Here’s an analogy to help explain how small achievements build to make awesome things happen.
Achievements are like Lego bricks. My goal is to build a tall tower. In a tall tower there are far more bricks in the base than the tallest tip.
It’s the same with achievements. If I want to get back to doing the tallest tip achievements (public speaking, independent travel, etc) then I need to spend time working on all the small achievements to build a base with.
The last few weeks have all been about the small achievements.
The small achievements I am most proud of this week are all pretty mundane.
The last one is key. For an entire week I didn’t have to give up and abort back to a friends house.
These are all achievements. They are mundane but they are really important. Because without achievements like this I can’t go on to do the more exciting things.
I didn’t manage those achievements alone. My current support level is pretty high.
A friend stays each night, from around 9pm to 8am and i have a babysitter for 1-3 hours each night from 6pm till 9pm.
They both help me with routines via prompting. The babysitter also makes an evening meal (I always eat pasta and sauce). Finally, I mostly shower when a friend is visiting. Showering while home alone is not comfortable at all.
This routine is mostly sustainable. I am finding that I tend to use most of my energy in the time I am alone during the day. So were looking at various options to get me out of the flat, somewhere safe during that time. We have a good find in the local autism hub. We’re talking to them this coming week about me getting a desk there.
The hope is that being somewhere out of the flat where I feel safe for a few hours a day will just make everything a bit easier.
My friends can’t stay with me forever. Thats is not going to work. So we are using the time to find ways to reduce my anxiety so i can built up to being alone overnight a few nights a week. It’s all very slow, but going in the right direction.
Looking into next week there are a few small changes planned. They revolve around lowering the demand for spoons and moving support time to be more effective.
For the next few months i am working part time hours with the BBC. I need more time to focus on my life skills. While i love my job, i need to invest time now in my living skills. It will mean i can enjoy my work more in the future so its a good trade off.
We are making a small change to the babysitter arrangements too. The plan was for the babysitter to come for an hour a night (6-7pm). But thats only worked once. She’s tending to stay until my friend arrives in the evening as i don’t have the spoons to be alone. Paying an extra £15-20 in babysitting is very good value versus struggling on and risking a panic attack. Spending money on support so i feel comfortable is something it it taking me a while to get use to doing.
Its been a good week with lots of positive to build on. Hoping this the coming week is as positive.
