Saturday, April 3, 2010

Autism Awareness, Circle Pacing and Manners

It is Autism Awareness.
I can go to the library and learn about autism except that technically speaking I have a little autism.

When mom told me I had some autism I disagreed.  I have friends with autism.  I am not them.  Mom had to explain to me that autism means different things to different people.  My question is why does this?  If pie is for after dinner, then what is this shepherd pie?  If pie is a treat then it should taste good. This happens often.  My question is at what age do you think that you are old?  My grandmother does not think she is old.  She looks old but I am not supposed to tell her. I am sure that she thinks people that are 100 are old.  In grade one children think that the grade six students are old.  Autism is like that I think.  Everyone has different thoughts of autism is then change when they change.  I go to a class to learn rules.  Rules are important.  Rules make people safe.  We look for cars on the road before we cross to be safe.  The same is true for people rules.  These rules are for having conversations, unexpected behaviour and seeing faces. My first day in this class the teacher was very strange.  She stood so close I could smell her.  When I started to talk to her she ran around.  Later she explained that these things are called unexpected.  I told my mom.  My mom laughed.  My mom said that other people sometimes felt my  behaviour was unexpected.  I did not agree.  My question is did you know that my telling the store lady about rabbits is unexpected  behaviour? If you were a store lady, would you not want to know this information?
 
 Did you know that technically speaking, most manners are just lies? My mom has told me that these are special lies with the name 'hugging lies'.  This was a joke for mom and me only but I  am sharing it with you today.
The joke is because when I was small hugs upset me.  My mom has told me that many people find hugs to be a comfort.  So manners are 'hugging lies' because many people find manners to be a comfort.
I do not.
I do not like lies.
Lies feel dangerous.
My question is did you know that lies are not true? It is not correct to lie.  Lies are wrong. 
My mom has told me that technically speaking, 'hugging lies' are not wrong.  They are manners to make many people feel comfortable.
Manners I have learned are:
1. Asking how your day is when I do not want to know.
2. Not saying anything about your body parts that are covered by clothing.
3. Not saying you are old.
4. Not saying anything about how you look unless you ask.  Then this lie is the lie of you looking great.
5. Using conversation words such as
         a)uh huh
         b)really?
         c) that is interesting

If the manner you are hoping I will have is not in this list too bad for you, oh well maybe next time. (That is a joke, that is what the grade K children are taught for coping with disappointment.   If you read my joke and felt it was not a joke then my joke is technically even more hilarious.)

If you meet me there are things you should know.  I am not deaf.  I can hear you.  I can hear you when I have my MP3 on.  Sometimes I do not want to talk.  Yelling at me will not make this a talking time. I do walk in circles.  I like circle pacing, it feels good.  Sometimes people tell me to stop. I do not like to look at your eyeballs.  I do not need to see your eyes to hear your words.  Do other people not hear without seeing eyeballs? How do these people use phones? In this I am the same as you but different.  Most people do not want to talk sometimes.  Yelling does not particularly make these people talk.

If you meet someone with some autism you should not make them look at your eyeballs.
That is all.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Little Man, I'm Nightstorm, am I a friend of your mom's and I am a big grown up lady with some autism too.

    I totally get what you mean by hugging lies. I still have to remind myself that not everyone likes Avatar: The Last Airbender as much as me or wants to know what I did yesterday or likes storm chasing. It doesn't get easier when you get older. Sometimes the rules you know back then change. It gets harder sometimes.

    If you have questions I am here for you dude. Feel free to read my own blog (with your moms permission since some stuff might be more fitting for grown-ups) But I would love to hear back from you.

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  2. Welcome to blogging, Little Man. I'm so excited to see your blog. My garden girlies and bright boy will be happy to read your blog, as well. :-)

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  3. Love your post, Little Man!

    I don't always know when to hold back conversationally either.

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  4. Oh wow, I have never heard something that sounded so much like myself before! I have autism, too. I love to pace circles, and I love rules that make people safe. I hate lies and I don't like to look at eyes. We are very similar in this.
    (I liked your joke, by the way.)

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