Happy New Year

The New Year is fast approaching and as we say goodbye to 2014 many of us will be thinking of things we want to change or achieve for the year to come. If you are stuck for ideas on resolutions you can make that are fun and (at least likely) to be achievable, here is a list to inspire you.

Daily Photo Project

The idea of this resolution is simple, take one photo every day of the year. The photo can be of anything, something representing the day’s events, something mundane, something that interests you, it doesn’t matter but it must be taken that day. With phones cameras and digital cameras so readily available it is easy to do and a challenge I took on myself. I ended up carrying on for four years, but why? What was the point?

By making myself look for something to photograph each and every day I started to see the good in even the more lousy days. It gave me an appreciation and perspective on my life I would have not otherwise seen. Looking back over the albums it’s what had seemed as less memorable days that provided the most meaningful photos that wouldn’t have otherwise been taken – my family meeting for lunch, the first meal in my new home or the day my Dad rescued me when my car broke down. What memories will you capture?

Grow Your Own Vegetables

Spring will soon be coming so what better time to start planning a new gardening project for the year ahead. Growing your own vegetables is a great project for all the family. Whether you have a garden to dig over or just a window sill to grow herbs and chillies, there is something you could try.

Try New Foods

A lot of us have told ourselves which foods we should cut out of our diet, but how about the reverse? Instead of a list of banned items, how about challenging ourselves to try new foods this year? Perhaps try replacing one item on your shopping list for something new or get experimental with different cuisines and recipes.

This year I joined some friends in doing weekly shop in a Chinese supermarket. Certainly some of the items I tried won’t be on the menu again (dried squid and jellyfish…) but it certainly gave me more confidence to try new recipes and I can now cook up a mean stir-fry!

A Daily Good Deed

Wanting to do some good in the world is a common resolution to have and definitely a rewarding one, but for this resolution it’s not the one off big charitable event I’m talking about, it’s a bit closer to home. Is there something you can do today for the benefit of someone else? Perhaps you can spare some time to help someone, volunteer or even something as simple as giving someone a smile or reminding a loved one why they’re special to you. Is there something you can do today?

Spend More Time with Friends and Family

It’s so easy to loose touch with friends and family, like takes over and before we know it another year has passed. Why not take the opportunity now to put time aside in your brand new diary to spend time with those you care about. Even if you can’t arrange to meet up in person, perhaps you could proactively set time aside to phone or send an email.

Fulfil a Life Dream

Is there something you’ve always dreamed of doing? Perhaps there’s somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit? Could this be the year you fulfil this dream? Even if it’s farfetched, why not make a start at making it happen? You never know where it will lead.

Last year I fulfilled a dream of driving Route 66 across the USA. Admittedly I had to compromise a bit and trade the Cadillac for a budget hatchback and posh hotels for cheap motels, but it was an experience of a lifetime and something I’m so pleased I did while I had the opportunity.

I hope this list has inspired you to try something new in the next year, and whatever the New Year brings, I hope it is full of fun and happiness.

Fanatical about Fungi

‘Look! Look! LOOK!’ I shrieked at my friend Marq. ‘A Clathrus Ruber!’, ‘LOOK!’

I hopped around excitably while pointing at a mass of red mushroom emerging from the undergrowth like an alien egg. Flies buzzed in the putrid miasma emitting from this strange form.

What we had stumbled upon on our quiet walk was a rare fungus not often seen in the UK. This startling form emits a smell of rotting flesh to attract flies to disperse it’s spores. I was VERY excited. Marq just looked at me and said ‘wonderful’ as every true friend should say in this situation. The expression on his face however suggested he felt this was rather less than wonderful. Still my enthusiasm wasn’t curbed and my interest in fungi had been truly reignited.

This interest dates back to early childhood. Like most children on the spectrum I developed intense and obsessive interests. Questions often pop up on the forums from parents asking how they can get their child to be less obsessive and develop more mainstream interests; my parents just went along with it. I had been developing a slightly odd interest in drain pipes, probably because the book I was currently reading involved a boogy-man who lived in the sewers. The upgrade of my attentions from sewers to fungi was probably gladly welcomed.

It all started one late summer afternoon when I found a group of brightly coloured mushrooms growing near my Grandma’s house. Being at the ‘what’s that?’ age my dad decided to buy me an identification book so I could figure out for myself what they were. The book was vast, hundreds of pages filled with pictures of fungi, listing their Latin names and various identification details ranging from size, habitat, spore colour and shape to technical biological and chemical factors.

If you are not wanting to promote an obsession in an autistic child – DON’T buy them a scientific manual at the age of 5!  I quickly decided that I needed to find ALL of the fungi.

My long suffering parents took an approach to my interests that I only fully appreciate now I’m an adult – they got involved and made it a family and fun time. The interest in fungi allowed for some great walks out in the forest; Dad trailing behind as I bounced about through the undergrowth. We had art sessions involving taking spore prints and sculpting play-dough fungi, and forming some great memories. It’s clear looking back that my rigidity as a child could be loosened if there was a link to what ever interests I had at the time and if I could see a point to it. I remember my mum wanting to go to a Country House for a day trip. I was more than happy, I’d been told there were gardens that might contain fungi! I have very fond memories of the trips and adventures we got up to as a family.

I quickly learned how to identify my finds and was able to identify many of the tasty edibles and know which to avoid. I was never overly concerned about eating my finds, I actually don’t like the taste of mushrooms at all and the regular shop-style mushrooms are ones I always found fairly dull (they are just plain looking white things after all) but a clear memory I have was being told not to touch one as it was poisonous. I was rather aghast by this clear ignorance of my expert knowledge and proceeded to educate this ignoramus of the clear difference between this Agaricus Bisporus and it’s poisonous cousin the Agaricus Xanthodermus. This was my teacher and I was 7….

As an adult I’ve learned to tone things down and my interest is reserved for occasional walks in the forest. I regularly get people bringing their finds to me at work to find if it’s a tasty treat. Often it’s not, but it’s still a great ice breaker and makes some interesting coffee time chat.

One of the species I’d longed to see as a child was the Common Earthstar. Starting life like the well known puffball, this round fungus emerges and quickly cracks open into a star shape. The arms of the star fold down and majestically lift the spore-bearing ball away from the ground. It was so different looking that I circled it in the book with my crayon and spent the next 25 years searching for one. Despite being supposedly common it stayed hidden from my sight.

Last weekend I decided to have an old fashioned Father-Son day out in the woods to mark the start of this year’s fungus season. We chose Crab Wood, one of our regular spots as a child. To our amazement the first find of the day was the earthstar we’d spend all these years searching for. Sitting proudly in clear sight by the main path, there she was in all her glory, welcoming us to the woods and inviting us in for another fun day foraging.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my story. I’d love to hear your stories of how you enjoy your interests or your child’s interests. I’d especially love to hear from you if you’ve found a way of combining your interests with employment.

A Day at the Volcano

The earth rumbled as the pressure beneath built ever stronger until finally…. BOOM! An explosion of mayhem flowed down into the village of Lego houses. The villagers (unfortunate woodlice) scattered and I set about engineering a barricade to halt the hosepipe-mud-volcano avalanche. I was fascinated by volcanoes and as a child I dreamed of one day being a world famous volcanologist. With no local volcanoes at hand I had to make do with a hosepipe and my parents flower bed. Still, I was happy.

Like many with autism, I have ‘special interests’ – intense, almost obsessive interests in often random things. I circled through Volcanoes, Tornados, Maps, Travel, Eurovision (I know… but there is a score board with lots of numbers – how autism friendly is that!!!), stamps, fungi…… For each one got obsessed, became an expert, got bored then moved to something new.

For many years I tried to moderate my hobbies and forced interests to fit my peer group, but recently I’ve come to see this more nerdy side to me as being a great asset and something to cherish. In fact I’d say the focus it gives me on subjects is one of the greatest gifts that autism brings me. In this weeks post I’d like to share with you of a time recently that two of my interests met and I got a chance to travel and visit a fascinating mountain. Come and join me on a day at the volcano….

‘Come and visit one day’ is something often said between friends over Facebook, but this time I’d decided to do just that and here I was 5000miles from home with my friend Andrea, camping in the forests of Washington State. My camping expeditions at home usually come with some sort of mishap so the bears, snakes, spiders and poison ivy were playing on my mind. Top it all off with evil, slimy, foot long banana slugs… yeughhh. ‘You’ll be alright’ said Andrea as we casually sauntered past a Tsunami escape sign and wild fire warning chart. ‘Everything here is trying to kill me’ I sighed.

Dangers aside, the natural wonders of the area shone through. The campsite nestled amongst mighty trees, draped over the dramatic foothills of the Cascade Range. Bright lakes sat in the valleys, reflecting the snow capped volcanic mountains.

One of these mountains was out destination, although this one was no longer a perfect cone. We were heading to Mt St Helens. This notorious mountain catastrophically erupted in May 1980, replacing over 400m of it’s height with a mile wide crater. It still stands over a kilometre taller than Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest peak. I’d read a lot about this volcano and I was excited to get the chance to visit.

As we approached the great mountain started to reveal itself from behind the surrounding hills. It’s battered and grey hulk standing in sharp contrast the verdant surroundings. The crater appearing as though it’s summit had been punched by an angry giant, crushed like a used drinks can.

An ominous sign announced our arrival to the blast zone, 12miles from the mountain. The surroundings got steadily more barren, twisted trunks jutting from the loose earth, slowly being reclaimed by new growth forest. We finally arrived at the visitor centre, just 5 miles from the gaping crater.

A Park Ranger met us and told us the story of the barren place we had found ourselves in. The eruption that had happened here was in fact triggered by a landslide of gigantic proportions. Like my mud volcano, the pressure had been building, until finally something snapped. What snapped was the entire north flank of the mountain. The whole side slid away and released the highly pressured and superheated gasses and material below. The mass of rock ploughed across the valley to where we were now stood. At this point it was carrying car sized boulders at 155mph and at a staggering 400celsius. This ‘scorch’ zone was stripped of everything down to the bedrock. Nothing survived here. Continuing on it’s journey, the turmoil rumbled over ridges and down valleys for a further 12 miles, flattening trees like matchsticks. Meanwhile to the west glacial melt water and displaced lakes had sent a torrent of hot acid mud down river to where our campsite was now sited.

In total the eruption caused over $2.8 billion in damage and took the lives of 57. An evacuation had taken place of the local communities and being a fairly remote area this could have been far worse but even so these sobering statistics still brought a new perspective to the battered landscape.

34 years later wildlife has slowly begun to move into the blast zone, bringing life back to the scorched hillsides. On cue to prove this point a small chipmunk popped his head up and stood proudly on the wall in front of us.

Back at the campsite that evening I had chance to reflect on the day’s adventure up the volcano, having seen first hand the immense power of the not so solid earth we stand on and having a new found respect for the forces that shape the earth below our feet.

Now what was that rustling outside the tent…..  a bear?....... an evil banana slug?

......or just a racoon?

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