"If there were no change, there would be no butterflies"
Author Unknown

FAMILY
Who's in your family? It may be larger than you think.  My wife, Julie, and I recently went to her annual "Johnson family reunion." We showed a video there that we'd produced about several generations of family history using interviews and old photographs.  We included a story about great-grandfather Rommie trying to drive his new Model T Ford for the first time.  When it abruptly started forward and he couldn't remember how to stop it, he clung to the steering wheel yelling, "Whoa! Gee! Gee! Haw!" as if he was driving one of his mules.  His oldest son jumped up on the car's running board and got it stopped.

LISTENING TO YOURSELF
Who do you listen to? We generally listen to people we respect. Which makes it kind of ironic that we don't always listen to ourselves. A few days ago, my wife pointed out an article about listening written last year by teacher Andy Dousis, who noticed his fourth grade students excluding a classmate from their activities.  This classmate had trouble making conversation, so he sometimes pushed or grabbed others.  He had other challenges, too, and often sobbed in frustration.

Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ..."

"In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out"
On his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket. ... I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' "   What YOU can do...

TALK Radio is based in Oregon.  What do YOU think?

The power of empathy
The empath is a recurring character in Star Trek, usually a woman, who has the ability to read the emotions of others, sometimes at great distance. What is truly sci-fi is that almost all humans possess this apparently fantastical ability. Empathy is a true human superpower. Most of us are empaths. Most of us feel for strangers, can read other people's emotions and can feel other people's pain. Some of us can even take on the suffering of others in an effort to help them. Aremarkable proof of our empathic talents is in the movies. Almost anyone in the world can sit down to watch a film and, in a matter of minutes, begin feeling for and identifying with total strangers. Because we see it all the time, we rarely marvel at this incredible talent. We have the power to put ourselves in the shoes of people who don't even exist. These fictional creatures make us laugh, fear and cry.

Asperger diagnosis came late
A single university seminar made everything about Jen Birch’s at times difficult life make sense like "a bolt from heaven". Jen had struggled for more than 40 years with undiagnosed asperger syndrome and had spent months at Kingseat psychiatric hospital. But her lifechanged forever the day she heard the lecturer describe her condition. Jen was born into a dairy farming family in Karaka and was different from other children from day one. "Mum says she could tell I was different from the day I was born but she couldn’t see what was different. "Fifty years ago there wasn’t even a term which could’ve been put on it." The Greenlane resident says she was socially withdrawn and fearful of sudden movements and sudden noises. "When I was a small I was taken to see a train. I love trains now but as a child I was terrified by the huffing and puffing and especially when it let out the squeal of the whistle." Other children were thrilled to see the train but Jen says she hunched over in fear. Heightened senses are typical of people with asperger syndrome or other autism spectrum disorders.

How  to Love Without Emotions
By Robert W. Murray
It is widely said and accepted that the autistic person has serious trouble connecting with the world around them, particularly on an emotional level. This ranges from grief, to happiness, and from joy to despair. The emotional state of others is something that is completely beyond my capability in comprehending. When I see someone getting emotional over an event or situation, I find myself confused and bothered that I am unable to share in that moment with them, whether it be through tears or great enjoyment. Perhaps, though, the area which I most fundamentally misunderstand or have trouble deducing is what is referred to as ‘love’.

Supreme Courts rules juries should hear AS DX.
A-36-07 State v. Franklin Burr, II
(Middlesex County and Statewide)
Argued 3/10/08
Under the circumstances presented, was evidence that defendant suffered from Asperger’s Disorder admissible in defending against charges of sexual molestation of a minor? While expert psychiatric testimony can sometimes take a trial on an irrelevant side trip, in this case it's a worthwhile excursion to help the jury -- which is engaged in a search for the truth -- better evaluate the case in front of it.

Mozart and the Whale
Starring Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill, Man on Fire), Mozart and the Whale is a heartwarming romantic drama inspired by the true story of two people with Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism). ~ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment scheduled to be released on DVD.  The emotional dysfunctions of two people suffering from an autistic disorder known as Asperger's syndrome threaten to derail the pair's emerging romance in director Petter Næss' affectionate tale of love among the mentally afflicted. For friendly taxi-driver Donald (Josh Hartnett), patterns and routines are of the utmost importance. In addition to his love for birds and his uncanny ability to process numbers, Donald does his best to give back to fellow Asperger's sufferers by leading an autism support group. When the lovely but intensely complicated Isabelle (Radha Mitchell) shows up at one of Donald's meetings, the good-natured cabbie finds that love can be as painful as it is elating. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide.  ...to order.
 

A GREAT article for children, siblings, partner's and spouses connected to AS
Growing up in an Asperger Family
by Maxine Aston
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