Rest assured, the site will not start making sales. Nor will I reveal any secrets about the much talked about spoon theory. But I will still use the basic principle of this idea to talk about something recurrent in the lives of autistic people.
Motivated? He's just lazy," said a parent. Difficulty in concentrating? She is more of a head in the air! said a mother. I could go on giving many other examples, but I think you have understood. Faced with a situation or a behaviour, people tend to make an evaluation, inference, understanding, value judgement, etc. And this is so, inside or outside the autism spectrum. However, if people notice, the probability of error is high. And it seems to be higher, the less knowledge one has of the person or the situation itself. Not to mention the bias of each of us and the history and life experience of each of us.
Back to the spoons. Think you have 12 spoons on your cutlery in your kitchen drawer. You've probably used a spoon and put it in the dishwasher or washing machine, right? And it has probably happened to you that you keep using your spoons without realising whether they are being washed and put back in the cutlery, right? And lastly, it has probably happened to you that you reach into the drawer and look in the place of the spoons and don't see any. And you think you're in a hurry to eat your yoghurt and leave for work. And being annoyed by having to go to the washing machine and take out a spoon, which is already a bit greasy and has to be rinsed in a hurry. And the yoghurt tastes a bit like detergent because they were in a hurry and didn't rinse the spoon out properly! Can you see the situation? Oh, great!
Perhaps some of you might start grumbling and saying that it's the fault of this or that person who didn't put the washing machine on. Maybe you will even be angry with yourself because you don't live with anyone else or it was your turn to do that job and you didn't do it.
In fact, although we are amazing as human beings and are equipped with an equally amazing brain. What is certain is that we have a limited capacity to process information. Even though many say that they are capable of multi tasking and sleeping between five to six hours a day, etc. Or that mainly children and young people are well able to do this, while adults will have a little more difficulty. One thing also seems certain to me, is that the external pressure and the internal demand leads us very often to become hostages of having to be constantly doing something and doing it well. And when we think of stopping or resting, the word laziness falls on us. And often the guilt doesn't seem to let us rest. But still, we know that everyone has their own needs and limits. And it's important that everyone can learn to manage that time and availability to carry out tasks. Because we are talking about energy. And these days we have heard a lot about energy efficiency and the importance of better resource management.
Well, it's very similar with us. And if people at home feel they're using more energy with their air conditioners, it's probably because the windows aren't sealed. And just like with the windows not being caulked, with autistic people something similar happens. That is, autistic people may not be understanding why they are more exhausted. Not least because they've just come back from holiday and on the first day after lunch they feel drained, without energy. And no, they are not anaemic and their blood tests are OK. And when they realise that a lot of their energy is being wasted due to the sensory immersion they are subjected to in their daily lives. Then they begin to understand the issue of unprotected windows. But it is necessary to know how to manage and take concrete and appropriate action on their behaviour when carrying out their daily tasks, from the simplest to the most complex.
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