Hi I’m Daisy and I am a Play Worker at the Play and Youth Clubs at WhiteLodge alongside my two colleagues Carly and Tom. Carly, Tom and I are taking part in the Superpower Tri on the 20th August to raise money for WhiteLodge. The Superpower Tri is a Triathlon whereby one person in the team has a disability and for our team that superhero is me. 

I am the teams Superhero as I have multiple hidden disabilities, which are ASD(Autism), Intellectual Disability, Receptive Language Disorder, Severe Social Anxiety, Depression and PTSD( Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Having a diagnosis of my own disabilities has benefits in the job I do. I can connect and relate to the children and teenagers who come to our schemes as I understand on a deeper level as I know the struggles whether that being the meltdowns or communication struggles and more. But I also learn a lot from the children and teenagers. 

I grew up undiagnosed for many years I did not get diagnosed until I was 16 years old while doing my GCSE exams. I really struggle to navigate this world and being very non verbal most of my younger years got put down to shyness. After masking all my difficulties all these years and going through extreme bullying leading to mental health issues I finally got a diagnosis. This brought so much understanding to me and my family it was a blessing!! I am still very much misunderstood because people think there’s a “look” to autism when there isn’t it’s a spectrum. I mask my autism as I have learnt to copy others behaviours that appear the “norm” from a very young age. Trying to balance my disabilities which I mask I also have to balance coping in everyday life which is hard and draining. This leads to burnouts/meltdowns, I become less verbal in this time for me to recover from masking for so long. Masking is my way of surviving and getting through trying to fit in. I suppress my emotions and stimming as I don’t want to be judged and nobody would ever see me stim only when I’m on my own. 

School was a horrible time for me due to the bullying changing schools to worse bullying it was a dead end of bullying. After school I took a year out to focus on my mental health recover from the bullying and learn about my diagnoses through a year of therapy. Finding a college for young autistic adults changed my life the support and adapted learning was what I needed it’s put me on the right path. 

I struggled with workplaces but finding WhiteLodge a year ago I’ve never looked back. I feel it’s a safe space as it’s an environment of different abilities just like me. Working here with children and teenagers with disabilities gives me the opportunity to connect with them through our disabilities and understand what is bothering them whether that’s a loud noise because most of the time it’s probably bothering me too. As I’ve gone from being non verbal to how I am now I can try and get through to the children in a way I might of needed when I was struggling with my communication. I think me being a staff member that is on the spectrum is a massive benefit for our children and teenagers we work with as I totally understand the struggles they face. So for me my superpower is my Autism and difference as I can see beneath the meltdowns. 

Please sponsor me to raise money for WhiteLodge, who help children and adults enable their abilities. 

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