S is for ..

I like B.

Bang on about A.

Am calmed by Cs.

Clinging onto summer in September, I’m sidetracked by S.

Some might say it’s an autism thing ... others simply autumn.

I hope this little ditty resonates, autistic or not.

Calligraphy S | Canvas Art by Suhas Tavkar on Pinterest

S is for ..

S is for summer~still clinging on
S is for shells~pebbles & stones~summer's souvenirs~scavanged & sorted

S is for snap~Polaroid snaps~places & spaces~a sense of place~a sense of self in space

S is for seahorse~starfish~sand

S is for seaweed~sea life~beach life~quiet life

S is for September~starting school~transitions & change~suddenly shocking

S is for special~needs or no needs~interests & passions~Statements as were

S is for Slytherin~Sonic~Science~sketching~stories~obsessively expert

S is for story~our story~others’ stories~all too common~read, listen, act, share

S is for sharing~over sharing~even with strangers~shudders!

S is for syndromes~sensitive senses~sounds, smells, sights~senses assaulted

S is for swinging~spinning~stimming~sensory seeking~sensory avoiding

S is for socially~avoidant~anxious~starved~disabled~segregated~
isolated

S is for sparse~friends~friendless~sparsely friended~so special~dear old friends

S is for sync~in & out of~idiosyncratic~speech

S is for speak~some can’t~we can’t sometimes~speech is cheap~it’s what you do

S is for systems~systematic failures~sins against the vulnerable

S is for striving~strive to survive~survival responses~constantly startled 

S is for stress~soaring~sleepless~sinews shattered~sanity snapped
S is for scared~scarred
S is for shout~slap

S is for swipe~Swiper no swiping!

S is for sorry~we are~are you?

S is for spectrum~same issues~similar issues~singularly different~
not less

S is for seeking~understanding~acceptance~inclusion~equality~
societal shift

S is for sugar~spice~frogs~snails~puppy dog tails~identity~shaken & stirred

S is for self-identity~confusion~whispers~Careless Whispers~forced endings & beginnings

S is for sure~unsure~insecure~self-doubt~self-deprecating~
self-loathing~side effects

S is for self-medicating~starving~self-harming~suicide~too highly prevalent in this community

S is for shots~cigs~Southern Comfort~in the bottom of a glass~
spirits downed & drowned

S is for soul~Save Our Souls!

S is for support~speech & language~psychiatric~psychological~
occupational~not behavioural

S is for self-help~self-care~support groups~friends & family~fairly, justly reciprocal 

S is for self-talk~self-soothing~processing~acting out loud~speaking out loud

S is for say~what you mean & mean it

S is for settling~is that what I mean?~making the best of & grateful for life

S is for soap~certain soaps~fresh laundered sheets~shoes & risottos~slabbed stoneware clay

S is for structure~strategies~stamina~listening~observing

S is for seeing~solving~thinking in tangents, circles & spirals~skilled problem solvers

S is for sleuthing~Sparkling Cyanide~Agatha Christie~lost in a book~
useful for calming

S is for serious

S is for sad

S is for Sara~sadly serious~sucking @ social~silly times lost

S is for silliness~desperately sought

S is for safety~sadly lacking 

S is for silence~p l e a s e

S is for sea

S is for swim

S is for sun~sunflowers~bees

S is for sprinkles~or sprinklers~you choose

S is for stars~sparkling in space~s a f e  s p a c e

S is for sky

S is for Skye

S is for summer~still clinging on~sounds, smells, sights~senses sated 

S is for songs~solos or otherwise~food for the soul~good soul music~
soundtracks to life

S is for songbird~soak it all up~Sandy & Danny~Summer Lovin’~no singing in the a.m.

S is for strong~soft~too strong~too soft~too sensitive~too slow~
too much~stand strong

S is for standing~out & up~Stand By Me

S is for shoulders~share some~free empathy~empathy rich~
Lean On Me

S is for Saturday~Saturday & Sunday~weekend’s here~sweet rest & recovery~I Don't Like Mondays

S is for sat~sitting in bedrooms~secretly hiding~hidden conditions

S is for sick~sick of~speculation~spurious causes & cures~sick with measles & mumps

S is for science~studies & research~busting the myths~seek out the sound stuff

S is for sounds~shattering noise~the too loud shouting of doubters & haters

S is for STOP

S is for silent~Silent Night

S is for shush now~settle~sleep sweet peas~sweet children of mine

S is for sons~sisters~siblings~family~rivalry~love
S is for spouse~Cherish the Love~self-love~Sacred Love~Sting!
S is for snuggles~hugs~no hugs

S is for safe~Maslow’s first basic need~now you can start

S is for smart~find your smart~start~something~somewhere~never stop

S is for self~self-actualisation~Shine~You Are My Sunshine~you are somebody~I Wanna Dance

S is for swirls~smiles~Smile~sparkling eyes~granted wishes~sprinkled happiness~YES PLEASE!
A is all of these.

Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest

(Ab)normal service is resumed

I know my last post 

was ludicrously long, demanding significant endurance capability. 
I vow never to write another so lengthy.

I stand by the content.

It's sound, in my experience.
I even have more I could add (& secretly want to).

There are learnings & insights

as with most things in life.  Not only about the writing but about the predominant subject matter of this blog!

On the approach, 
the subject was just too large to tackle in one go, for which I apologise.

And, as previously, rather than pick from the ever growing list of posts to write, I will wait for the list ~ for life ~ to decide the next priority & inspire the next post.  The best & easiest posts for me were those that rose to the top of the pile naturally ... organically ... so that's how I'll proceed.

The group thing seems to have withered & passed.
I don't have a great track record with groups generally, I'm realising (an autistic cross to bear arising from our communication differences).  This was a good idea.  But those groups that do persist, I guess, must do so for good reason ... so I should apply the same logic to those groups that don't fly & try to ignore the simmering self-deprecation & self-doubt.  

On the content, I could have edited more but, to be honest, because the approach was not ideal, I'd already spent far too long getting to the point of publishing to spend any more time reducing it down to a more digestible size.  At least there's lots of content collated ~ all in one place ~ on the one topic!

On being autistic, this post beautifully illustrates the time it can take to complete tasks as we offload everything we know before filtering, editing & reducing to achieve a more sensible, acceptable, "normal" sized knowledge download.  In this instance, the latter part of the process didn't happen ~ regrettably but deliberately so.

It takes me back to exams ... always asking for more paper as I brain dumped everything I could about a subject that the allotted time allowed.

Reflections complete, I won't waste our time like this again.

I hope I haven't scared you away & that you'll give me the chance to be true to my word.

Thank you for your patience & understanding & a doubly double thank you to those who responded ~ you're legends to me.

xxx

Bahrain Race Circuit | Andreas Gursky phototrend.fr