This is Legwork and Life, where I track the legwork and opportunities in my career as an autistic advocate, and also describe parts of my adult autistic life, including my perspectives on everyday problems and situations.
Hello from Connecticut, where my inlaws live, and where I'm currently visiting to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. This year, Chris' family gets us for Thanksgiving, and my family gets us for Christmas. Next year it'll be the opposite.
I survived the first half of my trip! The expedition to Washington DC for the Autism Research program was a success. They might even invite me back next year, it remains to be seen. I may have slightly made an ass of myself last year (I was less than impressed with all the genetics and mouse models when autistic people are literally dying from lack of support services), but not as much this year. I suppose that probably bodes well for the future. I can only be called to serve so many times, but they do seem to appreciate having me around.
Due to nondisclosure forms, I don't get to talk about what I reviewed, but I can say I was a lot happier with this year's crop of applications than I was with last year's. It was also cool to see some of the same scientists and other consumer reviewers as last year, which was helpful because it's really stressful to get shoved into a room with a bunch of strangers and be expected to interact with them for hours. They do make things easier by giving everyone nametags, but even so. I definitely didn't remember pretty much anyone's name, but due to the nametags, that didn't matter so much.
Now I get to work on surviving part 2 of my trip, which includes the added bonus difficulty of not having my supplements every day. I was an enormous derp and miscounted how many days the trip would be. So I'm going to be having my pills every other day, and hoping the ones I ordered to be shipped here will come in time. "Less than ideal" is definitely an understatement.
It should be okay... the pills should arrive by the end of today at some point. I just really want them sooner because the house I'm staying in is quite old by US standards (nearly 250 years old), and thus quite dusty and possibly molding or mildewing somewhere not easily accessible to humans. I get fuzzy-headed, grouchy, sad, and anxious when I'm here. The pills offset that a great deal, though not entirely.
I do still have the generous offerings Chris' family provides to help offset the house as well: an air purifier, a space heater to help with the open window in the room, an electric blanket, and four of those weird Himalayan salt lamps. I have absolutely no idea if the lattermost do anything, but the light they shed is nice, so I'm not complaining. I might get one myself and use it as a nightlight, regardless of any claimed positive health effects. The light they shed is orangeish pink, rather than any kind of blue or white.
Anyway, wish me luck with surviving Thanksgiving!
Hello from Connecticut, where my inlaws live, and where I'm currently visiting to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. This year, Chris' family gets us for Thanksgiving, and my family gets us for Christmas. Next year it'll be the opposite.
I survived the first half of my trip! The expedition to Washington DC for the Autism Research program was a success. They might even invite me back next year, it remains to be seen. I may have slightly made an ass of myself last year (I was less than impressed with all the genetics and mouse models when autistic people are literally dying from lack of support services), but not as much this year. I suppose that probably bodes well for the future. I can only be called to serve so many times, but they do seem to appreciate having me around.
Due to nondisclosure forms, I don't get to talk about what I reviewed, but I can say I was a lot happier with this year's crop of applications than I was with last year's. It was also cool to see some of the same scientists and other consumer reviewers as last year, which was helpful because it's really stressful to get shoved into a room with a bunch of strangers and be expected to interact with them for hours. They do make things easier by giving everyone nametags, but even so. I definitely didn't remember pretty much anyone's name, but due to the nametags, that didn't matter so much.
Now I get to work on surviving part 2 of my trip, which includes the added bonus difficulty of not having my supplements every day. I was an enormous derp and miscounted how many days the trip would be. So I'm going to be having my pills every other day, and hoping the ones I ordered to be shipped here will come in time. "Less than ideal" is definitely an understatement.
It should be okay... the pills should arrive by the end of today at some point. I just really want them sooner because the house I'm staying in is quite old by US standards (nearly 250 years old), and thus quite dusty and possibly molding or mildewing somewhere not easily accessible to humans. I get fuzzy-headed, grouchy, sad, and anxious when I'm here. The pills offset that a great deal, though not entirely.
I do still have the generous offerings Chris' family provides to help offset the house as well: an air purifier, a space heater to help with the open window in the room, an electric blanket, and four of those weird Himalayan salt lamps. I have absolutely no idea if the lattermost do anything, but the light they shed is nice, so I'm not complaining. I might get one myself and use it as a nightlight, regardless of any claimed positive health effects. The light they shed is orangeish pink, rather than any kind of blue or white.
Anyway, wish me luck with surviving Thanksgiving!
May your Thanksgiving go smoothly, Sarah! Blessings to you and Chris.
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