Autism

Although I have very little experience with the subject, I am learning some world shattering lessons. Such as...

1. People with autism appear to be in their own littl world, but in fact, the see, hear and compreheand MUCH more than we think we do.

2. People with autism, in general, want to communicate, but they can't. They have very intelligent thoughs, but because the body and the mind frequently will not cooperate.

3. People with autism get angry and frustrated that they can't communicate very well with other people, but there's always a way to help them interact with people.

So, don't be a prick when you meet a person with autism. They know when people are scared or freaked out by them and THEY HATE IT! What should you do? Introduce yourself in your normal voice and talk to them just like you'd do with anyone else. You need to spend time with people that have autism. The are far from irritating, They are ENGAGING people who want so badly to tell you about their life and what you can do to make them comfortable around you. Unforunately, many can't do that

Two personal Murk stories.

As a child, a teenager, and a college kid, I feared people with mental and physical disabilities. Three people changed that, my good friend Bill Pezzano, my old friend Shaun, and my sister in law (technicall, a sister of Malach's wife, Superstar.

Bill is has cerebral palsy. He is a Shihan and he tearches advance black belt student... WHILE ON HIS FREAING CRUTCHES!!! And I can tell you I am not ashamed to say he could pound me to a bloody bag of skin, broken bones and torn flesh. He wouldn't, but he most definitely could.

Shaun was blind. Shauw was an excellent guitar plaver. I could go on about how amazingly funny, kind and also self confident he is. One anecdote I remember was I saw him walking towards the bench I was sitting on. I was writing some notes for a class or a novel, and so I did not greet him. He sat down clamly and waited. Finally, I felt a bit guilty and said hello. Then he said, "I thought that was you!" He told me it was quite common that people didn't say hi to him when he was around. He told me that my breathing is easy to hear and locate.

Julie is autistic. She's my brother's wife's sister, if that makes any sense. She plays the piano very well and she is a painter. When I look at her paintings, I marvel at the detail and nuance she can create. Malach, my brother, has a wonderful gallery of her stuff on his website. I'm never disappointed when I go there.

Why the strange sentimental rant? I don't know. Normally I'd rather joke around and write profane jokes, but today, I thought of my three friend and I felt I needed to put how I felt about them in writing.