Aspergers The Beginning

OK So If I am going to write a blog about Aspergers I should probably write honestly Truthfully first of all I don't relate to having Aspergers i rather think of myself as a normal 26 year old who just happens to see the world a little bit uniquely to others I am not a Typical Aspie I can talk, walk, Drive ,I have job, can read and I  have friends. I am what you call High Functioning that I can function on a level that is comfortable to me I do need help with things being able to understand social norms is tricky I always butt in to conversations as I don't have the ability to know when the natural pause is i tend to talk to much about the mundane things and i often repeat what I have said 5 min ago. I can get very hyper and can sometimes tend to go bit child like when my brain is faced with a very anxious situation. Anyway My first ever inkling that I had Aspergers was in Year 9 at QE me and my friends were reading books for an award and we had to decide who would win I was very lucky to read a really great book by and Author called Mark Haddon Who wrote the Curious incident of the dog in the night time if you have not read the book  now is the time to go get a copy and sit down and read. The main chacture had Aspergers traits and when I was reading this book I could relate at the time of reading I only had one Condition and that was Dyspraxia I am also have Type One Diabetes (Aspergers worse nightmare living with diabetes) any way I was not officially diagnosed with Aspergers until i was 23 years old now that is quite a long time but for me a young age because as soon as i got the diagnoses all the doors opened it was like waking up from a nightmare and walking to a better positive future. When i was 11 My world how can I describe it turned upside down. My Parents decided to move back to Dorset and moving house was quite stressful time I was 11 and became very irritable and wetting the bed (trying to expell all those sugars) I did a blood test on my brothers meter and I was sky high and I ended up in Hospital diagnosed with Type 1 i hadn't even started a new school so I was thinking great got another condition i have to explain to potential friends any way years after my diagnoses i rebelled I was very angry at everyone family mostly I was present at school and soon as i got home very angry at everyone I was sneaking sweets and Icing Sugar to my room  as i got it in my head i was not aloud sweets and chocolate at all and looking back now I have a feeling that My Aspergers was making me angry and making rules in my head even trying to control the TV in the living room it had to be CBBC when my brothers were watching CITV even though I had a TV in my room this continued when I was 18 years old when I finally came to terms with my Diabetes and I had to find out how to be friends with the Big D anyway it wasn't until i got my first Boyfriend he had Aspergers as well and i will write about Relationships and Aspergers in a future blog post we split up and I was not dealing with the break up like a normal person would I was very erratic taking it out on him and my friends I also got to the point were I was very low at this point and I wanted to end it and I did write what my friends were going to get it felt so surreal in my head i even convinced myself I had Bipolar thank you Google. Anyway I went to my local mental health team and spoke to a phycartirst with my  mum  and she made an official diagnoses of Aspergers and I was so relived that i could name this thing in my brain. since my diagnoses i have lost friends due to they just do not understand and i was pretty horrible but less so now. I am in a Relationship which i am proud of being able to have a proper relationship and I live on my own with support from my Support worker in my flat which I got from housing. I Still get frustrated but i have ways I can cope with that and i will talk about that in future post I just want to tell my story about living with this how it effects me and how others treat me becuase of it. I hope you enjoy reading this and I will talk to you next week
Rhiannon :)

Aspegers and friendships

Aspergers and Work My Experience

5 months a go i had a lovely student from Bournemouth Uni come and do a documentary for her course She choose to focus on Aspergers and Work This is a big issue for people who have Aspergers the frustration of the system lack of understanding so early in the year I emailed after seeing an advert on Dorset Adult Aspergers email and I thought why the hell not so i sat down with the lovely Hollie and told her my experiences of having Aspergers and my experience of work seeing as I am one of the lucky few who have a job so hear is my piece on Aspergers and Work and it got me thinking I might do a video on a subject about Aspergers so next week I am going to talk about Aspergers and Friendships and my experiences of how tough it is to keep friendships. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXGvATM0jns

The Joys of Putting your Fob Watch through the Wash

Hi and welcome back to my blog
so its Sunday and I did the washing yesterday and I took my work uniform out of the wash and realized that my fob watch was still on it oops oh well lesson learnt always check your pockets for anything that may still be in them otherwise you will ruin a perfectly good watch. When i was living with my parents i didn't have to worry about that sort of thing  my washing was done all for me but living independently I now have to check all my pockets just in-case and I suppose having your own flat and things its a learning curve i now have to start saving a little bit just in case anything goes wrong with my car or just in case of emergencies so I save 100 pounds each month just in case. Shopping for one is a task also having Type one Diabetes I just can not rely or eat too many ready meals i like to try and make my dinner from scratch I think I am a pretty good cook I made Shepherds Pie 2 weeks ago and it was pretty yummy i like to cook from scratch I kind of feel proud after i have followed a recipe. I went to the Tivoli in Wimborne last night to watch a show 3 years ago i wouldn't of have gone anywhere near a theater or venue without taking someone with me but i was so proud of myself i even went to Weatherspoons and ordered 2 lime and Sodas and i didn't need anyone with me to have a good time I really did have a good time and now I know that if i put my mind too it i can go to anything I want to. if you are reading this and you know or have Aspergers my tips to going to somewhere on your own as follows
1. Plan your Journey in advance this helps me a lot knowing bus times in advance has really helped in the past don't panic if the bus is 5 minutes late its a bus they can't help but being late.
2. Go visit before you go- I have driven to new places before the event or meeting a friend i find this helps alot then I don't get anxious on the day about driving in traffic or roads that i don't know if you visit beforehand take a friend or relative to go with you and don't forget to thank them by buying them a coffee this always helps :)
3. When you get to the Venue take a few deep breaths i did when I went to see Paloma Faith last Sunday yes I was still anxious but I did have a good time
4.Most places will have a deal were if you take your Carer or Support worker they get in free or at a discounted price e.g Bowling so if you do feel nervous you can always take someone along and then you don't miss out on an activity.
5. But Most importantly Have Fun don't let your fears stop you from doing anything you want to do :)
Thanks For Reading
:)

Moving out Ups and the Downs

As everybody knows Moving out is very daunting and emotional. I moved out of my parents home in November and boy has it been stressful these few months. I hate change as it is and Moving out is the biggest change ever when I first moved in I thought it would be fun and everybody would be piling over here to hang out but that has not been the case at all its different the hype of moving out the reality is its stressful, emotional , Scary a few times i have wanted to just move back into my parents it can be a little bit lonely. I try and get out as much as I can. As someone who has Aspergers I have been trying to establish a routine and yes I have been neglecting my hobbies I try and spend a little here and a little there doing my Book tube channel and I have started making my cards again. I am also thankful to having a job as that gets me out of the house and Socializing and helping out at swimming every Saturday keeps my routine as normal as possible. The hardest part about living on your owns is food shopping for one its so difficult to remember there is only one of you and yes I have thrown loads of food out and I have discovered that I have a freezer and that helps a lot instead of fresh fruit I have frozen and I try and check out the reduce section to save money. i have also spent the last week interviewing for  a Support worker to help me with my bills and to help create a cleaning routine and I have found the joys of Pintrest  that is a great website check it out it has lots of free printable. and When I do get stressed out my microwave comes in very handy if I don't fell like cooking and once a week I go back to my parent s house. I wrote this blog because I am going to expand about living on your own independently and I will be posting every Sunday so i hope you enjoy reading this blog and I will see you on Sunday :)

Failure

I was on you tube the other week when i saw the popular author Markus Zuzak he wrote the Book Thief which is amazing and in this video which I will link in this post about failure and how it defined him as a person and how it affected him and it got me thinking about how i deal with Failure and what in my life I have failed at and weather it was a positive  thing in my life and if it made me the person i am today.

It seems to me no likes to fail its a word that can bring fear to a nation if i fail will it be the end of the world No... We need to fail every so often how will we learn if we don't fail. I have failed three times in maths and my car test and my second relationship.
So let me take you back into the past when I was in Primary/Secondary school doing maths I am not going to lie I hated maths i did not get it and it made me very upset I was a very shy child at school so I didn't want to say I needed help with anything I used to sit there silently in tears knowing that I was no good. Now in Primary school I hated mental maths 10 seconds to before the next question I used to get 0/10 every time even though my teacher would help by going slowly I still didn't get the answer right and I got very upset i didn't understand how my class mates could do it but I couldn't fast forward to 2014 and I am currently doing a adult maths course yes I still hate maths but the teacher who i have is amazing and i am now confident with solving problems and i now consider  that I am not a failure in this subject the failure at school has made me more determined to carry on after Level Entry 3 to Level 1 next year i have always had it in the back of my head after GCSEs when i got my U that I would one day revisit this subject and get a qualification in it just to proove to myself that maths and the failure I felt in School would not let me hold me back.
I then Failed my Practical car test twice it affected me badly I had a break from driving I then came back learnt with my mum and passed 3rd time I took that time out to get my head together and now there is no stopping me I have a car and I love it .
March 2014 I have failed in my second relationship but instead of shouting and crying and loosing friends I will learn to see the brighter side yes I am scared but if we don't fail how will we learn that by failing we won't understand the Importance of who we can be and what we can learn and achieve. As Someone with Aspergers the word fail flashes at me like a big Red sign as someone who loves to have her life go from ABand C failure for me is like a car crash were instead from running smoothly and being perfect it goes to ABD but looking back I think I do find new ways to cope with failure its not a bad thing anymore its not a scary word yes people fail but after they fail they pick them selfs up and they brush themselves down and try again.
and to watch my fave Author talk about his failure it says to me not everyone is perfect so now I am going to embrace it and learn and be the best person i can be :)
Thank-you for reading the official first post on The Aspie
Next Week i am going to talk about Anxiety and the ways in which I cope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-_8QIdm4hA&feature=youtu.be

11.2 Miles

Yes that is correct today I cycled 11.2 miles from bland ford to shilling stone station yay go me all for charity were i work we did a charity walk run or bike ride to raise money for our sensory room. and i completed it all of it yay yay yay it was the first major bike ride I have done since school and that is a long time ago altogether i have raised ..... £67 pounds which is impressive. I did wobble a  little bit and I hated going down hill but that didn't  matter as that part of the county of Dorset is the most breathtaking I am hoping to do more charity sponsored events.