Today's Weekly Blogger Spotlight is Liz Lawson, from Janepedia.com! Liz blogs about
navigating life with allergies as a human, living life as an autistic human, and whatever posts her special interests lead her to write. So if you want to know more about autism, PTSD, allergies, Tourette's Syndrome, and lots more, then check out her blog!
What made you decide to create your blog?
I've had a blog since middle school, so back then it was treated like an online diary. It was also bilingual, because I was taking Spanish I and my teacher let me use my website for every project she assigned us. When I moved the summer before high school, I kept up with a Xanga blog so I could stay in touch with my friends. The one I have now has been alive since 2010. I've almost quit, but I loved connecting with people from all over the world.
What do you love about blogging?
I love the people. I call myself a misanthrope a lot, because people around me suck a lot, but despite what all the trolls want people to believe, there are many gems of people online. They're hard to find, but once you find your flock of geese or school of fish and nurture relationships with those people, you can develop great friendships.
I'm also introverted. I don't care for or about small talk. Blogging allows me to create friendships with people who, yeah, know I'm autistic, but without the tedious social routine of pointless small conversation and without the external oddities that are my many stims. Blogging has allowed me to make way more genuine friends than my twelve years in school ever did. My allistic (non-autistic) counterparts are always telling me how they need people in person and how I also need those people in person, but textual communication is my main form of communication. I don't need to be with people in person all the time. Just knowing they're there is usually great enough for me.
Who are your heroes in life?
My dad is my hero, because he saved me from my neglectful mother and her abusive husband in 2007 via a coup. We went about it dangerously—if I'd been caught before my dad and I had a chance to work things out, I do believe they'd have killed me—so in hindsight we probably should have went through authorities. Because I did almost die after they found out. There are some things he doesn't understand about me—my autism, Tourette's Syndrome, my eating disorder, PTSD, etc.—but he still saved me.
What is one of your ultimate goals in life?
Above everything else, I want to live independently. There aren't many resources for autistics, as if autism has an age limit and/or autistic adults are out of luck. I feel like I'd succeed if I had a handle on the bills and a steady income, or at least a lot saved up. I think living on my own would resolve 99 problems and provide me with many more opportunities, as well as increase my self-worth...I feel less than a lot of times because I don't have my own place, and I get a lot of flak for it because my autism is ignored since my family doesn't "get" autism.
If you could give one piece of advice to those you blog for, what would it be?
It's okay not to be yourself sometimes. Sometimes, it's not safe to be yourself—so find a safe place wherein you may be your unapologetic self, or figure out a way to make that happen. No one knows you better than yourself.
Hi, I’m Liz Lawson!
Liz Lawson is an autistic lifestyle blogger on a mission to discover tasty free-from products. In her free time, you can find her binging on Netflix, reading, writing or heavily influenced by antihistamines. She blogs at janepedia.com, her topics depending greatly on her special interests at any given time. Liz is currently writing a novel focusing on autistic protagonists.
Do you want to be featured on the Weekly Blogger Spotlight? Then message me here!
0 Comments