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My Attitude to Autism

“It would have been so easy,” Mum says, “just to say ‘oh, she’s Autie’, on so many occasions.” We’re talking about how Mum and Dad have pushed me through the years, not to be normal, but so I would do better on my own. We shared the same attitude towards parents who prefer to shelter …

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Worn Out

“Have a cup of tea.” Says a helpful voice, carefully placing a cardboard mug next to me on the grass floor. It’s the third festival I’ve been to with my Dad, by this time we have worked up a routine of starting our day in the comedy tent, theatre in the afternoon, then finding some …

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Normal

Normal is a state of equilibrium. I know this because of how much my life has changed just in the past two years - and how much it is set to change in the next five. I have a place to study at university in September, finishing my job in August, from university I plan to go into teaching - but who knows what state of 'normal' I will be in then. Since going into lockdown, there hasn't been a new 'normal' for me to stick to. Of course every week day has pretty much been the same, I have been surrounded by the same people and the same things - there is some consistency in my everyday experiences. But there is a questioning sensation in the back of my mind which is asking what this sort of 'normal' is, will it stay this way forever? What will happen once we go back to mingling with other people?
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I miss the Bustle

Here is the situation, I am not able to leave my house to work. That is the simple problem living in this situation.... Now, this is the longest I've gone without leaving the village. The trains can be heard rustling through the village, walks around the train line reveal the empty carriages. And I want that bustle again. The busy-ness of everyday life. This made up my normal.