Running Aspie Support

Well today was the second meeting of Aspie Support.  The group had a good turn out.  I needed to get names of members and find out what they wanted from the group.  The wants vary from support on campus, to finding a job and going on a camp.  The group met initally at 10.30am but did not finish until 1pm today.  It was a good means for adults on the Autism Spectrum to talk about their concerns, find friendships and look forward to future outings.

One adult spoke about his interest in movies and how he wants to become a movie director to another who likes music and was able to play the guitar to the group.  It is good to see such interaction.  The good thing also is that young adults just finishing school or in the final stages of school can talk to older adults about what they may expect once the schooling process has finished.  So there are many good things happening in the group.

Our location is great and we now have a meeting location which provides both routine and structure.  No noises or other interuptions are good to. 

Over the coming months I will be collating feedback from adults attending to try and work out what activities may be suitable for them.  Adults will also be encouraged to run an activity which may be in relation to their special interest which helps to build confidence and self worth.  One of the pressing issues was accommodation.  Some adults just find it impossible to live on their own and independently and this is something that the group will need to look into in terms of lobbying departments, agencies and government bodies concerned. 

Although this post is brief as I have been busy with running admin matters, please stay tuned for more information and updates and please be sure to friend me on Facebook - Garry Burge.  Also you may want to visit Asperger Syndrome New Zealand on Facebook as it has lively discussions and useful feedback. 

Laying the foundation stone for "Aspie Support"

Yesterday was both a big and exciting new day for adults on the Autism Spectrum in Brisbane.  We had our first inaugural meeting in our new location which has been kindly offered to us by Toowong Uniting Church.  I spent the morning, feeling excited about our new location as there is no noise, plenty of room to stretch out and places for others to go should they feel stressed or in meltdown or if they simply wanted to have a quiet chat. 

Aspie Support Group meeting at Toowong Uniting Church

Laying the foundation stone also means a lot of work ahead.  Like other Autism Associations of which we intend to work with, "Aspie Support" intends to provide information about what may be happening for instance at Asperger Services Australia with their new Games Group, Workshops and more importantly access to Asperger Services Australia can be provided by rail so there is no need to drive cars, catch buses etc.  The idea is to get more support happening for adults on the Autism Spectrum and adolescents for which I am happy to mention.  Although we are in our very early stages, the aim of "Aspie Support" would be as follows.

• Provide an adult support group to help overcome social isolation, loneliness and to manage anxiety better
• Allow for advice and better access to services and contacts to assist in these areas.  This may  include "Aspie Friendly" Doctors, Medical Professionals and Psychologists.
• Foster and forge friendships between adults on the Autism Spectrum
• Invite guest speakers to share stories for instance an elderly person who may have had an interesting life and just want people to listen and ask questions.
• Movie nights and other social events such as bushwalks, and outings. 
• Book reviews, sharing of special interests and musicals.

Stay tuned for more!

Aspie Support also has a long term vision to assist young adults and adolescents with finding employment and managing anxiety etc. For concerned parents they may feel confused about what and where next they can find assistance for their adolescent son or daughter on the Autism Spectrum.  I will also be endeavouring to make contact with more software testing organisations and with the help of Gordon Sanderson and others, help get things organised on this front.  Brisbane has also been considered for the next branch of Alpha Autism to assist adults on the Autism Spectrum.

I hear from many persons on the Autism Spectrum, families and friends who just find they are either confused or at a total loss of where to go next and a society just simply not understanding.  Over the coming months, organisations will be contacted more on the viewpoint of the adult perspective as to how to raise more awareness, tolerance and understanding.  I hope and anticipate to work within the group and with supporters of my own advocacy to better raise awareness, tolerance and understanding of Autism with such organisations to greatly improve the lives of persons on the Autism Spectrum. 

I must stress that we are in our very early stages but I do believe a great deal more is required to better accommodate adults on the Autism Spectrum and we hope in time to reach and achieve this goal.  Hopefully in time "Aspie Support" will allow adults on the Autism Spectrum to have a greater say and influence within the community to break down the barriers of misunderstanding and a lack of awareness and education.  So please stay tuned. 

Being a constant thinker and the land of suffocation

I often find myself thinking and analysing information.  Looking for ways of perfection and trying hard to make sense of a world that isn't always easy to understand.  I just find it almost impossible to go beyond a sentence with information relating to my special interest.  I do have many but I have had to over the years not talk about them as I have either been told I go on about them too much or that nobody else is interested. 

Living in a world which does not always fit in with my ways of thinking can in itself be a challenge. Beyond my personal space which I can more than often adjust to, the world is often just an overwhelming place.  People just don't seem to get me at all.  Often confusion can make me feel that nobody is listening nor understand.

This morning while writing this post on the computer I had the pleasure of talking with Courtney about spirituality, being Aspie, understanding the world and raising awareness of things in general.  I spoke to her for about 30mins.  Again I believe God at work.  I just do not understand at times why people cannot see that finding their spiritual side is important.  I spoke about my interest in Buddhism also and it was awesome.  I think God is working on me again. If only people would find their spiritual sides then life would be even better.  Using your brain and raising the lever from 10% to 90% or even above may be possible.  People don't always see that God works within them and if only they would just look more deeply into themselves.

This afternoon I am off to counseling but feel really good in that I had this conversation this morning.  I feel like my aura is strong and my feelings are not those of non Aspies.  I just like to help make the world a better place.  I think people have to stop shutting themselves off from the world around them and look deeper within.  I find people are now saying 'it was great talking to you!".  What is it within me?  Is God really working within me?  I sometimes find that words just flow and I feel more spiritual than I have previously.  This ability is allowing me to think more and feel connected with the world around me.  Also I feel I have a thirst for knowledge or perhaps it may be that I turned 40?

Perhaps people may like to look at this story on Jesus and the resurrection I am currently researching into the Shroud of Turin  I know I cannot change people as they probably think I am just Aspie and obsessed but what if you could use your brain more?  Wouldn't the world be a better place for you? Thought this In Search of episode may be of interest?          

Trying to make sense of the world around me

I often feel like I am more so a phantom who seems to observe society more so than participate in it.  I see people around me, institutions and other forms of human existence and wonder why people behave the way they do and why people seem hard to connect with.  Recently I was watching the 3 episodes of the 3 episodes of Dannion Brinkley on youtube and despite people perhaps labeling me as maudlin or obsessed, I found some of his comments very interesting.  I just hope that he is telling what he believes to be the truth instead of merely making money.

The world at the moment seems a very turbulent place and a hard place to live in.  Not at my own making, nor of other people I know but it seems by just the way things are.  I was in a discussion the other day concerning the existence of God.  The question was asked how come God existed if the holocaust or world wars existed?  In all reality perhaps God is beyond human comprehension and the way to find or understand God is to think, question, read and try to understand.  Unfortunately there may need to be an evil for people to understand good.  Throughout the ages, there has been evil in the world but goodness has prevailed longer than evil so perhaps this say something?  Despite the holocaust existing, and people suffering it may have been more so in the hands of evil people such as Hitler and his cronies.  Evil may exist on earth due to the human condition and the failure in man to learn, rectify his actions and understand?  Before I am criticised why not ask the question of yourself as to what you may believe or question?  I am merely just stating a view or question to arouse your own thinking???

I find this world very difficult to live in because people are becoming increasingly more selfish and you only here about something when you have done something wrong or offended someone.  You seldom receive praise for trying to do the right thing and acting honorably and this I feel perhaps is across the board.  We live in a world that is cut throat, selfish and often just difficult to exist in because the pressures of life are just so high and more so the expectations to accompany them.  I believe that if you strive to be good and try to do the right thing then you are more than often guided by what God wants to make for a better world.  I am fortunate to have some good people in life whom I believe are guided by God but at the risk of sounding self important, I have to be careful to choose my words.

In the video of Dannion Brinkley perhaps you need to ask yourself is the question of whether or not what he says actually does make sense?  Are people fearful and afraid of the very truths and some Aspies because we actually say things like they are?  In the words of Socrates "I only know that I know nothing".  Perhaps we need to understand this in ourselves but to strive and learn more about the world around us by thinking more and rejecting this material world which wants to just inflict things onto us without thinking and more so questioning?

I think that people need to strive towards making a better world but this cannot be done by just accepting the way things are and allowing greed and selfishness to prevail.  Recently I was told that I place myself in an "Aspie persecution box" but seriously is it me that needs to change or other people's attitudes?  It's a two way street.  I often spend vast periods of time to myself and just find the world often overwhelming and hard to make sense of.  I just think that people need to alter their ways of thinking and take the time to toil in the earth more and question so called things they may watch on television, read in newspapers or buy in the supermarket.  The fast food industry creates a way of  non thinkers as people are not getting the nutrition they require to fuel their brains and this throw away society does have some very negative implications to go with it? 

One final question.  Why has not a human being ever been the exactly them same apart from identical twins which are not exactly identical in this world ever?!  Are all humans a blue print of God and some cryptic code?