Julie's Neverland is officially 2 years old! The blog has come so far going from First post-Eep! Lol :) - Julie's NeVerLanD (juliesneverland.com)
​ to nvld lesson #5 (Remembering how far you've come!) - Julie's NeVerLanD (juliesneverland.com). I created this online space because once I got to the place of feeling comfortable with NVLD, I wanted to share my experience to help others through their journey. There's not a lot of resources and I want to be a voice in the community that lets others know they're going to be okay. In the six years I've had this learning disorder, I've had many struggles. They range from being in social situations, being in the kitchen, taking care of myself, making decisions, adapting to change, graduating high school, making phone calls to ask about a job, talking to managers, filling out in-person applications, and many more. 
Despite all these struggles, I am learning to find ways around these situations. A lot of that comes from experience because I wouldn't know what to do until it happens.
Social situations have become easier the more I deal with them. Even though I deal with more adults than kids my own age on a day-to-day basis, having NeVerLanD Clubhouse | Facebook has helped me to learn about people who are different ages with similar situations. The biggest lesson I've learned is we all need to stick together and help each other out when we can.
Being in the kitchen is still a struggle for me, but recently I've made a few recipes. What a learning experience! Most of them turned out really good. One of them was more of a learning experience. I learned that it's important you do recipes that fit your skill level. For example, if you're just starting to learn, don't try making a fancy dish. I tried making buttered noodles and it was more difficult than I thought. I learned that even though the recipe says medium heat, butter requires low heat so that it doesn't melt too fast and burn. Another thing I learned was that if you're not a huge fan of garlic, you need to figure out the amount that works for you. Cooking is something I still need to work on so it's not a struggle when I'm on my own one day. I think this is something that comes from experience, and you can't learn overnight. 
Taking care of myself is still a struggle sometimes. I have overcome obstacles like being able to brush and put my hair up in a ponytail, tie my shoelaces, shave my legs (I only put this out there because of the visual spatial aspect that I've learned to work around. Not meant to make anyone uncomfortable) and making my bed. Another aspect of this which I've talked about before on the blog is self-care. I struggle with this because I don't make the time to fit it into my day. When I try to do something for myself outside my responsibilities, it makes me feel unproductive and like there's something else I should be doing. I know that I need to change my mindset and reach the point of self-care being necessary not selfish. 
Decision making is difficult for me and that has become more apparent since graduating high school. To be honest, I don't have advice on this one as I'm still learning. If you have any tips, I would love to hear them!
We need to stick together and help each other out when we can.
As well as decision making, adapting to change is another difficulty. It ramps up my anxiety more than anything else. I know there are times when change is for the best, but there are also times when change is not so good. For example, graduation is a good change because you're moving on to a new chapter of your life where the world is your oyster, and you can do anything you set your mind to. A bad change is when a family member or pet has passed away. Even though they're in the best place they can be, it's still hard on everyone who cares about them. This process in particular is different for everyone and it's hard to figure out what works for you. 
Graduating high school is meant to be a celebration. For me, this has been a stressful time because even though I have an idea of what I want to do, there are many factors that go into it making it hard to start anything right away. One part of that is finding a job. I will admit to the fact that I wanted to start an online store selling printables more than finding a job, so I didn't start looking for one until a few days ago. Even though having a job now would get me closer to having the resources I need to start the store, I was against it. I kept saying it was because I wouldn't have time to do anything else or have free time. Turns out if it's a part-time position, I would have time to work on the blog and social media, publish my book, and have free time. Once this officially clicked, I started to look at places and applied for jobs. I've learned to talk on the phone, talk to managers, and fill out in-person applications. This has been a learning process to say the least, but good for me.
These are just some of the struggles I've encountered and overcome. I know that others are going to pop up at different stages in my life. What I need to remember are the wins I've had and how far I've come.
I would love to hear what you've overcome and what you're still working on!
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