E-book Released
I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults went live yesterday at Amazon.com. If you have a Prime membership and a Kindle, you can borrow it for free.
Thank you to everyone who helped me refine the cover art last week and cheered me on. That last mile was more difficult than I anticipated. Now I need to do some promotion so I can get my giveaway idea off the ground. Strangely, I’m really good at promoting other people’s stuff and am probably going to be terrible at promoting my own.
Another Adult ASD Research Study
This week, I received information on two more research studies. If you live to fill out questionnaires, are over 18 and have an ASD diagnosis, read on. Both studies are by being conducted by Kathrine Birt as part of her Doctoral research at Deakin University in Australia. The goal of the studies is to better understand the impact of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnoses on intimate couple relationship development (in adulthood).
The first is a questionnaire that takes about 20 minutes to complete. To participate, you need to be over 18 and have an ASD diagnosis. You don’t need to currently be in a relationship to be eligible, but if you are in a relationship, you’ll be presented with additional and more detailed questions. (I’ve completed both questionnaires, because I like to be sure I know what I’m sharing information about.) More info about the first study is here.
Study number 2 is for adults with ASD and their intimate partners. Both partners must be over 18 and one must have an ASD diagnosis. The questionnaire for the individual with ASD takes about 30 minutes to complete. After completion, a link is provided for a second (10-15 minute) questionnaire to be completed by that person’s partner. More information about study #2 is here.
Note that for both studies, clicking the “continue to study” button on the first page takes you to a second page with more details about things like the type of information collected, how the information will be used and privacy protections.
Not Quite a Hippity Hop
This is my new exercise ball:
I’ve been using the exercise ball at the gym after my twice-a-week workouts and decided I needed one at home. It’s a fun sensory toy and a good way to stretch and release the tension that I seem to perpetually carry in my upper back and shoulders. Once, a yoga instructor who told me that I carry my negative emotions between my shoulder blades. My slightly less interesting explanation is that I unconsciously put myself in awkward postures that create tension in my body, maybe as a kind of stim. The exercise ball is a good way to consciously check in with my muscles and release the tension so it doesn’t build up into nagging injuries.
Sadly, it doesn’t have a handle so I can’t hop around the living room on it.
Some Girl Stuff
Last week Asparagus Girl wrote a blog post about perimenopause and Asperger’s. Not much has been written about menopause by women on the spectrum so I was excited to see her tackling the subject. The post mainly focuses on mood swings, which should be called mood slingshots or mood boomerangs or something more violent and dangerous and in line with reality.Think PMS on steroids.
I’ve noticed an uptick in meltdowns over the last few years as my hormones become more wacky. I’m definitely more irritable, too, and sometimes I find myself in a strange, unpleasant moods for no obvious reason. There’s other stuff–some that’s TMI even for me–and taken together all of these changes have me wondering if women on the spectrum experience perimenopause differently from typical women. Not necessarily if we have worse symptoms, but if our funky brain wiring creates unexpected side effects of the hormone fluctuations that precede menopause.
Predictably, this isn’t any substantial research on autism and menopause. Like a lot of aspects of being an autistic adult, I’m finding the best source of information is other women who are going through or have done through the process already.
Musings of an Aspie 
Love the exercise ball! Be jealous–my daughter has a hippity hop, and I swear that I’ve been on it more than she has. 🙂
Congratulations on the e-book release!
I am jealous! One of the things I miss about no longer having a little kid around is the toys. 🙂
And thank you!
I’m happy to see that there is a lot of research done on adult with ASD, or at least that there is some done. Research that implies we can actually get a life partner, or maybe just don’t want one, not talking about the little fact that autistics actually grow up!
Maybe ducktape (okay, I’m certain this isn’t the name) could do the handle, so you could hop around?
I think there is definitely more research getting done, which is good to see. I also took part in research about adults with ASD and career choices a couple of weeks ago. My thinking is that the more response researchers get from autistic adults when they do a study, the more studies will get done. That might be wishful thinking. Still, like you said, it’s nice to see an acknowledgement that not only do autistic adults exist but we have intimate relationships (if we choose to).
Duct tape! That’s a brilliant idea. I’d probably need a second ball because tape residue on stuff freaks me out so I’d never be able to remove the handle. 🙂
Book cover looks great 🙂
In the UK Space Hoppers have massive ‘retro’ appeal and there was a huge revival about a decade ago. There are competing companies who sell them, all of which do adult sizes, they frequently come up in charity record attempts or sponsored feats (usually for the Comic Relief charity) and there have been campaigns to get sedimentary adults to exercise using space hoppers because it’s ‘more fun’.
http://www.spacehoppersite.co.uk/space-hopper-fat-face.php
http://www.space-hoppers.co.uk/index.php?cPath=53_68
http://www.space-hoppers.co.uk/index.php?cPath=53_69
It’s also a common charity even to do a huge space hopper race with a big crowd of people:
Oh and apparently the record attempts trend is still going too:
http://www.worldrecordacademy.com/sports/longest_distance_bounced_on_a_Space_Hopper_Phoebe_Asquith_breaks_Guinness_world_record_213389.html
This Ohio charity even seems to have some adults hopping too 🙂
(What’s to bet this message gets pushed into moderation because it’s mostly links!)
It did but I rescued it because I’m comment stalking while I revise this morning. 🙂
I love the “Space Hoppering is not a Crime” stickers. This is clearly a much bigger trend in the UK than in the US. I’ve seen US-based sites that sell adult sized hoppers but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fitness campaign or anything like that here. Maybe I can figure out how to get Michelle Obama to lead the charge. She seems very fitness minded.
Thank you for the help on the cover last week and also for you comments as I wrote. I mentioned you (by first name only, obviously) in the acknowledgements section. 🙂
Congratulations on your hard work!!! Well done.
You truly have been an inspiration to me.
Thank you! What a wonderful thing to say. 🙂
I just finished reading your book. Well done! This book is a wonderful resource. Thank you for it, and for sharing the details of your own self-discovery.
Thank you! I hope that it helps people navigate the complex web of adult diagnosis. I couldn’t believe how complicated getting a diagnosis was. Hopefully that will change as more adults seek out diagnoses and providers become more aware of the face that undiagnosed adults exist.
Congratulations on the e-book release!!
On another note, I have disappeared for a little bit after my diagnosis, don’t know why, it felt like my obsessive search for one answer is over and am now moving onto the next life’s mystery, or perhaps I am going through the process of self-discovery at mid-life, the traits I thought was uniquely me wasn’t me at all, it was the condition.
Anyway, back to the subject, am very happy for you with the e-book! Looking forward to catching up on my readings here 🙂
Congratulations on your diagnosis. I totally understand the need for some time to readjust your self-concept and figure out where to go next. Getting a diagnosis is a huge thing, even if you already more or less knew. I think that even in light of the influence of ASD, we are all still uniquely us, because as the surveys and posts here show so often, each trait manifests differently depending on our underlying personalities and life experiences.
Thank you for the congratulations! It felt good to see the series put together in book form. 🙂
thanks for your research .atleast people can understand the mystery of their being and get to live with it.