Christine Ellis' story
For Neurodiversity Celebration Week, Christine Ellis, Senior Library Assistant in the Trust’s Knowledge and Library Services, talks about her diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and the challenges she faces every day.
“I was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder aged 40, when a psychologist realised this was the underlying reason for the anxiety and depression I've experienced all my life”, explains Christine. “It has now been ten years and I've learnt so much about being autistic and found strategies to help me cope better with life.
“I need to retreat into nature and creativity to prepare for and help me recover from the stress caused by sensory and social overload. These activities provide a relaxing, peaceful solitude where I can just be me and stop masking. This is when an autistic person hides their autistic traits to fit in with neurotypical society e.g., makes eye-contact even though its stressful.
“Sensory challenges affect me massively and noise is incredibly stressful to me as I can't filter out background sounds and everything is just too loud. Some of my worst noises: hand driers in toilets, alarms, music in shops, pubs and restaurants. Coffee machines in cafes. These challenges make socialising very difficult. A benefit of having incredibly sensitive hearing is that I can enjoy bird song and other nature noises that others miss e.g., wings of dragonflies buzzing.
“Another autistic challenge I deal with is known as 'paralysis by analysis'. This is over-thinking something connected with decision making. I try to think through every possible outcome and then become stuck and am unable to make the decision. I have often had to stick a pin in a list of options.
“My art has developed from realistic images to colourful abstracts involving metallics and iridescence and also copper embossing. A few years ago, I became fascinated with the shapes and symmetry of car wheel trims and alloy wheels. Some are very beautiful, reminiscent of flowers and snowflakes, even though they are something we see every day. I painstakingly cut up photos of the wheels and create detailed collages. My art can be seen on Instagram at chris_ellis_creates
“I have recently started enjoying growing Bonsai trees as a way to combine my love of art and nature and create living art.”
You can see some of Christine’s fantastic artwork below.
