First Week of the Autism Group

Note: this post mentions several individuals from the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. The names of these individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

On Monday morning I learned how to draw much more 3-dimensionally in my Drawing I class.  Then at 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. Then I worked on my lampshade. After that I 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.  Then I 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 happened to have Asperger syndrome, 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 disabled people.  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.  Then I went to Hasting’s, taking several pictures on the way and getting the current issue of American Archaeology. Then 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 always thank you.” I also read more of the reading for my World Masterpieces class while running on the treadmill for two-and-a-half hours. 

                On Monday I took part in a two-person drawing that was in two-point perspective. After that I took some more pictures. I also thought that maybe if people on the spectrum were given the services they need, they might not overeat and we wouldn’t pay for so many health problems. Later I nearly finished the study guide for my Algebra class and finished the on-line assignment. After that I took some more pictures. I also learned how to stitch a book together on-line and about making snack wrappers into bicycle streamers. I also talked to Tyler some more.

                The next day I got help with the last problem I needed to do in my Algebra class and found a problem I did wrong and corrected it. On my way to my Algebra class, I got a picture of a bronze heart sculpture in the library. I got one hundred percent on my Algebra quiz. Afterwards I read the rest of the reading for my North American Indian class at lunch, found out Sean had sent the surveys, e-mailed him thanking him, and then printed fifty off.

                After my North American Indian class I went upstairs in the Union where the group would be held, but Dr. Mayfield and I waited for at least half an hour and no one came. We talked and finally two young women, one thirty, and one eighteen walked up to where we had a room reserved. I asked them, “Are you here for the meeting here?”

                “Yeah,” said the younger one.

                I asked the younger one her name.

                “Joe.” She said.

                “Thank you,” I said then turning the older one said, “And you.”

                “Lavender.”

                “Thank you."

                I took their names down in a notebook and then I gave Joe and Lavender interest surveys and told them to hand them back to me when they were done. After I got them back we started the meeting with introductions. First, I introduced myself, telling them about how I started the group, the Dr. Mayfield, then the two girls, who I learned were sisters. I told them we only had a few simple rules: avoid any put-down like comments or sharing of one’s own or other’s private information, and how if one had something they needed to talk about with someone, they could see a peer mentor. Then we took four minutes to pair up two people and get to know three things about the other person. I paired up with Lavender and Dr. Mayfield paired up with Joe and we took four minutes. I learned how Lavender looked cats, grew up in Warrensburg, and went to school in North Carolina. I also heard Joe tell Dr. Mayfield she was interested in creative writing. After four minutes was over, we shared what we learned about the other person with the whole group. Then I asked them all what they thought would be a great idea for us to do the next week, mentioning a couple of ideas, including a Game Night.

                “Game Nights good,” said Lavender. “Because I have a lot of games. I have one game that we can play that can hold up to twelve players since we don’t know how many people we’ll have next week."  Joe nodded.

                “Game Night would be good.” Said Dr. Mayfield.

                “Alright, Game Night it is.” I said.

                On the whole I was really pleased with how the group had turned out that day. I sorted a little bit of recycling after that like I would have normally done after class and a guy saw me doing and asked me, “Are you recycling?”

                “Yeah.” I said.

                He said, “Thank you.”

                I took out my trash and recycling when I got back. I told my mom she was just thrilled and I also asked her if she could send me several corks to make some bottle cap magnets and she said yes. Afterwards I read most of the reading for my World Masterpieces class while running on the treadmill. Later I told my dad and grandparents who the meeting went. They were also thrilled. I saw sure enough that Joe’s survey said Creative Writing, while Lavender’s said Crafts/Projects and Art/Painting. I also talked to Tyler some more.

                The next day, after passing by a guy near the bridge handing out bibles, I worked on the assignment we had for the day in my Drawing I class. Then I read more of the reading for my World Masterpieces class. During that class I got a four out of five on the quiz. Afterwards I sorted some recycling during which I noticed several dead bees in coffee shop cups. A woman sitting nearby me thanked me for that while another guy said, “Good job.” In the trash I found several bibles and a guy passed by me saying, “Oh good, you’re recycling.” Then he asked me, “What are all those books?”

                “Oh these are bibles people have thrown away.”

                “I’ll take one.” He said.

                “Sure,” I said. “There’s two versions. Which one do you want?”

                I don’t care.” I gave him both of them. 

                Soon another thought occurred to me about how bureaucrats will withhold services from people with autism, saying they are too expensive. Yet I’ve heard it said that the most successful people with autism are the ones who advocate the most aggressively for their kids. I thought that if the courts kept going to battle with the parents, it would eventually cost more than providing them with the right services. On my way back I ran into Mrs. Carter from my first year in THRIVE and we stopped, said hi, and talked for a bit. Then I got back to the dorm and gave Connor one of the bibles and started on a Buddha sculpture made from tin foil. I returned my library books and sorted some recycling in the library, careful not to be too noisy. I saw an exhibit of shells down on the first floor which I got several pictures of, getting in the color, light, and texture. I felt encouraged to slow down not worrying about what things like what our government with its spending cuts do our schools and people with disabilities as bigots it has been said, are more likely to suffer heart problems raising the costs of health insurance, losing both good health and paying lower taxes. I also saw an ethnic musical instrument display which I admired fondly, thinking of my ethnic musical instrument collection. 

               I printed off more of the images for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group items at the Lovinger and the girl at the desk asked me what they were for and I explained how I was making magnets from bottle caps, cable holders from toilet paper rolls, and pencil cups from Pringles cans. 

                “That’s really cool.” She said.

                After that I sorted some more recycling at the Lovinger building. After I was leaving the Rec Center a guy walking back to me said with a slightly thick Caribbean accent, “Hey I see you a lot at the Rec Center.”

                “Oh yeah I go down there every night.”

                “Yeah I work there.”

                “That’s cool.” 

                “My name’s Francis.”

                “Ben,” I said shaking his hand. “Do you live around here?”

                “I live in an apartment a little bit away.” He said.

                “Cool, what’s your major?”

                “Mechanics,” he said.  “What about you?”

                “Mine is Cultural Studies.”

                “That’s cool,” he said. “Well I got to go. See ya.”

                “See ya.” I got back to the dorm and talked to Tyler.

                I saw my psychiatrist Dr. Mays, who worked part time in Warrensburg the next day telling him about transitioning from THRIVE to the regular UCM program, repurposing trash, writing in my meditation journal to teach my future kids about meditation, my friend Tyler, and the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group and how it went back to my time at JCCC. He said it was amazing someone as young as I could have such a broad perspective on helping other people. I did tell him I also tended to feel somewhat distracted from time to time and he thought it could be that I was taking on more challenges, so we agreed to experiment with a slightly higher dose of one of my medications. When I got back I went to the Student Success Center and got help with my study guide. Then I got back the last two study guides in my Algebra class both with five out of five points. 

                Later while I was at my Anthropology class I heard a blonde female professor from the earlier class, telling two female students about a condition related to Down syndrome called Trisomy 18 and how babies with it were highly unlikely to ever survive for long in life.  One of the girls said she heard  kids with Down syndrome would often grow up to be really great, and I told them about being in THRIVE and having a roommate with Down syndrome and learning so much from him, then showed them some pictures and they all looked really touched. After class I sorted more recycling and felt a greater sense of compassion as I sorted some recycling and bees got on my arm and hand but didn’t sting me, seeming very friendly. I remembered how a mother once asked the Dalai Lama at one of his talks how kids can be taught to be compassionate in a world filled with violence, and he said, “Teach kids to learn about insects.” I got back and talked to Tyler some more. I also got the idea to start a bee farm on the several acres of land my mom and Dave bought in Colorado. 

                Later I started the assignment for my North American Indian class and a janitor working at the Rec Center saw me sorting some recycling and gave me some gloves to do it. I got back and worked on my handbag. Then I talked to my Granddad who thought I’d be great at a bee farm. Then I worked more on my Buddha sculpture. I also talked to my mom and she liked the idea of a bee farm.

                The next day we didn’t have Drawing I. Never-the-less around the time I went to my World Masterpieces class I felt a little overwhelmed by a feeling of being rushed. After class I sorted some more recycling and a woman, middle-aged, asked what I was doing and I said I was just using some snack wrappers to make bicycle streamers. She said she thought I was looking for food and was going to give me some money, saying she could be doing that someday, but I thought if she kept her money, maybe she wouldn’t and no one would give her money and end up in her situation later. I realized that landfill could destroy bees by destroying their habitat, making me think of what the Chinese government was doing in Tibet and I poured Coke and other soft drinks out of bottles and cups as I realized the, drawing bees away from the trash. 

                I did take some more pictures and realized the colors and texture in my photos are very similar to ones I made in paintings. Then I bought some more glue, tape, and construction paper down at the Union. I got back and sorted my upcyclable materials some more and worked on my lampshade. I also made a promise to myself that I would do the reading for my World Masterpieces class and the papers for my North American Indian and Drawing I class. I also e-mailed Dr. Mayfield, Joe, and Lavender about the Game Night. I went to the Print Club meeting later but I was only there for about ten minutes as the faculty advisor, Mark Farris, was on a staff retreat. Then I went to Crazy Dog’s finding another Snapple cap on the ground from a bottle to be recycled and my drink there where I also read more of the website for my North American Indian class. Later that night I saw Monster’s University at the Union movie theater. On my way back to Ellis, I almost went down the stairs past the bridge, as though going to the ground floor of South Ellis where the THRIVE hall used to be, forgetting I now lived on the second floor.

                 At breakfast the next day I worked on my shopping bags and saw Philip who asked if we had been given a study guide for our upcoming class in World Masterpieces when he wasn’t there. I told him we had and offered to make a copy for him. I also showed him the shopping bag woven from Walmart bags I was working on and asked him to pull it and feel how strong it was. He did and said, “Boy, that’s strong!”

                We exchanged numbers and I took some pictures after that. I was working on a scrapbook cover made from snack wrappers when I heard a knock on my door and found Maria asking if I wanted to come to dinner with the hall. I said sure and I went down with her, Richard, and a few other students where I finished the scrapbook, leaving them all very impressed. I also showed Philip, who was working down there and was also impressed. I talked to Tyler later on and I found out at the Rec Center that there was a group called the Filmmaker’s and Actor’s Coalition meeting on Wednesday at 4:30 in the Union. I read more of The Aenead for my World Masterpieces class on the treadmill and when I got back I talked to Tyler some more. He said he was going to apply for a position with the Down Syndrome Gild working with the government and said Ann, the woman in charge of the program, said she knew me. 

                During breakfast the next day I read more of The Aenead then I took out my trash and recycling and also found some more pebbles. I got back to my dorm and typed up my paper for my North American Indian class. I worked on my shopping bags and learned about how you can use plastic bags to make a Buddhist mandala, an idea originating from an artist named Virginia Flecke living in L.A. inspired by “celebrity yoga and Hollywood Buddhism.” I talked to Tyler while making some bracelets made from strips of plastic bags. Unfortunately, I also realized Emily and I hadn’t talked in a long time and wondered if she was actually the girl for me.