AUTISTIC NICK GOES ON A WRITING COURSE
FUN FACT It is a 47- minute drive from Joondalup to the Fremantle Arts Centre
FUN FACT And is a distance of 49.8 km from Joondalup to Fremantle Arts Centre
FUN FACT I am going to be going to be doing a one-day writers course this Sunday the 29th November.
FUN FACT I am extremely excited!!
Ever since I can remember I have always had a love for creative writing, during English lessons at school I loved to amerce myself into the fictious worlds that my characters would inhabit. I loved creating a backstory for them and exploring their motives and reactions when they would be placed into many different situations that they may have found themselves in.
So, when I came across this recent course being offered by the Fremantle Arts Centre, I booked it straight away for this Sunday the 29th November.
FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE
Fremantle Arts Centre
The Fremantle Arts Centre is a multi-arts organisation based in a historic building complex on Ord Street in Fremantle, Western Australia.
The heritage-listed building complex was built using convict labour between 1861 and 1868 and was used as a psychiatric hospital, initially called the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum, and later known as the Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Today it offers a program of exhibitions, residencies, art courses and live music.
THE COURSE
This one-day course will cover a range of techniques to improve attendees’ fiction, non-fiction and personal writing projects. Topics covered will include description and detail, characters and setting, editing, audience and voice. At the conclusion of the course students will be equipped with the understanding and skills to make their writing jump of the page.
What to bring: –
Pen
Notebook/paper
Laptop if you use one
We recommend bringing your own lunch as the café can be very busy during peak periods.
The course is an all-day event running from 10-4 which for me is a long day as I tire easily, I’m hoping that I will be able to push through and I’m hoping that I don’t become fatigued or I have a burn out.
Being Autistic can make my fatigue and burnout more likely, due to the pressures of social situations and sensory overload. If you’re an Autistic person and have or are experiencing fatigue or burnout, managing your energy levels is essential.
Fatigue, and then subsequent burnout, can happen to anybody. Autistic people, however, can be more susceptible to both, due to the pressures of everyday life, having to navigate social situations and sensory overload.
Trying to cope with these pressures can lead to exhaustion (autistic fatigue) and over time this can lead to extreme exhaustion or autistic burnout.
For me as an Autistic person there are various ways that my Autistic fatigue and burnout have affected me. Autistic fatigue has often been described as exhaustion with additional difficulties such as:
Increased meltdowns and sensory sensitivity
Physical pain and headaches
Physically shutting down, including the loss of speech.
Autistic burnout affects all aspects of a person’s life, and this makes it different from professional burnout, which is related to work.
WHAT CAUSES AUTISTIC FATIGUE AND BURNOUT?
There are various things that can cause Autistic fatigue. Autistic adults suggest several causes, including:
Sensory overload
Dealing with social situations
Masking or camouflaging their Autistic traits
Suppressing stimming
A sense of not meeting other people’s/society’s expectations of them.
Changes in your routines or day-to-day life, such as a change of school or job, can increase anxiety and can be additional causes for Autistic fatigue and burnout.
For me I feel that I’m going to have to put in place some strategies around monitoring and managing my expectations and knowing the signs that I may need to step outside for 10-minutes to catch my breath or to have a stim, having that extra support with the support worker will put my mind at ease.
By going out and socialising I’m hoping to be able to show myself that my Autistic fatigue won’t hold me back and that I can go out with having any anxiety hanging over me holding me back.
Here then are three strategies on how to deal with a sensory overload.
STRATEGIES FOR HOW TO DEAL WITH SENSORY OVERLOAD
1) CREATING ROUTINES FOR STABILITY
Build upon routines and address changes within familiar routines or expectations before they happen.
2) IDENTIFY, DISCUSS, AND WORK ON POTENTIAL SENSORY TRIGGERS IN ADVANCE
Identify potential sensory triggers and discuss expectations for those situations as well as solutions that might be possible. For example, a noisy, crowded shopping mall could be a trigger – expectations could revolve around the time spent there, problem-solving could include negotiating stores differently or discussing an exit-plan.
3) CREATE A TOOLKIT
Prepare for a potentially difficult experience beforehand as much as possible.
Discussing an appropriate way to leave the situation/environment should it become too much
Problem-solve potential triggers
CARRY ON THE CONVERSATION
How do you deal with having Autistic Fatigue?
Let me know about your experiences in the comments section below
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 