On Friday, I headed out the door to class first thing in the morning. I had my wallet, my final draft of my essay that i needed to turn in, and a drawstring back hanging from my back to carry it all. I was ready to tackle the day. I had planned on staying on campus until 3. I went to class, took out what I needed including my paper, pencils, textbook and a notebook just in case. I had everything i needed. I finished up class without a problem. I got my next assignment and was pleasantly surprised with how comfortable I felt about it compared to the last assignment. I listened to the teacher, took notes and headed on my way to my mentoring.
I arrive at my mentoring location an hour ahead of time each day due to my schedule. I have class until 9 and then I don't mentor until 10:10 which is fine and gives me plenty of time to study and read textbooks. When I study, I respectfully hide out in the hall way until it is time to pick my student up. I change my clothes and then we head off to the gym. On friday I come into the classroom an work with a student on schoolwork in the classroom. I went in at 10 on friday to start working with the student. I walked in and said I was ready. They got a little busy and were behind in other stuff, so I had a huge break before my next task at hand.
I looked at my schedule and realized I had three hours to waist. That is way too much time to hang out on campus with not a whole lot to do other than study. I made a few phone calls, thought about taking a bus home or back on to campus. I decided to call my mother to convince her to come get me since the bus schedules did match up and I had three hours to waist. She called my father and he came to get me. I came home and hung out for a while. My mom decided to take me our for lunch. We went out to lunch with my1cent, took me to the creamery and I went to my support group from there. My1cent and my mom went back to work and my mom picked me up at three. In the end everything worked out in terms of scheduling. Its still definitely something we need to work on, but we're doing okay.
When my mom took me home, I was absolutely exhausted from the day. I felt like I was running around everywhere and I could you really blame me. I was intensely socially active for a good hour and a half. Of course it was good socializing, but its also hard and demanding. Don't get me wrong, I love to socialize, but its hard. I came home took my shoes of and I automatically went to my computer to relax. My mom came in the door, and was completely surprised by what she saw. Ooh what did she see?
Now lets back track a little bit here. Since I have been up on campus, I have seen a ton of Vera Bradley backpacks. I am always trying to fit in and if I can't fit in one way, I can always try to fit in another way. I went to my parents and asked them about this wonderful backpack. They thought about buying purely for me to fit in, but in the end I used my own money so that I didn't have to carry around that darn drawstring bag.
Okay, lets now go forward a little bit. I got home from the support group on friday, took off my shoes and went to relax. Shortly after, I sat down to relax, my mother came in the door and was surprised by what she saw right in front of her; it was a giant box. I giant box that unbeknownst to me, was a gift I had been waiting for. My mother called me out into the foyer to see what was there. I took the giant box over to the table and opened it. The picture above is what I saw: a vera bradley backpack with a laptop case embedded.
I swear the box that was carrying my backpack vanished and reappeared. My1cent purposely put the box right in the middle of the floor and I still walked over it. The typical person wouldn't have been able to miss it. In face they probably would've fallen over it: literally. My1cent threatened to hang my next package from the ceiling like a pinata to see if that would help. I do have to say that there is a huge lesson that can be learned from this situation.
The lesson that is being learned from this situation is that I don't get the whole picture. Sometimes I wonder how much of reality I actually process. I learned in anatomy and physiology we don't perceive our world accurately. They gave several examples of visual illusions to show us this. Stuff that the typical person can pick up is even more than what I can pick up. I can't imagine how skewed my images are, but they are normal. I am able to function just like everyone else as long as I am able to process everything. This is why I can't drive. If that box was a car, I would be dead by now. I probably would have swerved off the road by the end.
Let me just end by saying that some day I am going to be famous for creating the theory that autism is not a communication disorder, but a processing disorder of sensory information that affects our ability to use our communication skills in an appropriate way. If you thought the sound of a voice sounded like a siren, I'm sure you would have a full blown tantrum like a two year old too.
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