Question For Those With AUTISM LFA MFA HFA

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Do you find yourself having trouble with lifes daily acitivites? Things that someone without Autism would find easy IE: Shower,Dressing,Eating,Working 6 + hours, running errands,ect???

I find that by the time i shower dress eat and get ready to go out im halfway done already...like my head starts hurting and i just cant deal with life stress very well....

anyone feel this way??

im not depressed just cant seem to get into the "adult life" acting very well even thought im 25

I have middle functiong autism

ok nobody yet
blah

Heyyyy, i'm in the same boat as you! I have to take a life skills class coming up soon. I still have problems eating, dressing myself, showering, doing the easiest tasks seem to be the hardest it sucks! By the way i sent u a pm, because i lost ur email, any chance did you get it?

Nevermind i just got ur pm right now lol, haha.

Tho I have a DX of HFA this was in 1987, and I feel my real DX should be AS tho that did not exist in the mid-late 80's.

I am very routine oriented, and so I naturally do what I must do everyday, its second nature, so if every day is exactly the same (and it ususally is) then I have no problem cause I know what too do and have done it day after day the same way for years.

What Woodsman said.

I have to make it part of my ritual. If I don't it won't get done. One day off my game, and then I have to start over.

I hate showering and washing my hair. I hate all of the stuff that goes into getting ready for bed. But I love being clean.

So it becomes a ritual. I do things the same way every time, every day. I keep doing it no matter what. It doesn't take long for me to make it a habit, to the point it actually messes me up if I don't do it. My rituals are stronger than my dislikes. I floss like crazy. I have a Sonicare, and my teeth glisten.

My challenge is to modify my habits so I don't over do them. I'll brush the enamel right off of my teeth if I don't watch it.

It'll happen. Just hang in there. This is not a laziness issue. This is an executive function (I absolutely hate that phrase) issue. Hell, at 46 I'm still learning stuff. Sometimes it's disheartening, yet I love the learning stuff.

Metta and good luck, Rjaye.

sad

I'm HFA and 55 and I still struggle with basic life demands. They mostly get done... but not always. And it's a continuous source of anxiety, never being sure if I've actually done everything I need to do, at the right time, in the right way.

I am doing pretty well most of the time, but I know I really need to get myself better organized and to clean out the mess in my closet. That's one big thing that's bugging me.

I need assistance throughout the day. Now that I'm out of school, when there's no one home during the day I am in adult daycare.

Are you taken to a day treatment place?

I need my routine. If something interrupts my routine, I feel stressed until I can get back into that routine.

When I have a busy day coming up, I use a checklist. By the second time I used it, I noticed that my anxiety over missing a step was gone, so I could focus on actually doing the chores. This is much better.

That's the same as me, but half the time I forget to note things and forget to do them! Amazing how that works. I have iPhone and pens/pencils/paper all over the place, yet I still forget! Or I do have it on my phone but forget to add to it.

I just look at the second trip to the store as more steps for the day! I have long given up on being upset about forgetting something. It happens so often.

And this site isn't very good for keeping track of where I have posted comments. I've thought of writing it down, but that is just too much work! So if I don't reply for a while...

Yesterday, it occurred to me that the next time I decide to get organized, I should dig out whatever notebook or folder I was using the last time I tried, and build on that. From time to time, I have had to clear my desk by creating a "current" file. The contents of these are seldom seen again for years, by which time they are irrelevant.

I think a lot of it is a perception thing; we're told that because we have autism, we "can't" function in society, and many get attached to this label - and even cherish it. A large part of this is parents' desire to mollycoddle their children for various reasons. Personally, I was left to fend for myself from the age of about ten or so (I wasn't diagnosed till sixteen, anyway), and thus developed the skills necessary to live independently at around that age. This is surely proof that those with high functioning autism shouldn't, under the right circumstances, face too much difficulty living independently.

Similar.. to keep unusual things from making me unfocused and dithering I have alerts set all day with my phone (a perk of my smartphone I actually embrace)


If I am not scheduled I can spend a good 10 minutes on deciding things like a bath or shower. How warm/cool should I dress today? What should I eat, do I need a heavy meal or can I eat light and wait until I get home?

Which task (at work) should I put the priority on (if none given)?

I am a reliable worker and can lead teams for certain things but not a "leader". Why the army was ideal for me. I could shine in a structured environment.

Deadlines can petrify me if I don't have enough direction of what result is desired.
Also do I have to commute to a job? I am stressed to maximum right out of the gate if I have to drive in traffic. I used to arrive 3 hours early and sleep in my car when I had 60 mi commute that was often 2+ hrs if I left my house even 30 minutes later (Olympia to Bellvue) than 3:30am.


My Aspergers raises my stress levels, stress is more likely to trigger my migraines than diet. Being vestibular migraines more often than cluster, no amount of medicine can correct me to be able to drive or even function. So how can I get accommodation to avoid this domino effect and still be viable in workplace?
This also made a negative aspect in parenting because the fear of missing an "i" to dot or "t" to cross can be critical!
Especially if split from the other parent and having confrontations in court. a normal person misses a small detail it can be called as bad but waived. If a person with a disability misses that VERY same event (ie not home in time because traffic/poor planning/act of god), they are bad parent/crazy parent/unsafe parent/lazy parent/neglectful parent! 0_0 .

Who can be your advocate? Who can be your trainer for those weaknesses that actually are detrimental to independent living?