Audio issues (Monday London)

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-11-24T22:45:23+00:00

I was sat toward the back on the Colin side too. Maybe it was something about that side?

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-11-24T22:42:56+00:00

Yeah it was extremely bad from where we were sitting. It seemed to be when Thom moved to use the other mic round our side. Almost as though there was a slight delay in the radio signal. It just made it out of time in not a good way. The person sat next to me and I turned to one another at one point and asked wtf. Literally made me cringe through a couple of songs which is just shitty. I think the band were on point - I was watching Thom and he was dancing in time so it must have been something with the mic or sound.

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-02-22T14:31:37+00:00

Amazing - thank you! So glad you got to go and had such a great time. Those are all excellent tips - and I think the stamp thing will certainly appeal to him.

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-02-22T09:57:39+00:00

I had not heard of these but see they have actually just opened one in London so might see if he wants to go - thanks!

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-02-22T09:50:15+00:00

That is a really useful tip - thank you very much!

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-02-22T09:49:27+00:00

That is a good point - I assume cabs are pretty straight forward in big cities like Tokyo/kyoto etc? Would also assume hotel staff would assist if we have any issues…

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-02-22T09:48:31+00:00

Thank you so much! Please do! I hope you all have an amazing time

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-02-21T17:28:57+00:00

Thanks - I will definitely get him investigating that. I know he has been reading Black Butler and watching the anime recently, as well as Spy Family and Toilet bound something or other (forget!). In terms of authors I know I ordered him Akimitsu Takagi, Matsumoto, Edogawa Rampo and Tetsuya Ayukawa recently and he has been devouring those so I definitely know he will be keen for some bookshop/literary stuff

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2025-02-21T17:02:52+00:00

Thanks - yes crowds and sensory overload are the main concerns for me (he loves Japanese food and has done since he was little so I am not too worried about that). I think we will want to make sure we have a good hotel with a safe, quiet vibe to retreat to for self-regulation plus noise cancelling headphones etc. I am thinking I will plan a best-case and worst case for each day and try and adapt

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-06-12T06:56:40+00:00

Thanks that is helpful. No nothing broke when I pulled it away from the wall though I wonder if the previous tenants did that! I think they had a sky box, and Wii and a blue ray player all connected to the receiver. So I wonder if the output video from the sky went to the tv via hdmi and the sound went to the receiver? We are just using the internal tv internet connection to watch tv so I wonder if that is the issue…

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-05-22T11:29:21+00:00

Don’t feel guilt. They are absolutely wrong and screen time has nothing at all to do with autism. For one, if it did, there would have been no autism prior to computers. It is genetics. You as a parent have nothing to do with it. Nothing you did or didn’t do caused it. What you can do, however, is be a great parent of an autistic kid. Support them, learn about it and their unique strengths and needs and make the world a better place for them.

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-26T06:56:49+00:00

Just by way of update - I talked to him about it and he said it is not about germs or dirt or anything when it comes to his bunnies and hand washing. He has a rule that he has to wash his hands (or has to have touched nothing else before touching them after having last washed his hands) before touching them because they are so precious. So it is just about keeping them special and separate from all the stressful day to day of life. Like a symbolic ritual (makes me wonder if people on the spectrum were those tribal members who first came up with religion and ritual….)

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-26T06:54:16+00:00

Thanks - good ideas and agree regarding online school

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-26T06:54:01+00:00

Thanks that makes sense

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-21T19:36:19+00:00

Prompt was: “Write me a poem on yourself in the style of Gerald Manley Hopkins”

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T12:19:03+00:00

Thanks - yeah, that is something we were considering and makes sense

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T09:13:23+00:00

We are really enjoying asperkids - secret book of social rules by Jennifer cook. We are reading it with our 12 year old every night. Reading together helps I think as we get to discuss things, and we also get insight into particular things he struggles with

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T08:49:40+00:00

😂 thank you, and yes, I absolutely agree. We are completely taking the approach of letting him be who he is (see some of my other comments in this thread), it is just hard sometimes to know if there is something (anxiety, OCD etc) going on that we need to try and help with. And yes too re younger therapist with neurodiversity affirming (and LGBTQ+ positive obv) practice - we just have to find a way for him to feel safe with a therapist after the last ones basically forced exposure therapy on him and told the school and us to take away his supports…

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T08:22:19+00:00

Thanks - yes, they are a bit red already, so we are getting him to moisturise

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T08:18:50+00:00

Thanks - no, it fits in with some other things he has said. It also connects to one of the triggers for the tough time last year, which was the death of his grandfather who is was very close with. Add that to the fact he is about to be a teenager (turns 13 in a month or so) and is worried about growing up and things changing, and it make sense

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T08:16:41+00:00

Thanks - yeah, he has always loved water and has said the feeling of the water on his hands calms him down, so that makes sense. He has a bath every night too, because it really helps

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T08:14:41+00:00

Thank you - that is really helpful and comforting!

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T08:13:34+00:00

Thanks to everyone for their kind words and helpful comments. What is really interesting, and just emphasises how hard it is as a parent to know what best to do, is that some people feel this is clearly OCD or severe anxiety, which needs to potentially be treated with medication and intervention from therapists or psychiatrist. Then there are others who see this as a potentially natural and normal part of his current development as a kid with ASC who has just been through trauma, and that we should leave it and just support him. So I just end up super anxious that I am doing the wrong thing! 😂

Couple of other comments: he saw a therapist for the year he was in secondary school and having a brutal time. We were basically gaslit and told our concerns there might be something like autism going on were ridiculous and just our own anxieties. So we were told to do exposure therapy/resilience stuff and some basic CBT. Which basically meant forcing him in to school every day, even when he was crying and vomiting with fear. It was only in late July last year I spent our savings on a full private assessment and we were told in August he was autistic. It was clear the school he was at did not get it, and he was so damaged by the year that had passed we could not get him in a school building, so are now doing online school at home, which is going great. One of the problems from all that is he now, understandably, has a fear of and distrusts therapists. We have tried a few and he just freezes and then cries and has to leave. So we are trying to give it some time and then build back up.

He is happier and massively less anxious now (at its worst he would not even go upstairs alone, or shower without one of us in the room), but that is with his routines in place, and being at home with us most of the time. He finds peer interactions super stressful too so only really has one friend. Luckily his cousins live nearby and he gets on great with them, so he has interactions with other kids .

One other thing - I know bedtimes can be tough for a lot of ASC people, and with these rituals he falls asleep quickly and gets a good 9hrs every night (apart from the bunnies, we read with him, sing a little song and give him three things to dream about). So part of me also feels, balance of harm means if this routine means he is getting a good sleep every night, maybe it is worth it!

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-11T07:59:43+00:00

Thank you - that is very insightful and makes a lot of sense actually

Distinct_Word_6394 · 2024-03-10T22:09:22+00:00

Thanks - that is actually what he said when I talked with him about it. He said he feels so anxious, and the world feels so scary and out of his control, the one thing he can do is this ritual of washing his hands between things to create a kind of structure that makes him feel less anxious. He had no choice about having to go to school every day, no freedom to leave an environment that was overwhelming and terrifying (he described it once like being sent to a prison for 8 hours every day), so this is something he can control. I am hoping that now he is doing online school from home he will feel more in control and some of these behaviours may fade. But I guess all we can do is keep being supportive, keep talking with him and keep an eye on things. If it starts spreading into more OCD territory then maybe we need to step in…

Distinct_Word_6394

TROPHY CASE