A year ago, i wrote a blog post about my life. I was about to leave for the CSUN conference, i was ill and my support network had just collapsed.
2015 remained difficult, other amazing people supported me and we fixed the illness. A year later i am in a much better place in so many ways:
So with that in mind, here are some ambitions for what id like to achieve by the end of 2016.
I like to be independent still, i don’t mind if that is because i spent some time in supported living, or because i get support at home. Either way, by the end of 2016 i don’t want to be stuck living with friends who are providing me with support. We know that does not last.
I’d like to have purchased a new home in Romford. Nothing fancy (a 1 bed or small 2 bed would do me!) but i’d like to have moved out of rented housing and back into a home of my own.
I’d like all my day to day support to come from a third party. I dont want my friends involved so much in my day to day life. I should not be dependent on them for anything essential.
I would LOVE to be able to be alone overnight at home and not require overnight support. Though perhaps thats a stretch goal given how difficult that is proving to be.
I want to keep my current job! I want to remain working for the BBC but to be able to travel in and out more often. It would be awesome if i was routinely managing 3 trips a week into London and monthly trip to Salford by the end of the year.
I want to keep writing magazine articles, doing presentations on autism and web stuff etc.
I also want to continue doing my own projects, things like spaced out and smiling etc.
Heres the big one, i want to achieve all these things without trapping myself into another unsustainable situation. I need to be able to be myself, even if that means for much of the time that means i’m like a bouncy five year old.
In a way, thats the real achievement here. I want to have both parts of my being respected.
I want to be able to be autistically happy, while also being able to contribute meaningfully to the wider world.
