On Monday I worked on redoing my Excel Capstone project. When I got back I studied for two ten minute study blocks with a break in between to use the bathroom and get a snack. I went to the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group again with Jack, Tyler, and Dr. Mayfield and she told me there were several girls registered with her office who might join making there more girls this time then when I started the JCCC group. Suddenly I decided to keep my mind open in dating. We came up with the idea to cook meals together using solar ovens which are environmentally friendly and I paired Tyler and Jack together and Dr. Mayfield and I and we took four minutes to each get to know three things about the other person.
I went to the graduation picture with President Ambrose and the other second year THRIVE students and during study hall I made a toilet paper roll diorama of Tashilhunpo monastery in Tibet and worked on three napkin rings made from toilet paper rolls. When I went to the Rec Center two people saw me after I put some bottles in the trash in the recycling said they thought it was very awesome how I always recycled those things. After I did it after I ran on the treadmill for about an hour, the girl swiping cards looked back at me smiling and one of the people who said it was great how I recycled those things said it made her day to see me do it and I realized I would be a lot more accepted if I was myself than if I tried to be who people want me to be. When I went up to get a snack on the first floor of Ellis I saw the TV lounge and realized what a great communal feeling it can give and how my group can have that. Later Tyler came back and gave me some chips he bought me from the vending machine and I gave him a dime and we considered him all paid back for that dollar twenty-five I lent him. I also realized potlucks can also lend to a good communal feeling.
The next day I studied for two more fifty minute study blocks and during my break I enjoyed a Mexican caramel sundae for Cinco de Mayo and after my studying. Later I went to the Union bookstore and got some more construction paper and I did my take-home exam for my Transition Planning II class. I went to Fun Before Finals while I was at the Rec Center and I enjoyed slides, rope tosses, and archery. I also promised Tyler that I’d listen to five songs from him playlist the next day. The next day I studied for another two fifty minute study breaks with a ten minute break in between where I used the bathroom and I took out the trash.
True to my promise to Tyler I listened to five songs from his playlist and he gave me some duct tape, printer paper, Hershey’s kisses, and a picture of him and his niece as going away presents. I took out our recycling and I found another pebble. I used the duct tape Tyler gave me to fix up and decorate my binder with the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum in Phoenician which I written without vowels which I learned from Daniel Tammott, a man with autism, in his autobiography I Was Born on a Blue Day five years ago and I went to Rocking Entertainment with Autrey later and I agreed to go to Hasting’s with him tomorrow. I also went to Crazy Dog’s.
The next day I found another pebble and I went to Hasting’s with Autrey and I got a Lego set of Gollum’s cave from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a book called Screenwriting for Dummies, and a Japanese Gilded Panel Kit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We went to the Dollar Tree afterwards and I got two soap trays for the soap on Tyler’s and my sink and shower which I could put plastic bottle caps on to make them last longer. I added the bottle caps to my soap dishes and built my Lego set. I also started working on my Japanese Gilded Panel Kit and I got invited to a THRIVE graduation party with Jack at his home. I also learned about taking notes on people’s reactions to my screenplays and I went to Tyler’s dance performance in which he did really well.
At the dance performance in one of the dances I saw a girl from my Essential Managing Information class, Regin and after the performance I told her I thought she did really well. After that Tyler, Mary, and I, along with another student from THRIVE Oscar with Tyler’s parents to Sonic where we bought ice cream. We also all agreed to hang out during the summer and Tyler’s mom said she could take me home with Tyler and when I talked to Mom she agreed for us to do that. A little anxious about my Geology exam I saw the Disney channel show Dog with a Blog where the father tells his kid that if you’re in the present, somehow you’re prepared for anything. The next day I watched Twin Lords with Jackie Chan with Tyler and I worked on my Excel Capstone project.
On the first day of the next week I resubmitted my Excel Capstone project and found out it was really just a day to redo any of our projects and I didn’t end up getting a better grade on any of the projects I did (in fact on one I did worse) but I passed with a C. The next day I found a button on the bottom of the Ellis stairwell and I turned it into the lost-and-found. I also was encouraged to slow down when I was eating and in life when I saw some apple pie and I wrote a haiku about it in my poetry journal. I also heard Kriti was thinking of starting a student group for the THRIVE program and she thought I should be its president. I was flattered but with my full course load and the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group next year I thought I might be a little busy but thought I would be able to contribute to it. I also made several flowers from soda cans and gave one of them to Tyler as a going away present. Later that night my dad said he thought I’d do fine on my exam and I took notes on people’s reactions to my screenplays.
As I ran on the treadmill I read on my phone about a singer/songwriter with Asperger syndrome named Maja Toudal from Denmark who was quite beautiful and I realized that people with autism don’t abstain from socializing because they are withdrawn but rather due to a lack of social skills or acceptance due to their disability. Tyler and I saw Cassie and Mckinsey at late night in the cafeteria and we sat down with them and I learned that after graduation she will be going back to St. Louis. The next day I told myself an affirmative phrase before going to my exam and I went there and thought I did pretty well. When I got back Kimmie asked me if I could go to a Q&A with the governor in the Collaboration Room and I said yes. Later that day, Tyler and I signed up to check out on Thurdsay and I gave Tyler a journal I ordered on-line which I thought was too small for my meditation journal to Tyler. He showed me what he wrote about Mary and I to the two of us and Mary gushed. I said, “Now that’s going on my blog.”
The next day the governor couldn’t be there so we all went back to our rooms and I made some more of the pebbles I found into mani stones. I gave a flower to Amanda and I added another shelve to my shelf for my toilet paper roll diorama. I also returned my Geology textbook. I went to Crazy Dog’s one last time and packed up a lot of my stuff. The next day I finished packing and Tyler’s mom brought the two of us home.
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