Prepare to enter the wild and wooly world of an adult with Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism characterized by intellignce, quirks, social difficulties and downright strange and oddish behaviours.

People with Aspergers generally are high functioning in everyday life but have great difficulty connecting with others due to the inability to read faces, body language and subtle verbal clues. They also tend to take words literally and have a hard time multi-tasking.

Oversensitivity to touch (clothing has to be soft and often the tags removed), light (do not leave home without the sunglasses), sound (loud noises and noisey places are avoided), taste (many Aspies have quite a limited diet and are frequently very picky eaters) and smells makes the everyday existence more of a challenge.

Fasten your seatbelts and come on in...
To find out more about what Aspergers is..please check out my earliest blog entries

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

I did the most amazing thing today

When I opened my mail this morning, I was shocked to find a notice from Social Security saying they were taking away my monthly payments starting in October.my balance was above the required $2000 limit. I immediately began to panic. I called the phone number and a woman callously explained the why to me. I started to cry as I hung up. My boat was sunk.
I went to my bank to get the paperwork needed to reinstate my benefits for November. I ended up going twice because I need additional statements.
Then I did the unthinkable, the extremely difficult. I drove my stressed out butt to Albany, a foreign-to-me city 15 minutes away. All the streets were unfamiliar and I had no sense of direction so I felt perpetually lost and wasn't as all sure I could find my way home and in time to pick up my son from school.
Thanks to maps on my phone, I found the Social Security office. Then I waited fidgeting and languishing in my seat for my number to be called. I had info that said I was under my limit but I wasn't sure it would actually work.
When my number was called I presented my info to the worker. I explained the situation and almost immediately she said, "I can fix this."
Of course I didn't believe her so I watched her type and type away. Minutes dragged by. Then she said everything was going to be fine. My checks were reinstated and I'd receive a notice in the mail stating that.
I almost fell over. Instead, I thanked and started crying with relief on my way out the door and to my car. I was just sobbing at the fact that I has figured out exactly what to do, and in the midst of full blown, autistic flapping panic, I accomplished the impossible.
I was able to navigate home with time to spare.
I went from heavy grief and belittling myself for making a stupid, costly mistake to congratulating myself on fighting through the panic, gathering the appropriate evidence and presenting my case in a somewhat calm manner.
I won!!! I won against SS!!! I didn't crawl in a corner and feel sorry for myself, I fought to get things turned positively around!! And it worked. I worked. I did it.
What a rollercoaster, emotional day.
After I calmed down a bit, I realized that every time I doubt myself, God gives me a little challenge to prove that I can handle and deal with unexpected, challenging situations.
Really, I need to start believing in myself more. Look at the mountains I've accomplished just in the pat month. Maybe if I believe in myself more I won't need these challenges.
A job very well done!!!!