James's Notebook

                In my pervious post I discussed what makes me feel overwhelmed in this post I will discuss how you could help a loved one with autism not feel overwhelmed. The first step to take is to first pay attention to how they are feeling and notice their social cues towards what is causing them stress this could range from yelling, spinning, pacing or heavy breathing I have noticed that when I am in events that cause me high amounts of stress I do these things to help alleviate my stress levels this is similar to stimming which helps with stimulating my mind to be in the present moment. The next step to take is to ask them "do you need help" by doing this you show that you care about them and that you are there for them, then ask if they are feeling overwhelmed and if the answer is "yes" ask them if they would like pressure or as many people describe it a hug. once pressure is administered the individual will calm down and I would know...

                   A challenge that I have had with autism is getting overwhelmed in this post I will discuss the main causes of this for me. The first subject that would make me feel overwhelmed is being in a crowded, unfamiliar or cramped environment a few examples of these are public areas such as malls, or large public events. The reason why these overwhelm me is because of the environment constantly changing whether it would be the lighting or due to the many different sounds, smells or crowds of people. A few examples of this would be the smells from food courts or people not paying attention and walking right towards me in a mall, or in other cases the lighting changing unpredictably at a certain areas. The next thing that causes me to feel overwhelmed is being in an area with loud, or high pitch sounds, a great example of this would be pipe organ or opera concerts. The reason why these bother me is due to the fact that I hav...