Hi! Let me introduce you to my freind, Autism. Maybe someone you know has Autism as a friend, or maybe you do too. But if you don't, you should read on and discover what it's like to have Autism living in your head. Autism can be useful, he lets me have special skills, but Autism can also be annoying, he can make you happy for one moment, then he can make you angry the next. Autism can make my life a little bit more tricky than people who don't have Autism for a friend. The school playground, you know and love, is a whirlwind to me. In the school playground you can block out some of the noises that you hear, I don't know the 'fun' playground you know. In the school playground, you just hear a few noises. I hear loud footsteps, cars and lorries racing by on the school road, apples crunching, laughter, and balls bouncing.

Walking down the street I hear dogs barking, hoses washing cars, coins dropping, music from phones, engines starting, doors slamming, teenagers swearing. Autism is responsible for all that. The problem is, I look fine on the outside, but on the inside, I'm screaming.

Understanding

I became home-schooled in the middle of year 2. All my friends from my class in my old school always say : Why, why do you not go to school anymore? I always just say : Long story. I can't go over it again. One half of my head says : Come on, you want them to know every bit of why you're home-schooled. The other side says : No. Don't say anything. You don't want to. I want my friends to know, but then I don't. What will they think if I tell them? Sometimes they brag on and on, I just say the truth : I didn't like it. But they don't understand. They say : So, I can tell my dad I don't like school, and then that's it. 'No'. I say. ' It's more complicated than that'. At school, the teachers didn't understand me. They were my bullies. Sometimes, I'd go in the school toilets and cry. One time, I was doing a test. I didn't want to go out to break, so I thought if I didn't answer the question, then I would stay in and finish it. Then my teacher came over. ' You can do that' he told me. What? You can't do that? I took that as an insult. Not many people understood me at that time. My dad didn't think I had Autism as a friend, because he thought boys have him more.

Sensory overloads

Sensory overloads happen to people who have Autism as a friend. As an example, this could happen in a shopping centre. It's when you get so much sensory, that you basically have a meltdown. This could show on the outside, or it could be happening on the inside. Most of my sensory overloads happen on the inside. Back to the shopping centre. This is what happens when I get too much sensory in a shopping centre. You walk in. Snap! A blinding white light appears. You look away. You hear bags rustling, metal coffee cups slamming on tables. You smell and hear perfume spraying, then kids screaming with delight, footsteps echoing, coins dropping, ping, ping, fans whipping, skateboards wheels, sirens from outside. That's a Sensory overload.

Special skills

People with Autism as a friend also have special skills. Mine is to solve a Rubik's Cube under 25 seconds. For others it could be : Knowing loads of facts, being really good at maths, writing, or something else. What's your special skill?