I took the exam for my Essential Managing Information class and got a 63%. Afterwards I took a nap and after that I looked at my Lonely Planet book on West Africa and found several more places in Guinea to visit. I later worked on my travel plans to Guinea and Cameroon in study hall. The next day I went down to Hasting’s and got the next issue of Ancient American and later I filled out the work sheet for a movie in my Geology class. Afterwards I made two soap trays using plastic bottle caps and I called Mom and asked her to wire fifty dollars from my account at home to my account at school.
The next day I forwarded an e-mail from Dr. Mayfield about the meeting to the people on my list and I remembered how at JCCC we would pair up two people and we’d take about three or four minutes to get to know three things about the other person and then tell the group what we learned about them. I went to the meeting later that day and it turned out that Tyler, Dr. Mayfield, and I were the only ones there. However, Dr. Mayfield said she could get the 700# of the students on that list and we rescheduled a meeting for tomorrow at 2:30 in the Chic Filet area of the Union. I offered to walk Tyler and Mary down to Sonic for their one month anniversary dinner and I e-mailed all the students on the list about the meeting tomorrow. I worked on my travel plans to Benin that night at study hall using my book where I learned that to cross the border into Togo, seeing how arbitrary modern borders are, you just need to get your passport stamped at the police station in a border town in Benin. When I got back from the Rec Center, Tyler told me that Cassie would be working at Einstein’s on Sunday and I thought I’d get something there to say hi to her.
The next day I went to the meeting and Tyler, Dr. Mayfield and I were still the only ones there. However, I showed Dr. Mayfield my constitution and she thought it was great. Later that day I walked down to Sonic with Tyler and Mary. The next day I sent the list of names to Dr. Mayfield and I made an appointment with Krisana West, the academic advisor for 2:30 on Monday. I did my homework for my Transition Planning II class and later I went down to Walgreen’s and bought a $25 dollar Barnes and Noble gift card. The next day I refilled two of my prescriptions.
I went to Bi-Lo Mart and found a twenty and a one dollar bill on the way there and when I got there I got a copy of Life Magazine’s Paradise Found: 100 Places: Beautiful Beyond Belief, Time Magazine’s Thomas Edison: His Electrifying Life, and the latest copy of Archaeology magazine. Several of the works of architecture in Paradise Found made me realize that the places in there teach us what human beings are capable of, like what I’m capable of with my work for people with disabilities, environmental arts and crafts, film making, classes, and traveling, like what Pico Iyer calls ‘mindful travel.” Later I did my Power Point tutorial one and I realized it helps to know what it’s teaching me to do as I’m doing it so I’ll know what to do when I’m asked to do it later. I did the Power Point tutorial exam and I got an 86% on it. Later that night I went to Culture Night where I saw an East Asian pop music performance, a Nepali dance, Russian singing, Indian Bollywood dancing, a Japanese Mario skit, a traditional Saudi dance, a Japanese comedy performance, a Korean pop dance, a West African dance, a fashion show, and a flag show.
The next day I saw Cassie at Einstein’s and learned she was only preparing for the next day but she seemed happy to see me. We told each other about how we’re graduating this year though I’m coming back as a regular student next year and she said, “I’m happy for you.”
“I’m happy for you, too,” I said.
Later that day when Tyler got back I helped him make his bed and at night I relaxed and enjoyed a hot meal at Crazy Dog’s.
The next day I did my Power Point tutorial two and part of my Capstone project. I worked on making flowers from straws the next day and I found some great places to see in Guinea Bissau. I also did my homework for my Transition Planning II class. The next day I worked on my travel plans to Togo and my notes for my Geology class and I e-mailed the latter to the students in my class. I went to my Geology class and I remembered what a foot fault is by connecting “walking down the other fault” to “foot” and head fault by connecting the “head” to “hitting it’s head against the other fault.”
The next day I e-mailed the students on the list about the meeting that day and I went down to Hasting’s and bought the new issue of Shambhala Sun. I went to the group meeting and no one but Tyler and Dr. Mayfield showed up but Dr. Mayfield told me not to get discouraged because these groups often take a while to start. I found a new pebble for my collection the next day and I took out our recycling. I agreed to watch Operation Condor with Jackie Chan with Tyler the next day while we ordered from Pizza Hut and I remembered that discomformities in Geology were the result of volcanic activity since granite shows up in them and Tyler told me granite is a volcanic rock. I also made that pebble I found into a mani stone.
The next day I bought some more glue, white construction paper, mechanical pencils, and a lollipop as a reward for my environmental work at the Union bookstore and I did my homework for Transition Planning II class. During class we were asked to e-mail to him what happiness meant to us and how THRIVE helps us achieve it. After class I wrote, “Happiness to me is becoming wiser and more mature from our experiences and learning to build our future after we have seen it in our head.” Emily, Tyler, and I ordered from Pizza Hut (I got some hot wings) and I ate after I got back from the treadmill while Tyler and I watched Disney as we somehow thought new episodes of their shows would be on. The next day I worked on my travel plans to Sierra Leone, Guinea, Zambia, Malawi, and Namibia and I made two more flowers and arranged the three of them in Japanese Ikebana style with one tall, representing heaven, one medium height, representing earth, and one short, representing man. I also went to see The Hobbit movie with Jack and Tyler.
The next day I studied my Geology notes remembering that the Mesozoic Era is the middle era since Mezo, like “med” or “mid” means middle, that angular discomformities were discomformities at an odd angle, hence the name “angular,” and that biochemical has to do with life hence the term “bio.” I got familiar with the terms eons, eras, and periods and what minerals are found in what kinds of locales. I used straws for the stems of the flowers I made yesterday and covered them with green construction paper and I talked to Mom and she agreed for us to go grocery shopping after lunch before we went to my appointment with Krisana. I also made three DVD shelves from popcorn bags. I realized that the popcorn sign on them would look good in a home theater.
The next day I found out I was chosen to speak at the Pursuit of Happiness Day and I found two more pebbles for my collection. I went to Crazy Dog’s with my mom and we went grocery shopping and got Stewarts root beer, Snapple, Coke, bagels, pepperoni, and shredded mozzarella cheese for pizza bagels, and popsicles. I decided at my Person Centered Planning that Cultural Studies would be a good major for me and I went to my appointment with Krisana and picked out my classes for next year: Drawing I, The North American Indian, College Algebra, and World Masterpieces. My mom got a since of what direction at UCM would be like and found she didn’t need to come to any more meetings. She and I went down to the Union bookstore later and she bought me a course catalogue where I found several classes I thought looked interesting.
Later at my Transition Planning II class, Mr. B asked us to write down what we would do if time, money, and experience weren’t an issue and I realized I would make films, do my environmental arts and crafts, and travel to India, the Himalayas, Mongolia, Cambodia, Africa, Europe, and the U.S. When I got back, Tyler gave me a book called Paper Sculptures: 1995-2005 which they gave out in the Lovinger. The next day I ate lunch with several THRIVE students and people from the Missouri Department of Mental Health and we meet in the Collaboration Room in the Lovinger where I told them about my experience at THRIVE. Later I worked on a paper mache figurine inspired by the book Tyler gave me. The next day I went to Room 235 in the Union to speak at the Pursuit of Happiness Day where several people I knew were there, including Cassie and Keke and I said to my audience, “Happiness to me is becoming wiser and more mature from our experiences and learning to build our future after we have seen it in our heads. Coming to UCM, being in this town, going to classes, study hall, being with my roommates, and being on campus has helped me achieve that.”
Afterwards people clapped and later a woman named Rebecca Vandergliff came up to the stand and talked about her life as a fashion model before being in a car wreck without her seatbelt, losing her ability to model, having to relearn how to walk, speak, and so many other things, then becoming an MSW and meeting her husband and having several children. Later I took my Lab Practicum for Geology Lab and afterwards I made a rudimentary table from legs made from toilet paper rolls wrapped in white construction paper and a cardboard box held together by hair bands I found on the ground. Then I went to the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group meeting and Tyler, Dr. Mayfield, and Jack were all there. We paired up, Tyler and I and Jack and Dr. Mayfield, and we each took two minutes to learn three things about the other person. I asked Dr. Mayfield to e-mail me our plans she wrote down so I could send it to the other students and they could give their input on it and afterwards Jack told me he enjoyed it where we paired up and took two minutes to get to know three things about the other person.
That night I wrote a summary of the movie we watched in my Geology class. The next day I took out my trash and bought a bottle opener at the Union bookstore. I developed a study plan for my final Geology exam where I would study for five days in a row for two fifty minute blocks with a ten minute break for a snack and a bathroom break. I talked to Granddad and he thought it would be a good idea especially if I studied at a regular time each day. Later I found out the quiet rooms in the library have microphones.
The next day I worked on my presentation for my Essential Managing Information class and I found a new pebble for my collection on the Ellis courtyard. I called Hen House later and they said Phil, my boss, wasn’t in today and I should call back tomorrow and I turned the pebble I found that day and the ones I found a few days ago into mani stones. Later that night I found some glasses outside Ellis and turned them into the lost-and-found and I called Cam to congratulate him as he had recently got accepted into the University of Denver. The next day made four more glasses cases made from snack wrappers and I worked on my power point presentation and did the audio for it. I called Hen House and got to Phil and told him I would be able to work starting the 12th of May around thirty to thirty-five hours a week.
Later I made a glasses case from a Cheetos wrapper I found lying around and I finished the second tutorial exam getting a 71%. Then I finished the third tutorial and the exam and I got a 90% on it. The next day I made four more glasses cases from snack wrappers and I did some laundry. I also realized that Cassie of all people was probably upset by the marathon bombings. I did my capstone project for my Essential Managing Information class and I went to Crazy Dog’s. I called my mom and found out she accidentally sent something to me when she meant to send me my paychecks. I also gave one of the glasses cases I made to Tyler and I talked to my granddad and he agreed she would be particularly upset about the bombings.
The next day I did the in-class evaluations for my Essential Managing Information class and later I went down to the Union and got a ring stamped with the letters B-E-N with a bear paw next to it which I thought had a Native American feel to it and expressed my interest in wildlife. I went down to Hasting’s and found out the newest issue of Mindful magazine was out and they sold a magazine called American Archaeology then went down to Bi-Lo Mart and found out the new National Geographic Traveler was out. Later I realized that public school teachers might think people with autism might never go to college and as a result might not work as hard on educating them yet Ben’s Blog should help change it. I called my mom and found out she had sent me my paychecks that day and I found another pebble for my collection. I worked on my travel plans to Botswana in study hall and learned about these ruins left over from a lost civilization. Then I worked on my travel plans to the Gambia. I also realized my group should help dispel the myth that people with autism will never go to college.
The next day I agreed to make a ring for Tyler to give to Mary for their date they were going on and in my Geology class I got all the answers for the worksheet in class. I talked to my Granddad and he agreed he could give me the new issues of Mindful magazine when he’s finished with them. I went to a mandatory THRIVE meeting about stealing and I found a way to make a ring for Mary using tape with her name and a cross written in it covered with a strand from a pom-pom. The next day I took the power point exam for my Essential Managing Information class and got a 75% on it. Later I did the homework for my Transition Planning II class.
At 3 I went to the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group meeting. The only person there was Tyler. Dr. Mayfield could not be there for some reason and Tyler and I talked about ideas. Tyler came up with the idea that we should make a banner where each person puts something on there that represents them and that we should paint a window in the Union for Spirit Week. I came up with the idea that for Disability Awareness Month we should get an article about us published in the Muleskinner and we should have our group serve as a social network. Later that day I got my checks in the mail.
I realized that people with autism at UCM might not register with the OAS Office because of the stigma it could incur and my group could also change that. I made a pizza bagel for Tyler and Mary for their picnic before their date and I agreed to bring their point sheets to Daniel to sign that night because they wouldn’t be back until very late. I worked on my travel plans to the Gambia during study hall and my Transition Planning II homework. I also found several good classes for me to take in that course catalogue. After I came back from the Rec Center I got Tyler’s and Mary’s point sheets signed and when they got back Mary said she would watch The Hobbit with Tyler, Jack, and I.
The next day I copied my worksheet for my Geology class and learned I mixed up the time of my appointment with Krisana. I apologized profusely when I got there and she said it was alright and that she had a few minutes to meet with me. I sat down with her for those first few minutes and she recommended I e-mail her the list of courses I found. I deposited my checks and I bought some more poster board at the Union bookstore. I also got the last few answers on my Geology worksheet.
The next day I carved a pendant from a stick based on a picture I saw on my Lonely Planet Nepal book. I found another pebble as I was heading into town and when I got into town I got some more embroidery floss for making mala beads and friendship bracelets and some drinks for Tyler and I. Later that day I ate at Crazy Dog’s and I made another toilet paper roll diorama of Sera monastery in Tibet. The next day I saw several woodcarving magazines at Hasting’s each with a picture of the proper knife used to carve the things shown and I got a copy of American Archaeology. I went to Bi-Lo Mart and I bought the new National Geographic Traveler and some pepperoni, shredded mozzarella cheese, and bagels to make pizza bagels.
On my way back I realized my tool set already has all the different shapes of knifes you could need to carve anything so I don’t need to buy so many different knifes like my dad and Cam do. I got back and watched The Hobbit with Tyler, Jack, and Mary and made the three of them and myself a pizza bagel. Later that day I got Tyler’s playlist he made for me. The next day Tyler and I watched the third Mysteries of the Bible tapes and I finished my paper mache monkey for my Children’s Day shrine, a holiday in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, based off a picture of an Indian monkey, which made me keen on seeing the wildlife in Africa, India, and Nepal. Later I realized those glow necklaces and bracelets I got at the formal could be recycled into dream catchers and I remade my table with cardboard tube legs using a box with a top, cutting holes in the bottom where I put the legs through, and making inlets on the inside which I attached the legs to with lose hair bands and once I was finished you couldn’t see inlets or hairbands and it was much bigger than my first table and more sturdy and I put a lot of the stuff on my desk on it. I also lent Tyler a dollar twenty-five for a soda at the Rec Center as we were leaving due to thunderstorms and he paid me back fifty cents.
On the last Monday of the month, I finished most of my next project for my Essential Managing Information class in class and I studied for my Geology exam from 10-10:50 then took a ten minute break where I took a bathroom break and had a pizza bagel. Then I studied from 11-11:50 then had some Starbursts and took a nap to recharge. Later I worked on turning the Starbursts wrappers into a bracelet. I went to my last Person Centered Planning and at the end of the session Teresa gave me a stone with the word “Risk” on it and told me to risk traveling to where I wanted to go (I once expressed to her my worries about the dangers of traveling to places such as India) and to love someone who will love me the way I deserve to be loved. Later I went to Hasting’s and got a Scythian metalworking kit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art which inspired me to carve my own reliefs to make my own metalwork.
Later that day I got a Barnes and Noble gift card from Walgreens and I went to Crazy Dog’s. I also got some more drinks for Tyler and I. During study hall I made a relief using the tools from the kit. At first glance it did not look quite how I wanted it to but I learned to shut down my inner critic and appreciate it. I hung it up in my dorm when I got back from the Rec Center and learned I was right to shut down my inner critic as the picture of the metalwork on the cover of the kit had also lost some paint.
The next day I studied from 10-10:50 before taking a ten minute break where I took a bathroom break and had a pizza bagel then studied from 11-11:50 and after that I took a nap and had some Starbursts who’s wrappers I continued on my bracelet with. During my Geology class I learned a little about what culture is during our video about evolution and it made me enjoy the idea of doing Cultural Studies as a major. I also realized my meditation while I’m traveling might enrich my mindful travel experience. Later that night I went to Mazzio’s for the THRIVE Award ceremony and won Awesome Attendance in Person Centered Planning, the Outstanding Accountability and Participation in Class Award, and “The Master Craftsman” Award for the individualized award we all get. We each got to pick out a reward for each award we got and I traded one of mine for the Wood Shop Model Kit. I returned a lapel I found to the Ellis lost-and-found and Tyler said it was too bad he traded the Wood Shop Model Kit because he wanted to give it to his niece for a birthday present since she’s into architecture and I agreed to buy it for him since I never really got him a present for his twenty-seventh birthday and he could give it to her. I also realized meditation could also enrich my mindful travel experiences in Europe as well.
