Am I an Imposter?

I don’t know about you, but I have often felt like an imposter. I’ve often felt that there are people who could do what I do so much better than I can. I find it difficult to accept praise, often saying that it was all down to the other people who helped or I was just lucky everything worked out. There’s always that fear that one day I’ll be ‘found out’ – that I’m not as good as others think I am. I have what is often referred to as Imposter Syndrome. But what is it and can you do anything to overcome it?

Shutdowns – What are they?

We’re all used to computers shutting down. Maybe it’s because we’ve chosen to shut them down. Maybe it’s because we’ve not seen the battery reaching zero, so it’s shut down before we’ve managed to charge it. Maybe something has gone wrong with the computer and it’s crashed. However, it’s not just computers that get shut down. Whilst many autistic people will experience meltdowns, some will experience shutdowns. Whilst my son usually has meltdowns, I tend to have shutdowns.

Lessons from ‘Ground Hug Day’

On February 2nd it was Groundhog Day. This is a day in the USA where, if a groundhog comes out of its den and sees its shadow, tradition says that there will be six weeks more of Winter. If it doesn’t, there will be an early Spring. Almost one month earlier, on January 7th, I had what I now refer to as ‘Ground Hug Day’. I had been to see the pantomime at our local theatre with my husband and son. Afterwards, we decided to go to a local pub for something to eat. On the way, I tripped on the bit of pavement shown in the photo accompanying this blog, which resulted in me falling to the ground. After a few moments of processing what had happened, I got up and we went to have our meal. There were a few things that I learnt that day…

A New Year Begins…

We’re coming to the end of the first week of the new year. As the chimes of Big Ben ebb away, people make their New Year’s resolutions. These may include losing weight, exercising more, quitting smoking, or learning a new skill. Quite often these resolutions are given up on relatively quickly. Maybe the person has set the bar too high, so the task becomes unachievable and/or demoralising. Maybe they’ve not chosen something that fits easily into their lifestyle, so it becomes a chore rather than something that they want to do. I try to have achievable targets for the year ahead, which will hopefully mean that they’ll not be given up on.

2023 – A Year in Review

We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year. It’s a time when people often look back to the events that have happened during the year. They say that time flies if you’re having fun. Going by that saying, this year must have been filled with fun as it’s really flown past! However, in reality, it’s been a year of good and not quite so good experiences. Here’s a snapshot of some of those experiences.

Mind Your Language!

Do you ever think about how what you say, either spoken or written, may affect other people? Sometimes we say something without giving much thought about how it may be received by others. I know I have been guilty of this at times. My Dad used to say we needed to “engage the brain before opening the mouth”. I think he had a point! Maybe we wouldn’t hurt others so often with our words if we followed his advice.

In a recent training seminar that I led for children and youth leaders about additional needs, I had a section called ‘Mind Your Language!’. It looked at how what we say can be upsetting, hurtful and, at times, confusing for children with additional needs and their families. Let’s look at some of them:

“It’s Not Fair!”

The words “It’s not fair!” are often heard from children who feel that they’ve been treated unfairly. It might be that a sibling has been invited to a party by a friend and they can’t go or maybe it could be that they’ve been told that they can’t have a new toy because it’s too expensive. We learn from an early age that life doesn’t always seem fair. As adults, we may feel life is unfair too. Maybe we didn’t get a promotion that we were certain we’d get, haven’t been able to take a holiday this year (or possibly for many years) or countless other reasons. One thing that has caused me to think “It’s not fair!” over the years has been down to the premature death of my Dad.

Japan – An Autistic View

The view from Mt Misen

If you read my last blog post, you’ll know that we recently travelled to Japan to go and visit our daughter, Charlotte. Our son, Kieran, came with us. Kieran is autistic, so how autism friendly is Japan? Before we flew out, we were a bit concerned about how he would cope. As it turned out, Kieran found it easier than we expected. Here are some of the reasons why.

Reflecting on Japan

The Golden Temple in Kyoto

On the 21st of July, I found myself doing something that I hadn’t done for years – I boarded a plane! We were travelling to Japan to visit our daughter, Charlotte, who lives there. The last long-haul flight I’d taken was approximately 35 years ago when we travelled to the United States for my Brother-in-Law’s wedding. I had a panic attack on our return journey during the landing which really put me off flying! Although I have got on a plane since then, it was over 20 years ago and that was just a short flight from Heathrow Airport to Leeds-Bradford Airport to go and visit my Mum (it was an easier way to travel with a child who was about 18 months old at the time). The trip to Japan was definitely a time to face my fear of flying!

Dear Mum….

The 22nd of July 2013 is a day that is one of those dates that will be forever etched in my memory. It was the day that I had a phone call from my brother to say that Mum had died. It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed by already. A decade on, I’ve decided to write a ‘letter’ to Mum…