Making New Friends

I was thinking the next morning before I went to bed that it is important for autistic and other cognitively unique people to be diagnosed in order to get the accommodations they need in college though I still wondered how we could do that without them having to stagger in a neurocentric world. Then I went to bed, got up the next morning, did my meditation, and mailed my thank you note to my grandmom. On my way to Hasting’s I took several pictures and I got there and bought the latest issues of Poets and Writers, Buddhadharma, Woodcarving Illustrated, and Native Peoples. I went to Bi-Lo Mart and got the current issue of National Geographic Traveler. On my way back to my dorm I took some pictures. Then I got back and did some laundry. After that I made three more Buddhist malas from straws. Ro asked Connor several times if he would come down to dinner with her but Connor said he was tired and wanted to take a nap, so she complained that she would have to eat by herself.

                “I’ll go with you,” I said.

                “Ok,” said Ro.

                I said, “Just give me ten minutes.”

                I went down and ate with her and we talked about our classes and I heard about her different music classes. Then I saw what looked like a cast on her arm.

                “I hope your arm heals up,” I told her.

                “Oh don’t worry about it.” She told me then about a condition she had in her arm. “It’s just part of being a musician.”

                After enjoying each other’s company at dinner, I went to my mailbox and found I had gotten my Lonely Planet Northeast India book and began learning about several different Buddhist pilgrimage sites there. I brought the book as I ran on the treadmill and learned that the various “scheduled tribes” of Northeast India were believed to have influenced Indian culture such as providing prototype gods for the Hindu gods Shiva and Kali, and it is believed that the early Buddhist sangha’s respect for all life, casteless system, and social equality was inspired by them. I also read some more of Sahara: A Natural History.

                The next morning I saw Autrey and Kriti at breakfast. When I got done I worked on two shopping bags, my handbag, and another bracelet made from snack wrappers. I also read more of the reading for my World Masterpieces class. During dinner I learned about making gummie worm factories from straws and thought of a better way to make my straw flowers and made nine of them after dinner. I also realized how many times autistic and other cognitively unique people will have to work so extra long and hard to keep up in school before going to college that they never discover their own talents as they never find time to do them, which can lead to crime and substance abuse. I remember before changing schools at age 12, I thought myself basically only good at video games and drawing. Now after graduating from the school I switched to and going to THRIVE, I considered myself good at writing, poetry, flute-playing, autism advocacy, screenwriting, blogging, painting, environmental crafts, photography, whittling, and not to mention bagging, to name a few, and from knowing my unique talents and gifts, I was able to get involved on campus going to the Anthropology Club, joining the Print Club, and starting the JCCC and UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. 

                Later that night while running I read all the pages for The Odyssey for the next day and even read past that. When I got back I talked to Tyler. Later I hung out with some guys on the hall, and after that talked to Tyler. I also felt Emily to be someone I could open up to.

 

                On Monday morning I learned how to draw much more 3-dimensionally in my Drawing I class. During my World Masterpieces class I got a five out of five on the quiz. Then I got back to my dorm and organized all the material I planned to repurpose. After that I worked on my lampshade. I also went down to the Lovinger computer lab and filled out an application form for a room in the Union for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group to meet and I finished my math review. 

 

 

                I got back to my dorm and made another flower from straws and made a vase to put all these flowers in from a Pringles can. After dinner I made three more pencil cups from Pringles cans and two more cable holders from toilet paper rolls. I also took some more photos. I texted Emily later though I didn’t hear back from her. That night at Late Night I worked on my handbag over a root beer float from dispensed root beer and ice cream from the soft-serving machine Tyler came up with, which we had together every night last year. I also called my mom and found out she had sent my money to my account at UCM. Then on my phone I saw a design from a Korean Buddhist temple and went back to my dorm and started making some toilet paper roll wall art like it. 

 

                The next day I read the reading for the last North American Indian class, which was on-line and nobody could access the link to. After class as I sorted some more recycling I found a stamp for my stamp collection showing Thomas Jefferson, America’s autistic president, as well as two new Snapple caps. On the way back I took some pictures. For dinner I had apple sauce for my fruit as it wouldn’t result in me throwing anything into the landfill. After dinner I made two more pencil cups from Pringles cans and worked on my lampshade. I thought Raun Kaufman, the poster-child for his parent’s home-grown autism recovery program probably only inspires neurotypicals and self-hating autistics, while I’ve inspired people with various mental and perceptual abilities. 

While I running I read most of the reading for The Odyssey then sorted a lot of recycling.  I got back and took several photos and worked on my handbag. I saw Kyley as she was leaving the hall and we said hi and I realized the people on my hall really do seem to value me. Meanwhile, while I had been taking a lot of pictures of my stuff to repurpose, I felt that is fine as Lao Tzu in The Tao Te Ching said, there is nothing better than uncut wood or raw silk, from which great things arise. I got back to my dorm and worked on my toilet paper roll wall art, which I got some pictures of. 

I took a few photos before I went to my Drawing I class the next day. There I prefect my drawing technique some more. Later I found out one of my prescriptions had been refilled. Then I started working on my coasters made from straws.

 

I had lunch with Autrey before my World Masterpieces class. On my way to that class I took some pictures and realized that color and texture can help us realize what we’re seeing and tell a lot about what’s in the photo. I took some more photos after class. Then I got a new issue of American Cinematographer from a stack in the Communications Building before getting one hundred percent on my Algebra practice quiz.   also talked to Tyler a little bit.

                I read on-line that many students in inclusive education develop better social skills, which I thought it may be due to interacting more with regular students. Then I signed two petitions afterwards, one to a website asking them to take down and apologize for material claiming there is a link between autism and pedophilia and another to Goodwill asking them to pay their disabled workers fair wages while their executives make six figure earnings. I got back and made another pencil cup from a Pringles can. Then I worked on a bracelet made from snack wrappers. I also thought of how spending every minute of one’s day home from school for non-neurotypical people can take away from one’s sleep, worsening their school performance, and creating a vicious cycle. While running, I made a bracelet from strips of plastic bag. I went to Late Night with Ro, Connor, and Mckenzie afterwards. Autrey joined us shortly after that and got to meet Connor. 

                The next day at my Algebra class I took the test and got 82.35%, my highest grade ever on an Algebra test since I had an Algebra teacher named Mark Hills, who was autistic, at JCCC, which was around an 81%, and that was in a pre-college Algebra class. I viewed the video lectures for the next lesson able to go back if I needed to and learned how the internet and technology can allow us to accommodate people with disabilities in a cost-efficient manner. I got back, took out my trash and recycling, and found some more pebbles for my collection. I also realized that my arts and crafts seem to have the elements of texture and color much like miksang photography and about how the Buddhist art of dressage, contemplative horseback riding, is about working with another being’s body and how that is sort of like the art of Tango. 

                I read more of the reading for my North American Indian class and read in their about how in our society, people taking on opposite gender roles were thought of as strange, unlike in Native American societies, and that lead to them having second-class status, much like with people with disabilities. During the class I was able to connect everything the instructor said fairly well. I also realized people view struggling as a way to identify autism, learning disabilities, and other cognitive differences, yet we never heard of Thomas Jefferson or Charles Darwin struggling it seems and we could identify them both as having autism, and autism and other cognitive disabilities could also be perhaps identified with strengths rather than just weaknesses, all the more reason the idea of autistic pride is so important. I also remembered the poster out in the hall with the Dalai Lama, and a quote saying, “The more you are motivated by compassion, the more fearless your actions will become.” I also realized I could put more images for magnets, cable holders, and pencil cups on one sheet of paper to start saving paper. 

                As I sorted some more recycling, I found another new Snapple caps. After dinner I found out my mom had gotten my medications. Then I worked on my lampshade and finished two bracelets made from snack wrappers. When I got back from the Rec Center I worked more on my handbag. 

                The next day I learned some new drawing techniques in my Drawing I class, and then I took some more photos. I went to my World Masterpieces class where I got an A on my first response paper and a three out of five on the quiz. After class I found out the first meeting for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group would be on Tuesday from 3:30-4:30 in Union Room 308 and I e-mailed it to Dr. Mayfield to forward to the students registered with autism in her office so that I got send a message to them and no one would see their names. I got back to my dorm and I started making a picture frame for the picture I got from the Campus Kick-Off from a paper plate. Afterwards I went to the Art Shoppe where I got some more embroidery floss and picked up some cans and bottles to recycle. Then I went to Crazy Dog’s where I got a new bottle cap for my collection and tried unsuccessfully to make coasters from snack wrappers but did get the idea to make Oriental stress balls from pulp dried up from paper straw wrappers and give one pair to Tyler to help him deal with his stress. I realized as much as people are imperfect, it makes us work harder to love and accept them and be better able to work with and relate to different kinds of people. When I got back to my dorm, I also realized I could make my paper plate picture frame stronger if I put a cardboard square inside. 

                The next day, while I was showering, I thought of how during Gandhi’s peaceful resistance to British rule, the violent crackdown on the protests at Amritsar Temple may have made the British more careful about using violence on protesters with the press probably seeing such violence being used against peaceful protester moreover at one of the holiest Sikh sites. I remembered learning in my History of India class at Johnson County Community College how the Gandhian strategy of boycotting British clothes and gathering their own salt had been so effective against the British Empire because the British needed the funds to colonize India. After breakfast I took some more pictures and read more of Sahara. Then went to the library where I sorted some recycling and e-mailed Sean Swindler from the JCCC Autism Spectrum Support Group asking him if he could send me the interest surveys we used at JCCC, which asked a person’s basic information, a checklists of interests, social strengths, areas they wanted to improve, how they learned best, whether they had an IEP in high school, their goals for the group, and anything else they wanted us to know, to help us get to know the students better and plan activities for them.  After that I went to Hasting’s, taking several pictures on the way and getting the current issue of American Archaeology. After I left I went to Bi-Lo Mart where I got shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and bagels. I got back and took several pictures on the way. 

                I worked on some Oriental stress balls made from straw wrappers, and then Richard from my hall invited me to eat dinner with him. I did, or rather had more of a pre-dinner snack as later I ate dinner at Sonic as a way of rewarding myself for working so hard on Ben’s Blog. I was glad I had a lot of hobbies to help me relax, which is a very Easter philosophical approach, often taught by Taoism. Later I got a new nickel for my collection while at the Rec Center before running on the treadmill for two-and-a-half hours, while reading up on travel with my Lonely Planet books on Kenya and Northeast India. I also found out that I had sent my e-mail for Sean to the wrong address, so I looked it up, retyped, and resent the e-mail on my phone.

                The next morning I read more of Sahara. Then I found out Dr. Mayfield had sent e-mails out to all the students and while I was napping I saw Sean had e-mailed me back saying he was getting back into town the next day and would love to e-mail me the papers in town and would love to have lunch with me sometimes if I was ever home to visit. I got out of bed and went to the library, as my Ethernet cord had broken, and e-mailed Sean back thanking him for sending me the papers and would love to get together and eat with him some weekend while at home. I also thanked him for helping me get these groups together, saying I thought they would soon help make things happen in a way we were only beginning to understand. I got back to my dorm and made a toilet paper roll diorama of Boudhnath Stupa in Nepal. Tyler texted me later saying, “You are my favorite brother.  I have you through thick and thin.” I also read more of the reading for my World Masterpieces class while running on the treadmill for two-and-a-half hours.