The United States of Autism Movie

On Monday I drove to and back from art class, which was cancelled, getting thirty more minutes of driving. Then I talked to Tyler and comforted him, telling him what I thought yesterday. I called Emily, though I didn’t hear back, then I tried to call my granddad to tell him about Tyler and Mary, but he wasn’t there. My grandmom answered and I told her about Tyler and Mary and what I thought was going on and she thought that could be the case. My mom asked me if I wanted go with her to see a movie at Town Center called The United States of Autism. I said sure and remembered that I had heard of that movie one time years ago from the Autism Women’s Network. Later I drove to my doctor’s appointment getting thirty-five more minutes of driving. After I got back, I realized my flowers would look nicer if the taller ones were closer together. 

Later my mom, Dave, Jamie, and I went to see The United States of Autism. There I saw an autism camp, which I donated a dollar to, and an old high school friend and fellow autistic named Ian Sneid. The camp told us about their mission and then the movie started. The filmmaker went across the country talking to families and individuals about trying to get the right resources they needed. Interviewees came from several different states in forty places across the country and included Sharon daVanport, co-founder of the Autism Women’s Network, Alex Plank, the founder of the Wrong Planet website, and Raun Kaufman, a man who claims that his parents' homegrown autism therapies cured him of his autism allowing him to go to a prestigious university. An Oklahoman father talked about his attempts to get a piece of autism legislation passed, which he claimed was very fiscally conservative, yet had been shot down by Oklahoman politicians regardless of their political party. He asked the question, “How can one be pro-life and not want to provide for autism. It’s as if they think they’ll only care for someone until they come out of the womb.” A mother talked about how unreliable the services providers are at ABA organizations and told one of their representatives on a high up floor, “If you don’t get me your director, I will throw myself out this window.” He later got the director to come speak to her. One mother said she hears stories of so-called “recoveries” and feels guilty wondering why she can’t do the same for her kid. Mom watched Alex Plank speak about neurodiversity and found him to be very impressive. After the movie ended, people from the camp spoke some more and my mom and Dave were begging Jamie and I to let us all leave and reluctantly, Jamie and I agreed.

After the movie we ate dinner at Blue Koi. Then I got home and talked to Granddad about Tyler and Mary, and he thought what I thought. He also thought that Emily might not be returning my calls due to something related to her ADHD. The next morning I dreamt Emily, another THRIVE student I didn’t know, and myself were all walking together in the town of Warrensburg. After I woke up, I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, took some pictures of some dying flowers, representing death, and some Russian dolls behind the glass in one of our cabinets. I drove to work adding another ten minutes of driving to my time adding ten more minutes of driving to my time. I realized that Raun Kaufman couldn’t possibly be autistic because I had seen the back of his book Son-Rise say that before he was cured, he was an empty shell, yet if he really were autistic, he’d know autistic people aren’t that way at all. I thought him saying the Son-Rise Program cured his autism is no more valid than Tom Cruise saying Scientology cured his dyslexia. I realized though while he gives “hope” for a cure, I give people hope that they can amount to great things with their present neurological differences. I also thought of an idea to show so: a talent night, much like the Culture Night last year at UCM.

After work I got the newest edition of Saveur magazine. Then the next day I went to work again and got a picture of my M&Ms during my break. On my way back I took some more pictures of flowers, trees, and weeds that looked like ikebana arrangements. When I got back, I found out my mom had cleaned out my closet. I unpacked a little bit in effort to help clean out my room for my Uncle Kurt Aunt Barb, and cousins Kyley and Hunter who were coming to visit. I put some sticks I found into an old tea can like an ikebana arrangement and I glued some origami hearts made from receipts together.

Later I went to Winstead’s with my granddad where I felt it was kind of scary the violence that goes on towards autistic people in this country when I realized that like a tool, I have a specific purpose, and until I find that purpose, I might just be staying on a shelf. I went to Barnes and Noble with him where I got a July/August 2013 issue of Poets and Writers and the September 2013 issue of Bicycling magazine. Then we went to the Pathless Land where I meditated with the others just sitting, breathing, and being. Then I realized that the mother who threatened to throw herself out the window like so many other parents would be right behind me in my cause to give autistics full access to society. I realized and told the group that while I could feel scared about the way people with autism are often treated in this country, I felt comforted by the love of Emily and realized I would rather have a long-distance relationship now than a short-distance one later. Ben said that trying to change our past would be like the movie Back to the Future, where it creates a ripple effect that changes our entire lives. I did the closing for the Pathless Land then my granddad and I went to Roasterie Coffee. I got back and I rearranged my room and realized that might be right in thinking I’d like to do Chinese painting because it’s often of the stuff I take pictures of.