From being idle to being buried.

Well here I am thinking of a title to use and then it came to me. I used to stay at home a lot getting depressed and now I’m always out that I sometimes get called a “party animal”.

Every friday I try to attend this youth group as I have friends there and it’s the only chance I really get to see them. I’m not really into churches but youth groups are great for spending time out when you have nothing else on.  I’ve been going to this youth group called J-Walk since like 2011 and from then it was like on and off but I got really involved a year ago.  Though I’ve been a youth group with the Salvation Army for like years until I stopped getting information in the mail about it (I don’t really know what happened to it). The good thing about J-Walk is that you get to do all sorts of activities from running around shopping centres to having live bands. But what I like most about the youth group is that you don’t only get to socialise with your friends but meet new people.

The only problem about that is that they have recently decided to restructure the whole youth group by splitting us into small groups. Yeah they did say that once a month we’ll all see each other but I don’t know how this is going to work for me as it’s going to split up my friends. Maybe it’s a hint for me to start organising things, but with them busy at the church all the time, how can I? I guess it would be great for making new friends but yeah not sure about how I’m going to see my existing friends now. Hopefully something works out.

Another thing that I’ve been involved in is an Aspergers support group under the name Aspergers Victoria. It’s been great for me. I’ve actually made so many friends through that and now regularly attend a dinner in Belgrave every 4th Tuesday of the month. When I first went there a year ago I was really nervous thinking that everyone wouldn’t accept me as my Aspergers isn’t that bad. Like I don’t think I’ve ever had an anxiety issue however when I think back I used to be very shy. For example going to a shop and ordering something, I couldn’t just do that as I was shaking radically. Now I can pay for petrol with no problem. Another thing is that I just can’t go to the shops on my own, I need someone at least to go with and that’s my the internet has become my best mate to buy stuff. At least one thing this Aspergers group has made me feel more confident and happy knowing other people have been suffering similar to me.

I was like 5 when I was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome and since then I’ve found out other people have been diagnosed a lot latter in their years than I have been. I was only diagnosed as I was called dumb by teachers so my mum got an IQ test done on me and that’s when they found out I had Aspergers. They mainly thought I was dumb because I had a speech problem and therefore they were suggesting that I should have an aid. Since then I was doing speech therapy all the way up to grade 4 and then I decided to stop because I wanted to be like everyone else and not having to leave the classroom to attend this session. If only I knew about support groups like Aspergers Victoria, I would’ve felt a lot better especially since I got bullied at times during my school life. I would say grade 5 was my hardest year with a bully on my back that it made me sook at home (at least know one knew until now). Anyway since then I’ve been over bullies and haven’t really taken their comments seriously.

And that’s where the I CAN NETWORK fits in. To turn I CAN’T into I CAN. So many people on the spectrum think they can’t do things when they possibly can. Like they doubt themselves too much and bullies can be one of the causes of that. Therefore I have decided to become an enabler for the I Can Network so I can help other people on the spectrum. I’m only new to the group so I don’t know much on what’s going on apart from a teens camp sometime in October. But hopefully by going to more meetings I’ll get the hang of it. And once again I’ve been making friends from this group too!

The last thing on my mind is actually work. Considering when I started writing these blogs, most of them were about work. I guess since I’ve had a job since November last year and kept it longer than what I was told, has kept me calm. Though I still don’t have an apprenticeship with them I’m happy enough to still have a job with them. There has been times when I’ve been worried about losing it and having to go through the whole dreadful job searching again. There have been instances where I’ve damaged something or killed the wrong plants that I thought were weeds. Even after doing that 6 month course I’ve forgotten all the scientific names to these certain plant species around the TAFE. Probably means I didn’t do enough study in that class. The tests and assignments weren’t that hard either. Anyway regardless of what happened in that class, it has helped me a lot to get a kick-start in horticulture and I can’t wait to start an apprenticeship and really learn. By then I would feel more confident in spraying the right plants.

So yeah I have been busy, sorry for that lol. I have been thinking of going on a rant about public transport in my area in the past but I never really thought what I can write about that. All I know is that from today I will now have to take 2 buses to get into the city instead of one. You’re probably wondering why I don’t take the train… Well basically we have no train in Doncaster and have been wanting one for over a century! The government just doesn’t listen and ignores us. So will we ever have a train line? I doubt it but would use it if it got built. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments on how to make the government change their minds or how the changes with public transport is affecting you.

For now I don’t know when I’ll post again but hopefully not too long.