I’m Dylan. I am a man in his early 30’s, living in the Southwest of England, and I am an ICT technician by trade.
My interests involve my work with computers along with lots of things on the periphery. I am an avid gamer and I closely follow the news in the games industry, along with technology news in general. The computer industry changes very rapidly and I enjoy reading all about it.
Outside of computers, I enjoy taking photos and videos on my DSLR camera. I am almost always listening to music. I don’t limit myself to just a few genres but instead a whole list of different types of music depending on my mood and what I’m doing at the time. From industrial rock to hip-hop and classical. Right now, as I’m typing this up, I am listening to Portishead.
I like ice hockey and would love to play it if given the opportunity. I follow the NHL in North America, and my favourite team is the Montreal Canadiens. I love the fast pace of the sport, the constant action and incredible talent of the players. I’m envious of Canadians and the abundance of opportunity to play the sport they have, something which is quite limited in my area.
I live with two disabilities, Asperger’s Syndrome and Tourette’s Syndrome. I was diagnosed with Tourette’s in 2017 and have exhibited symptoms since 2015. I consider tics to be moderate to severe as I’m one of the unlucky, few ones to have coprolalia – the swearing type of tics, but I also have an incredible ability to suppress my tics when I feel like I want to.
Asperger’s Syndrome is a form of autism which is present prior to birth, although may not become noticeable until various key milestones in development. For me, I couldn’t speak until I was four, but when I did learn to talk, I picked up language quite quickly. I do struggle with language sometimes still but almost everyone I meet today are taken back by how subtle it presents.
Lots of people have the perception that ‘disability’ is a dirty word, but recognising someone is disabled is the acknowledgement of the difficulties the individual has in navigating various parts of the society we live in. I, like many others, do not wish to be cured of our differences, but we would absolutely love for society to become more inclusive, not only with the physical barriers or the type of language we use but also how people approach those with difference; the vast majority of disabled people are fine with chatting about it so long as the situation is right and common courtesy is given.
