Microfibre.
The absolute bane of my existence, along with its evil cousin: velvet. But doesn’t everyone have things they dislike? A smell? Flavour? A least-favourite colour? Touch is just another sense, so surely the fact that touching microfibre makes my elbows hurt is totally normal?
I didn’t suspect I was autistic until my 30s. My assumptions of how it was presented were ill-informed and based upon clumsy stereotypes of autistic boys and men and/or those with comorbid developmental difficulties. I do not fit into any of those categories. I am terrible at remembering dates, I am average at maths, I don’t care about trains, eye contact is ok. I not only understand metaphors, but I love them! I adore poetic prose and fictional novels. As you can tell from these awful generalisations, I didn’t even investigate.
Then I started seeing memes about microfibre and realising that they were connected to posts about neurodivergence.
I began to research and to reassess childhood memories and little quirks. That time when I had my hearing tested because when I was concentrating, my mum could be right next to me, saying my name, and I would not respond; it turned out that not only was my hearing fine, but it was unusually good in the higher register. I thought it was normal to be able to hear electricity, and I stopped being able to hear bats at 38 years old. I don’t count prime numbers if I am stressed, but I do pick apart words (etymology being a hobby) and find this calming. Correctness is important, Linnaeus is my hero, too many conflicting sounds make my senses entirely shut down, please don’t hug me, issues with authority if I feel like it is undeserved (but absolute following of rules and authority figures if I decide that it is right), echolalia… The list goes on, and my bafflement that it took 35 years to realise increases. There were signs!
So why am I telling you this?
Firstly, to demonstrate how important conversations about neurodiversity are. It started with a meme, remember? As I have learned more about my spicy-noggin I have come to understand myself better and be more forgiving of myself (both now and when reflecting on the past). However, your brain works, allowing space for conversations on both the positives and negatives, the superpowers and the accommodations, the generalisations and the individual lived experiences, can only make the world a better place (and don’t we all need a bit of that at the moment)!
(Photo: Annie's collection of list keepers)
Secondly, because I have been able to discuss it at work. For the first time. I joined HISA in Nov ’24. I initially hinted. I mentioned loving lists (Lists = Life), my eye for detail, etc. It gradually dawned on me that there are other non-neurotypical folks within HISA, so I just said it. No one batted an eyelid. Then there is my line-manager. She has been doing things to accommodate my ‘tism without me even realising and every time I do notice I feel so supported. I had to go to a new site the other day. She dug out a video tour of the office for me to watch. We have an official 1:1 coming up. She sent me a copy of the template she will be using so I have a sense of what to expect. I can focus on my strengths.
This is the main reason that I am sharing my story with you – it is ok to ask for accommodations to your needs, and it is a truly heartening experience to not have to struggle!
(Photo: Annie's special interest - bones)