Mind Your Autistic Brain with Social Autie

 What is Possible After Autism Identification as an Adult by Carole Jean Whittington There are so many things that I have learned about myself since finding out 7 years ago, at the age of 39, that I am autistic and ADHD.  This past year has been a Quantum Leap year for me in my Neurodiverse journey and not in the ways I ever could have expected. I never expected to: get hit with a PTSD flashback and for once not freeze, panic and spiral down a dark mental hole. move cross country for the second time in a year only to arrive and go through one of the most crippling burnouts I've ever experienced, but was able to recover in a matter of a few weeks vs the years all the other ones took. have those thoughts of suicide pop up when I'm tired or not feeling well and be in a place where I can just observe them and not feel the need to overthink and shame myself but rather allow them to flow through me like water and watch as they move away. I wasn't sure how to best share what I hav...

Too many Questions by Sam Huber of Huber Family Adventure on Instagram When I was six I went to Sunday School for about a minute.  I remember being stuffed into a little ex-broom closet with six other kids and a boney old teacher.  She looked like something out of a "Little House on the Prairie" novel, with her pale-colored dress buttoned up to the neck and tight gray hair bun.  The smell of old chalk from the board hung in the tiny room like dust in an old ghost story.  The teacher would sit us in a circle, then open a half moth-eaten book and start to read a story to us. One day, it was the story of Noah and the Ark, and she go to the point where he was loading all the animals onto the ship.  "How did he keep the fish alive on the boat- did he have fish tanks?" I asked.  "Sam, they just stayed in the water," said the teacher.  She turned the page before I asked her, "What did Noah feed the animals?"  "God provided Noah with the animals...

  Thought Loops, Rumination & Worry  How to use them as a tool for Autistics What is it? Mandall et al defines rumination as the "tendency to engage in sustained, repetitive thinking about negative topics." (Mandell et al., 2014, p. 35). Overall, with variations in definition in psychology research, rumination is a pattern of thinking which is most often, but not always, linked to a negative feeling, experience from the past or future feelings that are anticipated. Example: * Replaying a conversation that has happened * Scripting every scenario for a future conversation Rumination refers to thinking about events in the past . Worry refers to thinking about events in the future . Beneficial Tool vs. Harmful Behavior The harmful affects of rumination and worry can be: *Loss of sleep * Easily agitated * Increase in anxiety & depression * Impact your emotions and can change your world view along with your sense of safety. INSIGHT The brain cannot distinguish easily betwee...

  1. Basic Needs This one has always been a challenge for me.  I tend to get caught up in what I am doing and forget to eat and drink.  I'm better about it in the mornings, but by lunchtime or late afternoon I have completely forgotten.  I've even caught myself "holding it" after a cup of coffee rather than stopping to "go" because I don't want to stop what I'm doing.  Can you relate, do you do any of this as well?   IF so, then it is time for some Self-Care.  One of the biggest hurdles we as autistics face is giving ourselves PERMISSION to Self-Care.  Somehow, over the decades of going unidentified and not knowing we are autistic, we hold this false belief that isn't even conscious that we have to follow the rules and ask permission.  I think it comes from childhood when we had to ask permission to go to the bathroom at school.   Most of us are rule followers to the letter and this new awareness that we are in control and have...

  In this installment of the 2020 Holiday Survival Guide for Autistics you will get insights and tips into: What to do if you are alone on the holidays How to use past holiday events to help you this holiday season 3 Clues you are saying “YES” too much and How to say NO Going places and meeting new people Sensory Challenges and Overwhelm Download the Mind Your Autistic Brain Holiday Magazine along with 3 Gifts & 2 Bonuses including Tips for stressful family events and MORE. There are many reasons we could be alone during the holidays , from moving too far from family to be together, COVID safety protocols, no family and the list goes on. I know how this feels because I have moved far from anyone I knew many times and been in this exact situation. Start by redefining what the holidays mean to you. Not what some Norman Rockwell painting depicts, but what you think and feel the holidays should be to you and how you want to spend them. This can be anything. A cozy day in your...

Autism & Self-Worth By  Maisie Soetantyo of Autism Career Pathways         & Social Autie, Mind Your Autistic Brain You can view the Live Instagram TV Discussion Here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CHvwBaBA6sG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link What is Self Worth? Positivepsychology.com definition-Having a sense of self-worth means that you value yourself and having a sense of self-value means that you are worthy. Merriam Webster defines it as…”a feeling that you are a good person who deserves to be treated with respect.”  What does not define self worth: Bank account or social status Job title Attractiveness # of social media followers What are some barriers or roadblocks in the life of an autistic to self-worth? What we have been told from others in our life which has formed or defined our beliefs of who we are and what we can or can’t do. How we view ourselves in the world in relation to others. Comparison trap. “Comparison is...

  With hindsight and all the advances in neuroscience you might have already asked the question why wasn’t this picked up when I was younger? Well, it was and it wasn’t, in old fashioned parlance I could have been described as a ‘problem child’ and back then tragically the panacea for such ills was a jolly good hiding. Thank God we have moved on since then! I realised very early on (around the age of five) that even though we are all different I certainly was more different than most and I certainly couldn’t understand why everyone else didn’t see the world like I did. I was well used to being described as odd, weird, peculiar etc. and there was one incident in my teenage years that summed this up. We were in a physics lesson (with thankfully a great teacher) and he was explaining the meaning of the word ‘anomaly’ and it went something like this: Teacher: An anomaly is something that is in a group but not part of it because it is different. Let me explain: Take Muxworthy here (poi...