes with you. My hope is that it can help along the way at breaking down some of the fears, misconceptions, stereotypes that come hand in hand with Autism by giving an insight into what it’s like as an individual living with the condition.

At times when I’m affected most by my condition life can grind to a halt, but that has given me a drive to experience all I can when I’m feeling well. Travel brings a new perspective on life and the experiences it brings have made my good days even better and given hope in my bad days. For me it’s a metaphorical middle finger to a life-long condition. In my other blog (Roaming Steve) I share some stories of my travel and adventures.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog. Feel free to share this with your friends if you've found it helpful. I'd love to hear your thoughts, any topics you'd like to read about and own experiences so please comment or message me.


Please note, that in all my blog entries I can only relay my personal experiences and perspective. It is important to remember that every single person on the spectrum is an individual with a different story to mine. I have no medical expertise or training and am writing to share my personal experiences only.


Sunday 31 May 2015

Reflections on a Year of Blogging

When I started this blog I never suspected it would be still going a year later. I wrote my first post after a few people asked if I would share some of my experiences with them on living with an autism spectrum condition. In the year since I have learned more than I could have ever imagined from the simple act of writing this blog. Over the coming months I will unfortunately not be able to continue to post as regularly as I'd like. Recently I've returned to full time work which is great news, but also means I've got to give it my full attention and have had to make the decision to put this blog on the back burner for a while.

For those affected by autism, both on the spectrum itself or supporting someone who is, it can often seem overwhelmingly isolating. The thing that has really stood out to me over my year of blogging is what an amazingly supportive community there is out there. By opening up and sharing my experiences I have got so much comfort from realising that I'm not alone and having the opportunity to hear others' stories and experiences. I've had the pleasure to meet some amazing new friends all over the world. It has also opened my eyes to realise that sharing my story can be of help to others. It's easy to get trapped in a bubble of being told how things are by professional 'experts,' who often seem disconnected from the realities of life.

What I've realised is that actually I am an 'expert' too, I've got 31 years of experience at living with autism and sharing my experiences, good and bad, can help others. You can too, YOUR experiences are truly valuable and there are so many people out there who would get a lot of encouragement from hearing your own story, perhaps you know what it's like to live on the spectrum, or you know what it's like to parent a child on the spectrum, or you have some routines that help you, or you know the strain of holding back a meltdown. For years I felt scared to use my voice and be open about my experiences, but it's been the best thing I've done and now I know we're really not alone.

So on that note I'll say farewell for now. I will be back later in the year, so for now please feel free to keep in contact, I look forward to hearing from you :-)

3 comments:

  1. Just found your blog and I love it. It's awesome that you got a job and I completely relate to not being able to write much. I'm a teacher and am just on summer break so finally have some "down" time and time to write, so I'm going to try to put more time in at my autism blog. But when I'm working full time, by the time I get home my brain is "done". I usually have to concentrate on one thing at a time and during the week that's work! I hope you're enjoying your job and I look forward to new posts when you have something to say!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have just started to read your blog and I promise you that, as soon as possible, I will read it in depth and that I pay close attention to it.
    First of all, you have my esteem for having the courage to write about your Aspie portion.
    I have some experience in the field of Pisicology because, despite being a lawyer, about ten years ago I have known a female Schizoide so schizoid that forced me to deepen this problem a lot (today, I know this aspect probably more than many psychologists) .
    Over time, I learned to recognize the suggestive contiguity between Schizoidi and Aspies and I realized that one of my colleagues is an Aspie.
    Well, I must confess that I have long and fraternally tried to be not only a colleague but also a friend of this Aspie (a very good boy, with a very appreciable ethic approach), but I received from he an endless series of gaffes that have greatly damaged me, and a constant feeling of having in front of a person certainly with a strong ethical intent, but also very egocentric, very presumptuous, sometimes even cynical and very tending to monetize our professional and human relationships.
    Please excuse my raw sincerity.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have just started to read your blog and I promise you that, as soon as possible, I will read it in depth and that I pay close attention to it.
    First of all, you have my esteem for having the courage to write about your Aspie portion.
    I have some experience in the field of Pisicology because, despite being a Lawyer, about ten years ago I have known a female Schizoid so schizoid that forced me to deepen this problem a lot (today, I know this aspect probably more than many psychologists) .
    Over time, I learned to recognize the suggestive contiguity between Schizoids and Aspies and I realized that one of my colleagues is an Aspie.
    Well, I must confess that I have long and fraternally tried to be not only a colleague but also a friend of this Aspie (a very good boy, with a very appreciable ethic approach), but I received from he an endless series of gaffes that have greatly damaged me, and a constant feeling of having in front of a person certainly with a strong ethical intent, but also very egocentric, very presumptuous, sometimes even cynical and very tending to monetize our professional and human relationships.
    Please excuse my raw sincerity.

    ReplyDelete