Believe us!

Sometimes it’s so weird being Autistic and ADHD.

I’ve just done a public speaking event at Vodafone HQ, where I felt so welcome, comfortable and well looked after… then had a severe sensory meltdown on the way home.

I felt OK when we left Vodafone, calm even. But then we started getting ‘hangry’ and I started to meltdown. My husband was driving, fortunately. He pulled into a pub we were passing, thinking a break and a portion of chips might help.

However, they had twinkling fairy lights absolutely everywhere, and I was twitching.

I even asked if there was a table with no twinkling fairy lights, and the bloke behind the bar said “You can sit wherever you like, love” but he didn’t offer to turn any off. Perhaps he thought I was exaggerating, which was appropriate, because in the event Q&A, I had just been asked by the lovely Michelle from Vodafone’s Neurodiversity ERG, “What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to neurotypicals” and I said “Believe us! We’re not exaggerating, or making a fuss about nothing”. I eventually calmed down with my dark sunglasses on, anyway 😎