What is Autism to me.

So far I’ve done interviews with friends and family and I’ve explained the technical answer to what is autism today I’m going to explain what autism means to me and my family. So what is autism well short answer as I said in my first video. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the way the brain processes information causing developmental delays and possible social, sensory, and communication issues as well as many more and it affects everyone differently. Now that is an in the box answer for a very out of the box disorder.

Now what is autism to me? Well autism is why I didn’t speak until I was over 3 years old and still to this day have time where speaking is a challenge. Autism is why I have a hard time with social situations and usually don’t know what to say or how to act making it hard for me to make friends. Autism is why I was agoraphobic for a time period. Autism is why some of my senses seem to be in constant overdrive which can be good and bad. For instance with heightened hearing being in a crowded noisy place can throw me into overload because I can’t filter the different sounds but hear them all at the same level it can be a bit much. On the other hand my heightened since of hearing saved a friends dinner from burning they had set a timer to let them know when it was done I was in another room watching TV. when the timer went off I heard it and it annoyed me so I tracked it so I could make it stop my friend had forgotten they were cooking and didn’t hear the timer so because of my hearing it didn’t burn. Another way my heightened senses helped was my sense of smell I caught a whiff of something I couldn’t identify and I couldn’t focus on anything else until I knew what it was so again I tracked it and good thing I did since no one else could smell it when I found the source it was a small fire in the electrical box which we quickly got put out before it caused any real damage if I hadn’t smelled it it could have gotten real bad and we could have lost our house. Another way autism has helped me is with problem solving since autism makes me see things different it also helps me come up with new and unique ways to solve problems. Being autistic has helped me be more accepting of others having felt like an outsider most of my life I do what I can to help others not feel like that. Autism has also helped me have a stronger bond with my children since they are all also autistic we can understand each other and relate to each other in a way others can’t creating a great bond between all of us. Down side is that because we all get along and understand each other so well we can get lost in our own world and not want to go out of the safety of our home that often. Autism is also why when our routines get thrown off we don’t always handle it well. The kids tend to melt down and I tend to get confused and as to what to do next but we do always manage to get through it. To sum up autism is good and bad it’s what makes us unique and different and although it has it’s challenges that we have to face every day that we walk out our door it does have its good side too that help us have the will and courage to get up and leave our house every day and face those challenges and overcome and that is what makes us Autism Strong.

Next time I will be talking about picky eating and sensory problems with food I hope you will join me for that.