Question Time.

A few months ago (to quote Cats And Dogs) I did an interview for an academic paper regarding Autistic parenting and decided to pop some of the answers on here as a kinda quick intro into the wacky world of 'the 'tism' as we never call it.

And you can find that very post here.

Anyway at the time I also did a thing for the Chris Packham fronted BBC project Inside Our Autistic Minds that was broadcast this very eve.

Bizarrely I was way too excitable and chatty for TV and ultimately not used as the researchers said that we'd need a whole documentary to ourselves, tho I think the real reason I wasn't featured was my hair would clash with Chris Packham's.

So to celebrate this failure (one of many in my life) I reckoned it'd be fairly amusing to share part of my interview.

Enjoy.

 

Your question....your question....what's your question?

 

1. Who the Hell are you?

Hi, I'm Ash, an Autistic dad to 3 Autistic children (twin girls and a wee boy) with an NT wife - so as you can imagine, Autism's the norm in our house which means we have to cope with a non-Autistic who can change routines, try new foods, get different haircuts etc. so it can be quite odd! 

Anyway, when not raising a grand Autistic army to take over the world (imagine the Skywalker's but with more stimming) I work as an illustrator with work taking in
everything from art for FrightFest, Cine Excess festival, Stealth Aspies theatre company, the Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick exhibition, Glasgow Museums and Glasgow Science Centre & the Tax Shelter Terrors documentary, concept & art for Scottish Autism's Autitude magazine and more plus I also work with an Autistic art/social group
and blog/advocate for all things Autistic along the way….it’s a full time thing!

2.  Describe an average week.

Same as everyone else I reckon – get the kids ready for school, hope the school transport isn’t late as that can impact our day, then shop/work/drink tea – leave the house for more work – come home in time for the kids bedtime routine then relax!

3. When were you diagnosed as autistic and how did you feel about it?

I received my DX aged 43 after years of mis-diagnosis for a myriad of other conditions (Frontal Lobe Epilepsy, hormone imbalance anyone?) and to be honest it just seemed that everything clicked into place, like putting on glasses and finally being able to see after years of assuming the whole world was blurred.

4. In what ways do you think being autistic impacts your life?

It’s at the core of who I am, it informs everything I do, everything I like - every aspect of everything!

5.  What do you think people misunderstand most about autism?

It’d be quicker to list what they actually understand…which is probably how to spell it.

6. What do friends, family, co-workers or support workers struggle to understand about you?

Like any relationships (work or personal) you’re gonna get misunderstanding and confusion at times, I’ve always been lucky enough to be fairly loud and outspoken plus I know misunderstanding is a two-way thing….I find NT folk utterly frustrating and hard work at times, but it’s not their fault that their brains work
differently to mine…it costs nothing to be understanding and patient with them.

7. Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?

I was once mistaken for the small boy from Dario Argento’s Suspiria at a
horror event by a semi-famous Italian actor.

And with that out of the way, enjoy the blog.