Miranda

So, it is very hard and I think in my day, there was no chance of seeking an answer, and I think maybe I could be one of the lucky ones at my age that I have found an answer. There’s probably a lot of people my age and older that perhaps may not never ever find an answer, because GPs are just not aware of the autistic spectrum and, because they just know nothing about it; they’re not aware, maybe they might be in children, but as for adult, I think, as far as GPs are concerned today. I think what they were expecting with me, was just to live with it and just get on with it, because, there’s nothing you can do about it. Because I think they virtually say, “Well you’ve lived with it up till now, you can live with it a bit longer, but these children can’t they have, they do have that sort of priority.” And I’m thinking well maybe yes, maybe no, but, I do think, no matter what age you are, I do think you deserve an answer and shouldn’t be allowed to go through the rest of your life, having to live, just live with it, and get on with it. 

And this is where I find it very, very difficult, to actually go to places  because also I have, I don’t know whether it’s because I have this disability, but I have a lot of serious dietary problems. I’m gluten I’m wheat, I’m diary, and I’m lactose and I’m yeast and I’m egg intolerant. So I find it very, very difficult to go out and have something to eat somewhere, because nobody caters, and in this day and age I think it’s wrong because you should be able. I mean I could understand if it was five years ago, or even longer. But I mean in this day and age I should be able to get a gluten free diet anywhere. It’s just ridiculous. You just can’t walk into any café, or any food establishment and get something to eat, because they don’t cater for you.

And so it is, it is quite difficult. So I do find it hard. I don’t have much of a social life really, because I have to look after my mum. Although I do go to college two nights a week and I think if I didn’t go to college I wouldn’t have an outlet. I wouldn’t have anything else. That’s the only that I’ve got really that keeps me sane really because that’s the only thing that I’ve got really, to look forward to really, because it’s quite difficult out there.

And also I found with Asperger's we work at a slower pace, and then a lot of the other people although we get there at the end. And I find that the way that we work, because we work at our own pace we’re doing things, and I find that we make not as many mistakes as the rest of them, who rush through and have to re-do it again. So, but the, but the pace at college now is very, very fast and the teacher who was teaching me last night, he’s he has this, apparently he has the same disability as me. He has Asperger's. He’s a Chinese boy and he was doing astrophysics but he had to pack it up for the simple reason was, because he just couldn’t keep up with the pace because the pace is so quickly now, because I’m finding now as you probably realise yourself that so many courses that used to be something like 38 weeks has now been probably reduced, down to something like 29 weeks and you’ve got to sort of be writing. And I know it sounds ridiculous, almost two essays a night, and that is very, very difficult perhaps for the average person to actually keep up with. And it isn’t easy.

Can I just take you back to the diagnosis?

Yes, yes. 

We were talking about the diagnosis weren’t we?

Yes, yes.

And you said this was this one woman sort of pretty much diagnosed on the spot when she saw you. But you had to go through some sort of tests or questionnaires and questions and stuff. What did you think when she diagnosed you?

Well I was quite pleased actually that she diagnosed me. I was really pleased because it had taken me three years, and I had to battle myself, and the girl, that actually was supposed to be helping me didn’t. So I had to, I had to actually battle this all on my own. So … but it is it is renowned for Asperger's that once we get hold of something we don’t let go.

I don’t think people see that person, I just think they see that I don’t think they belong, they overlook the disability, and I also feel that these, these like a… these Leonard Cheshire adverts, I think sometimes they come on far too late at night, sometimes there on it, sort of like one and two o’clock in the morning. And how many people are up at that time in the morning, and a lot of people don’t see those, those adverts to see the person and not the disability. And I think, they are on far too late, and I don’t think there is enough awareness about disabilities. I don’t feel there is enough awareness about disabilities, especially in the workplace and I feel that people who work with people in any shape or form, whether it be in the college, or whether it just be in just a normal café or something like that, they should all, I mean I think the government should fund people to go on disability awareness courses, and because not everybody is the same who walks through the door. And they should be, they should have some kind of awareness of how to, how to treat people because it’s like they just don’t know how to treat them. They’re overlooked, and they might sort of like a little space in the corner, but why should you make a little space in the corner of a room or café or anything. They should be allowed to be integrated and they should be made welcome, but there isn’t just enough awareness for disabilities.