Life of Learning Disability and Autism.

Travelling.   Autism affects a lot of people’s lives like with all disabilities. It affects different people in different ways. It may well depend on the type of Autism and the person who is facing it, it may well be the same with other disabilities. People face the same disabilities and Autism may not the same difficulties and abilities, only you can research that to know what to expect out of the people you support now and those you may support in the future. Excepted the unexcepted.

My experience is finding it hard to cope with crowded places with loads of people and even empty places. For example, busy airports, bus stations, train stations, etc. Travel information on the boards flashing on and off, which can be too fast for me to focus on and take in.

 This is where Anxiety can link to the Autism, which can cause the person a sense of panic but not always the case, this can vary one person to another. Not sure what others the same if not like I find but I seem to have limits to how far I can travel alone, for example, my home area Wolverhampton, as far say Walsall, Birmingham City center, maybe I could get as far as Dudley, Tipton, West Brom. I like my independence because in the early years I was overprotected a lot etc.

Nighttime seems to be a dangerous time when it’s dark because support workers aren’t work, which you don’t expect them to when they have worked all day. All the same it’s risky for a valuable person to be out at night but the same for other people too but then everyone has rights to live, whether people have disabilities or not. At one time we used to have events, charities, etc going in the evenings when I was in my twenties and thirties but slowly funding running, which were ran by charities like Mencap, we had like PHAP, the Happy Society, Good Year’s discos, Circle of Friends, the DABS Disco, etc.

Employment. Like I said most employers don’t understand learning disabilities. Not everyone takes notice of the Disability Discrimination Act. It’s than it was before the Discrimination Act, but we still have a long way to go.

It seems that some employers see people with disabilities etc as a health and safety, which without support may be at risk but with support and the right tools, etc. It should be possible for us to work equal to other people, but the most common reason would be is funding which the government should be taking part in as well. Support should be provided in the workplace as well as services to support people with disabilities etc to get education and employment.

If you work, study or and train in the field of disabilities, etc, you should learn about what a learning disability is and other problems, which I will include in this book, what type of disabilities and other problems there are, how they affect people’s lives, the support and rights people like myself need, want, etc, accessible information, easy read, etc. How can you support people with disabilities etc to live their lives equal to you and empower their independence as well?  

Even thought I haven’t been diagnosed, in some ways people with a learning disability our own doctors, nurses, etc to how we feel and what we experience in life positive as well as negative to everyday lives.

Many people like myself facing possible Asperger, I guess in some of us who face Dyslexia. Many people think people with Dyslexia can’t read and write, which is not true, which just tend to see numbers and letters the wrong way round for example 78, 87, dog, bog, mixing up bs and ds, etc. We might not be a great speller even put things in the wrong place etc, but we might well have a good imagination, artist, being creative, storyteller, etc either of those or both I guess.

It’s possible I may have had ADHD through when I was on Phemabarotone, without knowing it at the time. Where I was feeling sleepy and not sleepy at the wrong times as a child. This makes me think that it may be caused by some medications or and disabilities, mental health, health problems, etc people may have which health professionals need to investigate.  Like I said as soon as I came off Phemabarotone well so much time after, I start to get a bit calmer as the years went on. I hope this information is useful for parents, families, carers, etc, which could be even the side – effects of most medications, etc.

Many people with Asperger and I guess other types of Autism and maybe other problems face Anxiety and Depression mainly when we feel we aren’t apart of people around us. A sense of panic and fear, overcrowded places, etc. Not being able to handle our everyday skills, which can make most people frustrated. Not being able to get the balance between support and independence. We need support with the things we can’t manage not the things we can.

They say we are not good with imagination but if we have dyslexia we well could be. However,’ doesn’t necessarily mean we are not if we are not Dyslexic, therefore this could vary from person, which you may need to research elsewhere to find out for sure. I myself for example as a child found it hard to play with another child, therefore, I would play my own pretend games with my dolls and soft toys. Also, the fact, I was an only child at that stage which made me more self to my self at that time in my life. My sister was born when I was thirteen and yet I found it hard to play her through her childhood.