I recently posted that six years ago, I submitted my final coursework for the Understanding Autism (Level 2) course at Weston College. At the time, I was driven by a deep desire to better understand and support people who experience the world differently. Well, here’s the follow up.
Fast forward to a few days ago and, whilst life has been throwing me a few challenges recently, a funny event where I ended up deep down a rabbit hole after being distracted from a very simple job; caused me to finally decide to take a reputable online Autism & ADHD screening assessment.
The trigger?
I had gone to my iPad diary to add a reminder for myself (if it doesn’t go in my diary, it will never happen!) when I saw it was my daughter in-laws birthday coming up soon. So… me being me, I thought it would be a good idea to order a card from Moonpig now, before I forgot.
Anyway, 45 minutes and a many digital twists and turns later, I’d just finished watching a very talented young bagpiper playing the solo to ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ by Guns and Roses on her pipes, when I realised I hadn’t even entered the reminder I’d first gone onto my iPad three quarters of an hour before to do!
The test results?
I scored 30 (26 being the threshold, 50 being the ,maximum score). This, I discovered after a little further research, suggests a possible indicator of average to high intelligence Aspergers/ Autism. (I’m aware ‘Aspergers’ as a term is falling out of favour before you ‘@’ me).
The score test is not a diagnosis but may be a good indication that, as I’ve long suspected, I’m likely wired a little differently.
Whilst I haven’t sought a formal diagnosis as yet, this realisation has been positive for me. It’s reinforced my belief that neurodiversity is an incredible asset, one that brings creativity, innovation, and new ways of thinking to our society and that, at 58, it’s never to late to learn more about yourself or, to realise that other people may need to be given a little more consideration when they behave in a way that we find unusual or challenging.
Yet too often people who think, act, or respond differently face stigma, misunderstanding, or exclusion. We need to change that. It’s ‘OK’ to be different. Being different however doesn’t, and shouldn’t, give anyone more or less rights than anyone else. Nor does it give anyone the right to tell others how they should behave or speak. But basic humanity commands us all to pause, to think and to consider what we are about to do or say before we act or open our mouths to speak.
I’m sharing this openly because I have always believed authenticity, transparency and integrity matters. I also believe visibility helps normalise the conversation around mental health and neurodiversity.
Chris Wood
Owner/ CEO