Wow! It’s been a long time since I posted here! A lot has happened since 2020 (obviously). I am going to reintroduce myself and share the purpose of this blog that I have restarted.
My name is Alyssa. I turned 25-years-old in April (I don’t want to talk about the fact that I am one year closer to 30, thank you very much). December 2021, I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies from Utah Valley University. (I’m considering getting my Master’s in Psychology) I have lived in three different apartments since 2020/2021. 2020-2021 school year I was blessed with the best roommates ever! We didn’t get along well at first, but as time went on, we bonded so much. From July-August 2021 I lived in Orlando, Florida to work at Walt Disney World. Other than the horrible roommate experience and severe homesickness that led to depression, I had a great time and experience. I learned so many things in such a small time. (I miss it there a lot!) 2022 was probably the roughest and toughest year of my life, especially with roommates. The first place I lived at in 2022, my roommates were hardly ever home and when they were, they were always loud and didn’t really seem to get along with me. The last place I lived at, one of my roommates was annoyed by me and offended by a situation that had happened that I had no control over, which made it so I couldn’t have friends over or she would kick them out. She was manipulative and had extreme OCD. At the end of 2022, I was evicted from the place I was living and ended up having to quit my job and move back in with my parents.
2023 has been a wonderful year for me so far. Why? Because I have been learning so much about myself and taking things slow so that I can get back on top of things and be able to adult again. This year I learned more about my autism. Now, why does that matter? I feel like learning more about yourself in a psychological way is beneficial. It doesn’t mean you have to put a label on yourself. It just involves having a clearer idea of who you are and a better way to identify yourself, especially when it comes to behavioral and emotional issues. My whole life, I’ve known that I have ADHD. My parents knew at a young age and I was diagnosed and have been medicated for many years. The autism side of things is a tricky thing. This year, I learned that higher-functioning autism and women has been an uncommon thing until recently. For me, my mother told me that I was diagnosed with Aspergers (which is what high-functioning autism was called for a while), then I was undiagnosed because I was able to communicate verbally, I wasn’t obsessed with the normal autistic hyperfixations, and I was able to make eye contact. Once I became an adult, my mother decided to put me into therapy where I was given the diagnosis of high-functioning autism. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know what autism was for me. The only people I knew that were on the spectrum were boys and one of them was very non-verbal and the other could communicate verbally, but was really smart and intelligent. I didn’t understand the concept or wasn’t aware of what autism was until this year. I wanted to look into starting a podcast, which would educate people on autism and women, but that has been put on hold for now. I have been participating in a program for adults who are on the spectrum to be able to function better in the world and communicate better with people. Through this program, I have made some amazing friends and peers who have helped me navigate my own autism.
With my autism, I’ve noticed that I have problems with controlling my temper and anger, I struggle with my volume with my voice, I have problems with maintaining healthy relationships, I’ve struggled with knowing how to keep a job successfully, as well as many other things. This year, I have been able to work on fixing these issues by applying what I’ve learned in the program.
What does this all have to do with the blog? Since the podcast idea was a great start, I’ve felt like starting a blog is the better thing to do for now. I’m not shutting down the possibility, but I was feeling overwhelmed with starting and uploading the podcast. I will resume it sometime in the future. However, I do want to stay on the idea of advocating for educating people on neurodiversities along with what I have. People who are neurodiverse aren’t alone, especially adults.
Being neurodiverse is having a super power. As Uncle Ben told Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man), “with great power, comes great responsibility”, people who are neurodiverse are given these “powers” that are different from everyone else’s (especially neurotypicals). It is our responsibility as neurodiverse people, to figure out what our strengths are so that we can be who we were intended to be, to help out others and to make it through life.
I can’t wait to get this blog started! I hope y’all enjoy!
Until next time! Peace, love, happiness, and pixie dust!
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