The Little Red Haired Boy

Well...I haven't written here for a while....and I have probably gotten into trouble because of that...because in its place I have gone back to 'journalling' which encompases many negative thoughts as well as just rose-glassed...'positive thoughts....and since I am trying only to write 'positive' things....that meaning, not expressing any anger or comments people might not take 'positively' themselves......well!... I have had a few moments that I wanted to express here but much distractions and fatigue have caused a delay.

There was something yesterday, though, on Oprah that directly relates to me so I would like to say a few words.

It is about, Reiss, the little red haired boy who spoke so eloquently and did the impersonation of the dinasaur. He is a prime example of someone with Aspergers Syndrome.....for those who want to know what it looks like. Dinasaurs are very interesting to kids and kids with AS just seem to gravitate to them for some reason. Or so it says in the articles. But there he is...a very sweet kid...and you notice how he reacted to Oprah's kind words to him...with a hug....which is what happens with people with AS. (And this is a trait I would like to rectify in some of the 'literature' about people with AS not wanting physical contact). It is not the contact that is repulsed. It is whether it is genuine and sincere (which people with AS can pick up on immediately). He was very articulate (the little professor). And I missed the following part yesterday but I remember when all the kids were lined up on the stage, he set himself apart from them. He was not part of a 'group'. He was just there beside them. "Parallel play" they call it I think.

All of these traits follow a person with AS though their whole life. One does not 'outgrow' any of this, because it is hard-wired. The only change is that over time, as one gets older, one has been able to eliminate patterns that did not work for a person, in terms of communication or expressing needs or acquiring what one needs. But since life changes so dramatically all the time, often these 'patterns' become obsolete. I think this is where some of this so-called 'ridgidity' comes into that some people write about. It is an inability to transfer reactions to suite the environment in a timely fashion. And it is the cause of people with AS wanting things 'to be the same'. You don't have to 'intellectually' learn all the associations again.

Unfortunately, life is not like that. Such was the trauma of my move in May, after 23 years in the same enrivonment. Not to mention losing everything that I loved.....or that I associated with love. Not to mention losing ALL my TRUST. Since the so-called move involved many people with many differing agendas. Many different 'groups' in other words, banding together to make my life love-less. Or so it might seem. Ignorance, in other words.

I could think of it like that....or I guess I could try to think of it as falling through the bottom of the barrel. Then finding my parachute in Knowledge.

As far as this little red-haired boy goes, though, he will probably be fine. Obviously he has good contacts, and parents and a family that are aware and looking out for him. And he is smart, and will no doubt find an occupation where he can shine, and where no one will notice his deficits. No neglect or abandonment there!