Autism – Confessions of an Autistic Man

SAME YEAR, SAME ME

2025. It’s on the horizon. And we’re all raring to go (ignoring Trump, Putin and Starmer). Pumping ourselves up like balloons with those New Year’s resolutions. I find that New Year’s Eve parties are a celebration not of the year gone, or the new year. But the last opportunity to let ourselves go, before bucklingContinue reading “SAME YEAR, SAME ME”

DECK YOUR HALLS

I like my own deck. Where I can decorate how I like it. Picking the right colour and type. Hanging up the right images. Expressing how I feel with the messages. Organising how I’d understand it. When it comes to the brief, I need space. Or else I’ll be tangled up with other wires ofContinue reading “DECK YOUR HALLS”

BIG IDEAS

Satoshi Tajiri created a world of monsters called Pokemon. Charles Darwin found the “missing link” and discovered Evolution. Issac Newton was hit on the head by an apple, and “light bulb” Gravity. Albert Einstein looked to the stars and found the Theory of relativity. Stanley Kubrick looked through a camera lens and found 2001: AContinue reading “BIG IDEAS”

LANGUAGE

I like to ramble. Sometimes I repeat myself. Sometimes I jumble up words. An embarrassing mistake was mixing up “ethical” with “ethnic”. And occasionally I make words up, beautiful becomes blootiful. Altogether I sound like an intellectual reading alphabet spaghetti. On a merry-go-round. I just don’t get to the point quick enough. And I findContinue reading “LANGUAGE”

PERFECTION

“Stop beating yourself up” “You are too hard on yourself” “You are doing a good job!” This is what I regularly hear in my work. From everyone around me. Family. Friends. Work. And they’re right. My biggest adversary isn’t other creatives. No. It’s perfection. It likes to remind me everyday that I’m not good enough.Continue reading “PERFECTION”

INFORMATION

Send. Forward. Reply. CC. Zoom. Re-send. Re-forward. Re-reply. Re-CC. Boom. Working at home has its challenges. But nothing compared to the influx of information. Daily emails. Daily meetings. Trying to register every little detail through your laptop screen. The chorus of notifications. The pings, the bings, the dings. Sometimes I feel like I’m going toContinue reading “INFORMATION”

LOYALTY

Watford till I die. Not the football club. The creative advertising course. I graduated from the class of 2015/16. But I have been involved ever since. My autism gives me a strong sense of loyalty. Giving me an unselfish and generous attitude. And this is very apparent with my involvement with Watford. Every year IContinue reading “LOYALTY”

CRITICISM

I hated criticism. Funny, I’m in a career where criticism is important. You need to take it, and move on. Don’t be precious with your ideas. Let them die. But I take criticism in such a different way to others. Due to my autism, it’s more impactful to me. It can stress me out. MakeContinue reading “CRITICISM”

ALTER EGO

I love the Rocky movies. The classic underdog story about a boxer who has a dream. Rolling with the punches, fighting through the pain and tears. Getting his one shot to win the greatest title in the world. It was a big inspiration for me. But also it gave me an identity. An alter ego.Continue reading “ALTER EGO”

OBSESSION

Humpty Dumpty. Jack and the Beanstalk. Greek Mythology. Alien vs. Predator. Aston Villa. Muhammad Ali. Graphic Design. My life has been a series of obsessions. I have grown up being obsessed with something. It’s a very visible condition of my autism. From a niche fairytale. To a whole subject. My obsessions have evolved, matured. UntilContinue reading “OBSESSION”