Autism in Women in Quebec

I recently stumbled upon the fact that they are doing studies in Quebec and France about women with autism.  It's called "l'Autisme au feminin".  You can sign up here.

According to what I've read currently there is 1 woman diagnosed for every 4 men.  This is apparently wrong, there should be 1 women diagnosed for every 2 man.  Meaning that most women never get diagnosis.  Which is sad.  Knowledge is everything.  I feel so relieved. I spent most of my adult life knowing I was different, thinking I was half assed crazy but never been able to put my finger on it.  I feel so much better. I feel like for the first time I see the light. It explains EVERYTHING

This particular study is in French, so you can only participate if you master the French language, but you don't need to have an official diagnosis to participate.

I don't expect to benefit from this study, but hopefully the younger generation of girls will have an easier time getting diagnosis and treatment.

Systemic Racism?

The St Jean Baptiste parade in 2017 was of incredibly poor taste.  There are those who say there was no intention of racism. But please, what rock are people living under. Having a float pulled by visible minorities while the people on the floats are white DRESSED IN FUCKING WHITE????? You have to be braindead to not see racism.

It doesn't matter what the intentions were, it made Quebec look particularly racist.

Then the next day I find this gem on Journal de Montreal, where apparently it's common for personnel companies to be asked not to hire blacks! Like this is 2017.  Really?   I am 54. I grew up in Montreal and my neighbours as a child was a Haitian family. Blacks have been in Quebec for more than 50 years. What is wrong with people that they just see colour and not a human with skills?

I work in an engineering firm and hire interns 3 times a year. I tend to give interviews to every female that applies, regardless of her nationality, religion or country of origin. [Sometimes I can go a year without interviewing a female student] Over the years I've hired women from just about every nationality, including some born in Africa, who came to Canada just to study.  I'm always told internships are supposed to  help students. The students it helps the most is those who's family aren't likely to find them a job  in the field.

Don't get me wrong I also hire men and they are also from everywhere in the world. One African man I hired, just blew my mind. He grew up in a village with no electricity and he was one of the people who helped put up electrical poles and cabling and he was so amazed by electricity that he went to the nearest big city to take an Electrician's course. But he wanted more and eventually made his way to Canada to do an engineering degree.

What prevents me from hiring people is a bad attitude in the interview. Your race, religion, skin colour or gender isn't what will affect my decision.

First review of new tent

When  I saw the Woods Yukon 6 person tent reduced due to the fact it was discontinued, at my local Canadian Tire store, I decided to do a bit of research. I was looking for a tent big enough to use our Queen size 2 foot high inflatable mattress comfortably preferably in a tent that supports windy areas.  As well I like a tent with a full fly. A half fly just don't fly with me.

This tent is big enough, even has a division that can be used to create 2 rooms.   The tent itself is mainly made of no-see-um mesh, except for the thick bathtub like bottom. The poles are aluminum. One this tent was up, it's not budging. While the tent only has the one door, the fly can be adapted to create a bay window style in front of tent while keeping some cover from the sun. 

We currently have it set up in the yard. We set it up in high winds, it was not going anywhere. This will be an awesome tent to use in front of lakes :)

Vaccines don't cause autism

Let me tell you something. I've been recently told I'm ASD.  I've never had the MMR I already had the measles the day they passed in my class to offer a vaccine. I wasn't fully sick yet, I just had the 'cold symptoms' that first appear before the tell tale rash and fever. They asked me how I felt, I told them, they didn't vaccinate. Three days later I had the measles.

I have had both the measles and the mumps. Both left me with health issues. I spent 1 month in a dark room while I had the measles,  it was the only time I was completely delirious for days, I came very close to death and I've been hyper sensitive to light since.  From my late teens till 3 years ago I wore glasses that were photogrey. The minute I walked outside in the sun, my glasses would go dark. Each time I see an eye doctor I get asked "Do you realize your eyes are really sensitive to light" ... Uh no. Never noticed, she says squinting like a mofo. I have an EPIC crows foot on my forehead from decades of squinting.

The mumps itself wasn't a big problem, but once it was over I couldn't stop vomiting. I remember being taken to the clinic with a bucket.  To this day I have bad motion sickness. To the point sometimes I can't even rock myself or rock in a rocking chair. I make myself motion sick. Before the mumps, I could go to amusement parks, I could be in a car and NOT always be car sick, I used to enjoy using swings and flying high up in the sky. For years after the mumps I would HEAR a swing and it would give me motion sickness!!!!

I don't doubt that vaccines might have negative effects on some people.  I'm highly sensitive or allergic to so many things. However the vaccines I did get probably prevented me from developing other life long side effects from having caught a preventable infectious disease.

Also really, is saying having an autistic child is worse than having a dead child? Some of the diseases we all get vaccinated against have high mortality rates and/or high life long side effects.

As for ASD, I personally don't think it comes from environmental factors. As far as I can tell, and as far as  science seems to tell, ASD appears to be something nature is not taking out of our genes, this means there's a benefit of having people with ASD.  There is an evolutionary advantage for nature to keep the ASD genes in our genome.

New sarongs

My most recent sarongs. Two of them were found yesterday at Value village, the other two were found earlier in the year.

Slowly healing scar

Don't know if the sutures are dissolving normally or not.

This blog on Aspie women has been very helpful

This describes me. Especially the social hangovers! But so much else.  It's all making sense. Like a puzzle. So many things I could not put in words.I mean I always knew I was different, but I didn't realize I wasn't neurotypical until the original ADHD diagnosis 6 years ago. I don't have words to always describe how I'm feeling.  This social hangover, I was never able to express it except to say I needed time alone

What got me to really push my therapist to look at possibility I had an ASD, was this blog post, shared by a Facebook friend. She identified with it herself and suspected I might identify with it too. She knew I was in a position to actually get a diagnosis, whereas she's less in that position.

I went through the 30 points of that blog post with my therapist point per point, describing how I was at 5. I think most points hit home. With this he was able to see me, without the the hundreds of coping skills We discussed it first in early May. Last appointment in early June he said he thought about it and it all fits.

That he's sure without more testing that I am of the Asperger type of ASD, though that term has now been dropped from the DSMV.  We discussed doing another test, but I think  it might be more helpful to me to bring the blog post I linked earlier under social hangovers above and discuss the points that apply, and ask for help in the points where I struggle. I can put it in black and white, though many points have been previously identified.

I've been beating myself up for most of my life for behaviours that I can't help. I'm wired a certain way, I'm different, not less. Having mostly identified my weaknesses I can make a plan to help myself manage life and manage my stress and anxiety better.  And not beat myself up so much when I crash.

Something a fellow ASD said the other day resonates ; "We seem to know ourselves deeply but seem to be also running in  parallel with the rest of society"

Of course, it's sensory pain!

Apparently there are two different types of pain. Physical pain and sensory pain. I seem to have a high tolerance to physical pain, but a low tolerance to sensory pain. It explains why when I don't feel well, it hurts to be touched. I have weird touch issues, always had. Hated being picked up as a child except if I was feeling off. Then I did want my mom to hold me really tight.

So Doctor who did MOHS surgery gave me 2 days after I really fought for it.  But it wasn't enough. I'm still in a fair amount of head pain. It also makes sense why Tylenol and painkillers do little for my pain if it's not physical pain. I stopped taking Tylenol on Monday as all it did was make the pain a touch more tolerable but didn't take away the pain and after a week of Tylenol, my poor liver was starting to complain.

Doctor who did my MOHS surgery doesn't know I have SPD or that I'm ASD. Hell I've been suspecting it for some time now but I didn't really know either until about 2 months ago.

I can't function with sensory pain. I have no patience. Look at me sideways and I'll burst into tears. I was already very stressed before the surgery. I told my boss that I was on the verge of collapse and any comment might send me over the edge.

It's hard to heal if you don't sleep. It's hard to sleep if you're in pain. I've been sleeping sitting up because I still can't lie down. I lied for about 5 minutes on my other side today and my head started to ache so badly, like someone is hitting it with a hammer. Also it's not at the location of the scar it hurts, it feels it hurts deeper in my head and also it's not right on the forehead my skin feels weird, it's all the top of my head. I don't even like feeling wind on my hair or combing my hair because the top of my head feels strange

I was reading this blog this morning, and while my experience is different, at least it put things into perspective.

Oh to be able to process.....

I've always seen the connection between lack of social skills and an above average intelligence. I remember asking my mom why she taught  me to read and write so young, why could I not wait till I get to school. Something she said at the time, that I needed to be socialized. I needed to learn social skills. That being very intelligent isn't enough, that you need to be socialized to function in the world. Growing up in the 60's, I was taught manners and social skills. I got repeated so often "girls do this, girls don't do that" This isn't very lady like.

I was always clumsy. I used to trip over my own feet, and running was a recipe for disaster Rare could I run and not fall and end up with a bloody knee. My mom put me in ballet for 3 years, until the ballet teacher took my mom aside one day and said "Your daughter has the grace of an elephant, why are you wasting your money putting her in ballet lessons. " After which I got singing and music lessons.  Well the ballet lessons were not completely useless. I am more graceful now, I am reasonably flexible, but I'm still clumsy. The more tired I am the worse I get.

I could always talk people's ear off, but rarely managed to communicate what is really eating me up. I can go on and on and on paragraphs of rambling, but actually expressing how I'm feeling, or what is bugging me is almost impossible. Most of the time it takes me forever to process things.  4-6 months to process big events.   It's why I haven't blogged in months.

Starting in March there was too much to process. I  don't deal well with new situations, new people, new places.   Since the beginning of the year I've seen too many doctors, been to too many hospitals and have not enough routine . I need routine to be able to function and handle the daily unpredictables .

So it takes me forever to process. I have sensory processing disorder . Meaning for instance I can hear perfectly what is said but brain won't translate what ears heard to brain so it sounds like Charlie Browns teacher.. That's my main example of when it fails.   It fails like that once or twice a day hearing wise, if I'm well rested. If' I'm tired it's fails more often.   Yes I have good hearing. Nothing to do with my hearing. This is mostly an example of Auditory Processing disorder but it's a subset of the sensory one.

 I've spent most of my adult life feeling like a failure and struggling just to do normal things. I've gone through bouts of depression, which started as young as 7. I get overwhelmed so easily by things outside my routine. As long as I can have a daily routine that's mostly the same it's good. But start changing my routine and I start to stress out, it gives me anxiety.

The past few months have been hell. Between doctors appointments as I age, and other issues, I just can't cope. I haven't processed the court case in mid April yet, and then there's the skin cancer which is gone, but I'm still processing. I have a gutted basement, I haven't been able to go down in my basement in weeks. I just want to cry when I think about it. . And right after finding out about the surgery for my skin cancer, we had a car accident, and I'm stuck driving a truck I despise.  And the MOHS surgery. You have it and go back to work the next day . I fought to get 2 extra days off siting that I do have some physical work. My head still feels numb. Until this morning I still felt pain from the scar each time I moved my head or did much of anything.   I still have not been able to lie down to sleep. I haven't slept very well since the surgery.

I'm so overwhelmed at the moment, I can't cope, with anything. I've been home all week. In bed. Didn't even sew. Don't even have the brain power. I'm just worn down.

The sutures slowly melting

This is how it looks today

New tent!

$799 Woods Yukon 6 person tent, gotten in liquidation for $319. 

Love my neon pink black sole authentic Vans.

Absolutely love my new Vans.  So comfy and such pretty colours.

The scar

Here is the scar from the Mohs surgery. 

After the surgery

The Acadia GMC rental

This is the courtesy car. I HATE IT.

The poor suzuki

Terry and I were going between the CSHLD on Ile Bizard to Matrox. As we were driving down St Regis, in front of Matrox he was in the middle of the lane, signalling he was turning left. As we turned, we were passed on the left by a fucking Mercedes station wagon. My poor Suzuki had to be put in the shop. After driving with it 3 more days the steering column jammed.

The basal cell carcinoma

Found out today that I'm having surgery on June 13th. AHHHHHHH

The last of the basement container

Westpark school ducks!!!!

These guys were hanging out at WestPark school in DDO when I dropped off Zoey to school this morning.