About
My name is Steph and I am 26 years old. I work in a residential special school and, in my spare time, I enjoy listening to music and spending probably more time than is good for me on Facebook! I also enjoy watching Eastenders, Casualty, Friends (I own the entire box set) and pretty much every human interest documentary there is.
I also have Aspergers Syndrome, diagnosed at the age of 8. This brings with it a lot of strengths and also a lot of issues. In this blog, I will be evaluating my life with Aspergers and letting my readership into my innermost thoughts. There will be positive and uplifting posts and some which are not so positive because that is an honest account of my life.
I have always had a flair for language (although my Aspergers means that I often use language in an odd and over literal way) and, when I was a child, I had a desire to be a journalist so it is perhaps surprising that this is my first blog. I find that I can express myself in a far more articulate manner in writing than I can verbally. After all, with the written word, there is little to confuse me-no tone of voice, no body language and no facial expressions. I know that this is what a lot of people who aren’t on the autistic spectrum find confusing about online communication but, for me, it is the opposite. It is very freeing and allows me to concentrate solely on content rather than having to try and decipher the many subtle nuances of non verbal communication. Having lived with Aspergers for 26 years and having had the knowledge of it for 17 of those years (I found out a year after my diagnosis), I have naturally developed coping strategies and can now decipher some of these nuances but it is hard work particularly when one facial expression, such as a raised eyebrow, can mean many different things in the context of who is using it, and my success rate in deciphering these expressions is still not great! Anyhow, that is probably a topic for another day so I will leave it there.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog. Please feel free to ask any questions-I am always happy to try and explain Aspergers to people. As a disclaimer, I feel obliged to point out that this is MY experience of living with Aspergers on a daily basis. Some people have a tendency to think/believe that everyone with Aspergers thinks in the same way and experiences the same issues and strengths but this is not true. We are all individuals and, whilst we all share elements of the diagnostic criteria, though obviously differing in severity, we really are as different from each other as any two people without Aspergers. Hence, if you are coming to my blog as someone with Aspergers, you may not see yourself in some of the things that I write about. This is fine-being an individual is what life is all about after all!
Have a good read!
Aspergers: Through My Eyes 
hello, i get your blog.i have asperger .married 13 years.we have 2,boys and 1, girl. our
youngest son alll so has asperger.i take part in a lot lot research from universities,if you would like a chat please do.my e.mail is mkentdad12@outlook.com
mark
Hi Mark. It is nice to hear from you. I hope that you are finding my blog helpful. I will email you shortly 🙂
look forward too it,
i think MOST PEOPLE are very very snotty nosed about autism,aspergers and .m.e. THIS I ALL SO HAVE.. people see a person in a wheel chair. no arm.or no leg.. BUT PEOPLE DO NOT SEE THE EVERY DAY EFFECTS OF AUTISM//ASPERGERS AND M.E.
TAKE A look at this..
http//www.ellenarnison.com/2013/09/guest-post-man-with-aspergers=html
see what you think.YES, IT IS ABOUT ME/_MY FAMILY
mark we live in cambridgeshire.England._______________________________ > Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:15:20 +0000 > To: mkentdad12@outlook.com >
how is your aspergers. what are you doing
i have just finished taking part in new research
mark—————————————- > From: mkentdad12@outlook.com > To: comment+7ht6wdkme1aicq9du_mzr579pxz8z80_9klgr4z19r@comment.wordpress.com > Subject: RE: [New comment] About > Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:58:26 +0000 > > look forward too it, > > i think MOST PEOPLE are very very snotty nosed about autism,aspergers and .m.e. THIS I ALL SO HAVE.. people see a person in a wheel chair. no arm.or no leg.. BUT PEOPLE DO NOT SEE THE EVERY DAY EFFECTS OF AUTISM//ASPERGERS AND M.E. > > TAKE A look at this.. > > http//www.ellenarnison.com/2013/09/guest-post-man-with-aspergers=html > > see what you think.YES, IT IS ABOUT ME/_MY FAMILY > > > mark we live in cambridgeshire.England._______________________________ >> Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:15:20 +0000 >> To: mkentdad12@outlook.com >>
Dear Steph,
I’m Myriam Leggieri and I’m a PhD student in computer science
(http://www.insight-centre.org/users/myriam-leggieri) with a passion for
social issues. Since social work doesn’t pay much, I’m trying to use my
programming skills to help society nonetheless, especially those people
more in need. I volunteer for an autism-related charity in my city,
Galway, Ireland (Galway Autism Partnership) and that’s where the idea of
a mobile app to support independent living for adult with autism raised.
I’m currently developing a mobile app called “My Ambrosia”
(my-ambrosia.com) that is a weekly meal recommender (for healthy diet
style), planner (to take the fuss out of organizing) and grocery
shopping support (to never waste or run out of food items).
The idea was accepted to the second stage (out of three) of the Student
Entrepreneur Awards competition, so that I’m now in the process of
writing a Business Plan.
In particular, I’m running a Market Research and I’d love to get
feedback on the concept behind my app, from adults with autism. I’m a little struggling with this
because all the charities I contacted deal with children and parents of
children with autism, rather than with adults.
Could you kindly help me out by simply filling the questionnaire at
http://my-ambrosia.com/?q=survey , please? Also it
would be super-awesome if you could spread the word and ask your friends to fill the questionnaire.
I read that you usually eat the same thing for long time frames. I wonder, how would you like an app to recommend the best meal for you, taking into consideration your own preferences? Maybe the recommender could stick to only a small set of food items that you like in this specific time period. It would suggest the best combination of those food items which may not be the healthiest ever but still as healthy as you can get, while satisfying your current wishes.
Thanks a million in advance! and keep up the great work 😉
Best regards,
Myriam Leggieri
Hi Steph my name is Geoff and I’m 41 and my daughter 8 is going through the early stages of being assessed for AS. I have been doing quite a bit of research myself on the subject and have grown an understanding of AS. As my daughter may potentially have AS I began to look at my own life over the years and I think I may well also have the condition. I have completed a few on line assessments and have scored highly, usually 30 out of 50 questions, obviously these are not official. Is it possible to get myself assessed via my own GP? It’s only now through reading and studying about AS that an assessment may well provide me with an explanation as to how I have reacted to certain events in my life.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Geoff. It’s nice to hear from you. It is certainly possible to request a GP referral to someone who is qualified to diagnose Aspergers, such as a psychiatrist, but waiting lists can be very long so please be prepared for this. It is also worth taking notes to the doctor about how you feel your life is affected to the point where a diagnosis would be helpful if that makes sense. Hope that helps. Steph xx
Hi Steph
My name is Zach and I’m a young adult with Asperger’s, living in Fargo, North Dakota. Like you, I am also a blogger and I write on my life and experiences with ASD. Also, I travel throughout the United States, giving lectures on autism as it relates to the college experience. I stumbled across your blog earlier tonight and was particularly impressed with your article on auditory processing and Aspergers. I struggle with that as well at times. Based on reading through some of your other blog entires, I assume you are not living in the states and might be living in the UK? If that’s in fact true, I wanted to inquire if we might possibly be able to meet? I will be in the UK in October, speaking at an autism event and would enjoy meeting you. I have yet to meet a female with Aspergers, let alone a fellow female blogger with Aspergers.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Zach
Hi Steph,
My name is Zach and I am a young adult with Aspeger’s living in the States. Like you, I have a blog and with it, share my life and experiences on the spectrum. I also speak nationally on autism. I stumbled across your blog earlier tonight and particularly liked the article about auditory processing and autism, as it’s something I’ve certainly struggled with at times. Based on some of your other entries, I’m guessing you don’t live in the states and might actually live in the UK? If that’s the case, I wondered if you might be interested in meeting me in October of this year, as I am scheduled to travel to the UK to speak at an autism event. I have yet to meet another female blogger with Aspergers and figured you might be a great person to talk with.
Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.
Zach
Hi Zach. Thank you for your message. I am glad that you like my blog. Yes I do live in the UK. It would be great to meet up in October-please message me nearer the time and we can arrange it properly.
Many thanks,
Steph 🙂
Hi Steph,
Thanks for the reply. I will be in the UK October 18-31, so I will message you as it gets closer to that date to get our meeting set up.
Best,
Zach
Steph, your blog is currently included on our Actually Autistic Blogs List (anautismobserver.wordpress.com). Please click on the “How do you want your blog listed?” link at the top of that site to personalize your blog’s description.
Thank you.
Judy (An Autism Observer)
Thank you-I will do!
Steph, did you forget? I didn’t receive a form from you.
Please click here (or on the “How do you want your blog listed?” link at the top of that site) to customize your blog’s description on the list.
Please also add an image to your Gravatar Profile following these instructions.
Thank you.
Judy (An Autism Observer)
Hello. I will try and do this tonight. My apologies.
Really enjoyed your insights – particularly about tapping the skin between your knuckles and chewing things…..such a similarity to me……please keep bloggin
Thank you! I intend to keep blogging! Xx