Me and social media

🎶 Where does the misunderstanding come from? Demanding that we be outstanding and then some? 🎶
- Five Iron Frenzy

Where to start with such a large topic? As an adult with autism I cannot speak for every person with the disorder, neither is my opinion based on any research. Like with every other aspect of this website, this is my personal opinion based on my own experiences.

Having been born in the pre-Facebook era, I am blessed to remember what it was like when face to face communication was the norm, and any other communication was done via landlines and letters. I believe that those were the “good old days” for someone like me, as face to face communication is now no longer the norm. I have come to understand that the biggest issue I have with autism is trying to interpret what a person is really trying to communicate.

Non verbal communication is something that I have to work really hard to try to interpret. If non verbal communication is hard while talking to someone (face to face), then trying to interpret verbal communication (ear to phone) without any visual prompts, is that much harder. Face to text? Well that’s near impossible. It’s hard to put into words what exactly is stopping me from being able to communicate like someone without autism, but put me into a room full of people, and even though it will look like I’m doing fine, I’m not. I can quite honesty say that attending a birthday party is as exhausting to me as running a marathon!

Over the years I have managed to develop personal tools to make life a little easier in face to face communication, but for social media I have found that the best solution is to avoid it as much as possible. Quitting Facebook and online games that contain a social element was one of the best decisions I ever made to lower my stress. I would have loved to stop all forms of face to text communication, but that is unfortunately not possible in today’s society.

For this project I have decided to use Instagram and Strava social media platforms. This will help me enhance the website further while challenging my own personal development. Feel free to follow one or more of the accounts, feedback is very welcome.

RedBeardRunning 🏃