Through My Eyes, An Autistic Perspective...

    There's no denying it, everyone has those negative voices in their minds that gives them a false sense of reality. I suffered a lot from them this decade while trying different paths and learning how to deal with them. Mine are mainly based on self esteem and wondering if I'll ever be happy and successful. But what I soon came to realize is that there's always a time to feel happy and successful.     The number one voice I kept hearing in my mind has went along the lines of "Agh,...you are failing! How can you call yourself a member of society if you have failed what you have been told? They told you, 'get good grades', 'go to college', and 'find a good job'. That's how you find your way in society and you're not able to do it!" Pretty harsh, right? Part of what I kept hearing has been true though. Society tells us, especially growing up in school, to get good grades for a college acceptance to get educated on a career you des...

    Well, first off, happy new year 2019!! I learned a lot about myself and how to handle difficult moments last year. To sum up 2018, I started drinking coffee in the mornings, completed an internship at Eleven Fifty Academy in April, enrolled as a trainee of LEND at the end of the summer, got a job at the startup bakery, "No Label at the Table", and started blogging. I also became interested in baking from watching "Nailed It!", "Sugar Rush", and "Zumbo's Just Desserts" on Netflix. It was a great year for me to try new things and to grow as a person. So, as it's the start of 2019, I have a few resolutions that I hope I can pull off to further learn new things and continue my growth as a human.     First off, I would love to start reading more books this year. I believe spending more of my time reading and less of my time on electronic devices will make me feel less depressed and worried about the future. There's a quote I recently...

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 ...

Hello, I'm Andrew Boughner! Just to clarify real quick - my last name is pronounced "bow-ner", "bow" as in bowing to an audience. Not the other way "B-O-W" can be pronounced, but that can be funny. It's happened to me once and, at the time, I didn't even know what everyone was laughing about. Well, I did think that they were laughing because it was pronounced wrong, but not the real reason since I didn't know what "boner" meant at the time. You can also think of my last name rhyming with "downer". Anyway, I was born at 5:20pm or 17:20 on February 16th, 1993. I was the first baby and only boy to be born to my parents, and my full name is Andrew Michael Boughner. I was left with a birthmark on the back of my head on the lower right side that, when seen, looks like a coin-sized mole. I'm also allergic to Nickel, the kind of metal, not the coin. My life began in the great city of Carmel, Indiana here in the United Stat...