The Challenges in my Life...
Being on the Autism spectrum, there are aspects of life that are more challenging for me than others. I guess since I'm grown up, I have new obstacles to deal with and older ones have either gone away or don't bother me as much as they did when I was a kid. But this generally makes sense for anyone depending on what they have gone through with their youth. Like I mentioned earlier though, my situation is, or can be, different.
One big challenge for me was moving to Florida in 2003. I was excited to move, but to be more specific, I was just nervous and afraid to join any groups or sports teams at school because I thought I wouldn't be accepted. I also just wanted to stay with what I did from where I came from, if that makes sense. To put it better, I didn't want to replace my experiences in Carmel, Indiana with new ones in Florida. But I understand now that nothing will replace any of my experiences I have had in my life, unless I want them to.
Another big challenge I faced was when a number of people came over to visit or when my family and I went to small parties at our friend's house. I remember that when I was little, I would just wait in the car playing GameBoy while my family went in to visit our parent's friends because I was too nervous to see them. When we would have a number of guests at our house for a small party, I would just stay in my room because I was really shy. I guess the real reason is that I didn't want to bring attention to myself and have to share anything about me that I thought would lead them to judging me. I would say the fear of being judged has been the number one challenge in my life, but over the years, I have slowly become less affected by it. There are also a couple small hurdles I have faced in my youth as well. The first of which is seeing someone I know from school outside of school.
It was really nerve-racking for me to see my teachers and classmates, though not as much, in places outside of school. I still question why that is today, but I guess it's like the belief that teachers only exist in schools, so when I see them outside of school I get really nervous to interact with them. It might be because I only know them as teachers and not as someone to build a relationship with. But how I feel about it now, I'm much less nervous. The last small obstacle I had when I was little was seeing or being in the presence of unusual things.
I find it kind of funny that I felt scared of unusual things. When I was in Cub Scouts, we were having a ceremony and the last thing we did, I believe, was throw pies in the leader's face. At the time, I was fine seeing that kind of stuff on TV, but not in real life, so being nervous, I didn't want to see what was going to happen. I also remember that I was afraid to see giant meatballs because I found it weird and scary to see meatballs bigger than their usual size. But today, I'm totally over these silly fears that challenged me as a child.
So basically those are what have been challenging me in my life as I was growing up. Today, I still face the fear of being judged, though it's beginning not to bother me anymore. I also find communicating with others challenging because, like other people, I'm an introvert, and I'm shy. But I guess it's more challenging for me because I'm on the Autism spectrum. I know with love and support, I will be able to conquer my fears and have a more fulfilling life.
-By Andrew Boughner
One big challenge for me was moving to Florida in 2003. I was excited to move, but to be more specific, I was just nervous and afraid to join any groups or sports teams at school because I thought I wouldn't be accepted. I also just wanted to stay with what I did from where I came from, if that makes sense. To put it better, I didn't want to replace my experiences in Carmel, Indiana with new ones in Florida. But I understand now that nothing will replace any of my experiences I have had in my life, unless I want them to.
Another big challenge I faced was when a number of people came over to visit or when my family and I went to small parties at our friend's house. I remember that when I was little, I would just wait in the car playing GameBoy while my family went in to visit our parent's friends because I was too nervous to see them. When we would have a number of guests at our house for a small party, I would just stay in my room because I was really shy. I guess the real reason is that I didn't want to bring attention to myself and have to share anything about me that I thought would lead them to judging me. I would say the fear of being judged has been the number one challenge in my life, but over the years, I have slowly become less affected by it. There are also a couple small hurdles I have faced in my youth as well. The first of which is seeing someone I know from school outside of school.
It was really nerve-racking for me to see my teachers and classmates, though not as much, in places outside of school. I still question why that is today, but I guess it's like the belief that teachers only exist in schools, so when I see them outside of school I get really nervous to interact with them. It might be because I only know them as teachers and not as someone to build a relationship with. But how I feel about it now, I'm much less nervous. The last small obstacle I had when I was little was seeing or being in the presence of unusual things.
I find it kind of funny that I felt scared of unusual things. When I was in Cub Scouts, we were having a ceremony and the last thing we did, I believe, was throw pies in the leader's face. At the time, I was fine seeing that kind of stuff on TV, but not in real life, so being nervous, I didn't want to see what was going to happen. I also remember that I was afraid to see giant meatballs because I found it weird and scary to see meatballs bigger than their usual size. But today, I'm totally over these silly fears that challenged me as a child.
So basically those are what have been challenging me in my life as I was growing up. Today, I still face the fear of being judged, though it's beginning not to bother me anymore. I also find communicating with others challenging because, like other people, I'm an introvert, and I'm shy. But I guess it's more challenging for me because I'm on the Autism spectrum. I know with love and support, I will be able to conquer my fears and have a more fulfilling life.
-By Andrew Boughner
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