My name is Matthew, I am 10 years old and I live in Palmerston North, New Zealand.I love lego, trains, the colour green and animals. This year my mum, nana and I are going on a big journey to Great Britain. We have to take 3 planes to get to London and it will take 32 hours!
Oh, and I have Asperger's Syndrome. I look like most other boys my age, but I can talk and act a bit differently. This is because my brain processes things a little bit differently. It also means that I have certain talents and certain difficulties. I have an excellent memory when it comes to dinosaurs, lego, and trains and, if you let me, I can talk non-stop for hours about them!
But I have some difficulties with some things that most people don't have trouble with at all, these are what are called "social senses" and it is how people get along with and understand other people. Most people naturally know what other people are feeling and thinking by picking up their body language such as facial expressions. They don't need to be taught, they might not even realise they know! But they do.
I find it very hard to understand body language, and how someone else might be thinking or feeling. It doesn't come naturally to me and I have to be taught how to interact with others. I can get very confused because I don't understand what is going on and this causes me to get very frustrated and angry!
I also have what is called "sensory processing" issues. There are five senses- touch, sight, taste, ear, smell. But sometimes I can feel these senses a lot more than what everyone else can and that can be very painful and scary. Loud noises such as alarms and thunder sound very very loud to me and really hurt my ears!
Because the world can be so confusing to me, I like routines and I can get very upset when unexpected things happen, or when there's a change of plan that I haven't been warned about. I really do not like change and new things are very scary to me.
And this is why this trip to Great Britain is going to be such a huge adventure for me! I am going to be going to a lot of new places and trying new things. But it's OK, because mum and I have been putting together a scrapbook of all the places we will be visiting and we are going to be doing some very cool things, like visiting the National Railway Museum in York, and going to Edinburgh Zoo to see the Giant Panda. We are also going to Legoland! I am so excited!
Every night of our trip I will get to update this blog with my adventures for the day and share it with all my friends back in New Zealand. Before we go I will update it with interesting things I have discovered with my mum while we plan our great adventure.
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