Responses are still open for this survey on Autistic experiences of CAMHS in England and Wales. I would really appreciate people filling out this survey and sharing it onwards for others. The more data we collect, the stronger the results I can present to the CQC.
When I met with the CQC to deliver the CAMHS reports, they asked if we could collect further information on what areas in England and Wales are under-performing in particular.
If you have had involvement with CAMHS as an Autistic person or their carer, could you fill out this survey on this topic? It will take about 10 minutes.
Something I've been thinking about is just how much my quest for self-employment has been blocked by the trauma I've experienced as a very late dx'd #neurodivergent person and is now baked into my mind/body.
I have no desire to play trauma olympics, but it isn't discussed in the ND entrepreneur groups and so that leaves me (and others) feeling like we're too broken to do this when really we have more trauma/less support.
A family shadow pic plunged me into a wormhole. Shadows have mesmerized me my whole life. I may even prefer pics of my shadow & my family's shadows to normal pics. Whether shadow obsession is a #neurodivergent experience or not, delaying bedtime due to the creative impulse taking over certainly is.
OP photo of a family shadow plunged me into a wormhole. I realized shadows have mesmerized me my whole life. I may even prefer photos of my shadow & my family's shadows to normal captures. Whether shadow obsession is a neurodivergent experience or not, the delaying bedtime due to the creative impulse taking over certainly is.
Here is a link to the first week of my ADHD medication journey! It has been interesting differentiating more between Autistic and ADHD traits. It's going well and I'm quite pleased!
"I have chronic, internal hyperverbal speech and, with the help of a specialist, found that my verbal processing tends to create difficulties any time it connects up with three factors: Emotional volume, thought speed, and social pragmatic."
'Being Hyperverbal Is A Real and Disabling Autistic Experience '
I think this means my family knows late self-realized autism is my current special interest: teen daughter came back from practicing driving w/ her dad and sent this text:
"oh I forgot dad told me to take pictures of the car for you"
@DivergentDumpsterPhoenix@actuallyautistic@autisticadvocacy@neurodiversity@neurodivergent
I've never been physically injured that seriously, but I've noticed that often psycologists (those who don't take the time to get to know me) will dismiss me when I try to explane the severity of my psycological pain. I suppose it might have to do with how well I can keep myself together, even when my life is falling appart.
This graphic was part of a Facebook post I found helpful (see link). I saved it to remind myself that I'm not wrong or a terrible person just because I'm anxious; there probably are reasons (often the ones described here). I'm hoping that identifying them and working on accommodations might help more than my previous approaches (since those were "hide all your feelings and push through" or "tell yourself this doesn't matter" there's plenty of room for improvement!)
This reminded me of this quote. And I relate.
Learning how to regulate and embody one sensitivity is an ongoing practice but definitely worth the effort. ✨️🫶🏻🧘♀️✨️