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Malcolm Taylor

Human- An Autism Arugument

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First a quick catch up I passed my TMA04 which is good. I have just TMA05  to do and my assessments, an exam through course work, for this module. I'm just getting ready to go back to Nottingham  and whilst training I may have caught a bit of sun stroke- but I can't stroke the sun because apparently it 'too hot’ wink


This one is going to be an odd one. This post is going to be how some people on the spectrum don't feel like they are human, or should I say they don't feel like homo sapiens. There are two main ways to look at this. 


1) They feel like they can do everything better then the standard homo sapiens because their 'gifts' give them an unusual amount of input to the world around them. I kinda fall in this category with my 'gifts' I can mimic and adapt to virtually any situation or environment given to me with near precision hence the nickname Gecko. From this things like adverts or sublimate messages don't work on me because they become part of the environment I’m in. Some As I have mentioned have a very high empathic skill these know and can feel peoples feeling around them or they can sense the atmosphere they are in and sense each individual persons emotions- One skill I would like. 


2) They feel don’t fit in the mould where they think they are human but feel more like a computer and can relate more to something technological then biological. They can come from how fast we think- I might talk about that later on.  We also have meltdowns or shutdowns which are explained and kinda look like a computer crashing. A lot of us have a high or good memory which can seem like a computer storage system. 


Sorry this is so short. This kind of an odd one that doesn't really get talked about so I though I would put as part of this set up. This might help with the next post I will put up.


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Malcolm Taylor

My Life

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As today is the last day of autism awareness month I would like to share how life with autism is well to me anyway. I going to spilt this in to three bits: Emotions, danger and life.


Emotions: In general I have three emotions these are happy, sad and angry. I can't laugh (as in i make a face but no sound comes out) although i can mimic laughter each mimic of laughter is my gauge of how funny something is. To me there is no inbetween i am one of those three. When I was around year 5 to year 6 I got bored with just having these emotions, partly because i couldn't connect with anybody but also because I couldn't see from points of view only my own which is purely logical which caused issues beacuse i could take in more things then anyone in my class but my teachers couldn't really understand me although they could teach me. So I made what i called a 'Synthetic Emotion Chip' in this i put all the emotions i thought i should have like annoyed, excited and worried I think now i have around 15 'synthetic' emotions this doesn't always work but it better then not understanding someone i really want to help. An added bonus is i can turn of my 'emotion chip' when needed.


Danger: This one is an odd one where I overthink so i can see dangers before they happen. The example I use is if two cars, one going up a road the other down, are coming to a point where they meet. The three I see at least are what I call  a safe vision, a mild vision and a extreme vision these look like.                                                                                                                                                          

A Safe-  they pass it other keeping on their side of the road and no harm is done.

A Mild- They clip each other but all is well

A Extreme- The hit head on and bust in to flames anyone who was in the cars or near them is dead. 

Also the other issues I have are not seeing cars or noticing any danger coming towards me so have learnt to bounce, I'm pretty sure I am made of putty.


Life: As I have said I overthink but my life is full of bits i can't filter like that but i see things like this pretty much every step. I don't cope well with lound noises, people, touching or lots of light. I swear i was meant to be a bat. I don't really have friends or what I will call friends. I think I have one or two but thats it. I can see things from other people's point of view but its hard to unstand my own. I tic pretty much constantly whenever i have an emotional reaction which isnt good especially  when you don't want to look like a panda. It may sound like hard work or hell to me this is life I've learnt how to control certain bits  like the twiching... to a point. 


So Please be Autistic aware Some people may have issues worse then me or better but all we want is to be treated with respected and not looked at like we are odd. smile 

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Malcolm Taylor

First assignment back and Second assignment done

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Edited by Malcolm Taylor, Monday, 19 Mar 2018, 14:39

I got my first assignment back and I PASSED!!! I only had minor things wrongs things like grammar and choosing the wrong words. Now I have to do my second assignment which is now done. (As of 15/03/18). In both I had to do a self-reflection, the only way I could do them was answered them was logically especially the ones where they asked how I felt. I know the questions are for the majority but they would have thought of things that mean people with ASD, especially people on a different part of the spectrum would be to a minimum and that they wouldn't be stumped by things, even if the wording is changed for them. That isn't always the case I have been figuring out. The tutors each have different marking ideas and the book has a rough understanding as well. So both together will make your mark. I am lucky enough to have an understanding of both sides of that coin it fair to say most with ASD won't understand both.

I have a study buddy now, they seem quite good at looking at things differently. I don't know what it is and please people can answer. I only go to face to face tutorials but people always seem anxious and nervous. Why does everyone seem so negative whilst looking at things?  Surely that will hinder their grades and people around them? 

My paddling is going well apart from all the snow we are having in Devon. I hope at some point I can get back onto the water, just training on land is becoming really boring. I have a traineeship thingy, I really don't know what to call it. I help or work with CAMHS (Children and Adolescence Mental Health Service) so balancing this, paddling, OU and other parts of life, which luckily I really don't have, get a bit tricky in place but seems all to be pointing in the right way. So I can only hope for the best.

In other parts of life somewhere between my first assignment and my second I was allowed to show the Young Devon EH4MH Hub group part of my beliefs; Taoism and some meditation techniques which may help them. The Hub group is full of really nice people. It quite nice to see people take on new ideas which go against there own ideas or beliefs; if it is to expand there ideal or expand on what is life. If anyone is interested please have a look: http://www.youngdevon.org/contact?partner_id=650

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Malcolm Taylor

Study and the First Assignment

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Edited by Malcolm Taylor, Wednesday, 14 Feb 2018, 20:35

Note to anyone that reads this- I take most things literary so you can laugh at what you read. I have to. 

I got all the things to study my course- Psychology BSc (Hons), near Christmas time so it was like a Christmas present from the Open University.

When my Course had officially started read the chapter I needed to and TMA1 over and over and made a plan even before the Module Introduction. As soon as I went to the introduction I realised everything was ahead by a bit well... a lot- all three parts don't to the word (roughly) just needed to type it up.

When it got to typing up, I realised that I had encrypted my assignment- thanks Autism. This meant I had to unencrypt it word by word hoping it made sense. Some how it did but the word count was lagging but at least it made sense.

So far the main issue I have with the course is how society is made and remade- my first idea is buildings get knocked down and new ones get put in their place apparently not as simple as that. Nor just added plaster to a wall, but hey look at the bigger picture- I did on my tablet pity the camera doesn't work. 

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