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Sally44

What would you like to achieve in the next year?

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Sometimes I find that if you have a plan or goal and you give yourself a timescale to work to, then it actually happens.

 

So what are others thinking they would like to achieve in the next year?

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I'd like to be back in some form of paid work, or at least regularly volunteering somewhere.

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Complete second year of uni,going to be very hard as normally we have to complete 262.5 hrs of practice in seven week blocks(three times in a year) but I have to somehow try and sqeeze in an extra 20hrs (282.5) in each placement. On top of that I have to be a mum and work 15hrs a week!

 

I would really,really like to drive with five kids its really stupid not to. I tried in September 2010 but then we moved two months later,with the move and xmas I had no cash and its kind of been the last thing on my mind. I hope to start again Jan/Feb 2013. My other goal would be to get a bigger house but that is out of my hands,we still in a two bed house(all 7 of us!) and been on the waiting list since 2009 we are on the highest band now that they finally accepted the ASD documents.

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Justine, have you tried the family fund to help with your driving lessons? My cousin has a daughter with a disability and has to go to the regional childrens hospital 3 or 4 times a year and they agreed to pay her through a fair amount of hours (certainly enough to get the job done IMO) plus 2 attempts at both theory and practical tests. Admittedly my cousins daughter does have a physical disability (she can walk perfectly fine but doing it for any distance beyond home causes a lot of pain and injury so she is entitled to HRM from DLA but still if you have a lot of Dr's appts for the boys (if you do apply you can only apply per family not per disabled child) but let them know about both boy's having a dx and how driving would help them and the family and there is a good chance you could get it.

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But with recent developments what I would like for next year is to be in full employment as I have wasted too long already. I keep trying every day to get out, I have the use of an eighteenth century smithy where the world is my oyster and I have deposited my lifetimes collection of rare and specialist jewellery making tools at the smithy as incentive to get out there, but it seems that is not even a strong enough lure as I have become somewhat reclusive the last few years and getting out, well, it's fear of being out and not in where it is comfortable. and at this time of year, warm as I feel the cold very easily.

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You make jewellery? You're a goldsmith? We used to know a goldsmith - he was so skilled, and he had a lot of specialist tools. It was quite a long time ago, but I remember being in awe at his skill and the intricacy of what he did. I do hope you do get out there and to that smithy - goldsmithery (I think I made that word up) is very cool :)

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I don't do gold if I can help it, it is too expensive for me to deal with and it has some odd properties like vaporising if it gets too hot, what I do is silver, iron, copper and steel. Often recovering my iron of rotted down sailing vessels in the estuary, where my latest batch of iron the university say is made from surface ore and quite possibly from south America and the form it is in, a handmade scarf welded chain, it is likely it was a slave chain and where did I find it. I left it at that as there is more of it that will keep me going for years, but it has a vitreous silica layer that comes to the surface during forging and once sand blasted, wire brushed and polished, it resists rust, so it is bang on for jewellery as the plan for that is the inlaying of native gold into the iron as a bit of political art as with my metalwork it is I wish to tell a story.

 

I have orders for copper finger talons I have not yet done much about as like I said, it getting out of the house that is the problem.

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Goodness, that sounds fascinating. What sort of stuff do you make? Bold or intricate? Are you still a goldsmith if you use other metals?

 

I am not a goldsmith, that is too limiting for me, what I am is a self taught metalsmith in that I will deal with all metals and processes in order to achieve the desired result. Self taught from a basic GCE 'O' level in metalwork, a hobby at first where I taught myself silversmithing from books on the subject and where I could not afford the necessary tools, I made them out of more commonly available tools and used my self taught skills to make Xmas presents and such, it was a learning process where each time I made something I got better at it and discovered new things which I kept in mind for later ideas as even stuff ups have their use, in fact making stuff ups is a learning exercise, you learn more from getting it wrong than getting it right.

 

I attended art college a few years ago as what was missing out of my repertoire of skills was iron work and heavier forging, but I found the heavier work was just the same as the smaller stuff it is just a matter of scale, so when I got near the forge the tutors found I excelled straight away, iron forging is easy once you know the theory behind everything and I had always been studying metallurgy and even further with a past interest in geology and mining where I was at one time a civil engineer.

 

What I make is basically anything that takes my interest and as of what I make, well anything in the fringe markets that shops don't really supply which includes the spirituality market with the witches and pagans where I understand the need for different polarities of materials and make to suit, the battle re enactor market where I copy things found via archaeology, the fetish market with whatever they desire and the belly dance market with metalwork they can't get anywhere else, with the afore mentioned claws finding interest with the tribal fusion belly dancers. Anything that allows me to experiment with something new I am interested in, but as soon as something becomes learned out I lose interest and that is a problem as it has happened something that is popular and people want I cannot find the energy to make it again and really struggle with the motivation.

 

But to illustrate ;

 

doingsr_zps6cb67762.jpg

Edited by Sa Skimrande

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Sa Skimrande, I truly hope you get to your smithy - this stuff is amazing. It's funny because tonight there was a program about archaeology from around the Viking invasion, and one artefact (not Viking, obviously) was Alfred's Jewel

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1C1RNNN_enGB366&biw=1024&bih=679&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=IGlqPyDAAjlprM:&imgrefurl=http://britishstudies.pbworks.com/w/page/15133699/Vikings&docid=vh_3dSahuNrWEM&imgurl=http://britishstudies.pbworks.com/f/Alfre_jewel.jpg&w=400&h=313&ei=u3FfUOK5C8qw0QWpsYBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=376&vpy=158&dur=993&hovh=199&hovw=254&tx=172&ty=119&sig=104632922302720272782&page=1&tbnh=157&tbnw=200&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:77

 

It's so amazingly intricate and it made me think of your metalsmithery (still reckon I'm just making these words up :unsure: ). That mail-work must have taken you forever! Interesting you do reenactment stuff - we love living history as a family.

 

Thanks for posting the photos :)

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I would like be more confident in travelling independently on trains explore more places and less attached to parents the need for less reassurance guidance and being constantly in the grip of being needy clingy all time as becomes suffocating to my parents ! :( to feel more secure in myself less reliant on others for life skills more open flexible adaptable i suppose

Many areas of my life

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I would like be more confident in travelling independently on trains explore more places and less attached to parents the need for less reassurance guidance and being constantly in the grip of being needy clingy all time as becomes suffocating to my parents ! :( to feel more secure in myself less reliant on others for life skills more open flexible adaptable i suppose

Many areas of my life

 

Rest assured dear, I am near forty four and travelling on my own fills me with dread, I expect to get it wrong somewhere and have to endure the disapproving looks of the people I have to ask to make sure what I have read on timetables is correct, for timetables make little sense to me after how many years of travelling not only in this country but abroad also. And so it is I hear of teenagers back packing around the world, I marvel at their courage, because I haven't got that, what is a breeze to many I find nerve racking, so a holiday to relax, are they serious ?

 

But if we are to have any independence we must strike out and make the effort to understand as it is the only way forward and take it one day at a time, but don't be afraid to ask, despite the disapproving stares we may misinterpret, find a uniform and ask away for there are still a lot of very helpful people around and those aware not everything designed for a majority may be designed for all.

Edited by Sa Skimrande

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Sa Skimrande, I truly hope you get to your smithy - this stuff is amazing. It's funny because tonight there was a program about archaeology from around the Viking invasion, and one artefact (not Viking, obviously) was Alfred's Jewel

http://www.google.co...29,r:2,s:0,i:77

 

It's so amazingly intricate and it made me think of your metalsmithery (still reckon I'm just making these words up :unsure: ). That mail-work must have taken you forever! Interesting you do reenactment stuff - we love living history as a family.

 

Thanks for posting the photos :)

 

If you wish to see intricate, take a look at the Sutton Hoo artifacts from the seventh century ship burial ;

 

http://www.britishmu...ams-opt-sec.pdf

 

King Alfreds Jewel I have seen it and it is remarkable given what facilities metalsmiths had at the time and I think many a modern metalsmith would struggle to produce the like today, as we depend too much on electrickery and although it saves time, it robs focus and skill.

 

But the living history/battle re-enactment I used to do with a family of the past ,it motivated me to learn ancient skills which may be useful today in a business I wish to start as back then I learned to work bone, horn and leather just to be authentic before the public eyes and of course the critical eye of the English Heritage nazis who seemed to look down their nose at us types, but they weren't engaging the public, we were.

 

The period I studied and re-enacted was Iron Age Britain pre Roman conquest and up to about 100 AD where we learned what is the best of us now in mental and physical strength is not a patch on what has gone before, as we have become more technologically advanced we have become lazy and weak, if our electrickery failed for whatever reason, we would struggle to survive as nature is a very harsh teacher.

Edited by Sa Skimrande

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Did you ever go to Kelmarsh? Mind you, I think it all starts at the Roman period there. Reenacting is so cool. We usually go to Kelmarsh, but it was cancelled this year because of the rains. You're right, it's the reenactors who hold the attention - they are so knowledgeable on their era, and many of them are very conscientious about every little detail. We know a blacksmith with an authentically constructed bellows.

 

Thanks for the British Museum link - you're right, it is astoundingly intricate.

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I would like to be more confident, find someone to love and who loves me and just be happy.

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But with recent developments what I would like for next year is to be in full employment as I have wasted too long already. I keep trying every day to get out, I have the use of an eighteenth century smithy where the world is my oyster and I have deposited my lifetimes collection of rare and specialist jewellery making tools at the smithy as incentive to get out there, but it seems that is not even a strong enough lure as I have become somewhat reclusive the last few years and getting out, well, it's fear of being out and not in where it is comfortable. and at this time of year, warm as I feel the cold very easily.

 

I know how hard a journey can be. I was debilitated by travelling to Uni on the London Underground. Had a complete meltdown and couldn't face going in. I resorted to using buses, getting on and off trains, it was hell, but eventually I found a convoluted way of getting there which wasn't too painful. I used to hide behind a book, didn't actually read it mind you.

 

I can only suggest, as an experiment, is to try and go as far as you can with the intention of not going the whole way. Make a note of how you feel at each stage and what is stopping you from going on, before you have to turn back. Maybe make you own timetable. If you can make it as far as half way after a few trys, the quickest way to safety at that point would be the Smithy.

 

Those images of your work look fabulous, it must be really satisfying to do that.

 

Good luck

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Get a proper job (i.e. one line with my interests and a permanent contract, not another crappy autism work placement) and move into my own place.

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I have no idea of where I will be in a years time everything has changed dramatically since my diagnosis of Autism, if I had a choice I would like to be more settled have a job that people were happy to let me be who I am without having to try to change to be excepted by others. To have a car again would be nice without it I've lost a lot of my independence.

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Get a proper job (i.e. one line with my interests and a permanent contract, not another crappy autism work placement) and move into my own place.

I've been seeing an organisation that is trying to find me work without much success and the waiting times for an appointment are awful. What's an Autism work placement I haven't been told anything about those, you don't seem to think much of it from your comments are they not worth attending?

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Sorry Livelife, that wasn't very clear. My last so-called job was on the Autism Work Placement Programme of a well-known investment bank. It was a major disappointment. I was initially assessed by a occupational health adviser who made some recommendations - regular meetings, moving from daily to weekly. When I joined the team, I hardly saw my manager at all during the first month, despite the recommendation. I was given some work, but never enough to fill my day. I said that I didn’t have enough work to do, but my boss was too busy to meet with me. When I said I was disappointed at how unproductive I was being, I was accused of having narcissistic tendencies. It made me feel like a charity case, that I was just there to salve their conscience and allow them to tick a box. I tried to apply for work for after the placement, so I went to trade fairs and networking events, but I couldn’t really explain what I was doing in my current job because I didn’t know myself!

 

In my last post I should have said "in line with my interests", not "one line".

Edited by Aeolienne

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Sorry Livelife, that wasn't very clear. My last so-called job was on the Autism Work Placement Programme of a well-known investment bank. It was a major disappointment. I was initially assessed by a occupational health adviser who made some recommendations - regular meetings, moving from daily to weekly. When I joined the team, I hardly saw my manager at all during the first month, despite the recommendation. I was given some work, but never enough to fill my day. I said that I didn’t have enough work to do, but my boss was too busy to meet with me. When I said I was disappointed at how unproductive I was being, I was accused of having narcissistic tendencies. It made me feel like a charity case, that I was just there to salve their conscience and allow them to tick a box. I tried to apply for work for after the placement, so I went to trade fairs and networking events, but I couldn’t really explain what I was doing in my current job because I didn’t know myself!

 

In my last post I should have said "in line with my interests", not "one line".

How can being concerned about doing a job effectively and managing your work load be called Narcissistic that is ridiculous and typical of discrimination we face when trying to be productive.

Companies need to show they employ a percentage of disabled people and it sounds of ticking that particular box, if it was an NT it would be called being driven proactive a positive attitude or even seeking to promote your career.

I think from experience they think that people with Autism are basically stupid, challenges yes but not stupid and we are judged on a perception not individual characteristics and abilitys.

It's good you were seeking further employment but with discrimination rife then it's a challenge to even be heard in a lot of cases let alone prove your own abilities.

I have little faith in the current system in relation to those on the Autisic Spectrum maybe there are some success story's there most probably are but these will most likely be the exception most will struggle which employment figures of people with Autism are still showing there is very little improvement as far as I can see.

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