User blog:Oliverwestern/Autism

As some of you may or may not know, I have Aspergers Syndrome. This means that when I make edits on this wiki, there is a 50/50 chance that I will unintentionally come across as vandalism. It's an easy mistake for any Admin to make if the wiki has been a victim of MASS vandalism. (I know that a few wikis have had to toughen up on punishment as a direct result of this, and is normally the reason why users create back up versions of the wiki that has been attacked.) Autism can come in a variety of patterns. Some are severely autistic, some (like myself) are extremely lucky to have a mild form of Autism. Autism can also be addressed as Aspergers Syndrome or Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Unfortunately, people with Autism are stigmitised every single day with people thinking that they throw temper tantrums, when in a majority of cases it is a meltdown. A meltdown will often occur among people with autism if there is too much atmosphere going on for them. Causes of meltdowns can often include heavy crowds and closed spaces. They are victimised by bullies every single day through a Disability Hate Crime via the words "Spastic", "retard" and "mong". They are the three TABOO words in which the use of such words are considered a hate crime against Disabled people. Autism is recognised by doctors as a Learning Disability, which means that they will definitely have a strength in one particular subject in life. This can range from Disney to Power Rangers, and from Mario to Sonic. Autism can also be extremely complex for the reasons I have mentioned earlier on. I'll try and get more info on Autism for this wiki and the other wikis I tend to edit on. This way, the wikis will be one step closer to becoming Disabled Friendly.

As a user with Aspergers Syndrome, I tend to use Wikia (or Fandom as it is now called) as a way to the outside world from overwhelming my sensory, because if that gets overwhelmed, I tend to have a meltdown, which are like panic attacks, not very nice to see. Outside of fandom, I have been called horrible names like Spastic, Retard and Mong; three extremely hurtful Taboo words used to insult somebody with a disability such as Aspergers Syndrome, somebody like myself. I was extremely lucky to have come across a charity based in Liverpool UK called Daisy Inclusive UK, it is a extremely friendly charity that help people like myself get out of isolation and, through a variety of activities, get me back into inclusion.

Daisy Inclusive UK (founded by Dave Kelly, the Blind man with both a vision, and a Heart of Gold) is an award-winning charity that helps disabled people though the I2I project (Isolation to Inclusion).

The story of how Daisy Inclusive UK came about? Twenty-five years ago, Dave Kelly went Blind at the age of 30 due to an infection in his eye. When he turned 30, his vision started to go, and then two weeks later, he was blind. He was in the top 4% of blind people (those with no vision at all). For the first three years of his life, Dave Kelly went without a special cane, because he was both too scared, and too stubborn, to admit that he needed help with his new disability. Unfortunately, his wife left him as she declared herself unable to cope with the fact that Dave Kelly went blind. For the next few years, Dave Kelly fell into the isolation trap. he was too scared to leave the house. Before that, kids were taking the mickey out of him by going "Eeee, there's Spiderman there!" instead of offering him help. That was how nasty people were to Disabled people, and nearly all the UK population are like that today too. One night though, he had a vision (hence him being a Blind Man with a Vision). In his dream, he saw Abled and Disabled people ALIKE playing sports together, not one of them letting their disability holding them back. Thye parents and fans were cheering them on with a banner that said "DAISY" (Disability Acceptance and Introducing Sports to Youngsters) and Daisy Inclusive UK was born in 2004, thirteen years ago. I started there in December 2015. Intially on a three day trial, I now go there four days a week. And my life has changed for the better.