I've Done All The Dumb Things

   I've been 21 for a month and nine days and I hate myself more than ever.
   I am unable to do anything without physical injury, and the rest of the time my family contrives to do mental injury to me. I've told Mum before that I am physically unable to get up and get dressed while there's someone standing there yelling at me, but she obviously ignored me again because that is what she did today to try to get me to my catch up session. Stealing my bedclothes and opening my blind didn't help either - neither does the fact that my blind is now rolled up the wrong way round because I think Dad put it back up (after putting up my blue curtains) the wrong way round.
   I think the fact that my family are refusing to understand me hurts the most.

Fact-file Time!

I am a 'Cumberbitch' =P

I love Doctor Who

Fave movies are The Avengers, the new Star Treks, Iron Man 1, 2 & 3, the Harry Potters, and Corpse Bride

Fave books are the Harry Potter series, the Wheel of Time series, Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Singer trilogy, the Inheritance Cycle, and the Freedom trilogy; as well as Full Metal Alchemist, Soul Eater, Claymore, High School of the Dead, Vampire Knight, and Mahou Sensei Negima!

I also enjoy watching Mythbusters, Time Team, The Mentalist, Bones, Criminal Minds, Warehouse 13, Eureka, Game of Thrones; as well as Death Note, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Claymore

I prefer darker colours like deep blue, dark red, rich purple and black

I don't like cold weather, licorice, broccoli, alcohol or idiots

So as you can see, I like all the same things that 'normal' people do, so are Aspie kids really all that different?

Learning Difficulties

   I am so behind on my homework right now. And I am not proud of that.
   It's mainly because I had to take a couple of days off of my course because I was sick, but there are other things from other units I have to do and I don't know where to start. One of the things I have to do is something I thought I had already done, but I hadn't quite done it good enough, so I have to do it again.
   What really sucks about this is that I was doing so well last year, comparatively, though I'm sure Mum will ardently disagree - she always does with anything I say. The only unit I failed last year was one I did again this year, so it doesn't really matter that much, and it isn't really one that has much to do with the subject matter of the entire course anyway. Mum wants to make a huge fuss about it but I see no point in doing that - they won't talk to us about it anyway, and besides, it's only one unit - I didn't fail the whole course because of it.
   One of my friends is using homework as an excuse not to even talk to me, which really sucks. I haven't seen him in ages, and he's the only person I can actually talk to, so when he won't talk to me, I get really stressed and have no-one I can vent at. I know he's doing a course which is a lot more difficult than mine - he's doing psychology, or something like that - but that doesn't give him an excuse to seemingly ignore me. I feel so alone now.

Long time no see!

   Been a while! We moved house on the ninth and I've only just gotten round to this! Everything is starting to get back to normal, I think. Still don't know where everything is though!
   This was the first time us kids have been around when we moved. All the other times we've been at school or at Granny's, but this time it was during the holidays and there was no-one we could stay with, so the best we could do was to try and stay out of the way. At least the 'new' place is bigger than the other house, even if it is older and needs a lot doing to it to make it a nicer place. Better-hung cupboard doors in the kitchen, for one!
   It seems we have a pattern with moving house. Apart from when we moved out of the first house we bought in Australia - we left because the white-tails refused to pay rent - and the one we just left, we've moved house every four years! It's a little annoying and very stressful for me at least; it's getting to the point where I don't see any point in settling in properly because as soon as I do, we move again! It took us the five years we were in Avalon to get the house how we wanted it, then we had to move (more on that another time, maybe).
   All the stuff in my room is sorted. I just need a new blind or curtains, and maybe a paint job too! Caitlin has already repainted her window-frame. That was a hassle because the paint took over three days to dry, during which time she had to sleep on the sofa. Not fun for any of us!

Easter

   I'm not as chocoholicy (that is totally a word now) as I used to be. Once upon a time, at Easter, any chocolate I got would be gone within a week or two. Now... it lasts me over a month!
   Last year, one of my friends bought me a box of Favourites, and I was only half way through them in May! My siblings, on the other hand, are still in the 'chocolate-OMG-nom-nom-nom-gone' stage of life. (LOL) My brother attempted to give away the small box of mini-eggs he'd been sent by our (not-really) aunt because he'd 'already had enough of them'. Of course, if we'd accepted his offer of yet more mini-eggs, he'd want them back after they'd been eaten... *sigh*!
   Mum and I tried to go into a nearby shopping centre to get a few things on the Thursday before - an impossible task. We couldn't find anywhere to park because it seemed the entire population of the city had decided to do the same thing, and were buying like they were preparing for the apocalypse! We saw one woman literally tottering under the mountain of full carrier bags she was carrying out the building. Mum was like 'LOL nope!' and we went straight to the local bakers to get bread and milk.
   So, future warning - do not do all your shopping the day before!

Audio Disasters

   So, my sister and I went out last night with the meet-up group I go to every month for dinner and karaoke. While the food was excellent, if expensive, the karaoke... wasn't.

   You see, it is very difficult to sing in tune when not even the music is in the right key. No, that isn't a lame excuse for my lack of talent; my sister, who has had singing lessons, agrees with me. Plus, the other people around the table said I was very good, even though I was forced out of key by afore-mentioned un-music.

   Don't get me wrong, it was a fun night - most of the fun being from the food and the confusion at a Chinese restaurant using a Japanese invention as an attraction! So if you are in Geelong, Victoria any time soon, check out the Palace of the Orient. The food is well worth the price!

   The other reason I had so much trouble was that, to sing along to a song, I need the original song. When all I get is the music, I miss the cues and generally sound crap; whereas if it is the original song, I catch the cues and get the lyrics (mostly) right!

   Waiting for our Dad to pick us up was more fun than waiting in the rain is usually as well - we probably looked very strange indeed sitting there doing impressions of heavy metal versions of classical music! I ended up with quite a sore throat by the time Dad pulled up, and we were both laughing our heads off the whole time we were waiting! So all in all, a very good night out indeed!

Anxiety and Other Afflictions

   So... I had a panic attack last night. Usually these happen for a reason, but not last night. Maybe it was because of something I dreamt, I dunno; all I know is that it ended up being a panic attack about having a panic attack! My heart was pounding so hard I could feel every pulse, I felt nauseous and I needed to sit on the loo for about half an hour - my body tends to go into what I like to call 'evacuation mode' where it tries to dispose of everything inside my digestive tract. Luckily, I don't let it! (Yes, I know that is gross. That's my life for you!)
   Anxiety tends to be a big deal for Aspies - we get extremely nervous when we might have to do something we really don't like doing. For example, I can't talk to people I don't know - I literally cannot find the words to say. It of course means that these people think I'm being rude and refusing to talk to them, but that is not the case. After I've got to know them a little, I'm fine - I can talk to them; it's just that initial meeting.
   Aspergers also tends not to be the only problem. One of my friends is not only Aspie, but has Epilepsy too (poor fellow). I suffer from Depression (well, my doctor says I do, and I believe that), and another friend suffers from really bad insomnia.
   We're all extremely lucky in that we have a supportive family, and a great group of friends who are understanding of us - when we can make friends at all! Mums: we may find it hard to say - if we say it at all - but we do love you!

Why Small Boys Disgust me...

   So my little brother, who is eight, has just done the most stupid thing yet. Earlier, during dinner, he complained that he was feeling sick. A little while later, however, he was apparently well enough to guzzle down a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Guess what Mum and Dad just had to clean up off of the toilet seat?
   Yup. Chocolate ice cream. Because my brother seemed to think that the cure for nausea is to eat more food.
   I do love him so much, but wow, is he so annoying! He cannot sit still or shut up for five minutes. I wonder, sometimes, how the hell he manages at school! Looking back now, I can't really believe that I really didn't want another brother or sister - I believed that everything was fine the way it was. But now... he makes us laugh so much. Just the other day, when he got home from school he stripped off down to his underpants, wrapped the scarf I knitted for him around himself like one of those things that Chewie wears, tucked his toy sword into his waistband and ran around the house brandishing his toy spear yelling his lungs out! (My brother is also an Aspie.)
   I get much entertainment purely from watching him play with our adorable little Labradoodle Daisy. They run around the house, dog chasing boy; they roll around on the floor wrestling for Daisy's sock toy - it is so adorable I barely get any homework done!
   So to all those with annoying siblings who they wish were never born, take a moment to think about what your life would be like without them. Dull, isn't it?

Hello!

Hello! I am Lethandhrel One-Eye. (I don't really have one eye. It just feels like it sometimes...'Lazy eye'!) I am 20 years old, and was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome - on the Autism Spectrum - when I was 15. All through primary school I was treated as though I was just a naughty child, as back then, they didn't think girls could have Aspergers. It was mainly because school was soo stressful for me - I'd take as many sick days as I could get away with to get away from all the other kids and the teachers telling me what to do all the time. It was only after we moved to Australia from Britain that we finally found out, via recommendation from my form teacher, what was 'wrong'.
   By the way, there is nothing actually wrong with me. I just see things differently, that's all. I get obsessed over things - currently TESV: Skyrim - and socialising physically tires me. I'm hoping this can help people see things from my point of view at least - no one 'Aspie' or 'Autie' is the same. It's not 'met one, met them all'. I am high-functioning (which means I'm almost 'normal'), whereas the next autistic person you meet may be low-functioning (non-verbal, or won't touch anything that is blue, for example.)
   Also, please understand, this isn't a disease. Neither you nor your child will catch it from an Autie or from immunisations given as a baby. There is no cure; only coping mechanisms - ways of getting over the inhibitions and bad habits that prevent them from fitting in. So if someone you know, or a family member of theirs  is diagnosed, don't say 'get well soon'. I, personally, find that offensive. Just try to understand.