Simply Fidgets

I’ve been having a lot of thoughts lately about being a 31 year old, level 1 autistic woman who is multi-systemically disabled (autism + mental health conditions + physical disabilities) & about my independence. I wanted to share some of those thoughts here with my online community.

Peace, love, & inclusion always ✌🏼💜🌈

So happy to have our new Autism acceptance items for sale at in Plano, TX!

I’m honored to say that 20% of each autism acceptance item sold will be donated to 😁

If you’d like an autism acceptance piece for yourself and aren’t local to Plano, send me a DM & I’ll be more than happy to create something special for you!

I’ve been in pain due to my autoimmune diseases (one of which is a degenerative autoimmune spinal arthritis) for the last week +.

I’ve been doing my best to manage the pain with low-grade (but still Rx) pain relievers b/c I don’t want to run through my more-effective ones quicker than necessary, since I get fewer of them.

These last 2 days though, I’ve been incredibly sensory-intolerant & extremely overwhelmed from visual & auditory sensory perspectives. The fluorescent lights (which I can normally tolerate for the extent of my work day) & loud, chaotic environment of working in a school have been debilitating.

Once I got home today, I decided to bite the bullet & take a muscle relaxer & a more-substantial pain medication, realizing that the unmanaged physical pain is wearing on me physically & mentally a lot at this point.

For now, I’m relaxing at home, reclined on the couch, feet up, in silence & with dim lighting, while I work on re-regulating my nervous & sensory systems.

Being an autistic person with physical disabilities & chronic pain is often very challenging.

Masking my autism through chronic pain flares, especially once the pain really starts to affect my sensory processing & tolerance levels, can be excruciating at times.

I’m hoping I’ll feel well enough later tonight to show y’all what I’ve been working on lately from a creative perspective! Lots of new items coming to Serendipity soon with a special autism celebration twist I’m working on finalizing.

Right now though, I’m regulating.

♾️🌈

Last night, I was reflecting on my journey as an autistic child to now being an autistic adult.

I remember struggling in school. As a child, I had severe Written Expression Disorder + severe Dysgraphia with poor fine motor skills, along with ADHD (inattentive type) and numerous mental health conditions, primarily profound generalized anxiety.

I struggled to make and keep friends. Small talk wasn’t my forte and I didn’t understand the concept of acquaintances very well.

I was isolated, lonely, and depressed.

I was then diagnosed with autism when I turned 18.

As an adult, I started my small business, Simply Fidgets, during a particularly difficult time in my life. As a result, I’ve found an amazing community of other autistic/AuDHD and neurodivergent folks online.

I’m slowly learning to unmask and am putting less pressure on myself to conform to societal norms that don’t feel authentic to who I am.

I’m learning from other autistics and am finding comfort and camaraderie in the stories that connect us.

In many ways, I’m still the hyper-anxious kid I grew up as. Though in other ways, I’m very much not.

I’m more self-aware now as an adult. I’m much more confident and outgoing. I’m kinder to myself and in-turn, I’m kinder and more empathetic towards others.

Autism has shaped the course of my life and my small business. I’m grateful for the growth I’ve had and the insight I’ve gleaned since my diagnosis.

The journey continues and I hope y’all will stick around to watch more unfold. 🌈 ♾️💛

Welcome to Simply Fidgets!
I’m Hollyn, owner/founder and creative mind behind the scenes. I created Simply Fidgets out of a desire to bring sensory-friendly yet stylish, sophisticated, and fun designs to young adults in the form of wristlets, fidget keychains, fidget pens, and more.
As an Autistic-ADHD (AuDHD) woman living with physical disabilities, mental health challenges, and a service-dog sidekick, it is important for me to use this business’ platform to be an advocate for others by also being vulnerable myself. Thank you for being here! 💖

In the midst of so much that happened yesterday, I typed this up in a moment of desperately seeking something to ground me. I hope it makes you smile.

“I’ve been so sappy & teary lately. 

My mom & I are making my work-kiddo a custom Mum for homecoming & I get emotional every time I see the next-awesome piece my mom has created for it. 

It’s also times like these that I am so grateful for the student I get to work with. 

It will never be lost on me how fortunate I am to work with my neuro-spicy girly!

So often, I feel like my job is too physically-demanding. I often feel like I do so much, every day, for far-too-little pay (which is 100% true, don’t get me wrong). 

At the same time, I frequently find myself feeling like I don’t do enough. I’ll feel as though my job is too-easy, all-things-considered, & like I’m getting the longest end of the very-short proverbial sticks. 

Some days, it’s like “Wow! I get paid (at all) to do this job, with the most-wonderful kiddo! How’d I get so lucky?”.

Yes, other days my body struggles immensely to keep up at all with the physicality that this job requires. 

Regardless of which kind of day it happens to be for me, the privilege it is to be paired with my work-kiddo, to be trusted so much by her & her family, as well as by my coworkers in regard to my knowledge of her, her needs, & what’s in her best interest at school, is never, ever lost on me. 

Working in education is hard!
Working with children (& teenagers specifically) is hard!

Public school systems are a disaster at the moment & there’s always some new-thing they put out, some seemingly-spontaneous decision that District makes, that makes everyone employed in the actual schools’ eyes roll back into oblivion.

And, all that being said, I feel so lucky. 

My kiddo, my sweet work-girly, she makes it all worthwhile.”

Featuring a beautiful photo of the mountains outside Denver during my family recent trip to Colorado.

Happy National Service Dog Month!

My multipurpose service dog, Hartley, helps me by performing trained tasks (behaviors) that allow me to live better every day with my wide variety of different disabilities.

From Autism & accompanying sensory overload, to POTS, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome & generalized anxiety disorder.

I’m grateful every day for the privilege of my incredible service dog!

Please leave any questions in the comments below! 💖

Every voice matters. From the loudest to the softest, to the signed, spelled, and AAC-communicated. We all deserve to be heard.

Little Reminder: You are worthy of compassion. Start today with having compassion for yourself. 💖

This or that: fall edition with Simply Fidgets!
Let me know in the comments your “this or that” from the post!

This or That:

•Spooky Vibes or Cozy Vibes?

•Pumpkin Spice or Hot Chocolate?

•Nature Scents (woodsy/etc) or Warm Scents (vanilla, pumpkin, etc)?

•Fall Breeze or Winter Snow?

💖