It reminds me of this analogy someone at work shared about feeling like a duck paddling on a lake. They look calm on the surface, but their little feet are going all out underwater. That’s how I feel when I’m socialising.

I tried to do some research about what to expect from the appointment, but I couldn't actually find much. Most of it was around questions to ask a psychologist, which while helpful, didn't really explain what to expect when I was there.

I still feel incredibly tired and I'm really dreading climbing that mountain, and I'm scared because I don't know how long it's going to take or if I'm going to get back to my previous 100%, but I wanted to at least make a bit of a plan.

I feel so tired that everything feels like a monumental task. Cooking a meal is out of the question - even pouring a bowl of cereal and the physical act of eating is exhausting, and besides, all my 'safe foods' taste wrong and off, so I'd rather not eat at all. Doing the dishes is the equivalent of running a marathon.

While there are parts of Dungeons & Dragons I struggle with (for example, improv still gives me a serious case of the sweaty palms and I can freeze up from time to time), I've definitely reached a point where I feel way more confident. It's also involved trial and error finding out what works for me as an autistic player as well.

So, in the interest of sharing the D&D love, I thought I'd put together a post outlining what's worked to improve my experience of slaying dragons on the spectrum.