Autistic Artist

Card Carrying Autist

Just to be safe, I'm making sure emergency workers can identify me as someone with Asperger's Syndrome. I don't do well in emergency, especially a medical one where I'm the one who needs help. So, I've decided just to swallow my pride and admit that some day I might actually need help. I bought a medical bracelet and am now making up a medical card to go with it.

You can make up a free card too by visiting medids.com or designing your own. I found a page with some free medical clip art.

Plus, I found great cards to print out from aspergerinfo.com.

These cards can save your life!

I hope this gives you some ideas to keep yourself or your loved one safe.

Me & My iPod

Like many autistics, I can become easily overloaded by the world around me. It's not so bad at home when the house is quiet. But a couple of leaf blowers or one shopping trip near cranky kids and parents can send me into meltdown mode.

Strange Perserverations

Much has been made of our perserverations. Those with Asperger Syndrome get very involved with certain "special interests." Some of these interests can appear to be similar to the intense collecting hobbies of neurotypical children and adults, such as those of Pokimon cards and Star Trek memorabilia.

But some of our special interests are highly unusual. For example, I've heard of intense interests in bleach bottles or even excrement.

In My Language

Here is an evocative and universal film by autistic Amanda Baggs. I hope you'll watch it. And she has a blog.

Visit the Stunning Paintings of Jessica Park

A while back, an anonymous poster left a link of nationally known artist Jessica Park who is autistic. Most of Park's paintings are architectural renderings in imaginative color. I'm awed by these highly original artworks. The Folk Art Messenger had an interesting article on Park, as did Art Business News.

Reframing the Glass

We Aspergerians tend to take things literally. That is, we don't always understand "sayings" and "expressions." They're confusing to us. When my mother used to say to me, "It's no used crying over spilt milk," I'd always look around for the milk on the floor!

In fact, some sayings can become major annoyances to us. For me, I hated the "glass is half empty or half full" thing with a passion. I wanted to say to the person, "Are you daft? The glass is half empty and half full! Didn't you take simple arithmetic in school?"

But, of course I didn't say that. By the time the Glass phrase was part of pop psychology, used to determine whether a person was positive or negative (as if there were only two choices in life), I was old enough to realize that I would have hurt the person's feelings. Plus, they would have thought me arrogant for being mathematically precise.

You Mean There's a Name for This?

Marla Comm pointed this out to me: Dyspraxia . That pretty much describes my movement through the world since my earliest memories.

Most people can't imagine how difficult it is for those of us with this condition to merely walk around the block just to get some exercise.

My Projects

Here are some of my art projects I'm working (or have worked) on.

I made a couple of dolls because I thought doll-making might be a good "umbrella career" for me. Doll-making seemed to incorporate many, if not all, of my interests. However, making the dolls themselves were not really enjoyable or satisfying for me. I'm face blind, so have little affinity for faces. And as a child, I wasn't very attached to my dolls. True to my Aspergerian self, my main activities with dolls was lining them up around my room, counting them, and trying to figure out the mechanics of the dolls movements, clothes and accessories.

A far more successful project for me was to make the strand of meditation beads. I've been beading since age seven, usually with teeny tiny seed beads. So this was an unusual project for me. I liked selecting beads and charms with meanings and paying attention to the colors. Plus, I got to line those beads up!

Autism and Daily Pain

I'm still not feeling well after my celiac attack of the past couple of days. I do feel better than yesterday and the night before. I still can't believe I spent most of my life feeling sick like that. Being sick daily was just something I'd gotten used to. No wonder I was always so tired and never seemed to get anything done!

No one can be expected to be at their best when they are in in pain. No parent, teacher, coworker or boss can expect an autistic individual to be the best child, student, coworker or employee when that individual is pain from any number of catalysts -- even if it is a catalyst that may not affect the neurotypical. And there are so many things that may cause us pain, much of which we can mitigate with a little help from our doctors and others around us.

Gluten Revisited

I'm really paying for my gluten fest yesterday. Through out the day I suffered from nausea, heartburn, gas, diarrhea, and extreme fatigue. Plus, I was hungry about an hour after each meal, as if I'd not really digested my food at all.

Last night I woke up several times feeling like my stomach was on fire.

Today I feel like falling asleep while enduring constant intestinal pain. What is so amazing is how sick I feel. Even more amazing is that I used to feel like this nearly every day when I was eating gluten.

And the donuts and pasta did not taste as good as I remember, either.

Goodbye gluten. And good riddance.