I moved again, this time to temporary accomodation. I met with someone from the council who showed me the ground floor flat and gave me the keys. It all looked good. It didn’t have a couch but they told me where I could get used furniture. It had cooking facilities and a double bed. It was in a Cul de sac off the main road. I told my friend I had moved. I don’t think she was that happy at how far out it was but she told me she had some stuff she didn’t use and would bring them to me, as she drove. She brought me some lights and a picture which I put around the place. I felt like she was offering to do a bit too much but I needed the things so I agreed. I liked the flat as it was compact and there was a lot of light coming in from the living area and there was a big walk in shower but I sometimes had a problem with one of the neighbours because I said hello to him he assumed he could knock on my door whenever he wanted. He had downs syndrome and I knew he had a support worker as I had seen him out and about with them. He once knocked on my door to ask if I could fix his TV that had gone off. I said I wasn’t technical and didn’t know how to do this. He kept persisting but I told him no and he should contact his support worker. He went away. Most other people were friendly and it was a nice area to live for 6 months. I had applied to be a classroom assistant for East Lothian council while I was in Musselburgh and I got an interview while I was there. It was getting difficult to get into Edinburgh for the work I was doing and had been doing that for over 5 years and needed a change. I was interviewed and they gave me a chance. I wasn’t sure they would because of the problems I had after school while working in similar areas but I was older now and had more experience. The pay was good and I got work in different schools where I usually had to help certain children with additional support needs who had problems concentrating and getting work done. I really enjoyed it and felt like I was helping them and the teachers so they could deal with other kids. I got a bit of work for a while until I went to a school in Musselburgh. There were some things I didn’t really like such as different age groups together and making fussy eaters eat away from other children. I didn’t really make a thing of it but I knew I didn’t want many shifts in that school. I didn’t think the head teacher liked me as she kept asking me to do different things I hadn’t done before and kept having a problem with what I did. I knew what was going on and I wasn’t what they were looking for. I did that job for about 6 months.
I initially tried to get registered for a housing association in East Lothian but I went to see them and they didn’t accept me for some reason. I was told to try Edinburgh ones, which I did. The best one was Castle Rock and I registered with them and got one of the top number of points as I was in temporary accomodation. I was just told to keep bidding on their computer systems. I was worried there would only be properties in the Edinburgh area and I wasn’t going back there so I kept looking for ones in the east. I found the one in Dunbar after bidding for months with no luck. I was amazed when I was told I was being considered. During this time I went on a weekend to Belfast with a few friends. We had arranged it for a while and one of my friends from college said she would come along too. They didn’t know each other as the others were newer friends but I just went with it. While at the airport my friend I met while in Musselburgh started behaving really funny and shaking while eating her dinner. She was clearly thrown by another friend being there, but I had told her in advance she was coming so I didn’t really know what her problem was. I just knew it was going to be an interesting weekend. We stayed at a nice hotel, did a bus tour and went out for drinks but she started saying I owed her money for the trip. I had payed her some and she had insisted that was fine but clearly something had changed. I knew there was something wrong with her and even thought about getting the ferry home but I survived the weekend. Back home I was getting worried about her behaviour. It was her birthday coming up and I said I would go. I got her a present and said I would give her another 50 pound of what I owed her, which I did. I still owed her some but that kept her happy for a while.
I eventually got accepted for the flat in Dunbar. It was quite a bit out of the town and so I kept it quiet from most people until I knew what was going on. I had to go out and see it but there were some problems arranging this. It was a converted army barracks so I knew the flats would be small but I liked it and the area as it was a nice coastal town and I had a good feeling about it. I told my mum and my older friend that I stayed with in Edinburgh. They just asked if I was sure about moving all the way out there, but I was so in February 2014 I moved to Dunbar. I had to arrange a van, which cost me 60 pounds but I got moved in and was just happy to be in a permenant home again, for now.
Living with Neurodivergence 