Friday, March 27, 2009

We are more alike than different

As I sat on the plane waiting for my flight to take off from Atlanta, I catch scraps of conversations from beind me . This 60' something couple is returning from a Canada vacation. They have struck up a friendship with a young man in fatigues returning from a tour of duty .

The woman is telling the soldier " Canada is soooo different from here … over there when you ask for tea they give you hot tea". The soldier is agreeing with her - and saying where he has returned from is very different as well

I suddenly realize that I think the opposite is true

People are actually very alike- even when they seem very different.

Autistic children's behavior is so over pathologized sometimes.
A behavior that seems so strange is so "normal " for a person with a different sensory profile.But can easily be interpreted as a sign of being a completely different species. Oversensitivity to touch is interpreted as an absence of feeling, an overwhlemed meltdown interpreted as an ill mannered child whoisalwaysspoilingthingsforeverybody and so on

The Delta Magazine I flip through has already been well thumbed by two Siblings on some earlier flight - Grant and Rachel

Like all children in the world, these two have not been able to resist the urge to decorate the pictures.–bare necks have had necklaces adorned on them , moustaches have been drawn on the men, glasses have been created, feature have been outlined . The image of James Bond on Quantum of Solace has been turned into a devilish creature complete with horns and blood dripping from his eyes

Like our ancestors from the past – Grant has wanted to show that he was here.

He has marked his flight path on the maps showing the Delta routes – marked it so deeply in fact with a pen that the paper is quite worn out.

Grant is traveling from Fort Lauderdale to Des Moines, Iowa with a stop over in Atlanta

He is also clearly a Sponge Bob fan – who he has drawn and shown as traveling from South Africa all the way to Atlanta in a plane ( traveling at high speed as demonstrated by the many billows of smoke emanating )

His sister has written on the top of the page of Grant's careful drawings - Grant is a Dork

Being a dork is a BIG insult I think as she has also designed something like this DORKSTAMP that she has placed on the forehead of many of the pictures

Grant has had the last word however .

He has crossed out Dork and put in "Good Kid"

Bullies are not the sole burden for Autistic children. Grant is facing them, as will R

And what I want, is not to protect R from people who will call him a Dork (or worse )

But nurture my son , like Grant's mom has nurtured him clearly.

So R knows and can say back.

R is not a Dork. R is a good kid.


 

 

4 comments:

Territory Mom said...

I love your blog. You have wonderful way with words.

robin said...

I love the way you think... You have such a wonderful way with words and have a kind and gentle way about you. A great mom. I wish I were on the plane with you....we'd have had a great conversation!

Anonymous said...

Awwww! That is beautiful! Thank you for sharing this with us.

aninont said...

Beautiful words and thoughts. I can picture Grant and his sister.
I bet Grant is a handsome (maybe )blonde kid with glasses on ,loves video games,computers and books and big sissy is into getting her nails done, hannah montana type....
constantly on Grant's face.
Also goes to tell that every second and minute of our being, we are thinking of our children...our kids are such a part of us.

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