1/6 I don’t like talking on the phone. Because I can’t always talk on the phone. Or if I do, I most likely won’t retain 90% of what’s said. And I will also very unlikely be able to talk. If I talk, I probably won’t say what needs to be said. What I’ve come to realise is that the

2/6 majority of people I say this to, will dismiss it. To non-autistics in healthcare I have learnt I need to lie. Lying doesn’t come easy to me, bc it’s also conducive to an anxious state. So now bc of others, I have to pick the less of the 2 evils. A lie it is. I’ve made

3/6 a list of them. “My screen phone is cracked” (it is but I cld still answer it). “I don’t always have privacy, pls email” (true). “I work & am not permitted to use my phone at work”. “I don’t always hear my phone” (this doesn’t work, they call 100 times, so in that time they

4/6 cld have emailed?). “I lost my voice”. “I’m ill”. “I’m at a conference”. “A shark is attacking me”. OK the last is sarcasm, but WHY oh WHY do they still call? For the love of &£@&, why????? PLEASE, if I ask for s/thing to be respected, respect it! I am so fed up of being

5/6 disrespected. This has consequences on my health. On my well-being. On my life. Things are already hard enough, so why can’t people get this simple rule? Perhaps to try and drum it into their brains I need to up the stakes. Perhaps I will mention the shark. So if they

6/7 question that, I will say “When I give you the real reasons, you take no notice. So now I’m sure you won’t forget?”. And if they do? Well, there’s always King Kong!...