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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Survival / Success
- Subject: Character Based
- Published: 08/17/2024
Outsider
Born 1948, F, from Essex, United KingdomOutsider
I’ve always been an outsider. Diagnosed with Autism at the age of ten, I like to be alone. I literally do not want to be close to people. Except my mum and dad. I love them. I like to be with them. They do not turn a hair when I do something weird. They listen to me when I’m telling them about my latest thoughts on YouTube and conspiracy theories.
One time we were having lunch in a café when a wasp buzzed in. Well, I tell you, I went into one, jumping around the café, flapping my hands, and shrieking. The owner was not happy, the other customers looked on in amazement. My parents…well they just continued eating their lunch, until Dad stood up, rolled a newspaper, swatted that wasp, and then sat down to carry on eating.
Being an outsider has been dangerous for me. People with the wrong intentions have targeted me. I’ve been befriended by women who really wanted to use me to look after their children, their dogs, even their bed ridden parent. This escalated into one woman wanting me to run drugs. When I refused, I had to run for my own safety. I won’t go into how I’ve been abused by men.
This leads me to telling you that I have lived in Women’s Refuges. Have you heard of being ‘cuckooed’? This is where people move into your home, take it over, usually for drug use, and then hound you out of your home.
I enjoyed the pandemic. You were told to stay in and not mix. That so suited me. The trouble was that once it was over, I carried on staying in. I had got into the habit of ordering everything online, avoiding my neighbours, putting out my rubbish late at night. Then I even stopped doing that and that’s when I was in real trouble.
Being an outsider means you risk becoming isolated and that’s exactly where I was heading. I fell into a deep depression. I stopped showering regularly or washing my hair which soon became matted. All I did was eat and order stuff I didn’t need off Amazon. It was something to look forward to.
I stopped cleaning my flat, and crisis point was reached.
My neighbours called the landlord to report that flies were coming from under my front door, there was a terrible smell and nobody had seen me for weeks. The landlord called the police and then my parents.
Opening the door to see a police officer standing there was the worst shock. I thought he was there to tell me something had happened to my parents, but no, he said he was there to check I was alive.
‘No, nothing wrong with your parents. I’m checking that you’re not dead’.
I was beyond shocked and also so ashamed. I turned and looked at what he could see and smell. Black bin bags stacked up, some leaking, flies everywhere.
‘I will let your parents know you’re Ok and I am going to have to refer you to social services. This is a safeguarding issue'.
I closed the front door and started to manically tie up the bin bags, then I started carrying them downstairs and out to the bins. The police officer was on his phone but I knew he was watching me.
Later that morning, there was another knock on my door. Opening it, I saw a middle-aged woman wearing a lanyard. She was a social worker. She came in and sat on the bed.
‘You’re in a bit of a pickle’ she said, as she looked at the squalor.
I was shaking and almost tearful which is unheard of for me, but I was saved. She wrote a 25 page assessment on me and my needs.
I’ve moved now. I have a lovely flat by the sea, and a team of support workers are there to make sure I’m ok. They come in three times a day to check that I have showered and am keeping the place clean. I’ve even started going out. It took a lot of courage, but I have had my nails done, and I went to the hairdressers for the first time in eight years.
Oh my god, how it’s helped. I clean the flat every evening. I shower and wash my hair like normal people. I know I look like a different person. Just got to shift some weight now. Walking down to the sea should help.
I’ve even been to a residents meeting and chatted to a couple of the other residents.
Mum and dad are coming down tomorrow. It’s my birthday. They are so happy. They say a weight has been lifted off their shoulders.
I don’t feel like an outsider anymore.
Outsider(Kristin Dockar)
Outsider
I’ve always been an outsider. Diagnosed with Autism at the age of ten, I like to be alone. I literally do not want to be close to people. Except my mum and dad. I love them. I like to be with them. They do not turn a hair when I do something weird. They listen to me when I’m telling them about my latest thoughts on YouTube and conspiracy theories.
One time we were having lunch in a café when a wasp buzzed in. Well, I tell you, I went into one, jumping around the café, flapping my hands, and shrieking. The owner was not happy, the other customers looked on in amazement. My parents…well they just continued eating their lunch, until Dad stood up, rolled a newspaper, swatted that wasp, and then sat down to carry on eating.
Being an outsider has been dangerous for me. People with the wrong intentions have targeted me. I’ve been befriended by women who really wanted to use me to look after their children, their dogs, even their bed ridden parent. This escalated into one woman wanting me to run drugs. When I refused, I had to run for my own safety. I won’t go into how I’ve been abused by men.
This leads me to telling you that I have lived in Women’s Refuges. Have you heard of being ‘cuckooed’? This is where people move into your home, take it over, usually for drug use, and then hound you out of your home.
I enjoyed the pandemic. You were told to stay in and not mix. That so suited me. The trouble was that once it was over, I carried on staying in. I had got into the habit of ordering everything online, avoiding my neighbours, putting out my rubbish late at night. Then I even stopped doing that and that’s when I was in real trouble.
Being an outsider means you risk becoming isolated and that’s exactly where I was heading. I fell into a deep depression. I stopped showering regularly or washing my hair which soon became matted. All I did was eat and order stuff I didn’t need off Amazon. It was something to look forward to.
I stopped cleaning my flat, and crisis point was reached.
My neighbours called the landlord to report that flies were coming from under my front door, there was a terrible smell and nobody had seen me for weeks. The landlord called the police and then my parents.
Opening the door to see a police officer standing there was the worst shock. I thought he was there to tell me something had happened to my parents, but no, he said he was there to check I was alive.
‘No, nothing wrong with your parents. I’m checking that you’re not dead’.
I was beyond shocked and also so ashamed. I turned and looked at what he could see and smell. Black bin bags stacked up, some leaking, flies everywhere.
‘I will let your parents know you’re Ok and I am going to have to refer you to social services. This is a safeguarding issue'.
I closed the front door and started to manically tie up the bin bags, then I started carrying them downstairs and out to the bins. The police officer was on his phone but I knew he was watching me.
Later that morning, there was another knock on my door. Opening it, I saw a middle-aged woman wearing a lanyard. She was a social worker. She came in and sat on the bed.
‘You’re in a bit of a pickle’ she said, as she looked at the squalor.
I was shaking and almost tearful which is unheard of for me, but I was saved. She wrote a 25 page assessment on me and my needs.
I’ve moved now. I have a lovely flat by the sea, and a team of support workers are there to make sure I’m ok. They come in three times a day to check that I have showered and am keeping the place clean. I’ve even started going out. It took a lot of courage, but I have had my nails done, and I went to the hairdressers for the first time in eight years.
Oh my god, how it’s helped. I clean the flat every evening. I shower and wash my hair like normal people. I know I look like a different person. Just got to shift some weight now. Walking down to the sea should help.
I’ve even been to a residents meeting and chatted to a couple of the other residents.
Mum and dad are coming down tomorrow. It’s my birthday. They are so happy. They say a weight has been lifted off their shoulders.
I don’t feel like an outsider anymore.
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- 2
Gerald R Gioglio
08/25/2024An excellent description of one of our 'atypical' friends. Happy Story Star day.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Shirley Smothers
08/25/2024What a beautiful story. My Daughter is on the Autism spectrum. She has had mild cases of everything you described. She is high functioning. Thank you for sharing. A very worthy Short Story Star of the Day.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kristin Dockar
08/25/2024Thank you for reading. I think it can sometimes be forgotten that their I is a spectrum where people can be high functioning in some areas and vulnerable in others.
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Cheryl Ryan
08/25/2024I love this. My mindset about autistic people has shifted after reading about the loneliness they face.
Thank you for sharing this!
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kristin Dockar
08/25/2024Thank you. Yes, the f social communication is part of their difficulty, it can be very lonely.
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Joel Kiula
08/25/2024A very good story. Happy to see some positivity in his life. Sometimes that is all we need.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kristin Dockar
08/25/2024Thank you for reading, definitely need to read about some positivity in these times!
Help Us Understand What's Happening
BEN BROWN
08/25/2024A very well written story. Big eye opener. Well done for being todays star.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kristin Dockar
08/25/2024Thank you Ben. Too many individuals in this position nowadays but glad this person had a happy ending.
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Denise Arnault
08/17/2024You listed this a fiction, but it reads like the true life for a lot of people. You did a very good job of explaining how it is for people whose brains don't quite tick along the same lines as most. Thanks.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kristin Dockar
08/17/2024Hi Denise, you're right. It's taken from real life but fictionalised, and yes, I be known many whose lives have gone this way. But this one has a happier ending.
COMMENTS (8)