AUTISTIC NICK’S TOP TEN MOST READ BLOG POSTS
As I fling open the wooden shutters and allow the sunlight to pour in.
I look down across the town square to see excited villagers hurrying around with fixed smiles on their faces.
Bunting is being stretched and attached to wooden posts. Tables are having virginal white tablecloths laid onto them.
Chairs are being scraped and pushed under the table.
The smell of cooking can be smelt for miles around.
Wine is being delivered on the back of a donkey.
A banner is being placed up high into the sky.
It reads “What are you top ten most popular blog posts?”
Well dear readers wonder no more, below are my top ten most popular blog posts of 2020
ONE
This is the second week of me three-week mental health break.
After last week’s Zoom meeting with a friend I began to feel a clarity and it was as if
‘A FOG’
had been lifted and I suddenly felt like for the first time since April like I was feeling fresh air for the first time and I could relax, and all of my stress had floated away.
https://autisticnick.com/2020/08/17/autistic-nicks-2nd-week-of-his-mental-health-break/
TWO
As regular readers of my blog will know I’ve been working on a development project since April and I had been experiencing a wide range of emotions culminating in me having an Autistic Burn Out. https://autisticnick.com/2020/07/20/autistic-nick-has-an-autistic-burnout/
Since then I emailed the person that I was working with on this project and made the decision to take a 3-week break.
This was much needed for me.
But, not just for me but for my mental health too.
https://autisticnick.com/2020/08/10/autistic-nicks-mental-health-break/
THREE
Growing up I didn’t have many friends, well not what I’d call best friends or really for that matter any real friends. I would class these people as acquaintances. People I would say hello to but that would be the extend of the conversation.
I never had that one person who I would hang out with on the weekends, and go for bike rides with, or to the cinema or wherever kids went growing up in the 80’s.
https://autisticnick.com/2020/07/27/autistic-nick-and-friendships/
FOUR
Recently I sat down and watched via Netflix “The Umbrella Academy” a dark comedy, superhero, fantasy, sci fi drama. “The Umbrella Academy?”
https://autisticnick.com/2020/08/31/autism-and-the-umbrella-academy/
FIVE
Remaining calm becomes difficult when people are flooded with emotions or stimuli. Calming down corners provide a safe place to relax and process upsetting feelings and events.
People who experience difficulties processing sensory information, such as autistic people, those with sensory processing disorder (SPD), or highly sensitive people, can sometimes go into a state of sensory overload. Overload occurs when a person experiences too much sensory stimulation and cannot handle it all.
https://autisticnick.com/2020/06/08/how-to-make-a-calming-down-corner/
SIX
For a few weeks now I’ve been dealing and writing about how a development project was affecting me emotionally and mentally.
I had no idea that what I was going through is what’s referred to as ‘An Autistic Burnout’.
https://autisticnick.com/2020/07/20/autistic-nick-has-an-autistic-burnout/
SEVEN
This week I read an online article that screamed good news from the TV industry. What could it be I wondered and hastily clicked onto the article.
It said in the 300-word piece that Jason Katims had just gotten a new show picked up by a streaming service for 2020.
The show (no title as of yet) is and I quote from the article
“To get a job, keep a job, make friends, fall in love, and navigate a world that eludes them.”
EIGHT
I’ve just read an online article from the BBC announcing that they are going to inject £100m (in Australian dollars that’s $180,920,500.00) of its TV budget over a three-year period to produce “diverse and inclusive content”.
You’re probably wondering then why this is an issue and is an opinion piece?
https://autisticnick.com/2020/07/13/diversity-and-the-price-attached-to-it/
NINE
For the past month or so my anxiety has been triggered whilst I have been working on a development project.
At first, I didn’t pay much attention to the signs that were being presented to me.
I brushed them off and thought nothing of it.
But as I was encouraged to dig a little deeper and extract and examine particular sections from my past that it became apparent that I needed to step back and re-evaluate and eventually halt digging that deep into that particular section of my past.
https://autisticnick.com/2020/06/01/how-my-anxiety-triggers-affected-my-autism/
TEN
I am currently self-isolating as my fear, anger and incomprehension flicker rapidly across my face as my anxiety and stress heighten because of the current coronavirus pandemic sweeping the nation.
Now with the current confinement measures being in place too this has now abruptly disrupted my normal everyday routine.
CARRY ON THE CONVERSATION
As always, I can also be found on Twitter:@AutisticNickAU and on the Autistic Nick Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/AutisticNickAU/
Thank you for reading and I will see you next time for more thoughts from across the spectrum.
Autistic Nick 