World Cafe Blog

So I again sit to type to you, plagued by a silent subtle anxiety. This task or that always thrust to the fore front of my mind as being more important. Sometimes rightly sometimes a cruel distraction allowing the anxiety to grow somewhere hidden of the true lost priority. Independence seeming a mere dream.

A dull throb some where in the depths of the mechanical running of my body waiting. Whether it be a form that has gone unheeded with the statement Urgent in huge red Letters or a small message that could lead to great opportunity. It lurks down there in the dark gnawing at my intestines hanging around with the numerous telephone calls never made some of which have gone way past critical and lay decaying in a smelly heap. Its smell reeks of failure and impending doom.

Until a friend can say the words 'HOPE'*. Helping you to dig down, way down deep and lift them out one at a time. The coach with a strong grip as they hoist you back up into the clean smelling air and the daylight. Another task broken down with the help and support of a dear friend. Find such a friend and be there 'HOPE' as they will be yours.

*HOPE is a term me and my good friend and coach use to help each other. We picked it up from the fantastic book Driven to Distraction. To use as an aid to helping a friend with ADD. It loosely stands for Help (What help do you need) Obligations (What do you have to accomplish) Planning (How can you plan for that) and lastly Encouragement (Much needed when it seems that there is such a mountain still to climb).

Dr Hallowell blog can be found Here http://www.drhallowell.com/blog/

It is not always Easy to find that person willing to be that support or to realise that it is really what you need. And it is not always easy for someone on the spectrum to ask for this kind of help but Its always worth it in the End you grow together. I am so fortunate to have such a true friend and to get the chance to be one aswell. Go out there and become one in no matter how big or small a way.

Frank Louis Allen

So here it is I am attempting to blog again in the written form, not just my Images this time. I will try to provide information on our www.Autismbrainstorm.org meet ups, upcoming guests, and also the challenges face from both being on the Spectrum and being a Partially Sighted Artist. But First an Introduction is needed...

Well I was going to introduce myself until I was show an Article in the mail online* which I will return to, and I was a bit shocked for a second. But I'll continue because the general populations view of Autism needs to change...

I am a 32 year old Artist Diagnosed with both PDD/NOS and ADHD. Doctors tell me to tell people I have Aspergers because it is a much better understood term by the General Public although my Diagnosis doesn’t quite fit the Criteria. I have a eye condition called Retinitous Pigmentosa which is robbing me of cells in my retina, My genes have no means of replacing the retina cells as they die.

I live a fulfilled life on the whole despite these conditions yes they cause problems but problems are to be solved. I struggle with a standard job the focus and concentration needed are not always mine despite my best efforts and since my back has again herniated this is at present a Impossibility. So I work to my strengths and I am creating Independence through my Artwork. My Art work has been appreciated around the World for its unique style.

The author of the before mentioned Article would say from a prenatal test if one such where found that my life would not be worth living on 2 counts and this is what shocked me to my soul. She claims that we should not look to the genius model of what life with Autism could be an the reality at the hardship encountered by the family’s and the individual on the spectrum and weather or not it is worth it. She writes this article out of of Ignorance and near-sightedness with no view of autism beyond a screaming child and some distressed parents.

These people need to be educated, they are the people misinforming the masses, the reason families ignore and hide there autism to there own detriment and the detriment of those they love, the reason people are afraid. We need to show people not to be afraid. i just hope I can bring hope and Encouragement to counter the ignorance surrounding a lot of Peoples take of the Autistic Spectrum,

I also feel I must add there are no them and Us there is only Us.

- Frank Louis Allen

*The Article in question http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1116602/Why-face-truth-Having-autistic-child-wrecks-life-.html

l.

My Work up in Times Square New York