VIDEOS: Easter Ross strongman Tom "The Albatross" Stoltman opens up on autism and living with the condition by sharing his thoughts in two videos on Facebook
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Invergordon strongman Tom Stoltman has opened up by sharing his thoughts on autism, living with the condition and how it affects him by sharing two videos on his Facebook page.
The 26-year-old gentle giant, who is the world's second strongest man and known professionally as The Albatross, is a campaigner for people living with mental health issues and autism.
In the shorter video he is pictured talking directly at the camera and in the second he speaks with his wife Sinéad about living with someone with autism.
Mr Stoltman, trains with brother Luke – who is known as The Highland Oak and is also a hugely successful strongest man competitor – at their specially built fitness centre in Invergordon.
However, speaking frankly, he said that he had found the past couple of months particularly tough during the latest Covid-19 lockdown.
He said: "Obviously I've opened up and tried to get autism out there around the world but people don't see what's going on off camera. They see the lifting weights, the fun stuff we do on You Tube, but they don't see if you are depressed, sad or stressed etc.
"With my autism the last month or two I have been struggling big time. I think this is the worst it has been since maybe I started Strongman."
Mr Stoltman said he liked to make a plan for each day and he would go over it two or three times, to put himself at ease, but lately this had been getting worse.
He said: "If for example I have got a meeting with Luke or something to do with sponsors on a Thursday and I get told on a Monday usually what I will do is not say anything until the Wednesday and say stuff to Luke – but I am getting up now 6am or 7am and the first thing I am doing is 'Luke what are we going to do on the Thursday? Should we do this or do that?'
"Or if Luke messages me and I message him and don't get a message back straight away I will keep messaging him so that is getting really bad. I don't really know why? I think it is more because I am in the house and not really getting out and about and kind of shut down my emotions just now."
He said his wife had helped and added: "Sinead, she is an amazing person, she's lived with me for eight or nine years and knows how I function and obviously people who have autism and people who live with people who have autism do really struggle sometimes.
"I can frustrate her with the things I go over for example I will go over, over, over things – there's a bill to pay and we have to pay this Monday and this could be a Friday and Saturday, Sunday, every day I will keep saying it until it's done.
"It's just getting a bit worse just now you know? I am lucky I have the gym and lucky I am keeping my mind busy because I can see it in myself that people are getting frustrated with me."
Mr Stoltman said that he wanted to clarify that, although he might seem happy and could control his autism 90 per cent of the time, during the last lockdown, with everything being shut, the last two weeks or so had been hard for him.
He admitted that even during the video he was repeating himself which could be because he was nervous talking to the camera. He added: "But now I just want to put this out there and to anyone that has got autism to reach out and if there are any carers, parents or partners living with anyone who has autism reach out to me as well because I know so much about it because I have got it."
To view the shorter video:
To view the longer video:
