FAS – 21andsensory

DIY Sensory Zen Garden 🌱

My mum is super creative and a while back she created a small zen garden inside a wooden box, complete with miniature rakes and pebble! It’s super easy to do (she used sand from a beach!).

It’s a very calming therapeutic activity to do. It’s just satisfying to shape the sand and rake it back and forth, you get a range of sensory feedback. Definitely recommend trying this out for yourself as an inexpensive sensory activity.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit an actual Japanese zen garden in Cornwall a few years ago and it was such a calm and relaxing experience. Being able to walk around and immerse myself in the surrounding nature and experience the quiet and subtle sounds of wind chimes and running streams was so grounding and calm, I’d love to have access to a local garden like this!

Have you ever been to a zen or sensory garden before? If so how was your experience? Comment down below.

Sight and Visual Processing…👁

Sight and Visual Processing…here is a new drawing (part of a series on our 8 senses, scroll back to see my previous drawings!) ✏️

Mood lighting is…THE BEST. I have @philipshue lights in my bedroom and it makes the world of difference especially before bed as it’s such a calming way to unwind rather than having my main light on 💡
DO NOT get me started on a rant about fluorescent and neon clothing. I once ranted for a solid few minutes on my podcast (search 21andsensory hehe sneaky plug right there) about a guy who worked in my open plan office who ALWAYS hung his bright yellow fluorescent cycling jacket in my view EVERY DAY. Gees it was too much to handle visually! I knew he was unaware the pain it was causing me but it’s the little things like this that can really affect my mood and ability to generally function! 🚴‍♂️
Visual stims such as bubble liquid timers, desktop and fidget spinners are the best! 🙌🏻
Lights flashing such as sirens, alarms and cameras can be disorientating and bewildering 🚨🚔📸
Bright screens = not okay with me. I always have my screen brightness down whether it’s on my phone, tablet or laptop ☀️😎
Aaaah clean and tidy places fill me with joy visually! Tidy room = a tidier(ish) mind for me 😍
Okay ewww colourful shelving at supermarkets = NOT cool. I cannot find what I need (cereal aisle, confectionery aisle, you know what I mean) it’s borders on physically painful to walk down these aisles and it messes with my mind trying to process all the colours at once 👀
And finally…hello sequins. I have sequinned fidgets, notebook, doorstop and a pillow! I love the sight of sequins especially in sunlight (and the sensory feedback in terms of texture too!) 💚

So there you have it, what do you love and hate in terms of visuals? Comment down below!

Food and Drink Struggles…

Hi everyone! Coming back at you with another drawing – this time on the struggles of food and drink as a sensory / autistic person. The struggle is REAL. I am a slight nightmare when it comes to food – I am a picky eater (even now at the age of 26!). I like to stick to food I know and especially bland food – I hate anything even slightly spicy, hot or flavoured. So let me explain my drawing above….

I tried peanut butter for the first time the other day (I couldn’t stand the texture it was WAY too sticky but I like the smell of it!)
Meat is pretty much a no-go food group for me. I HATE the texture, it’s chewiness is way too much for me to handle
As I mentioned about spicy food before it usually = Emily running away
Cereal is my FAV. The crunchier the better! The same with fruit and veg which I also love White chocolate is great especially when it’s left in the fridge before eating! I love the way it snaps
Jelly and other ‘set’ desserts are a NOPE from me. The texture and sound sends me running!
I really love fruit and veg – avocados (which I’ve got more into recently), apples and blueberries are my favourite.
I ❤️ TEA! Just bog standard english breakfast tea is my favourite with a bit of milk. It’s a go-to drink for me and I enjoy just drinking water too (I don’t like alcohol at all smell/taste is too much)

..And there you have it! I am particular about what I like food-wise and obviously this is only a small list I could go into way more detail about food and drink!

Let me know what you love and hate ( or can/can’t tolerate) food and drink-wise down below in the comments. I’m thinking I might do a drawing on each of the senses after doing this one…let me know what you think.

A new 21andsensory podcast episode!

In this month’s episode I had a chance to speak to the very lovely Emily (find her @autie__eevee on Instagram). We spoke about a whole range of things such as her self diagnosis of Autism and her journey to be formally assessed, her first year studying Fine Art at university, her special interests and hobbies and about her amazing Instagram account!

Follow Emily on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/autie__eevee/
Her Etsy shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/emisart03/shop

Search for the 21andsensory podcast wherever you get your podcasts from!

Apple Podcasts Google Play Music Overcast Pocket Casts Spotify

A Self Isolation Doodle 💛

Hi everyone – back again with a doodle. I started this drawing a little while back and I kept coming back to it and adding stuff before I felt happy with it. I think this relates to being in self isolation / lockdown / quarantine / whatever you want to call it.

Some days can be mega productive whereas other just…aren’t. And that’s okay. It’s important to have downtime and to step back from things in order to come back refreshed and to return with a new outlook, whether its work, studying or a special interest.

And…just existing takes alot of time, effort and patience. Be proud of yourself for hanging on in there..

Also if you have a pet go pat it. Right now. Say it’s a pat from Emily 😉

A day in my life (Autistic Graphic Designer) 💻

Hi everyone – this is a day in my life working from home as a Graphic Designer. I usually work in an open plan office but due to UK lockdown I have been working from home for the past 3 months (and I much prefer it!).

This is the first ever ‘vlog’ style thing I have uploaded so naturally I’m quite nervous about it. If you are interested in how I work from home my latest podcast episode on this topic went live on May 31st so if you would like to hear me talk about the pros and cons of working at home in more detail (and just generally rambling on like I usually do) search for 21andsensory wherever you usually get your podcasts!

All Things Quarantine…🌱

All Things Quarantine…this doodle may have taken me quite a while to do…but here’s an overview of some things I’ve been enjoying (and yes loving plants as always ❤️🌱). I’ve been drinking ALOT of tea, falling into YouTube holes, organising and tidying my room and life and just generally doodling and creating things here and there.

I’ve been working from home up in my little bedroom, which I’m enjoying as it’s an environment I can control and…no need for masking! (apart from on video calls lol). My next podcast episode is going to be me chatting about all things working from home related and the differences I have found between working remote and in an open plan office. It’ll go live at the end of May so keep an eye out for when it goes up and tune in!

Also let me know what you’ve been up to in the comments below!

Self Isolation Achievements ✅

Hello everyone, I’m back again, this time with an illustration of some self isolation achievements. I know that all the news on TV and online seems to be constantly swirling around and being updated continually (which is fine) but it can be really difficult not to get anxious, stressed, upset and triggered by it all. I’m trying to hold on to the small positives each day and the little autistic and sensory achievements I have been making along the way.

Why not comment down below any wins or things you’ve done with your time (they can be big or small – everything counts).

I hope you are all doing okay and staying safe (as much as you can be with all this going on).

The Mystery Blogger Award!

Firstly I just want to say a big thank you to the lovely Bec for nominating me. I would definitely recommend popping on over to her blog here. Her blog focuses on anxiety/mental health and she shares some amazing thoughts and ideas on it!

This award was started by Okoto Enigma on her blog, it’s an award “for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts.” Click the link to the blog for details!

Here are the rules of this award:

Name the creator of the award and link their blog.
Place the award logo or image within your blog post.
Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog in your post.
Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
Answer your nominator’s questions.
Nominate 10-20 people.
Ask your nominees 5 original questions of your choice.
Share 5 links to your best blog posts.
Notify each of your nominees by commenting on their blog.

Okay here goes…3 things about me:

I love apples and blueberries. If I could eat them all day everyday I would.
I love wearing Converses. I wear them 24/7 and luckily can wear them to work too!
I love succulent plants I think they are wonderful.

If you could have the perfect 3 course meal, what would it be?

Ooooh. Okay erm…I’d say dough balls and garlic butter for starter (I love bland meals!) Veggie Spaghetti Bolognese for main meal and then definitely some form of ice cream for pudding!

What’s your biggest fear?

Now this is a tricky one. At the moment my biggest fear is socialising with people and loud noises! I am more then happy with great heights, rollercoasters, bugs, etc!

What would you say is your best characteristic?

Hmm. I love helping people out and problem solving things for people so I would say hopefully my best characteristic is being helpful 🙂

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

I love anywhere by the sea so I’d either say maybe somewhere in Devon or Cornwall or even somewhere on the coast in Italy!

How are you today? (Strange question, but I want to know how you’re doing)

I think I’m okay today. I’m also excited because it’s Friday tomorrow which means the weekend and less work stress!

Okay here are my 10 nominations:

And my 5 questions for the nominees to answer:

What makes you smile?
Where would you most like to go no holiday next?
If you had one day completely alone how would you fill your time?
If you could have any job besides the one you have right now, what would it be?
If you could rewind 5 years and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Lastly my five favourite blog posts I have written:

A sensory experience review…

I was lucky enough to go on a little adventure a few weekends ago to the Isle of Wight (UK). It’s a lovely little island with loads to see and do – so much so I already want to go back and explore more!

Whilst I was there I went to an AWESOME water show called Waltzing Waters which I thought I would do a little review about.

Here is some more information:

“The world’s most elaborate water, light and music production. “It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before”…a triumph of artistry and engineering. Visitors are overwhelmed by thousands of dazzling patterns of moving water synchronised with music in spectacular fashion.”

Anyways: it was SPECTACULAR. So kind of think of it as awesome music throughout the ages coordinated to a water display. There were hundreds of nozzles spraying ridiculously high-powered jets of water so high and then falling and twirling into phenomenal shapes.

I know these sorts of water shows can be quite popular at resorts in America and especially in places like Dubai in shopping centres and public places. Somehow I had never really come across one before and because this show was based on the Isle of Wight only a handful of people turn up to each set time – which was fab as no crowds and lots of seating to choose from!

I just wanted to do a little write up to almost sort of say as a sensory being how lovely I found the whole show and that I really recommend seeing a show whether you have sensory problems or not 😊

One of my next blog posts will be a Q&A on all things sensory! Feel free to comment below with any questions you might have – tweet me or comment on my Instagram!

Tag: FAS