A year of firsts

Sorry I haven't been here for a while. Have been busy with workshops and writing. Here is my year so far.

2025 has been a year of firsts for me. I have done so much already this year that I haven’t done before.

I have travelled to different libraries within London and outside my local area.

I have done my first school visit.

I have worked with SEN children.

I attended my first industry conference as an exhibitor.

I have done virtual networking.

I have been to a workshop with Ashley Kirkwood and finally met her.

On Thursday I did something that autistic people find hard to do and that is go to social gatherings for general chat. I joined a few others in the craft club I go to for tea and chat at one of the members house. And sat out in the garden in the sun (now have a slight tan. I had a nice time.

In a couple of weeks I will be doing my first podcast interview.

If you are within London and are interested in my workshops with SEN children, please let your local library know and ask them to contact me. There is a charge.

Me and Asperger's - Tone of voice

One of the challenges that people with Asperger's have is social communication, and that can mean their voice can sound rude or abrupt without intention. This happened to me last week at the local newsagent when I got the paper. I went in there, picked up the paper and went to pay for it behind another woman. I saw another older woman there who was choosing crisps. I also saw food on the counter which I thought belonged to the other woman in front of me. The older woman went to move in front of me and I said to her, I'm in the queue. I have just the paper and the exact money. The other woman turned round and accused me of being rude. She paid for her goods and left. I tried to explain by saying I have Asperger's but it was too late. The other woman let me pay for the paper. I apologised to her and she said I didn't need to. I left and went home. It upset me so much that it went round and round my head to the point I was in tears. When my mum came home, I asked her what she would have done, but she realised about the food on the counter and said that people do that there, buy some things, go and find more then pay later. Later on she said that if she had been with me she would have said a few choice words to that woman. Wanting to get it off my chest, I also mentioned it to a Facebook group of women with Asperger's to see what their reactions were. They all agreed that the first woman was rude not me. One comment I got, from the founder of the group, was that at times like that, she felt she needed to wear a T-shirt that said, 'I have Asperger's what is your reason for poor social skills.'. LOL. This gave me an idea. This all gave me peace of mind about the situation. It still upsets me to think about it, but I have decided a couple of things:

1. Not to try to get in that situation again.
2. Made me determined to raise awareness of Asperger's even more, esp about me.
3. I might buy a card that tells others that I am on the autism spectrum and what it means.

So I will be blogging more about Asperger's, writing more about it inc in short stories, and mention it a lot at my new book's launch in a few week's time along with hand-made cards and leaflets about ASD, and I will be posting on FB and Twitter about it too, sharing posts. I also am thinking of other merchandise to sell to raise awareness.