It's time to try and be optimistic again!

The last couple of weeks have been hectic.  I have visited Orange, and now the group meets the new challenge of finding another venue.  Sadly as I cannot nor can the group afford public liability, the church has made the decision that we can no longer meet there. So after approximately 2 years it is now time to say goodbye to Toowong Uniting Church. We do thank the Pastor - Simon Gommersil for his help but after negotiation, even asking to become a church congregation member to be covered by public liability, this decision was not accepted.


I have been contacting community halls around Brisbane, more so in the western suburbs and central Brisbane.  Some of our meetings will held in the Toowong, Indooroopilly and Kenmore libraries, but having a regular venue is the next step.  I have contacted various community halls with the most recent of these being www.bleedingheart.com.au  I also have been referred to www.communify.org.au  I have posted these events in the group and will ask group members for feedback. 


I have had some further enquires about the group and these have been from some adults on the Autism Spectrum.  One adult's mother has contacted me as he wants to work in a library studying a Diploma of Library & Information and the other is studying at UQ.  His name is Matthew. He has lived in Brisbane for approximately 6 years and is finding campus very challenging and difficult. He finds it hard to make friends.  I talk with Matthew where I can and assist him with the same experiences that I also have to deal with.  I also have made some new contacts through an initiative to welcome new students and staff to the university.  I asked Matthew if he wanted to attend as well as communicate with the other students who are from Chile, Canada and Russia.  It is good to communicate with others who have diverse minds.


I still find university confusing at times as little has changed much since I was a student myself at the University of New England.  I see lots of young people, well I am not so young as I used to be and wish I could communicate with them. Their minds are young and most of them are energetic in wanting to learn more about the world around them.  Like Matthew, I too can relate to the frustration of trying to make friends and fit in on campus, but over time we hope to raise more awareness of Autism as being an ability and not a disability with more acceptance of our achievements and less so of our challenges. 


We welcome on board plenty of support. I am still in touch with Ben in Orange and Damian who is studying a PhD at UQ.  I hope for Matthew to meet with Damian next Friday when I regularly meet with Damian to support him in his work in Autism and raising awareness.  It is good to have more connections available.  


Please stay tuned for the journey and road ahead.  Now we just need to find a new venue and somewhere hopefully which is more city based. 


So it is important to be gay in order to ensure that you overcome pessimism. 

The challenges ahead

This past week has been rather hectic.  Due to reasons of public liability it appears difficult for the group to continue unless we can obtain some kind of inclusion within public liability. I met last week with the Pastor of Toowong Uniting Church to see if I could become incorporated within the Toowong Uniting Church.  There are many advantages for the church if we can come on board as the church would be assisting with an essential service linking adults on the Autism Spectrum to each other. Furthermore the group would be willing to contribute to the church by means of support and donation. I even suggested that the group assist with the gardens to make them much more attractive as you could no doubt imagine to the Garden of Eden?


Last week I was introduced to an adult with Autism originally from the United Kingdom.  He has just enrolled in his first year within the university.  As it is all so overwhelming for him, I am trying to assist him with settling in and joining the Asperger Adult Group.  This morning he attended the group but felt overwhelmed.  Both myself and another couple of adults came outside the group and we assisted him to feel more at ease and comfortable.  On campus I have offered to be a contact should he feel that he needs to connect with someone on campus.  I have met him a couple of times so that he no longer feels so socially isolated. However finding and linking him to assistance is still very challenging when a lot more needs to be done.  I am trying to do my best


Over the coming months we hope to be able to return to our regular venue. Some of the adults including myself find that it is more suitable as there is less noise and we don't have to compete with other people who sometimes do not understand how having Autism affects us.  We have our fingers crossed that things will return to normal as they once were.  I have tried my best to plead with the Uniting Church Synod about the adult group. 


I am regularly meeting with Damian Santomauro every 2 weeks. Last Friday both Ben and Damian spoke on the phone.  I had some difficulty trying to link both adults but now they understand what form of communication best works for them.  I am trying to assist both Damian and Ben as best I can also.  I am exercising regularly doing bench presses, bicep curls, starjumps, jogging, sit ups etc to keep myself in shape.   I am concerned about health issues.  I also look forward to the next meeting which will be a workshop on fitness. I hope people may attend as it will be a valuable workshop.


We also have more people coming in to support and assist the group.  This is essential and welcomed as the more support the better.  We have a lot of valuable presentations coming up.  Please stay tuned for more updates.  I am still also waiting for my contribution to the book "Been There, Done That and Try This" to arrive in the mail.  I hope to donate this book to the library once I receive it.  I also have scheduled the Dr Tony Attwood presentations to both the Toowong and Indooroopilly libraries for the latter part of the year. 


Should you wish to contact me for more information please visit my website www.garryburge.com


Regards
Garry Burge
Founding Member
Garry Burge Adult With Asperger Syndrome
www.garryburge.com

Trip to Orange

Last week I was in Orange in regional New South Wales.  I flew down to Sydney from Brisbane and then got a connecting flight to Orange.  Arriving in Orange was a challenge.  Firstly the airport was far out of town and secondly I wondered where I was going once I got off the plane. 


Arriving in Orange however, I checked into the motel.  I arranged to order a Toyota Corolla and instead ended up with a Peugeot which I found a real challenge to drive as it seems although to be automatic but needing to be controlled at the steering wheel by acceleration and deceleration buttons.   The motel had a kitchenette so I was able to cook basic meals being Chicken schnitzel with carrots, Brussel Sprouts and broccoli.  I also had sausages in place of the Chicken Schnitzel on the last few nights. 


I was surprised at how Orange was so large for a regional centre. It seems to have a lot of people for a rural town.  After a while I caught up with Ben Wilshire.  Ben has some different habits to me in terms of car cleanliness.  I managed though to block out some of the distractions, and despite Ben's older car we were able to make it up to nearby Mount Canobolas.  The views were impressive from there also.


The week spent in Orange was busy. Just about every day I was attending meetings with Ben. Visiting schools, community centres and politicians.  Ben also works similar to me in a part time position.  He feels he wants to do more also but finds he is held back and unable to really find what his niche is.  I was really impressed with how Ben had good executive function.  He was highly motivated in raising awareness of Autism in adults and furthermore he has a lot of energy.  I hope to visit Orange again but not by Rex Airlines.  On the way back the sound was so loud that I needed ear muffs and wondered if I was going to survive the flight with my hearing in tact.  Next time I think I will go by train from Sydney. 





Meeting at Care West with Ben Wilshire and myself and other staff in Orange

This week is back to normal. I now need to find another venue for the group as despite Toowong Uniting Church allowing us the use of their venue for some time, we really are unable to pay the cost of the room.  We are currently looking into and exploring other options.


I found Virgin Blue not very helpful on the return flight and I felt that landing at Brisbane Airport was a 'cowboy' operation.  The cabin crew seem to only put themselves out where they feel it is appropriate and because you look normal they don't always see where you need help.


Please stay tuned however for further updates. Ben has some great ideas and we will keep you posted.

Why don't people just get it?

This blog entry is more or less a means to express my frustration. My frustration at the whole online dating process.  I recently reactivated my dating profile on RSVP only to find that despite getting 4 responses that I am back to square one again. 


When you use RSVP you send free kisses to women whom you believe are ideal to connect with. The trick is to send enough kisses to get the woman to respond to you by sending you an email.  I have managed to get 3 mobile phone numbers. Having tried to call these I find either the women do not answer or the phone number does not work.  I even managed to arrange one date later in finding this to be cancelled with some lame excuse by the woman concerning her father coming from Canada etc. I am disappointed to tell you the truth that both the date and the phone calls did not eventuate. 


In order to send stamps one must purchase these via the website. I am reluctant to purchase any stamps as these cost money and if you are on a low income the expenses build up over time and sometimes the emails which you pay for are not answered. 


I am also starting up weight training. It is taking some time and despite trying to burn off some flab around my hips, I preserve every morning at 5am doing some bench presses, lat curls, situps, star jumps, and running on the spot. I sometimes feel good and other times just the same.  I also do some bike riding in my spare time.


I feel so angry at the world at times as people don't really understand my ways of thinking and functioning. Despite saying it as it is, I really try and just accept that life is not always fair and that there are other people worse off than I am.  People can throw slings and arrows as I am used to them and I have always needed to stand up for myself which can be taxing at times. 


For men on the Autism Spectrum, dating is difficult. For me it is traumatic and feels like torture.  I cannot understand why when I am a nice person who is faithful that I am put on the bottom of the list or even ignored.  I will continue to try and persevere but believe me it is not easy.