So Much To Say, So Much To Do!

I was trying to get to sleep last night, and all I could think of was how much I have to say on this blog!

There's explaining all the symptoms, social interactions, difficulties, how they affect me, how they apply to other people, how other people view autism, the list goes on and on. And then there's all the things I actually have to do this summer, keeping up with the step up work for college, trying to find voluntary work, and a part time job. It's just so hard to keep it all organised, and even to think straight in my own head. So then I thought, why not make that the focus of this post.

Organisation is a bit of a strange thing in my life, and that of a lot of autistic people. It can be done both extremely well, and extremely poorly, often with the same person. I am one such person.

On the one hand, me and a lot of other autistic people have obsessions. This means that I can get completely stuck on one topic, knowing every last detail of it, organising it and prioritising it over everything else. They tend to provide stress relief, being a way of disconnecting from stressful interactions to hide someplace we know is safe. This can be useful, like when I need to do some work in physics, and I already know it because a while back I read all the physics books I have and know the background knowledge. But it can also be a bad thing, like when I stay up until 3 in the morning finding myself reading up on microchip architecture, and end up woefully unprepared for art, and running short on time.

On the other hand, there are the general organisational problems autistic people can have. I have to admit once again, I'm definitely one of those people. My Dad always calls me Lastminute.com because of my habit of leaving all work that has to be done until the last minute, and then stressing and rushing to finish. But it's not just me being a teenager! While the way my mind works allows for strange and creative new ideas and ways of working to spring forth, it doesn't work so well for organising. I tend to be very 'detail focused', allowing me to work out the intricate details of a project, but making it very hard to see the whole picture, and hence organise my time accordingly. It's a little like being fascinated by gears, but then getting confused when you realise it's part of a whole bike, and not understanding how it fits together. I am improving though. I'm keeping this blog regularly updated right? And I'm keeping up with the step up work. Just, let's not mention the search for a part time job...

There are other organisational problems, but not that apply as much to me, and I can't really think of them at the moment (see what I mean? Terrible organisation, just terrible...). In the mean time, I'll just drop this link to the National Autistic Society, which does a pretty good job of explaining organisational issues and how they can be helped. They have some other great pages, including one about obsessions and compulsions. You know, I think my next post should really be about what autism really is, rather than the detail first... But then that's me, detail focused! See you guys soon.

Chris