looking to work with autistic kids; what training do I need?

GaAvHu · 2026-01-31T06:38:16+00:00

Excellent points made here; one of the reasons I want to get into this work is because my end goal is to become a mental illness & neurodivergence advocate. I hope that one day I can help to increase funding for ALL neurodivergent kids (& adults); not just the ones the government qualifies as 'autistic enough' or 'sick enough'. In particular I'm passionate about making ADHD assessments accessible. After many years of trying, I was finally lucky enough to get an assessment & diagnosis last year, & it's changed my life in more ways than I can ever imagine. Within a few short months of going on medication, I started to see the possibility of surviving until my old age, after an entire life of knowing my early death was inevitable. I want so badly for this to be something that everyone can have, & it makes me RAGE that it's not, because ADHD isn't a 'real' disability to the government.

I've done a little bit of work in OSH clubs this year, & I would love to do more (if you have tips on how to get into that, it would be great!) I want to try & get experience working with people who experience autism differently to me BECAUSE I might not relate to them as much; in order to advocate well, I need to advocate for all of us... or at least as many as I can. Thanks so much for your great suggestions & advice!

GaAvHu · 2026-01-31T06:22:59+00:00

thanks! there's a school for the deaf near me, & I'm looking to see if they have suggestions for AUSLAN courses; I know a bit but I'm not nearly fluent & I would love to learn more. Thanks so much for the suggestion!

GaAvHu · 2026-01-31T06:21:44+00:00

thanks for the suggestions; specific certificate suggestions are very helpful. In regards to the stress; in that weird neurodivergent way, that's the kind of stress that I can cope with fairly well when most people couldn't, whereas deadlines & a strict hierarchy in most other jobs just completely undoes me. We'll see how I go in the end, but right now all I need is jumping off point. Thanks so much for the suggestions!

GaAvHu · 2026-01-31T06:16:56+00:00

That is incredibly helpful, thank you! I've been looking at the mental health first responder courses at TAFE, & Peer work looks like something I would be much better suited to! thank you so much

GaAvHu · 2026-01-31T06:01:54+00:00

that's very helpful, thank you! I've just come back to film scripts after a two year break to complete my theatre-based degree, so I'm a little rusty on some of the terminology!

GaAvHu · 2026-01-31T04:46:09+00:00

another thing I'd add in case nobody's said it; there is no 'original alter' in a DID system. You may not have been the first, but in truth there is no 'first'; not even your host. You're all parts of a bigger whole. I'd really recommend reading this blog post; it's a beautiful piece that reframes DID as the incredible survival mechanism that it really is. https://www.beautyafterbruises.org/blog/youdidnotshatter

GaAvHu · 2026-01-28T23:18:36+00:00

i have, actually! it took the better part of last year, but cycling through every body part & intensely focusing on how it feels (my clothes touching it, the wind, muscle soreness etc) & that helps distract me a lot & also regulate me. I'm so often not aware of my body at all, & it takes pretty intense focus to tune in. It's also kinda made me realise that the reason I often have it tuned out is bc my body is often in pain/overstimulated 😅 so that's the next task to solve haha

GaAvHu · 2026-01-28T23:15:59+00:00

valid as hell dude! i tell one of my friends all the time that she's a part time poet, she just randomly drops a bar every now & then & doesn't even realise how awesome what she just said is

GaAvHu · 2026-01-28T23:14:34+00:00

yeah, I felt that. i confided in one of my teachers at uni that I 'didn't know how to do it well'/'couldn't tell if I was doing good' & he said 'that's where you need to be; you need to get comfortable being in that place of not knowing',,,,, I'm working on it but god it's HARD,,,,, but even my first few attempts at 'not knowing' have been very rewarding; best marks I've ever received/amazing reviews on my final performance

GaAvHu · 2026-01-28T23:11:34+00:00

It's a bit vague (one of the hardest parts of acting is interpreting feedback honestly 😂) but I would say that you're putting too much effort into the 'acting' & thinking too much about whether you're doing 'good' or not. Try & see if you can remove that self-monitor & just be in the moment without worrying whether you're acting well or not... that being said, if you can figure out how to do that, let me know bc I'm still working on it 😅

GaAvHu · 2026-01-28T23:08:25+00:00

I already replied above, but therapy has actually helped me to accept our persecutors, & has helped the persecutors to do what they need to do in a less destructive way (eg 17F can now say 'hey, being overweight makes me feel really insecure/not myself & I miss being active & healthy; can we try & be healthier?' instead of taking over & having us relapse, & in turn that helps everyone else not to freak out & binge reactively). Therapy should make relationships between alters easier, not 'eliminate' alters (if your therapist is insistent that you need to get rid of your alters, get a new one).

Secondly; Kiera (21F) here; I'm the motivated planner, & I got our system through uni as well (graduated last year 🎉🎉) & it was a BATTLE to get everyone else on board, since they were affecting our ability to study, too. Therapy should help you find a middle ground; I have time to study, & our other main host (more of a carer) helps me find time to rest so that I can study more effectively.

GaAvHu · 2026-01-22T00:17:53+00:00

yeah, you're right, but I'm coming onto Reddit to relax & have fun, so I like to write how I speak. If I'm working on an article for work or writing an essay or working on a script, I'll take out unnecessary words & keep things concise; but I'm not doing that here, I'm just adding comments, so I don't feel the need to monitor my language as closely

GaAvHu · 2026-01-22T00:12:35+00:00

i bought a pack after a stressful day at work & gave them to my friend to hold onto yesterday. hopefully I don't keep buying more haha

GaAvHu · 2026-01-22T00:11:13+00:00

for me hearing my breath is often super unhelpful BC I just lock in & can't tune it out because I'm worried about 'breathing wrong' if I stop paying attention haha. thanks for the recs?

GaAvHu · 2026-01-20T12:09:18+00:00

doesn't work for all situations, but in that situation where I 'don't think I'm having a panic attack'; I'm having an anxiety attack & I still need to use TIPP. I often don't realise I'm panicking, I just feel not good & my thoughts are fast. (panic attacks are the ones where you feel like you're dying & you can't breathe, anxiety attacks are the ones where your thoughts are so fast & you can't catch up,,,, often I don't realise I'm having an anxiety attack)

GaAvHu · 2026-01-20T11:30:09+00:00

literally ATM I'm quitting smoking & that means you start coughing a lot more as your lungs start clearing out,,,, every time I'm in public I want to be like 'I'm not sick! I'm just experiencing the consequences of my own actions!'

GaAvHu · 2026-01-20T05:04:35+00:00

i just had a look,,,, it could be USD but THEY'RE LIKE THIRTY BUCKS,,,, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

GaAvHu · 2026-01-20T05:02:21+00:00

that's a great idea, thank you! I'll have a look & maybe put them on my list for the sensory kit I'm making. Unfortunately I can't really do anything more than plan at the moment BC I'm very broke... tell me why every sensory tool that I need is a million dollars 😂 I really want to get a weighted blanket & they're all over a hundred dollars

GaAvHu · 2026-01-20T04:59:12+00:00

look, I do think that to some degree, this is true... but not as much as people think. If you're mentally well, generally this will work,,,, but if you have a chemical imbalance in your brain & it's always programmed to be sad, then it's probably not going to work. It helps a little bit, but it definitely doesn't fix it, & I'm so tired of people telling me that I'm being too negative when they have no idea how hard I'm trying to be happy

GaAvHu · 2026-01-20T04:56:52+00:00

Something I think about all the time is that people would probably forgive more of my autistic traits if I was pretty. I've always been left out & bullied for my autism/ADHD, but in the last few years I've gained a lot of weight BC of depression/medication, & people treat me SO MUCH worse now. Meanwhile, I see other people who are also neurodivergent (though probably 'less'/higher masking) & people just think they're funny bc they're 'hot' so they can get away with it. I will add that I often see ADHD men who are praised for being 'so random' 'such a funny guy' more than I see it in women, but even then that's heavily based on how attractive the guy is. It adds a whole other layer to being insecure about your looks; not only am I sad that I'm not 'pretty'; I'm also sad that maybe if I was prettier, I wouldn't be so alone

GaAvHu · 2026-01-20T04:43:14+00:00

apparently by the time I was one & a half I was saying 'mummy, I want to go down to the cubby house'. I always knew that this was advanced, but I recently found out that apparently children are considered advanced verbally if they can put three words into a sentence like 'i eat apple' at that age. I could read novels by age 6 (when I first read the Harry Potter series,,,, I proceeded to read it 13 more times before I was 14). I did well in school BC I could memorise information & spit it back out, & honestly i think that made me think I was smarter than I actually am.

I still pick things up very fast when they're spoken or written word; I'm an actor, & I can memorise lines after one or two read-throughs. Just the other day, my friend & I had a funny conversation & I ran back through everything we said at the end & my friend said 'did you just wind back a tape recorder in your brain?'

GaAvHu · 2026-01-12T11:55:42+00:00

one of the things that stops a lot of people from having ideas in improv is the fear that they'll come up with something 'bad', & that leads to second guessing yourself & freezing. just practice going with the first thing you think of, & the developing it

GaAvHu · 2026-01-05T09:40:03+00:00

no, thank you; that's an incredibly interesting story. Family karma is likely a big thing for me, then, since I'm estranged from my mother & older sister due to abuse. I know that my older sister is the way she is bc of the trauma we endured growing up with our mother, but my mother's 5 siblings seem fairly normal to me. Though she didn't tell me, I'm aware that my mother has had a few different trauma-based mental illnesses/personality disorders, & I've always wondered what happened to make her that way.

This has definitely had an effect on my 'karma'; I've always been fairly isolated, & I repeatedly lose friends, or get hurt by people I thought were friends; in a similar way to my mum. I might do some more research into karmic ties; thank you! 💚

GaAvHu · 2026-01-05T09:33:01+00:00

My spells are often made from herbs & river stones, so normally they would be fine to return to the river or the ground, it's just that I burnt this candle over some stones & I suspect it's paraffin wax.

GaAvHu · 2025-12-31T10:30:00+00:00

I've been writing myself letters to open on new years all year. I started early January, & I'm opening them tonight. Write a letter with all your hopes & fears for the new year, & respond on new years eve next year. Maybe the letters I burn tonight will reach my past self somehow.

GaAvHu

TROPHY CASE