Individual Environments

Space as Sanctuary

Image is a hand-drawn floorplan of a railroad style apartment on graph paper, with rooms labeled Transition, Eat, Rest, Work, and Play.

Having a safe-space to retreat to is essential for my wellbeing, and I have designed my entire home to be such a self-accommodating sanctuary. It is the one place in the world where I can feel at ease in my body without thinking about it

Outside

photo of a frost covered teasel with woodland in the background

My home is my haven: an ode to woollen blankets, beeswax candles, glossy plants, locally-roasted coffee and home-baked cake. But I often forget that drawing my comfort zone too close can be cloyingly claustrophobic.

Sleep Strategies

Image is a photo of a full moon in a dark starry sky

#AskingAutistics What are your top tips for getting to sleep and staying asleep?

Scents and Scentsability

Image shows a spider plant and it's shadow on the wall behind

At home, neighbours not withstanding, I have far more control and I choose to create a haven from toxic or unpleasent smells.

Gardening and Recovery

Image shows a long strand of daisy-like flowers

I started to search for activities I could do outside that didn’t exert too much physical energy but kept me busy enough so I wouldn’t go stir crazy. We had one unused raised bed in the garden; I claimed it as my own.

Alexandra and Helen: Connection under Lockdown

We have decided to take a temporary break from publishing our usual posts in order to share how our contributors are handling current lockdown measures.

Joy

Joy, Morning joy, I’m always up before the birds and the sun, Always been a morning person, Partly due to a strategy developed in my early twenties, To hit the deck as soon as my eyes opened, In order to avoid falling into the depressive abyss.

I often lived inside of

Making Time for Art

Image shows a group of people standing in front of paintings in an art gallery. The photo has been taken with slow shutter speed so that the people are blurred and the paintings are in focus.

Life as an autistic woman can be hard going sometimes, a balancing act between necessities that take energy from me in exchange for the means to survive and the pleasurable pursuits that replenish and restore

Cold Water

Encountering the extremes of cold drew us both into that most clichéd space, the Moment, forcibly pulling our minds away from ruminating on the past or future, or tilling over an endless to-do list.

In My Room

Some fern branches against an unfocussed background

My bedroom is my safe place. It has always been my refuge from a sensory hostile world. There was a time two decades ago when it was also my prison.