There are some tools in my arsenal that make me say “I can’t believe that I survived before I met you”. These items solve a problem or assist me in a way that nothing else has. These gamechanger products become my “best buys” that I yap about to anyone who will listen because they have helped me so much and I want others to be helped also. Here are a few from the last year or so that are *chef’s kiss* perfect.
#1 Bed Tray:
The problem is that I like to eat, drink, read, draw, exist, in bed but my bed was sans cup/snack/and phone holders that would keep me from having to get up and use the night stand for a place to place things. Enter this bed tray: it goes anywhere and it means I can load it up and not have to move for hours. This allows the hyper fixation to fixate without interruption making for a happy Autistic moment. I use it almost daily now, when getting up feels like too much and getting work done from the bed means that at least work is getting done. Bed troll approved!
#2 “Your Anxiety Is A Lying Hoe” Sticker:
I need this reminder often. My anxiety will have me worried about things thought could never logically come into fruition. She keeps me from trusting people in relationships and friendships. And that Heifer always tell me some mess like “you see how they just laughed over there? They are talking about you”. If that hoe doesn’t do anything else, she’s going to lie. I put this sticker on my phone as a daily talisman against the liar named anxiety and I use it as a reminder to stay rooted in reality.
#3 20 Sided Die:
I use this die in an effort to trick myself out of my initiation issues. I want to start on things but I also am incapable of starting on things right now so tricking my brain is the way to go. I get a 20 sided die and list 1-20 of tasks on a sheet of paper. Roll and let the die decide what you do next. Once that task is finished, roll again until your page is all crossed out. You can also have multiple 1-20 lists separated by categories like home, existential dread, feed the meat suit, or work stuff and when you roll a number like 12, then you do the number 12 on all of the sheets to increase productivity. The lie is that we need to wait for motivation to do something but if you have executive functioning issues like most ND people do, then you are waiting for a savior that is not coming and ish still has to get done babe.
#4 Portable lamp:
The big light is the devil in every room I occupy so lamps are a must if I am interested in seeing things. I love how these rechargeable cordless battery powered lamps give me dimmable and different tones of light whenever I need it. After a long day working on the computer, I turn off my big office light and use these lamps to give my eyes a much needed break.
#5 Focus boosters:
I. Can. Not. Focus. In. Meetings. That. Could. Have. Been. An. Email. Uggggh! When people are droning on about things that I have no interest in or don’t need to be present for but still need to appear engaged, how do I manage? I used to doodle on the page and do swirls or flowers and nod my head every 10ish seconds to feign engagement. It worked but then my notes were a mess and could not be shared with anyone else. Now I use these focus boosters where I color at the bottom of a page and write at the top so that my focus boosting doodles are contained in one place. These are great printed out and used with pens but they are even better used on Goodnotes with an Ipad and apple pencil. I’ve found myself *gasp* looking forward to these boring af meetings because I get to finish my coloring while Julie gushes about KPI’s, metrics, or whatever.
What Autism tools are working for you? Any best buys that you can’t help but to share with others?
Honorable mentions:
-Bug bracelets (makes me actually be able to tolerate outside since I am not getting eaten up by these Texas flying vampires AKA mosquitoes.)
-Hand fans (I use these daily but they have been mentioned a million times so I didn’t put them on the list but they are a constant fav.)
-Needs inventory (I have had more specific needs lately and more people in my life open to accommodating me so this sheet helps when words elude me but expression of needs would still help).