Exercise is a matter of staying alive and healthy for me. When I don’t exercise every two to four hours, I get a headache and chest pains. The palsy increases, as do my autistic sensory issues. Add to this the inevitable anxiety (panic), I know exactly what I need to…
Category: Employment
Posts on the employment challenges faced by autistics.
The year 2020 needs to be more relaxed, and that means adjusting my plans and goals. Now that I’m in my 50s, it doesn’t make much sense to keep chasing some goals that are unlikely. They might happen, but chasing them would be too emotionally and physically draining. Parenting Responsibility…
Welcome to 2020. The year 2019 wasn’t too bad and I have to assume 2020 will be better. Yes, there were disappointments and struggles in 2019, but overall it was a good year. My wife and I officially became the adoptive parents of our two daughters. We love them and…
Q: I read your blog and listen to the podcast, but you don’t mention any of the positives of being autistic? Where is your autistic pride? I don’t have any autistic pride. That should be evident, as I replied to the parent asking me the question. It isn’t that I…
Podcast Episode 0032; Season 03, Episode 04; October 29, 2019 Driving isn’t easy for me and many autistics avoid driving. Some of the challenges are the same ones I experience as a passenger on public transit, especially the sounds and vibrations. I don’t like to feel crowded, either. Heavy traffic…
When I went off to graduate school in 2004, it was because I couldn’t stop chasing the dream of teaching. After the master’s degree, I chased the doctorate, trying to improve my chances at that elusive higher-education job. And then, the master of fine arts in 2017, capping a 13-year…
The Autistic Me is now an Austin me. More precisely, a northern suburb of Austin, Texas, me. The break in blog posts, podcast recording, and many other life activities was the direct result of coordinating the adoption of our children and a move halfway across the continent. The last time we moved…
Severe test anxiety haunts me. I hate exams of any kind. Like many people, I feel sick leading up to any test and I feel uncertain of my knowledge. I worry for weeks before a test, during the test, and for the time after the test until I receive my…
The first autistic lawyer in… The first autistic actor to… The first autistic scientist specializing in… The first autistic…. The moment I read that phrase, I know the rest of the story is sloppy journalism and probably inspiration porn — those feel-good stories about how amazing it is that “someone…
As a blogger and podcaster, I missed most of February and March of 2019. This academic year has overwhelmed me physically and emotionally, and I admit I’m not up to the workload required of a full-time instructor with 140 students. The expectation that college writing instructors can and should have…