Preparing for My Driver's Test

The day after I had gotten my grades for the last semester while mowing the lawn, I realized that as a person with Asperger syndrome, it may have been harder for me to learn to drive due to my tendency to retreat to my "special interests" during stressful especially from having suffered bullying and discrimination. The next day I got a call from work asking if I could come in and work from 4-9, and I told them I would love to, so I drove to and back from work where I got another USDA cap for my collection. Two days later I went to the bird store in Corinth Square where Hen House is located, and helped her shop there, and also got a new bottle cap from the drinks we bought there. The next day I went to my art class and enjoyed doing my painting there. I drove to my art class and enjoyed doing my painting there as well as telling the women there about my recent love life story. I drove to Einstein’s afterwards and home and when I got home, I watched good videos on parking and parallel parking that. I later looked at my Time magazine bookazine on Thomas Edison and found out he proposed to his own wife in Morse code, which struck me as interesting, as if he like one of the other autistics I have read about on Autism Myth Busters, seemed to prefer non-verbal communication over verbal communication, even if with the woman he loved enough to be his own wife. I drove to Einstein’s afterwards and home and when I got home, I watched good videos on parking and parallel parking that. I later looked at my Time magazine bookazine on Thomas Edison and found out he proposed to his own wife in Morse code, which struck me as interesting, as if he like one of the other autistics I have read about on Autism Myth Busters, seemed to prefer non-verbal communication over verbal communication, even if with the woman he loved enough to be his own wife. I went down to Prairie Village where I read about one of the first music therapy institutes still in existence and functioning as a museum in Turkey at the height of its glory in the 16th century. As I got back from Starbuck’s I thought the gay rights, women’s rights, and Tibetan freedom posts I share also have their merit to the autistic struggle as it was the struggle of woman and ethnic and sexual minorities that has in fact inspired the disability rights movement. 

                The next day I called Hen House and learned I work on Sunday from 4-7 and Wednesday from 4-8. Later I did a wood burning of a silhouette of the Fellowship of the Ring with the quote “Not all who wander are lost.” I had dinner and chocolate cake dessert with Mom, Dave, and the Wendlands. The next morning, I realized Thomas Edison could have invented the light bulb because he had special interests as a person with Asperger syndrome and couldn’t sleep some nights and needed the light bulb to allow him to engage in his interests after sunset. I went with Dad to meet my grandparents at the King Tut exhibit. The next day I realized that special interests appear to be for people with Asperger syndrome what stimming is for people with “Kanner” syndrome, not that I believed these distinctions had any validity. Later I drove to Michael’s before work, during which time I got better at parking, and I got frames for my Tibetan paper tapestry and my THRIVE certificate. I drove to Hen House and got better at parking along the way. There I saw my old middle school classmate Marina Singleton, who is now working at Hen House. After work I got the schedule and found out the only other time I work this week is on Wednesday from 4-8. I got a new USDA cap from my drink afterwards, I realized that one thing that may have caused stress that complicated driving while I was at JCCC for the first few years was being surrounded by all these people after six years of only knowing a small,non-threatening environment like Horizon, and on my way home I realized I may do well in an autism-related field seeing how Dr. Roy Richard Grinker was ableto lead a groundbreaking study of autism in Korea with training inanthropology, while I am making my way towards a degree in Cultural Studies, that Einstein having Aspergers appears to corroborate with the fact that he played the violin, his life-long passion, before his speeches, considering how even for me public speaking is stressful, and I realized that some of the things that may have caused Einstein particular stress in his life are fleeing Nazi persecution, his divorce, giving up his first daughter for adoption, and the misuse of his invention the atomic bomb, and from the time I was sixteen until eighteen, the source of stress that could have complicated me driving may have been being a self-hating autistic. I got back and starting turning part of a discarded t-shirt into a coffee sleeve, while I talked to my dad, who mentioned my Horizon Academy story being on their Facebook page in a link sent by my grandmom from our family friend Mrs. North, and he was very complimentary about it, as was my granddad.  Seeing my determination to be a translator, I realized that I like Einstein and other reputedly autistic people have an undying resolve at pursuing my passion.

The next day I worked on my toilet paper roll wall art some more. Then I found one of my post cards that Mom sent me that I plan to frame as wall art and my ring that I had made at UCM. I also stitched together a coffee sleeve. Later I started on and got very far on a snack wrapper collage of Michelangelo. The next day I pulled some weeds for my mom before watching her do her bee-keeping, and then pulling weeds some more. Then we drove down to Rimann’s liquor near the Starbuck’s where we got some boxes for my recyclables. I realized I can get so caught up in doing these things that I forget about things like learning to drive. I got back and learned about several different types of Tibetan literature that have yet to be translated into English such as collections of songs by revered lamas and stories for conquering Tibet’s malevolent demons to allow the introduction of Buddhism. After going to Starbuck’s and eating dinner I posted an Autist Dharma post on the recent Santa Barbara shootings. The next day I got a lot of my recyclables sorted into boxes and on shelves, while working on my plastic bag mandalas. Then I did some highway driving, which my mom said was really good and where I really improved on my lane-changing, before I went to work. I got a new USDA cap on my break, and I got another bottle cap from the drinks Mom got at Hen House and she gave me a new lanyard that extends and makes it less awkward to unlock my door at school. Then I talked to my dad before going to Rimann’s and getting a new bottle cap from my drinks. I got back and found a page on Pinterest that has given me good ideas for simple woodworking projects, and it gave me the idea to make my own self for a lot of my books, some candles, perhaps for a candlelight dinner with a girl, which I think would be really romantic, and some signs. Later I read about how “being patient” with “the 10th request in five minutes from Tibetans to see your Lonely Planet book” “because it may be their only chance to see the Dalai Lama or other parts of the country” “can open locked doors (literally) to the monastery,” and I realized that may be my chance to access some of these Tibetan texts that I might love to translate into English. The next day I drove to my art class, during which time my mom said she let her guard down with me driving and got there and finished my painting. I drove back taking Mom to the Wendland’s to return something Mrs. Wendland left at our house. Then with my mom’s encouragement I unpacked all my stuff from the garage and then started building my new bookshelf for my Lonely Planet books. After that I talked to Tyler for an hour and then went to Starbuck’s. The next day I watched a show on beavers that Mom recorded and learned how they can help fertilize landscapes, and make their homes and live their lives, and it was pretty cute how this one beaver family “only objected to one visitor in their hotel-like homes: the filmmakers with their cameras.” Later I got two new bottle caps from my drinks at Better Cheddar and one from around the glass recycling before I helped a guy who saw me and asked me to steer his car with a dead battery into a certain position before technicians could come to revive it, and he seemed pretty grateful, and I knew he would remember it like my granddad said people remember about my help. I got back and mowed the backyard which my mom started on and the backyard. Then I went to the Prairie Village art fair, where I saw Jack and Dan from work, before I enjoyed my Lonely Planet book at Starbuck’s. I got back and finished my bookshelf, which looked great.  Then I called work and found out I work on Sunday from 3-8, Wednesday from 3-8, and Thursday from 4-8. 

On the first day of June while I was driving to Hen House, my mom heard they only go around the area of the DMV and the instructor was really nice from someone who recently got the driver’s license, and Mom said she wouldn’t have me do this and go out and drive on my own if she didn’t think I was ready. She also confessed that when I first started learning that she doubted I would ever learn to drive. I perfected my parking before I got back and got a new bottle cap from the sodas we got at Hen House. Later I drove down to get our pizza order from a restaurant, where I saw Beer Garden next to where we parked. The next day my mom said we should go take my test the next day. Then we drove to work where I got a new USDA bottle cap again. I also drew a Thomas Jefferson portraiture. The next day however, my mom ended up deciding it would be better to get my driver’s test the next day, so that day I drove my mom to Shawnee Mission East high school’s glass recycling, then to Target, and then to Brookside. Later I spent the whole night fighting nerves. My dad told me he thought I could pass, and my granddad told me it didn’t make a difference whether I passed or not. Then Mom, Dave, and I spent the night watching The Italian Job. 

 

The next day I had my usual café expresso at Starbuck’s before driving down with my mom to the DVM. The wait turned out to be much shorter than I expected, and finally a short blonde woman, the examiner, approached me, beckoning me to take the test. She appeared very friendly, and we had some casual conversation as I drove, and, to my amazement, I drove at the right speed, obeyed all the traffic signals, turned well, and didn’t even need to change lanes. Afterwards I parked in a lot perfectly and the examiner said, “Alright, you passed.”

“R…really?” I asked, pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I went in and a license was printed off on a sheet of carbon paper until such time as I got my permanent license. I drove home with my mom one more time and made my old permit into a mirror hanging with my name, picture, Kansas state capitol building, and the name of my state and put my Buddha dashboard figuring in the front before I drove on my own to work. My brother Cam got home that night and congratulated me.  I also called Tyler and told him the news. 

 

 

The Beginning of Summer

On the first day back, I spent some time pulling weeds in our garden and patio. As I emptied out my trash can, which I had used to carry a lot of my stuff home, I found a new bottle cap for my collection, which Sinho must have thrown away in there, as well as one from a coffee soda at Better Cheddar (which tasted awful), and from my Deschutes beer I bought at Crazy Dog’s, which didn’t care so much for the taste of either. I also found out Maria had accepted my friend request, as of course I thought she would. I went down to Better Cheddar and got a new bottle cap from my drink I got there. I also got an e-mail from Horizon’s public relations coordinator asking for a ten-twelve sentence article telling what I had done since leaving Horizon, what I missed most about or benefited most from the school, and what I looked forward to doing this summer and to see if I could get it to them by May 13. I told her I would be happy to and typed up the article. Unfortunately, a virus on my computer prevented me from sending it that day. I also talked to Tyler again.

On Sunday I went with Mom and Dave to Café Provence for Mother’s Day. After that we drove up to Hen House where several of my fellow employees were happy to see me and one of the managers said she would let Rick, the assistant manager know I stopped by and that I was now able to work, and I would be on the schedule by the twenty-fifth. On Monday I went on Amazon and ordered myself The Divine Madman as my reward for doing that one day’s reading for my Early American Literature class, as well as a Lonely Planet Turkey book to help myself plan a trip to Catalhoyuk, which I had learned about in my World Archaeology class, and perhaps to bear witness to the Armenian genocide. The next day I unfortunately had to retype my piece for Horizon, but I did it, making it pretty much the same as I had before, and I e-mailed it to Mrs. Campbell from Horizon. I also drove to and back from Hen House with my mom and there I filled out a W2 form so I could get back on the schedule. I also got a new bottle cap from the drinks we got there. Later I went with my granddad to Winstead’s before going to Barnes and Noble as we always do afterwards, where I got a new edition to Lonely Planet’s West Africa, and then went to the Pathless Land for the first time in a while. On Thursday I went to my art class with Donna for the first time this summer, driving there and back. I also went to BE Tech to look at a new laptop. The next day my mom and I went down there again and got my new computer. I did also go down to Better Cheddar and get two more bottle caps from my drinks and my Lonely Planet Turkey book in the mail, and the day after the next day I got The Divine Madman. The over the next two days I also got two new bottle caps both days from my drinks at Better Cheddar and on the latter of the two days I checked my grades and found out I had gotten B’s in my Film Appreciation, Modern Sub-Saharan Africa, and Early American Literature class, and an A in my World Archaeology class. 

*Stay tuned for soon on this post I will provide a link to my school alumni article on my other blog autistdharma.blogspot.com

Preparing for More Finals

On the first day after the rush of Autism Acceptance Month, I spent a lot of time tweaking my research paper and managed to get it to at least two full pages. After my Early American Literature class and my World Archaeology class, I finished my Film Appreciation paper at least six hours before it was due at midnight, so I could go to the Fun Before Finals Night, which Hillary, Philip, and Mardy had invited me to. I went there where we met Ryan and I agreed to come visit him the next day for the last day of his internship at the Salvation Army in Warrensburg. After that Hillary, Mardy, Ryan, and I went to the Oxygen Bar, and I got a t-shirt. I got back to Ellis and went to Late Night with Mardy, who told me, “I didn’t know you were coming back this year. If I did, I would have asked you to be my roommate for this year.”

              The next day I went down the Salvation Army in Pine Street, finding a new bottle cap for my collection on the street along the way, where I did indeed see Ryan and I brought along several shirts, which I had found in trash cans in the laundry room and gave them to the Salvation Army, which Ryan really appreciated. He also invited me to see a movie out on the lawn of the Quad called Monuments Men, and I agreed to go. I also bought a Geography textbook called Regions Near and Far, which had some good sheet music and only cost me fifty cents. Then I went down to Those Were the Days and bought some vintage postcards, which I would frame a bunch of together to make wall art. I got eight new postcards, four of them of rock formations to frame together, two of waterfalls to frame with similar postcards, and one of a site in India and one of the Jefferson Memorial to frame with two other postcards. On my way back I also picked up some trash.

                When I got back, I worked on another coaster made from Styrofoam. Later I went to Chic Filet with Mardy, David, and Alex before we went to see The Lego Movie. While we waited for the movie to start, the three of them were all really impressed by the wallet I showed them that I made from Kool Aid packs. After enjoying the movie, I went back to my dorm, got a blanket, and went out to the lawn of the Quad, where I saw Monuments Men, and was joined up by Ryan, Mardy, David, and Alex. It was really peaceful and I forgotten the vigil that had taken place here only two months earlier. 

                 The next morning, I tried to study but felt too tired to do so, though I still understood the material better. Later I worked on a coaster made from the receipts from Sinho’s Spring Break vacation. Then I worked on a poem for theonering.net. After that I made some more heart-shaped pins from straws. I took a walk around campus later and got some pictures of the scenery. Later I went down to Break Time, and got a Snapple drink along with a new cap. Then I made some more heart-shaped pins and flowers from straws and turned some more plastic bags into yarn. While I watched TV in the Ellis TV Lounge, I saw Maria walk by and come in. 

                “What are you doing here?” she asked, not unkindly.

                “Just relaxing.”

                “Are you bored?”

                “No.”

                “Ok, well just coming to say hi.”

                The next morning as I took a shower, I forgot about any problems I was having as I looked forward to going to New Hampshire and seeing my family there this summer. Later I studied for my World Archaeology exam for two fifty minute study breaks with a ten minute break in between to use the bathroom and get a drink. I ate dinner with Alex, David, Oscar, Ryan, and Mardy afterwards while I made twenty more heart-shaped pins from straws. I then went down to Walgreen’s and bought some glue, a National Geographic issue, and some Altoids. On my way back I picked up several recyclables. After running I made several more flowers and pins from straws. Then I did some laundry before working on some toilet paper roll wall art in the Ellis TV Lounge. 

                The next day I scheduled my tests in the Testing Center and while I had my letters sent out to all my instructors next year. I went to Those Were the Days and bought nine new post cards to turn into wall art. I got back and I took my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa test and submitted it before 3:00 when it was due. After that I studied for my World Archaeology final and realized that I can use this time to see how well I’m learning the material. I also realized whatever happens in my love life will mean more to me if I keep my mind open. After that I finished another piece of wall art made from toilet paper rolls. Afterwards I went on Facebook to my high school’s Facebook page and gave them a good review with five out of five stars. I got back and made some more flowers and heart-shaped pins from straws and talked to Dad, who agreed about keeping my mind open. I went to Late Night where I made some more plarn. After that I made another heart-shaped pin from a straw. I worked on another toilet paper roll wall piece after that. I also wrote in my meditation journal for the last time I would do it in for at least a while.

                The next day I looked on Horizon’s Facebook page and saw they wrote back saying, “Thank you so much for sharing this with us Ben! The things you have learned over the years are inspirational and these are some wonderful words of wisdom to share with others as well. We are so proud of you!” While at the library to study when I got the urge for a snack, so I went to the vending machine to get one and while I did, I found a penny on the ground, which I put in my shoe. Then a voice inside my head said, “Go to the OAS Office and see if your World Archaeology test is in fact scheduled for Thursday at 2 like you asked it to be.” I rushed down, but when I got there I saw an unfamiliar face at the desk, though she told me my test wasn’t yet scheduled for Thursday at 2 because I needed to fill out a form and deliver it to me instructor. I did that, but then came back to the Union, got a coffee drink, and sat down feeling a little disappointed. I remembered how my granddad said true love comes when you least expect it. Well, I least expected it now.

                I tried studying for my test, feeling very distracted, and quizzing myself here and there on the information in my textbook. Then I saw Maria walk by.

                “Hi,” she said.

                “Hi,”

                She turned to exit the Union, then stopped and walked back to me.

                “Ben, I’ve heard some people complain that you neighbors have been making noise," she said. "Have you heard any of that?”

                “No, not that I remember.”

                “Ok, because they’re not supposed to be making noise right now.”

                Afterwards I signed the check-out sheet for 5:50 on Thursday. Then I finished two more toilet paper roll wall art pieces, and gave one to Sinho, Jay, and Kim Ryan as goodbye presents, and Sinho agreed to send my his address via e-mail, so I could send three others to his house, which he could send Kim, Jacob, and Wonyang. Later when I went down to Late Night with bags to make into plarn, in the line to get a hot dog, I saw Maria again, and sat down with her and a friend of hers. Maria asked me about what I was doing with my plastic bags and I told her about how I was making yarn from them, and she sounded rather impressed by it. Later she got up to leave.

                “Bye,” she said to her friend, then wave at me.

                “Chow,” she said.

                The next day, I went on Blackboard and found out I got a 90% on my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa test. I also saw Horizon had written on their Facebook page asking if I could write about my experience at the school and how I’ve done since then for their Alumni Spotlight of their monthly newsletter, and I said I would love to. Then I studied for my World Archaeology class for two fifty-minute study blocks with a ten-minute break in between to use the bathroom and get a drink. I did also decide to go to Crazy Dog’s before I left and did get a new bottle cap with my drink and bought another drink that had a new one for later. Then at seven I worked on the final project for my Early American Literature class-taking two of our weekly writings and expanding them to at least two pages, which, if everyone made them well-written and the required length, got an A+. After that I did a lot of tweaking on my research paper.

                The next day after a coffee from Einstein’s, I went down to the Testing Center, where I saw Dr. Yelton had put my book report with my test, and it got forty-seven points out of fifty. Then I took my test, answering every question to the best of my knowledge and going over and taking care of things I had missed, and then turned it in. I ate at Crazy Dog’s while I waited for my mom and indeed got a new bottle cap from my drink. I got back to my dorm and Maria was there and told me she wouldn’t be able to check me out at 5:50, so I asked if she could do that at 5:30. She said yes, her round face lighting up with delight. Unfortunately, my mom had not gotten there yet so she could not check me out then as I had not emptied the room of all my stuff, but she agreed to do it at 7. My mom got here, and with the help of Sinho, Kim, and Kim Ryan, I got all my stuff loaded into the car. Maria wasn’t there by 7, so I went down to ask for her at the front desk. The girl there looked at the list of CAs to find Maria’s number, and while she did, I was able to get her last name. Maria got to my room and checked me out, before I rode home with my mom. 

                After unpacking, went upstairs and found The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey flute solo book had come, and Mom had a new bottle cap for me from hers and Dave’s recent trip to Italy. Afterwards I talked to my dad, granddad, and Erin, and then I practiced one of the solos from my book for half an hour and improved my flute-playing dramatically. Then I went down to the new Starbuck’s in Prairie Village, and while I was there, I found Maria on Facebook on my phone and sent her a friend request. 

*Stay tuned for later I shall provide a link to my review of Horizon Academy on my other blog autistdharma.blogspot.com on this post.

Autism Acceptance Month Week 4

The next day I started getting back to reading The Goddess and the Bull. On Wednesday I went to a Sex Education Egg Hunt in the football field near Ellis where I met Mardy and we found several eggs, which had condoms, and also these strange, much larger female condoms. On Thursday I went with Hillary, Phillip, and Mardy to an Egg Hunt near the Union, where Hillary told me how some friends from Alpha Sigma Alpha explained to her how the female condoms we found at the egg hunt were used.

             “How do they know this?” I asked.

             “Because they participate in a lot of these functions."

             “What!"

Later I went on Blackboard, and I found out that I had gotten fifty out of fifty points on my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa class. On Friday I got the pictures and texts all together for my Autism Acceptance Month poster and Barbara sent me an e-mail about a mentoring group for THRIVE students on the spectrum, where I could share my ideas and help attract a core group of THRIVE students to my group. I e-mailed her saying I thought that was good idea, and she e-mailed me back saying she would bring it up at the next THRIVE meeting. After all that I made a wallet from Kool-Aid packs, which I got several favorable comments on over the next few days. I spent two hours outdoors while reading The Goddess and the Bull, and also took my Bilbo wood burning with me, as they say in Zen that any finished art piece can be an object of meditation, and to me it was a meditation on taking a risk and stepping out of your front door. On Saturday I started typing up my papers for my World Archaeology class and Film Appreciation class. I also took several miksang photos while managing to slow down in my life. On Sunday I realized my poster board I had gotten from the Union wasn’t big enough to hold the stuff I was going to put on the poster board, so I walked down to Walgreen’s in the rain and found a different one, and ended up getting splashed by a puddle moved a van driving by me. When I got back I still didn’t know any way to print off the pictures, and after much frustration, I found one at the computer center in the library at 11:40 at night, which printed color documents for twenty-five cents, though I had already paid for documents I printed off in black-and-white without having first realized I had to set the printer to color. I got back and finished my poster board and Sinho asked to get a picture so he could show it to his girlfriend in South Korea. 

 

                On Monday morning I went to the Union at eight and set up the poster. I spent much of the rest of the day finishing The Goddess and the Bull outside with a drink from Einstein’s, which brought up much memories for me, and by the end of the day I hadn’t gotten to my weekly posts for Autism Acceptance Month. The next day however, after getting a picture of a poster near my World Archaeology class of a famous celebrity shaking hands with Saddam Hussein, and getting myself a coffee drink as a reward for my efforts, I got done three posts for The Autist Dharma: Me Casa Su Casa (If I Can Manage): A Forum on Independent Living, Someone Stole Your Identity?  How Bad Do You Want it Back on Charles Darwin’s (another autistic’s) contribution to forensic science, and a post called Towards RealAutism Awareness, describing the social/cultural model of autism as opposed to the medical model. The next day I found out someone had the third post on Google. The next day I found a mint in the Ellis stairwell that encouraged me to keep going through my day and finally managed to finish my book report for The Goddess and the Bull. I also took more time to slow down and got some more miksang photos. I accidentally missed the mandatory meeting for my hall, but Maria saw me and told me it was ok and told me all I needed to do to check out.

 

 

Autism Acceptance Month Week 3

On Tuesday after my World Archaeology class had gotten out, I went to the computer lab in the Union, and suddenly I thought, I ought to ask Laci to get coffee and hear about her presentation. At the thought I became increasingly nervous, but then I found a lump, right in the right pocket of my jacket: it was the stone Teresa had given me, and suddenly I remembered my promise to her, “Love someone who will love you the way you deserve to be loved.” I typed up the e-mail with great trepidation, and then, petrified, I clicked “Send.” A rush of excitement moved throughout my body. I e-mailed my paper for my World Archaeology class to Dr. Yelton by 5, as he had asked. I looked at my e-mail list, and saw no response, but then suddenly I realized I had earned something. I went on Amazon and ordered The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey flute solo book. 

On Wednesday I came to the Humphrey’s building to take my general education test, and it went so long that I ended up arriving four minutes late for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group Bingo Night, as opposed to my usual fifteen minutes before the meeting time. On my way I saw Hillary.

“Hey, Ben,” she said. “How are you?”

“Good, just tired of so many immature people.”

“Tell me about it,” she said, sympathetically. “Well, I’ll see you later.”

Again, only Tom had shown up for, and then I rushed to the Office of Student Activities to bet a Bingo roller and sheets. Soon the balls ended up coming out of the cage.

“Damn it!” I said and began picking up the balls. Tom helped me.

“Thanks, Tom,” I said, very grateful.

“Sure.”

He ended up winning one game, I won the next, and he won the last one before we ran out of time and cleaned up.

On Thursday finished my shelf for my toilet paper roll diorama made from beer cans. I called my mom and asked her if she could bring me home on Saturday morning rather than Thursday as I planned to go to an event that hosted all these different African foods hosted by the African Student Association at the UCM café Rock the Burg on Friday at 5. On Friday I took all my glass down to the Johnson County Sheltered Workshop, where I found six new bottle caps for my collection around the glass recycling. I saw a beautiful creek and got a picture of Whitman Air Force Base on the way. However, that day I went to Rock the Burg at 5:50 and saw the tickets were $5, which I had in my bank account at UCM, but when I rushed to the bank, I only had $16 in my account, so I rushed to the Ellis ATM, but as I got there, I found out I had left my student ID at the Union, and I went back and could not find it. It would probably turn up by Monday, but until then, I couldn’t withdraw money, couldn’t go to the Rec Center, and I couldn’t eat at the dining hall, or go to any restaurants, so I missed dinner that night, but I used that night to work on my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa case study paper. I went home the next morning with my mom and got brunch at Arby’s from the drive-through.  Then on the way home we bought some new shoes and a tuxedo for the Down Syndrome Dance at a thrift store. I got my hair cut before I went to the dance and met Tyler and Jack there. Later that day I worked on my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa paper.

 

 

 

The next morning my mom gave me a basket full of Easter candy, which helped calm my nerves about all my assignments and deadlines. I met my dad, who had a six-pack of beer with funky Laughing Buddha –shaped bottles called Buddha Beer for my Easter, which he had gotten from Beer Garden in Kansas City and from I’d be able to get a new bottle cap. We met my grandparents at an Italian buffet before they took me back to school. Before I left for UCM, my dad gave me $40 for dinner and breakfast for the next two days until I found my card. Soon after I got back, I ate at Hero’s, finding a new bottle cap along the way, while reading a lot of that week’s reading for my Film Appreciation class. After picking up much trash and recycling, I got back and posted my posts and responses for my Film Appreciation class. I also worked on my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa paper. 

The next day I reserved an easel in the Union for my Autism Acceptance Month poster. I went to the Student Success Center at two to try and get someone to look at my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa paper, only to find the Writing Center had moved to the Humphrey’s building. I went there and after it was finished being looked at, and I still forgot to take care of a few errors, I sent it just in time. Afterwards I went to the library and found an article on Roger Smith in the New England Quarterly to do my article summary for my Early American Literature class, which I was only able to stretch to a page long, plus the bibliography, and also had a few technical errors. I still had not gotten my all my Autism Acceptance Month posts done by that day, although after twelve, I finished and posted one post called Eight Facts Your Average Autism Awareness Hawk Doesn’t Know. 

The next day I read all but ten pages for my Early American Literature class before going to that class, dressed in my Styrofoam cowboy hat (which interestingly enough, a classmate pointed out the fact that it had holes in) and my shirt tucked in for my role-playing presentation for my World Archaeology class. I went there, getting up from my seat one desk away from a female classmate (who I tried to get the attention of to get her to move some things off the edge of her desk), and when my turn came, I threw off my shoes, put my feet up on the desk, and gave my presentation as archaeologist Colin Renfaire in a southern accent. After class I went down to the Union and outside, I saw a few girls from Alpha Omicron Pi sorority had a Pie-a-Pi event set up. I went over to them and said, “What’s this for?”

“It’s for Sexual Assault Prevention Month,” said one of the girls.

“Well, that sounds good. Is it still going?” 

“No, we stopped at three.”

“Darn, I’ve been wanting to pie you guys for so long.”

I reached into my wallet and found only a one-dollar bill and the twenty my dad had given me and handed her the twenty.

“Are you sure you want to give this?” asked the girl.

“Yes,” I said.

“Well for that you can pie me. Here.”

She put a bunch of whipped cream on a plate, and got behind the plywood, and I pied her, making sure to rub it in her face. Afterwards I got a picture of her, and a guy near me got a picture of us together. Then I got to work and finished my third weekly post called Something to Think About When You Appreciate Living Without Cold War Hysteria on how Sir Isaac Newton’s (who also was said to have autism) discovery of gravity may have helped the U.S. beat the Russians to the moon, and my other weekly post called Free at Last! Now What?  A Forum on College Life with Autism. I saw my mom had wrote on Facebook that she found my post I wrote the last night interesting and well-written and a friend of hers, who had a son my age who I knew with Asperger syndrome, also found it interesting. I got back and worked on my snack wrapper collage of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was also said to have autism.

 

Autism Acceptance Month Week 2

On Tuesday I went to the Office of Academic Advising and found out they didn’t have me scheduled for that day, so I ended up talking to the girl at the desk and got it rescheduled for 9:30 next Thursday. I also needed to do some laundry while still reading the reading for my Early American Literature class. I did my reading outside on the bench outside Ellis, going in after a half hour to put my laundry in the drawer, then again in another hour to get my laundry hamper upstairs and rush down to the laundry room downstairs, and bring the laundry up another two stairs, and still had twenty pages left of reading for my Early American Literature class. I rushed to that class and got there four minutes late after my instructor had closed the door, but luckily, he opened it when I knocked. 

I found out I gotten ten out of ten points on my last discussion post for my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa class. Afterwards I enjoyed the outdoor weather. During that time, I found a fortune slip that said, “Never underestimate the power of human touch.” I also read a lot of the reading for my World Archaeology class. That evening, I went outside, gathered a lot of sand in from the north stairs of and sidewalk corners around Ellis, put them in on one my Altoids containers, dropped a pebble in it, and racked the sand around to form lines making a Zen garden, which looked so beautiful and tranquil. I got back and got about halfway through Chinatown and decided to try and write an analysis paper on how it uses form and lighting to capture something such as disillusionment of the American dream or other and thought I might really enjoy the world of film scholarship to some extent. I decided to save finishing the rest of the movie for tomorrow when Maria knocked on my door and invited me and the other residents of my hall to an ice cream social, which only Antwon and I went to, but it gave him, Maria, and I a chance to hang out together, which was indeed rather fun. I felt pretty tired after I got up, so I took a three-hour nap, before eating dinner with Mary. I realized my tiredness stemmed from not taking my medicine this morning, which I quickly did. Afterwards I got my stuff from my mom in the mail. After talking to my granddad, I took another nap. I found out my posts and links got even more likes. Then I read the first few pages for my Early American Literature class and took another miksang photo. I took another nap, expecting to fall asleep. Instead, I went to Late Night and had some nachos before reading several more pages of The Goddess and the Bull and learning a lot more in the process and taking notes on it. 

During breakfast Josh asked me if I would like to be in a video for THRIVE, and I told him I would be happy to. I ate with him, Kriti, and Connor, and Kriti told me about the Show Me Justice Film Festival which today was the last day of and how a series of short films was showing from 1:30-3:30 today and then two short films called Wheelchair Diaries and Reframing Islam were showing tonight at seven, and I agreed to try and come. I got an e-mail from the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network asking me to submit a statement on the Judge Rotenberg Center by Monday and I typed it up, though I felt frustrated when my computer didn’t let my fill in all the information. I also saw a link from Laci on Facebook about her presentation and commented saying, “Sounds interesting. I’ll have to hear more about it sometime.” I saw the short films that evening, which included a film on how apparently, two parents had been able to help their son recover from his autism with cannabis, yet by the end of the film, I was pretty unconvinced. I did go to the filmmaker’s Q&A, and soon the discussion turned to the connection between social justice and film, and I realized I didn’t want all my socially relevant films to be non-commercial, as most of the filmmaker’s films were, because I could show people that a socially responsible film could in fact make money. I also realized that rather than having to deal explicitly with social justice in my films, I could always follow Chogyam Trungpa’s view of working with film where one tries to incorporate the principles of building an enlightened society as he talked about through the arts, perhaps in a similar way to how Homer tried to  instill good morals in the Greeks through The Odyssey and The Illiad, especially seeing as saving this world, as the discussion turned to how films can get people to go out and vote, is not about converting the world to one party or opinion (e.g. democrat, republican) over another, just as the autistic struggle isn’t, and nor was the Civil Rights movement in Dr. King’s mind. At the end I introduced myself to my Film Appreciation teacher, who I told of my idea for my critical analysis paper, and he liked the idea. I went to The Wheelchair Diaries and Reframing Islam, writing down a haiku that came to me while I waited for the movie to start.  Reframing Islam dealt with Muslims in America who smiled, as opposed to our stereotypical view of angry Muslims. I liked the film, though I was left with some technical questions, and during the Q&A I asked the filmmakers, one of whom was a Muslim from the Middle East, how as I know many Buddhists and Christians who don’t smile regularly, that while I thought the film was good, I thought other film projects could also help change perceptions of Muslims and wondered what projects they were involved in to help due that. To that, the filmmaker answered that his film was rather more intended to use the images of smiling to show what Muslims had in common with the rest of the world. I got back and read a good article from Babble about autism and cannabis, which related so much of what I was thinking, about how it cannot cure autism, and how the effects it treats may be consequences, rather than symptoms of autism, and much more, and shared it on Facebook.

Afterwards I went down to Walgreen’s and got some toothpaste and shampoo. I picked up and sorted several recyclables on my way back. I got back and I saw Laci had liked my comment about her post about her presentation. I worked on my coasters made from paper plates and Styrofoam and then made several more heart-shaped pins from straws. I talked to my mom who said she shared a link to my blog on Facebook with several of her Facebook friends, including the wife of a famous football player whose son has autism and runs a charitable foundation called the Autism Foundation, and they had great comments, and the wife of the football player planned to show it to her husband. Later I started watching Clerks for my Film Appreciation class, pausing only to eat dinner, where I sat with Connor from THRIVE. Afterwards I watched the rest of Chinatown, and when I finished at 10:50, I rushed down to the library and finished my statement on the Judge Rotenburg Center for the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, my paper on Clerks, and my paper proposal all before midnight. 

The next day I heard about how theonering.net has a poetry series and This Day in Middle Earth series that its members can post on and how Tolkien said he did intend to give Middle Earth creative license to other forms of entertainment. I also read an article that was a photo essay on Tolkien’s influences. After meditating, showering, and eating breakfast I read a lot of the reading for my Early American Literature class, while learning to read one page at a time without rushing, just like I should when I eat. Then I made several more beads from straws after deciding to give myself a little break from my work. After that I found out where I go about my holds on my account from the Testing Center and went there and learned I need to take a general education test now that I’ve taken forty-five different hours. Then I typed up my role-playing paper, getting more in the mind of an archaeologist, as Yelton put it, or so I thought. Then I went to the Union computer lab and wrote my weekly April Autist Dharma post called People to Appreciate After Your Normal College Drinking, about what the world may have been like if Thomas Jefferson had not founded the University of Virginia, then a forum called All You Need is Love (And Interventions) (again, not my best title).  Then I wrote another post called Square Pegs Don’t Roll Off the Table: A Photo Essay on the World Due to Autism.  After that I had to run to the dining hall and got there to minutes before it closed. Then I saw The Autist Dharma had gotten over one hundred views, ninety-nine in the U.S., three in Russia, and one each from Canada, Germany, France, and Spain, and wrote a Facebook post on it about “lighting it up green” for autism, and several other posts. I also talked to Tyler when I got back. 

Autism Acceptance Month Week 1

On the second day I ate lunch with Mary, who told me how she was going to events with her friends from Alpha Omicron Pi for Greek Week. She told me too that she had been invited to the organization like Emily had, though she couldn’t on account of the fact that THRIVE did not permit their students to join these organizations. At the news that Mary was invited, I felt I had really been wrong to think someone who didn’t share my condition would never understand my struggle as I do. As for my book report for my World Archaeology class, I decided to keep my notes on The Goddess and the Bull in my Sayings of the Buddha Journal and read twenty-five pages of each day to help me finish it and I read thirty-seven pages of it. I put up a post on Facebook in honor of Autism Acceptance Month and Greek Week talking about how I had been invited to join Tau Kappa Epsilon, but chose not to as it would interfere with my responsibilities as the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group leader, but, “I told my dad, “’That’s ok, because I live to serve the autistic community of UCM.  They are my brothers, and sisters.’  Our letters: whatever letters are necessary to raise our voice.” I saw Dr. Downing commented on that post saying, “Proud of you, Ben!” After drinking a beer at Crazy Dog’s to help relax me for my World Archaeology exam tomorrow, I learned of the Johnson County Sheltered Workshop, which takes glass and other recyclables. I got lost on my way back in the dark and ended up missing my exercise and Late Night. The next day I took my World Archaeology exam in the Testing Center. The day after that I saw a post on my Facebook wall saying that it has been shown that spending two hours outdoors can greatly cut down on the hormones that cause stress. I decided I would try and do that each day.

                True to my commitment that I had made two try and spend two hours outdoors each day, I sat outside by the Rec Center, reading twenty-five more pages of The Goddess and the Bull, and writing an Autist Dharma post. In it I talked about how April is Autism Acceptance Month, in contrast to Autism Awareness Month, which uses the medical, rather than social model for autism, and each week I planned to post a forum on topics related to autism such as work, love, school, and independent living, as well as posts on what the world may be like if certain autistic individuals had not existed or been the way they were. I also scheduled an appointment with the OAS Office for the next Monday at nine, and I went to the Office of Academic Advising and scheduled an appointment for next Tuesday at 9:30. 

                During brunch the next day I ate with Jai and Kim, who told me Sinho had drank a lot at the TKE party last night, and I learned they all had to live at the fraternity house from Sunday to Wednesday. After they left, I read twenty-five more pages of The Goddess and the Bull near the table at the Rec Center. I also found out that I had a Film Appreciation test this week, and rushed to the library to take it, hoping I wasn’t too late, and thankfully, it turned out it was due at midnight the next night. I took it and got thirty-four out of forty questions right. Then I checked out ten books from the library on Somalia (one on Djibouti for its connections to the conflict in Somalia) deciding to do my Modern Sub-Saharan Africa case study paper on the Somalian conflict, and found that for my thesis which we have to do on what this demonstrates for African politics as a whole, I thought I would talk about the negative ripple effects of the Cold War on Africa. I texted my mom asking her to send my one of my books at home Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea by Robert D. Kaplan to help my write it, along with my bullet-ridden Styrofoam cowboy boy hat for my World Archaeology class. Afterwards I walked down to Hasting’s and bought the new issue of Mindful and Do it Yourself, the latter of which I learned to do needlepoint in. I also decided just to collect those two magazines from now on. As I walked back to UCM, I ate at Crazy Dog’s where I had an Angry Orchid and some hot wings, which I enjoyed particularly tonight as I decided to eat them more mindfully, including waiting until they had cooled down, and they tasted delicious. I got back and I gathered some more bottle caps for my wall fish. Then I sorted some recycling in Ellis.  Then I went down to a gas station, thinking of getting some chocolates, but remembering Mindful’s words on choosing snacks carefully choose some liquorish, and bought some Smirnoffs.  On my way back I also managed to pick up some recyclables again. When I got back, I decided to quit keeping a regular meditation journal as it just was hard with all the demands in my life and instead try to put that and my daily life in one journal. I also started reading A Modern History of the Somali in the second-floor lounge. 

                As Monday, the deadline for those weekly Autist Dharma posts for April came, I went to my appointment with Dr. Mayfield, and we talked about how I planned to make an Autism Acceptance Month poster. She also said she noticed I seemed troubled over the last few days, and I said I was simply in grief over Hook and Reeder, who had helped the THRIVE program, whom I had met, and knew several of my friends. She told me that was quite normal to be stricken by the deaths of young people, especially as a young person. I did also tell her how I was sort of troubled because ever since my breakup with Emily I was wondering whether I would meet a girl I find mature enough to date and had struggled with some prospects over that issue. Eventually, after finding she had good advice on that issue, we got back to the issue of the poster, and she suggested it would be a good idea to have a quote from a famous person with autism related to living in the world with autism. We also came up with the idea to send an e-mail out to the new-coming THRIVE and UCM students to give them some time to think about joining the group. I got back to the Union and wrote my first Autist Dharma post for the day, a question forum called What are You Working for (not my best title) on employment. I wrote my second post called Loss of Football Closure and Other Discomforts of an Alternative World talking about what the world might be like for us if Albert Einstein’s discoveries with electrons had not helped perfect television. Then I wrote and posted a third post called Coming Out of the Autism Closet: The Joys and Benefits of Revealing One’s Condition.