Autism Awareness

Do any of you watch The Amazing Race? It's on tonight. It just started last Sunday. For the last couple of years they've had special needs people racing. One girl was a little person, last year there was a 20's something who is deaf. He was amazing. He made it all the way to the final three.

This year I was surprised and excited to hear that one of the racers has Aspergers. Aspergers Syndrome is what my son Michael has. It's on the Autism Spectrum of disorders. I had never heard of it before Michael was diagnosed. All I knew about was Autism - non verbal, rocking, head banging, violent at times. Asperger's Syndrome has been around for a very long time but no one knew it was there until the late 1980's. A man and his brother were shot and killed by police in San Francisco in the early 1920's because the police wanted to talk to them (they were innocent bystanders when an incident occurred) and they didn't understand what the police wanted so they tried to run away. No blame to the police officers of course. All they saw was 2 men trying to run away from the scene of an incident.

There have been one or two TV shows, series, where they've had actors playing the part of someone with Aspergers. But no, they didn't get it right. I'd comment that someone with Aspergers wouldn't do this or that or act this way or that way. To see an actual Aspergers individual showing the world who he is, what he can do is beyond awesome.

And this fellow is very brave to try this at all. He said he had difficulty with changes to his surroundings.. understatement. I don't believe anyone knows just how hard it is for them. I want to change from my summer red impatiens on the steps leading up to the front door to winter pansies. I got maroon coloured ones, closest I could get to red. But Michael keeps telling me the impatiens look fine, he likes the red ones. Something that small, when the time comes to change them, will bother him. He'll pace, he'll be anxious because they aren't the same plants. And change is too hard. So you can imagine what happens when we put a Christmas Tree in the livingroom and start decorating and putting things where they "don't belong."

Last week in the race they were in Vietnam. It was raining.. like monsoon weather. There must have been 3 feet of water on the roads and pouring rain. A young man got onto the bus that the racers were on. He wasn't wearing a coat and so the fellow with Aspergers gave him his coat. He said he looked like he needed it more than he did. That is the beautiful side of Aspergers. They are so giving and so compassionate. Socialization is a major hurdle for them and yet if they see someone they don't even know that they perceive is in need they will give them the shirt off their back.. literally.

Their challenge on this leg of the race was to "herd" ducks. The Vietnamese use them in the rice paddies to keep down algae, etc. that can ruin their crops. This one was a no brainer. If you have a room full of people and one of them is autistic and then you let in 3 dogs all 3 dogs will gravitate to the person with Autism. There is some connection with all animals. The fellow that is racing with him called him the Duck Whisperer.

I see Michael in the field out back with the horses.. there's about 20 of them. They all crowd around him. Maybe they think he is one of them I don't know. He went to his uncle's house where there were 5 cats. All 5 cats, including one who always hides if strangers are around, ended up vying for space on his lap.

Anway, this is my long round about way of saying that I hope lots of people are watching this show, watching this fellow, at least until he is disqualified by coming in last at a checkpoint. I want so badly for the world to understand my son.