Autism, cont.

This from my friend Mary Vickers, regarding her son C.J. who is wildly gifted and also
happens to have Aspergers.
"The beautiful young man in your picture (see below) was taken yesterday as he was leaving
Creighton University after completing a week long camp for gifted children. This
was a camp that he got into on his God-given strengths. As you know, we have
four children and CAMP for each of them is a little pricey, so this year C. J. applied
for scholarships and was awarded two, one
from the Nebraska Association for the Gifted and the
other was PTI a group that assists those with disabilities.
We are so proud of him for setting his sights on something he
wanted and then recognizing all that has been provided to him and using it,
instead of just seeing himself as autistic.

{MARY SENT ME AN IMAGE OF A PAINTING OF CJ's, I was not able to upload it)
Like most Aspergers children, he has a "passion": CJ's is weather.
"The eye of the Hurricane" is his interpretation of last years hurricanes
spiraling out from the central EYE. As in the case of wildly creative manic depressives
and schizophrenics: is it worth a cure to stiffle this creativity that God put into a soul?"

thanks
m

For this I am truly grateful,
Connie

Autism

In the New York Times recently, an article appeared on a familial rift that has taken place with the Wright family. The Wright family navigates the course of AUSTISM SPEAKS, "mega-charity dedicated to curing the dreaded neurological disorder that affects one of every 150 children in America today."

The rift was created when parents and child disagreed publically on the possible causes of Autism, i.e., environmental factors vs. genetics. I do not mean to sound insensitive to the families of Autistic children, however it is my humble opinion that Autism holds the key to much greater mysteries in the span of human kind.

How significant is the timing of this Autism crisis, in terms of human development? We've already replicated our brains into hardware and software, and today's children with Autism may well hold the secret to issues, concerns and problems that we haven't begun to conceive of, in response to the technological advances, shall I say, leaps, we have made in the past 20 years. I believe that Autism is a gift and grace and a karmic blessing. I believe that perhaps "curing" Autism is the wrong approach to a condition we do not know even about understand.

Yet surely it is a painful and difficult experience to parent a child with one of the myriad forms that autism takes. My deepest empathy is with those families whose lives center around the needs of their specifically gifted child and this is my point. Rather than viewing the condition as something to be eradicated, wouldn't it be a worthy pursuit to change our perception of autism into a blessing we do not fully understand or appreicate?

Thirty years ago Down Syndrome was of major relevance to our post-legal-abortion conundrum. In 2007, parents of some Down Syndrome children and adults are saying, no, don't terminate pregnancies with this particular genetic disorder. These people are very unique individuals who bring tremendous joy to the lives they touch. I'm just concerned that before trying to eradicate Autism, we first take plenty of time to understand it and it's possible positive affects on the human race. The Autistic are specially gifted, wired, if you will, in a totally unique way that may hold the answer to a problem they are actually here to resolve. All things in this life, when viewed as a blessing, are capable of transforming our world. Let us not move too quickly on finding the cure for a biological link whose magnitude we do not yet understand.

And this is my prayer for all the families living with, coping with, aching with, the challenge of parenting children with Autism.

May the long time sun
Shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light
within you
Guide your way on.

Respectfully,
Connie
P.S. the arrow next the title above will take you to the Autism Speaks website.

Re: The Fat Rant

Above is a link to a video of a Fat Rant (click the green arrow next to the title). I urge you to watch it, regardless of your size. And if you're a guy, then take another five mintues to watch Shadow Box and his response to the Fat Rant. Very illuminating!

Glinda

I like a woman who arrives in a pink bubble. Everything I need to know about being female I learned from Glinda.

For Karen

Auntie Em/Connie:" Why don't you find a place where there isn't any trouble. "

Dorothy/Karen: "A place where there isn't any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place Toto? There must be. It's not a place you can get to by a boat or a train. It's far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain. "

All is well my dear,
You are loved,
Connie

Dream Journal

Last week I dreamt of sitting next to the Dalai Lama on a bench. As my guru, he asked me a question to which I replied with the correct answer : "the ego". He had a look of consternation on his face, mirroring my frustration with the paradox of ego...that enlightenment requires the loss of ego at the same moment that ego must be acknowledged as an essential facet of the human experience. No matter. He chose me to wear the white tunic.

For this I am deeply grateful.

Connie

Soul Travel