Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Good Company as the Year's Reborn



After Jack and I packed up, my mom came and picked us up and took us home. I worked from 5-9:30 on the Monday before Christmas and saw my Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura, and cousins Abby and Eric, who drove in from Fort Collins, Colorado on that Friday and we ordered pizza to celebrate Abby's birthday at my Grandparent's house. I also worked 2-6 on Christmas Eve.
I got several great things on Christmas day. At Mom's my stocking included a bell for my bike, a thing to hold tea bags when I'm making tea at school, a thing to wrap my headphones around, a magnet to clip to my shirt and wrap my headphones around when I'm running on the treadmill, a bookmark in the shape of a man running the lower half of him flat, and a journal Mom and Dave got in their recent trip to Spain. Mom and Dave got two books-The History of the World in 100 Objects and a self-published book my neighbor from across the street wrote called Nude Nuns and Other Peculiar People: Stories from the Heartland-a Lego architecture set called the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and a pouch for my bike. They also got me a map to hang in my room which shows the world without emphasizing the northern hemisphere. My aunt had gotten me a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.
My dad came around noon and took my brothers and I to our grandparents. My Uncle Todd and Aunt Laura had gotten me two books-This is a Book by comedian Demetri Martin which was full of his comedy and drawings and Poisonwood Bible, a novel about a missionary family who goes to the Congo and finds their faith seriously challenged by the suffering they see around them. Dad got me Buddha Volume 7 and Volume 8 of the Manga comic series (I already had 1-6), Best Buddhist Writings 2011, a moleskin journal, some huge prayer flags to hang in my room, and a poster with several Buddhas on it. My grandparents had gotten me a book called Unlikely Friendships: 47 Stories from the Animal Kingdom. After we were done opening presents, we watched a family video and then we went on a walk throughout the neighborhood to the park in my grandparent's town of Lee Summit. That night we had steak and I enjoyed my grandmom's Yorkshire pudding. 





Left to right: My Granddad, myself, my brother Jamie, and my brother Cam




Left: myself.  Right: my cousin Abby

On the Wednesday before I went back to UCM I went to the Pathless Land with my Granddad for the last time for the next few months. I enjoyed the discussion group and had a good time being with everyone there. The next day I went to my art class one last time for a long time and said my goodbyes to everyone there. 
The next day I saw my longtime friend Elizabeth Boresow, a fellow autistic and advocate. She came over and we worked on a puzzle from the Harry Potter series together. I told her about how my life has been going at school so far and about the blog, which she thought sounded really great. I also heard she was working for the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network at KU where she goes to school. On Saturday I ate with my Dad, his girlfriend, my grandmom and granddad, my brother Jamie, my brother Cam and his girlfriend Nora. 

Monday, November 28, 2011

There and Back Again, Again, and Again



At the beginning of the month Kriti brought me business card paper and I printed off a little over a dozen business cards. I gave one to Levi, one of the volunteers who was in study hall on Wednesday. Two days later I got back my paper for my Valuing Differences class and got seventy-five out of eighty points. I was thrilled. That day I went down to the Rec Center and did some rock climbing with some other THRIVE students. It was the highest I have ever climbed in my life. Afterwards several THRIVE students, some volunteers and myself got ready to go down to the Union to see comedian Geoff Keith perform. I gave one of the volunteers, a social work major who I just met that night, a business card for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. Then we walked down to the Union and saw Geoff Keith. I thought he was really funny as did everyone else I went to see him with.
This first weekend I started working on a paper due next Thursday for Valuing Differences class. It is about my response to watching a video of Fred Phelps's picketing funerals. It is supposed to be two to three pages long. I almost finished the second page.
On the second Thursday of this month I heard about an event taken place called the Asia Project where a poet who survived cancer told his story through poetry which he dreamed of doing while he was working in a dead-end job. It was being held in the Union at seven o' clock. When I got to my Valuing Differences class however, I found out my roommate Jack might need some help with his response paper so I offered to miss the Asia Project to help him with his paper. Then Mr. Ciafello, the Valuing Differences teacher, said the Queers and Allies of UCM who were originally going to speak to our class that day were instead going to speak this Thursday, so the due date on our paper was next Tuesday.
I got done more of my Plato Math after Dr. Downing reset some things some I could get back on that day. I read for Mrs. Carter's Freshman Seminar class the chapter of our textbook called Maintaining a Healthy Romantic Relationship. After reading it I decided that, even though I think I might love this one girl (and I actually might) I should explore other romantic possibilities before deciding to see her exclusively. I realized this may lead me to appreciate whoever I date even more. At seven o'clock, Jack and I went to see the Asia Project where the poet read poetry while his brother played a guitar in the background. He said something to me that to me was inspiring, that there is no worse critic of you than yourself.
The next day I was walking by the Union and I bought a bracelet supporting Cancer research. I went into town with Jack and I went to Walgreen's to get some soap and shampoo. When I went down to Walgreen's I saw that they sold Barnes and Noble gift cards which would allow me to shop online. I went down to Walgreen's to get a gift card and get some embroidery floss to make friendship bracelets, a favorite past time of mine, the next day and on my way I saw Cassie in her car. She called out her window and asked if I wanted a ride and said that she was also going to Walgreen's. I went down there and got my Barnes and Noble gift card, even though I couldn't find embroidery floss, and enjoyed talking to her to and on the way back from Walgreen's. I went online when I got back to the dorm and ordered three books on barnesandnoble.com. After I ordered the books I went back into town and found an art store where I bought several lengths of embroidery floss for only sixty-nine cents each and since I was a student, I got a discount.
That Saturday I went bowling with the THRIVE program as well as several other students who are served by the Office of Accessibilities. I also got the idea to sell the bracelets I made for the THRIVE committee fundraisers. The next day I saw a notice for a THRIVE Christmas party on November 16th. It was being held on that day so that Kriti could be there since she was going to see her family in India this December. I talked to Kimmie about the friendship bracelet making that night and she thought that was a wonderful idea.
The next day I finished my Valuing Differences paper and took it down to the Student Success Center where I got some help from a writing tutor in making it flow better. I also heard that an outing is being hosted for the THRIVE program where there will be archery, tomahawk throwing and a make-your-own meals cook out. I went to see Teresa the Person Centered Planning counselor and got my session rescheduled. However it turned out I ended up e-mailing her back saying I couldn't make it when she asked me whether the mandatory Old Drum bus tour I thought I had, would interfere with going there.
I went to this outdoor campsite with the THRIVE program that is owned by UCM. I cooked my own pizza (two buttered pieces of bread with pepperoni and cheese in the middle. I can't stand sauce) and I did archery and cooked smores. An hour after that I went to the THRIVE Christmas party. There I saw the THRIVE students, Ashley, Cassie and Lindsey and another volunteer who I had not met before. We played white elephant and I ended up getting a word search book. I also met the new volunteer whose name was Emily and I heard Cassie sing when she, I and Tyler and Zach from THRIVE sat down together at the party. She had a beautiful voice.
The next day I went to see Dr. Downing, the THRIVE director, and I got my classes figured out. Next semester I will be taking an American History course and a Creative writing class. Then the THRIVE students and I went down to the TV lounge and did a scrapbook of our activities.
The next day my mom picked up Jack and I and took us home. That Sunday I worked from 12:30 to 9 at my job sacking at Corinth Hen House grocery store. The next day I went to Michael's Arts and Crafts Store and got some bobbins for my friendship bracelet making. Then the next day I worked at my job from 12:30 to 9 again and after that I saw my friends Daniel, Stephen and Riccardo who I went to high school with. It was Stephen's birthday and she had just flown in from California. Then the next day I worked at my job from 10:00 to 7:30. I had a pretty good Thanksgiving on Thursday, and then on Tuesday I went back to school. I would come back home on Friday, December 2. 
When I got back I finished the paper work to take my credit courses next semester. I finished my final paper for Valuing Differences. I got back my last paper on which I got one-hundred percent and I got back my test for Freshman Seminar on which I got a ninety-five percent. I also went down to the Union where I ended up sitting at a booth where I made a Christmas card for our veterans.
On the last day before the holidays the THRIVE students and staff went to Mazzio's pizza where awards were presented to THRIVE students. I got an award for 100 activities completed in Plato Math, for completing Plato Math Units 1, 2, 3 and 4; for all fours in accountability and participation in class; four one-hundred percent attendance in Person Centered Planning; and the Bookworm/Journalist award. After Jack and I packed up, my mom came and picked us up and took us home.






top Comedian Geoff Keith performs
middle Poet Asia reads
bottom Rock-climbing

Friday, October 28, 2011

Continuing Resettlement as the Year Dies



Happy Halloween!
I have practiced playing my recorder during my spare time. I have played songs from a book of songs I got at the Renaissance festival when I was seventeen. I played Kum Ba Yah, Ode to Joy, and Greensleeves. Gabe, a second year THRIVE student, and Kimmie and Kriti, two THRIVE mentors poked their head in my dorm and said they loved the flute-playing.
I have been running on the treadmill almost every day from Monday to Friday for about an hour to an hour and a half. During my spare time I like to play my flute which some of the THRIVE students who heard it said it was really good. I have also been reading a novel I checked out at the UCM library called Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins. The plot can be a little hard to grasp at first. It is set in early nineteenth century Japan. A tanuki (a breed of Japanese dog) comes from a world known as the realm of the animal ancestors and he courts and has a child with a human woman which is forbidden. The child and the woman now have to escape the lords of the animal ancestor realm who are after Tanuki's (also the dog's name) wife and child. 
I went to my interview which was broadcasted via radio and did pretty well. They asked me what my name was, where I was from, why I chose THRIVE, what I hoped to bring to THRIVE, the best part about college, the hardest part, how I learned about THRIVE, who my favorite instructor was, and who inspires me. They also asked me how I heard about the THRIVE program. I told them my name was Ben Edwards and I am from Mission Hills, that I chose the THRIVE program because it would be a perfect segue from community college to a regular four-year program and that I could bring the qualities of leadership, kindness and responsibility to the THRIVE program. I told them that Suanne Carter was my favorite instructor because she really connects with her students and that the Buddha and Plato have been some of my greatest inspirations. I told them that I heard about the THRIVE program because my grandmother was instrumental in getting it going.  And that I hoped to go into writing and filmmaking. They asked me about my screenplays and I even told them the premise of my newest screenplay. At the end I said, "I choose THRIVE because I believe in a community of people with diverse abilities. Choose THRIVE!"  Karen Fahrmeier, the THRIVE coordinator was really pleased with me. 
I went to see the inauguration of UCM president Dr. Charles Ambrose because it was required for my Freshman Seminar class. I went with two other THRIVE students, Jack and Mallory and heard Ambrose speak. It sounded to me as if he really cared about working with UCM students.
During the end of the first week I got sick and was coughing regularly. My throat felt extremely sore as well. I drank some tea, hoping to make it feel better. By Friday I felt a lot better and after that I think whatever I had was gone completely.
We went to a mandatory meeting for THRIVE students and during that meeting we sat in a circle with all twenty-one THRIVE students, the mentors, Kimmie, Kriti, Nathan, Daniel and Keke, and the CA Ashleigh. We each told the person on the left a positive thing about them. Zach and Gabe, two THRIVE students with Down syndrome sat next to each other and Zach said to Gabe, "Gabe, I've known you since we were babies and you're like a brother to me." and they hugged. It was nice to see. 
Pierce who sat on my right said, "Ben I think you're really cool and I love how you play your instrument." That felt good. When it was my turn Daniel (who was also the mentor on duty that night) was sitting next to me and I said, "Daniel, I think you are an efficient and productive mentor." Kimmie, Daniel's girlfriend said, "Ah that's sweet." and after that I joked, "So now I expect to get full points on my point sheet." Everyone laughed. I also said to Kimmie that I wanted to make business cards for a UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. She talked to Kriti who said she would help me do it.
I started reading a new novel by the same author who wrote Villa Incognito. It was called Still Life with Wood Pecker. So far it seems really interesting. The theme of the novel is how to make love stay. I also checked out a book of his called Wild Ducks Flying Everywhere: the Short Writings of Tom Robbins.
Over the next weekend of October I found some classes I might want to take while I'm at UCM. So far I have found seventeen. I finished my Personal Math I after taking the final test and passing with 93%. I saw a poster in the Rec Center and saw a poster for the social justice film festival. I also started Valuing Differences this month.
 
When I was in the cafeteria I saw Cassie in the lunch line and we stopped and said hello. I asked her if she was going to the film festival which I thought she would interested in since she was taking criminal justice.  She said she was going on Thursday and asked me if I wanted to go with her. I said I would love to.
Over the next few days I worked on a paper for Valuing Differences, an autobiographical essay about how race, culture, class, gender, religion and sexuality have all impacted my life. On Thursday I met Cassie at Hendrix Hall where I met her friends, Raymond and Matt, and we saw the film Cultures of Resistance was showing. We saw the film which talked about several things such as the plight of the Amazonian Indians defending their land against logging, Ogoni people in Southern Nigeria, Liberia in the aftermath of a civil war, Rwanda after the one hundred day genocide, the Iranians during the Shah's rule and the Iran-Iraq War, street children in Brazil and the protests of Burmese Buddhist monks against their countries dictatorship. When I got back I called my granddad to catch up with him and he was really glad to hear from me. I also called my dad who was also glad to hear from me.
That Saturday I ordered a new recorder and a fingering instructions book on Amazon. I also went to see a movie called Fambul Tok with Jack, my roommate. The movie was about Sierra Leone, Africa in the aftermath of a civil war and how people were trying to bring together the victims and the perpetrators through reviving a tradition called fambul tok, creole for 'family talk,' where they sat around a fire in the evening and talked. I found the movie to be very interesting and important.
As the next weekend came to an end I printed off business cards, with my name, number, e-mail, address and the name of the blog, which Kriti helped me do. During study hall I saw Cassie and asked her if she would like to volunteer as a peer mentor at the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. She said she would love to and thought it sounded like a great idea so I gave her a business card. During that nights study hall I also gave a card to a volunteer named Levi and Keke, one of the THRIVE mentors. I called my dad to tell him about the business cards and he was happy to hear about it. I called my Granddad, too, and he was glad to hear about it as well as glad to hear from me.

When I went down to the Rec Center for Adaptive PE class around the middle of the month, I did something other than my usual running on the treadmill. I did some arm and leg exercises that involved lifting weights and I jogged around a few times. I started my Personal Math III by taking the pretest and based on my performance I was exempt from most of the lessons on there. I also put a poem on the outside of my door by Zen poet Ryokan titled You Don't Need Many Things along with a paper wheel saying either 'in,' 'out,' sleeping,' 'eating,' sleeping' 'sick,' and 'class' with a line in between them and an arrow to point to which ever or wherever I am or doing at the time. I have also finished my paper, an autobiographical essay on how race, religion, gender, sexuality and class have affected your life, for my Valuing Differences class. I also helped my roommate, who was having trouble coming up with ideas for what to write in his paper. 
I read a poem in Wild Ducks Flying Everywhere: the Short Writings of Tom Robbins that truly inspired me. It went: A brown spider dangling/ from a single strand/ Up down, up down./ A Zen yo-yo. I like this poem because it inspired in my understanding that everything we see is only limited by our imagination. I also decided I might try and look into the yoga classes offered by UCM.
I went into town to buy some business cards. They didn't have them at Walgreen's but they did have them at Walmart, which Kimmie and Daniel drove me to, which they were going to get pretzels. The next day I found out how to open the business cards onto my computer, which is a MacBook and does not take publisher documents, by saving the business cards as a pdf file on my flash drive and opening it on my computer.
I went to a football game with Jack. UCM against Pittsburg State. UCM lost but it was good that I got to go with Jack. I decided in the end to print the business cards of on non-perforated paper.

I went to the Halloween pumpkin carving for people in the Ellis Building. I carved mine to look like the eyes of Buddha, similar to the design on a pendant I got in Jamaica last winter break. I put it outside my window so passersby could see. Jack got the idea to put his pumpkin up outside our window and did that as well.
I went bowling on the last Wednesday of the month. Study hall was cancelled that night and I was on a team with Kimmie, Kriti, Cassie, and Mallory from the THRIVE program. During that time, Kriti said she could get me non-perforated business card paper from the Access Services where she works at. Kimmie and Kriti left leaving just me Cassie and Mallory. We walked back with Jack and a couple of other THRIVE students to Ellis.
The next day I took my test for Freshman Seminar in the testing center and was one hundred percent certain I got most, if not all, questions right. That Saturday I finished reading Still Life with Woodpecker. I really loved the theme which was that love stays as long as the mystery of the connection stays.  We cannot attempt to define love because in doing so we limit it. I returned the book and checked out another book by Tom Robbins called Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. Meanwhile I have been taking notes for one of the students in my Freshman Seminar class and my Independent and Daily Living Skills class.
I walked into town where I walked past a bookstore called Cornerstone Books. It was closed but I decided I would walk into it on Monday when it would be open. That night I went to the Halloween party with the THRIVE students, mentors, several of Keke's friends, Cassie and her friend Raymond.
The next day I read Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and went down to the Rec Center to run on the treadmill with Jack. The next day I thought about Tom Robbin's message about how to make love stay and came up with a chant for it as I was going to my Technology Literacy class. It went:

Love cannot be defined.
It is vast and limitless.
Everything you feel is an art of love.
Love's vastness makes it full of surprises.

Later that day I went down to Cornerstone books. I found a few interesting books, one by author Herman Hesse, author of the book Siddhartha, When Things Fall Apart by Canadian Buddhist nun Pema Chodren and a book by the Dalai Lama. There was also a book called The Four Arguments by a Mexican author Miguel Anguel Ruiz, a book on the spiritual beliefs on wisdom of the Toltec Indians for finding peace, love and happiness. Usually I am pretty skeptical of self-help books with such descriptions but I liked what the four arguments were: don't take anything personally, be impeccable to your word, don't assume anything, and always try your best. As I was walking back however, I wish I had asked if they had any Kurt Vonnegut novels. I also saw several trick-or-treaters. I must admit that I normally dislike a lot of things about Halloween. I often find it to be so tacky and commercialized. Never-the-less I am glad it gives me good opportunities to be with friends.
I went down to the Halloween Party in the Rec Center with Jack and played a game of throwing darts at balloons. I managed to hit a balloon on all three tries even though for some reason the balloons refused to pop. Never-the-less I won a prize, a small squishy basketball like a stress ball.