#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences

Today last mission at the games. Conclusion: physically (long days) and mentally challenging! Learning curve: extremely steep! Both in the "technical" use, as well as in dealing with the athletes! Yes, I had prejudices, yes, I revised! The experiences and goose bumps are unique! Many times tears even flowed secretly: from emotion - and embarrassment. Anytime again.

Next: https://www.euro2024volunteers.com/ See you there!

#TogetherUnbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences Joint party of the athletes with the volunteers! Huge atmosphere! #Berlin2023 #TogetherUnbeatable

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences

I wanted to tell you about the "contact" of the athletes with each other: in my opinion it is completely different than with non-disabled people. Of course, everyone is happy about his or her performance - but the competitor is also celebrated, and I mean that exactly that way, when one, i.e. has achieved a new personal best! Politics is not an issue. Supposedly "hostile" nations sit next to each other celebrating in the bus.

#TogetherUnbeatable

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences

From my own perception and reports from others: the games are excellently received by the spectators! Full tiers and super atmosphere. The athletes are perfectly supported and driven to give their best, no matter which team they belong to! More about the athletes' interactions tomorrow.

#TogetherUnbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences

From my own perception and reports from others: the games are excellently received by the spectators! Full tiers and super atmosphere. The athletes are perfectly supported and driven to give their best, no matter which team they belong to! More about the athletes' interactions tomorrow.

#Together unbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences

First medal for Germany 🇩🇪. Track and field athlete Annika #Meissner won the silver medal 🥈 in the 1,500m run with an outstanding 27:28.97 minutes! Congratulations!

#TogetherUnbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences #OpeningCeremony

Standing ovation when the Ukrainian and German teams marched in!

#Together unbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences #OpeningCeremony

Standing ovation when the Ukrainian and German teams marched in!

#Together unbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences #OpeningCeremony

In the stadium it already looks promising!

#TogetherUnbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsWorldGames2023 #MyExperiences #OpeningCeremony
It's about to start: 90 minutes before the official opening ceremony begins, spectators are streaming into Berlin's #Olympiastadion.

#TogetherUnbeatable #Berlin2023

#SpecialOlympicsBerlin2023 #MyExperiences
#PackingDay - I love it: back from #TheOceanRace last night, had a training session myself this morning, now doing laundry and then packing! I'm calling it a #FlyBy. Yes, it will be the very big suitcase: need own training clothes plus free time. Let's go ...

#TogetherUnbeatable #Berlin2023

I'm oncall again* this weekend, but yet again, I have this slight incredulity? ... annoyance? (not really sure what the emotion is...) it's so expensive for my brain not to do anything but be ready for things to go boom.

It's also one of those background spoon drains, so I only notice the drain after a while. But unlike other drains like noise, there is no mitigation other than planning recovery time.

[1/2]

#ActuallyAutistic #MyExperiences

I skipped the first delayed train since it was a tad crowded (not very bad). Next one was, as expected, below average crowded.

I’m standing while there are seats to reduce risk of confusing social interactions including, who should you get up for since they need a seat more than you? (Also means simpler being near open windows = reduced risk for airborne viruses.)

Both slightly reduce spoon usage with no significant downsides.

#MyExperiences #ActuallyAutistic

My brain normally divides time (days) into chunks fairly strictly, so a week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. Most of the time that's nice as it means only really keeping one week at a time in my brain... I just realized downside/quirk - this division meant I hadn't noticed that I had been working 5 days straight, since I was working (oncall) over the weekend so worked Fri-Tue. Looking at it like that I'm less surprised I ran out of spoons Tue and have done little today Wed.

#MyExperiences

Just did another presentation for new people at work, which I like to do as it's basically getting paid to do info-dumping on topic which interest me and helping people learn, which I also like :-).

At the same time it's still a social situation so is draining - but is nice and predictable, so I can budget the spoons for it so a lot more manageable than other situations. E.g. I don't have other meetings today since I know in a few hours I will feel the impact.

#ActuallyAutistic #MyExperiences

One of the positive effects of finding out I'm autistic is believing in myself more. Specifically, I had issues with feeling too hot at work for many years when the air conditioning was acting up, which noticeably impacted my ability to think.
I wondered if I was being overly sensitive since co-workers weren't so affected. Now knowing temperature regulation issues is common for autistic people, I feel less bad about actively trying to get this fixed - again...

#ActuallyAutistic #MyExperiences

I have been under various levels of autistic burnout and poor mental health for years, and I developed some mitigation strategies over time. I made a brain dump about this for a Mastodon post, and since a few people found it helpful, I decided to clean it up and turn it into a blog post.

https://blog.qxnitro.org/2023/04/autistic-burnout-mitigation.html

#ActuallyAutistc #MyExperiences @actuallyautistic

Some days I get a bit tired of my brain.

My kids were fighting this morning, including one of them yelling for a bit.

It was fairly short, but was enough to crash my brain and take a full days spoons in seconds. Now in the evening it's still running in minimal capacity mode where brain just reacts slower to everything.

Sigh :-(.

PS. I'm not sure triggers is the right word, but no brain to look for better words.

#MyExperiences #ActuallyAutistc

Don’t overshare. Everyone is not your friend. #truth #MyExperiences