April brings \u201cAutism {fill in the blank}\u201d day and month. Is it \u201cAutism Awareness,\u201d \u201cAutism Acceptance,\u201d or something else? I don\u2019t have the time or energy to care. Each year, I rant about the month. Most people are \u201caware\u201d of autism, though I question if that awareness helps anyone.<\/p>\n
My teaching duties have taken away most of my time and energy. I have some guest appearances on other podcasts and a few interviews via email with bloggers and writers, but I haven\u2019t done much with\u00a0The Autistic Me.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>My limited physical and mental energies are spent; I\u2019m doubtful I\u2019ll manage much this month beyond teaching (and grading, and grading some more).<\/p>\n I\u2019m frustrated \u2014 extremely frustrated \u2014 that the 2023\u201324 school year has been a black hole, devouring my time and energy while crushing my mind and body.\u00a0Do my autistic traits contribute to the burnout? Probably. However, many of my academic colleagues experience the same frustrations.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve explained that my career path has been a tangled mess. I want to write, and teaching seemed the best career to support writing on the side. However, I have concluded that working in technology would have provided more time and resources for my writing projects.\u00a0I feel guilty for not posting more to the blog and not releasing more podcast episodes. I also feel lousy for not being functional at home after my commute from the university.<\/p>\n April brings the extra stress of being surrounded by autism awareness, right as the end of the semester approaches.<\/p>\n Survival mode wins. Academic papers must be completed. Summer course sections must be planned.\u00a0The priorities I wish I had fall to the responsibilities of my job. Instead of working more on the blog or podcast, I\u2019m returning to school tasks after sending this post to the server.<\/p>\n If I find any \u201cextra time,\u201d it belongs to my family; I owe them a lot following this school year.<\/p>\n So, my rant for April 2024 is that I wish I had more time to rant about autism \u201cawareness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" April brings \u201cAutism {fill in the blank}\u201d day and month. Is it \u201cAutism Awareness,\u201d \u201cAutism Acceptance,\u201d or something else? I don\u2019t have the time or energy to care. Each year, I rant about the month. Most people are \u201caware\u201d of autism, though I question if that awareness helps anyone. My…<\/p>\n