It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I have struggled to socially interact with my peers, my whole life. I can remember back to fifth grade when I would walk around at recess talking to my homeroom teacher Mr. Benson. I don't really remember particulars of our conversations except for the one time when I was talking about the myriad of medical issues/special needs I had and I stated that I have a lot of trouble with my eyes. He told me that he was as blind as a bat and all I could think about was whether or not he had trouble finding his glasses in the morning because he couldn't see anything. As you can tell, I'm quite a literal thinker.
In middle school I would attempt to play on the playground with my peers, but most of the time it would end in arguments or me thinking that someone was mean to me. When we'd go to the psychologist during seventh grade to figure out the exact disability I had, I remember all the questionnaires my mother and I had to fill out. A lot of them asked if I was ever bullied and my mom would put down that I was quite frequently bullied. I wondered why my mom kept saying I was being bullied. I just knew what he nice kids were and who the mean kids were. There were just some kids I didn't get along with. What I didn't realize was that those mean kids were bullies.
As I continued through middle school, I would start to walk around the circular path on the playground talking with teachers. They would try and make small talk with me which I just didn't get. They were bound to fix me so that I interact and socialize with my peers. They wanted me to get along with my peers despite the face that I was years ahead of them in some areas and years behind them in other areas.
When I arrived in high school, my family physician referred me to a psychologist who promptly diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder and referred me to a wonderful school psychologist who he aptly described as an Autism specialist that was new to our area. Once the new school psychologist Dr. Hunter got to know me, she really reinforced these ideas these ideas that I needed to develop peer relationships and stressed the importance that nothing should limit me. She was also the one that gave my parents hope that I would make it to college and where I am today.
All throughout high school Dr. Hunter stressed the importance of building these peer relationships. My parents jumped not he band wagon then too. They continuously encouraged me to make friends. At one point it came to the fact that I just needed to stop talking about my disability. At that point, I was too far gone and I was determined to teach others about my condition.
As high school continued, the encouragement persisted as well. When I was in eleventh grade, I joined a transition class and started working on some seriously independent living skills. During this period of time, my peer relationships started to flourish some more. The problem was that everyone wanted me to be typical and make typical peers. All the friends I was making had special needs as well. Most had disabilities that were much more severe than mine. I kept insisting that I was making friends, but my family wanted me to be making typically developing friends as well. It just didn't happen.
Here I am now, at 1:45 in the morning during my senior year of college. I am 23 and currently living in a building with a bunch of college Freshman. You do the math. As I sit here and reflect, I keep reinforcing myself that I can't keep socializing with the adults on the college campus. I have become relatively close with the Residence Life staff here and they have greatly contributed to my success. The one staff member has volunteered to assist me in developing some more independent living skills as I work on moving towards graduating and living independently.
I sit here at 23 years of age, trying to figure out who the heck I'm supposed to socialize with. My Resident Coordinator is 24, one year older than I am. The students I'm living with are 18. I'm forced into this position of having to socialize with my peers, these 18 year olds who I live amongst. Really, are they my peers though, or are these staff members I work with on a daily basis my peers. I want so badly to just be friends with my Residence Hall Coordinator, but that's not professional on her part. Although it's not professional on her part, is it really fair on my part? Who are my peers? Who am I supposed to socialize with? As my mom says, I'm an adult now, it's okay to socialize with adults. It's okay to socialize with adults, but what if you have the maturity of the adults in your life, but your at a different part of your life.
All the girls around me are all about parties and doing there homework last minute. I'm all about working on puzzles, scrapbooking, taking hikes, having real conversations about real things, not boys. Although boys are nice, I'm about living my life to the fullest and following God's path for me. I'm about being me, not about figuring out so much who I am any more.
Dickinson Mental Health Charity Ball
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
Fighting Tornadoes
After a long day of dr. appt.'s for my mother on Tuesday, my parents decided to stop by and visit me at school before they headed home. We enjoyed a nice late lunch/dinner together at my favorite restaurant, Kimball's and then headed out to Walmart to grab some last minute items that I needed for my dorm and my classes. Our visit with each other concluded with the always popular trip to Eder's, our favorite ice cream place.
Prior to leaving Kimball's it began to rain pretty hard. We waited inside until the rain subsided enough for me to make it to the car. For those of you who don't know, I can't stand the feeling of rain on my skin. It's one of the various sensory issues that I have because of the Asperger's Syndrome. Typically when sound bothers me, it hurts my ears, but when a tactile feeling irritates me, my shoulders and arms begin to hurt. I try to avoid this at all cost.
As we left Kimball's in our car, it was evident that a huge storm had just passed as the sky was extremely dark. While we made our journey to Walmart and eventually Eder's, I repetitively checked the weather and asked my father if we were heading towards the storm or away from the storm. He continued to reassure me that we were not going in the same direction as the storm. Despite this reassurance from my father, I continued to be on edge until we got to Walmart. I kindly asked my father to let me and my mother out at the front door so that I could avoid the rain. He's a good daddy.
As we pulled up to the front door, it was in question as to whether the store was even open. We saw lights on inside, which meant the power wasn't out. On the other hand, the automatic doors were not working and there was a line to get in the store. With hesitation, my mother and I stepped out of the car and proceeded to enter the store. As we entered the store we were educated about the current tornado warning for the area and that we must head to the toy section as there would be absolutely no shopping at this time. Who doesn't want to goof off in the toy section of Walmart?
My mother and I entered Walmart and we were fortunate enough to have our cell phones with us. We called my father to let him know what was going on because he was obviously going to be curious as to why there was limited access to the store as well. We told him there was a tornado warning and to head in and go back to the toy section. My father told us that we should get out to the car and we would go somewhere else for the supplies. My parents live and hour and a half from school and they really needed to get home.
My father pulled up to the from of Walmart and we got in. As we left the Walmart parking lot my mother picked up not he fact that I was beginning to stim. She asked me if I wanted Eder's ice cream after all. All I could get out of my mouth was that I was sorry that I was stemming and there wasn't really any other option for us at that point. I also pointed out that I liked Eder's as I continued to apologize. My mother abruptly corrected my behavior by letting me know it was okay, but that she didn't need to hear about it.
By the time we got to Eder's and ate our yummy ice cream, the storms had passed. We decided we would head back to Walmart to grab the things we needed. As we were walking through Walmart I let my mother know what exactly I needed/wanted. As I expressed my wants and needs, my mother told me to stop talking like a baby. To this comment, I wasn't completely shocked, but I was surprised. I told her that I couldn't help, I wasn't talking like a baby, and that my brain was under a lot of stress.
If you have taken any Psychology or health classes, you would have learned about the fight or flight response. Typically my response is more of a flight response with the wonderful added meltdown. Since there wasn't room to flee, burn of energy or throw myself into this meltdown, it came out as swimming and baby talking. I wasn't crying and I was proud of myself. As far as I could tell, I was keeping my shit together. Unfortunately, the brain can only handle so much stress before it starts to shut down. In this particular case, my brain was essentially shutting down on me.
When my mother told me that I was talking like a baby, I was really offended because I was aware of what I was doing and it did sound weird, but I couldn't help it. At that moment I was feeling Autistic (refer to blog post titled, I Feel Autistic). When I feel Autistic, I kind of zone out. I don't mind listening to other people, but I don't want to talk, myself. It's not that talking is painful, but it just feels uncomfortable and like it's not the right thing to do. If I really wanted to interact like a typical person during these times, I probably could, but it may cause me to go into meltdown mode because there is too much effort for what typically comes natural when you brain is in this shut down mode.
Most of you are probably wondering what my mother meant when she said that I was talking like a baby. What essentially happened was that my brain was only able to produce the bare minimum that it needed to, to get my point across. For example, instead of saying, "I really like that binder with the puppies on it", I would say point and say, "that want, I like doggies". We also had to do some grocery shopping so as we walked through the aisles, instead of saying, "I need Poptarts", I would say, "portraits". I give the most minimal answer I would give in with a flat affect because it didn't take effort and was less stress on my brain. Now typically I have no problem with affect and it comes naturally, but when part of your brain is shut down like that it's different.
Most of you are probably wondering what my mother meant when she said that I was talking like a baby. What essentially happened was that my brain was only able to produce the bare minimum that it needed to, to get my point across. For example, instead of saying, "I really like that binder with the puppies on it", I would say point and say, "that want, I like doggies". We also had to do some grocery shopping so as we walked through the aisles, instead of saying, "I need Poptarts", I would say, "portraits". I give the most minimal answer I would give in with a flat affect because it didn't take effort and was less stress on my brain. Now typically I have no problem with affect and it comes naturally, but when part of your brain is shut down like that it's different.
After explaining all of this to my mother, I just wanted something to calm me down. I needed a reboot. It felt really uncomfortable. My head didn't want to think and my hurt. I just wanted a hug, a weighted blanket, or to even just zone out, but I couldn't in the middle of Walmart. Fortunately, when we got back to my dorm, I was able to calm down under my weighted blanket as I watched tv and relaxed. By the evening I was ready to have fun again with friends. Granted, I took a two hour evening nap, but that nap gave my brain the reboot it needed.
Monday, June 13, 2016
5 hours of friendship
As I sat in my fathers recliner relaxing for the night, I began to right a Facebook post using the "Feeling" option that Facebook lets you choose. Do you know what I'm talking about? There's one for feeling, watching, reading and the list goes on. As I bunched in "Feeling" into my status updated, I began to type in the search menu "Defeated" because quite honestly I was feeling quite defeated at the moment. I was about to write one of those whiny Facebook status' where I complain about all of my life problems from the day and then end it with some sappy comment remember those who were killed in Orlando, just to make it sound like I cared about something. In all honesty, I do care about others and I think that status I was going to right was to remind myself that things could be so much worse.
Shortly after typing in the status, I read it over and realized that there was no way I was going to post that to Facebook at such a sensitive time. There was no way I could complain to such a wide audience when there was and still is so much pain in this world. It just didn't feel right and trust me I do feel bad for those that were lost, those that are suffering, and all the loved ones who may be affected from this tragedy.
I looked back on my day and I realized how truly great my day really was. Yes, there were parts that sucked from sun up to sun down: a migraine to start the morning, a potentially great interview that went horribly wrong, battling a cold and allergies on top of everything else and not mention that my world is probably going to be flipped upside down tomorrow, but that's another story for another day.
On the other hand, some really great things happened today and I think we need to focus on those. My mother always taught me that someone always has it worse than us. I truly do believe that. The other day we ran into a friend at the grocery store that was telling us that sometimes we really need to just feel things and that maybe things aren't worse for others. I have to say I disagree. I think it is important to feel your emotions and then look at the grand scheme of things.
Today was a great day. As I stood outside the facility where I interviewed I made a few phone calls. One was to an acquaintance/friend who I knew from a previous place of employment, one was my mother to tell her how awful the interview went and the other was to let someone know that I had the interview and that I didn't think things would work out or that the outcome was not what the two of us had expected. My mom pulled up with Excedrin in hand as I talked to my friend on the phone about getting together. We decided that instead of having my friend pick me up from the interview my mother would drive me to a near by park. this was at about 10 or 10:30 this morning. We didn't leave each other until 3:30 or 4.
5 hours! 5 hours of socializing something without becoming emotionally and socially fatigued. 5 hours of conversations, giggling, and bursting out in song. I literally thought we were going to chill for a bit, go out to eat and then part our ways so I could go into work to get some stuff done. I called my boss/teacher to tell her I was grabbing a bite to eat and I'd be in and she conveniently had to leave at 1 instead of 2:30. I was supposed to work for two hours and it was already noon. We decided we would sit down somewhere nice to eat instead of grabbing fast-food. This turned into hours more of fun.
During our time together we sat by the creek at the park, grabbed McDonald's sweet teas, visited my cats at home, ate lunch, played mini golf, visited a local ice cream place where we used to work, and we went goodwill shopping. I would have to say that I think this is friend that I hung out with today was a true friend. My mother has always talked to me about acquaintances, friends and best friends. I'm pretty sure Amber will go down in the book as my first true friend. This was the first time I wasn't with someone else who had a disability for a long period of time. This was the first time I hung out with someone without telling them to go away or that it was time to leave because I was tired. After five horus of my my friend called the shots. I felt typical. For the first time in my life I felt like I had a typical interaction with a friend, a typical friendship.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Reflection on World Autism Awareness Day!
As I settle down for the evening I reflect on the events that today has brought. Today was World Autism Awareness Day. I have very conflicting thoughts on this day. Today, I was on the streets handing out bracelets to light it up blue for autism, which in turn helps support Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks created the campaign that allowed World Autism Awareness Day to exist. Do I believe in everything that happens with Autism Speaks? No. Do I support Autism Speaks? Well, I'd like to say that I don't, but when there is not other organization that promotes the awareness and acceptance of Autism that will reach a large public audience, I have no other choice but to "partner with them.
Being an Autistic individual, it truly hurts have an organization that believes that we can't speak for ourselves. Granted, there are some people that can't speak for themselves, but an individual with Asperger's is going to be able to explain Autism a heck of a lot better than someone who is neurotypical. If one does not live the life, how can one know what we want and need?
Today I lit it up blue, not for Autism Speaks, but for The ACRES Project, which is something near and dear to my heart. We have a voice and ACRES is listening.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Transition Bootcamp
Have you ever worked out because you wanted to lose weight? I know I have before and shortly after I begin, I become less motivated to work out. When you become motivated again, you begin to realize that maybe you need something a little bit harsher because you need to lose even more weight. Sometimes, transition is like that too.
Last year, I had some difficult experience with my living situation in the dorm. I had a personality clash with my RA and my Resident Coordinator moved midway through the year. I don't do well with these transitions. As these things popped up, I began to develop a healthy and professional relationship with E, one of the other RA's on staff. I had known E since the beginning of my college experience at this particular school and I began to trust her with deep stuff. I often times tell people that she knows my deepest, darkest secrets. Unfortunate, for me, E is graduating this year and moving on to bigger and better things.
Over the course of the past year, I have begun to depend on E for a lot of things. I have trusted her with more information about my personal life than I share with most people. She has been my main support at college. She helped me with the difficult RA situation, helped me through some tough times, helped me transition to a new coordinator and so much more. Most importantly, she has mentored me and taught me so much about myself. With E leaving, I need to start bootcamp. I need to lose those extra pounds of weight I've pack on. I need to lose the dependency that I have developed with her.
Over the last 8 weeks of the fall semester, I realized my dependency and my manipulative behavior. I knew that if I was upset, she would be there for me. Sometimes I would get upset, when I knew how to cope with things, because I knew she would pat me on the back so to speak. Once I noticed this, I started going to the gym. I started practicing shutting my door more often so I wasn't fixated on where she was and if she was around. I began trying to skip days of seeing her because I knew that one day she wouldn't be around. Going to the gym, or practicing these new skills wore me out. I just wanted E and I wanted her in the moment. I wanted her to play Wii with me, watch movies, with me and eat with me. This battle reigns within me and I know that she is a student who needs to take care of herself too. I care about her needs, but since I do care about her, I also want more of her.
With all this being said, it's time to stop going to the gym and start bootcamp. I have eight weeks to lose this "weight". I have eight weeks to show the world what I am truly made of. I have eight weeks to transition E out of my DAILY life and it needs to begin right now. The most unfortunate part is knowing that I'm not the only person struggling. I think the college or at least ResLife as a whole are truly going to miss this unique, one of a kind individual who has the patients of an angel.
This semester, instead of going to her when I'm upset, I will refuse to meet with her until the next day for breakfast or lunch. E has taught me that I am so much better at reflecting anyway. I will try hanging out with the other RA's more, boosting my trust in them as competent individuals, and I will continue to practice my coping skills. I can't wait to push myself and show the world what I'm truly made of.
Last year, I had some difficult experience with my living situation in the dorm. I had a personality clash with my RA and my Resident Coordinator moved midway through the year. I don't do well with these transitions. As these things popped up, I began to develop a healthy and professional relationship with E, one of the other RA's on staff. I had known E since the beginning of my college experience at this particular school and I began to trust her with deep stuff. I often times tell people that she knows my deepest, darkest secrets. Unfortunate, for me, E is graduating this year and moving on to bigger and better things.
Over the course of the past year, I have begun to depend on E for a lot of things. I have trusted her with more information about my personal life than I share with most people. She has been my main support at college. She helped me with the difficult RA situation, helped me through some tough times, helped me transition to a new coordinator and so much more. Most importantly, she has mentored me and taught me so much about myself. With E leaving, I need to start bootcamp. I need to lose those extra pounds of weight I've pack on. I need to lose the dependency that I have developed with her.
Over the last 8 weeks of the fall semester, I realized my dependency and my manipulative behavior. I knew that if I was upset, she would be there for me. Sometimes I would get upset, when I knew how to cope with things, because I knew she would pat me on the back so to speak. Once I noticed this, I started going to the gym. I started practicing shutting my door more often so I wasn't fixated on where she was and if she was around. I began trying to skip days of seeing her because I knew that one day she wouldn't be around. Going to the gym, or practicing these new skills wore me out. I just wanted E and I wanted her in the moment. I wanted her to play Wii with me, watch movies, with me and eat with me. This battle reigns within me and I know that she is a student who needs to take care of herself too. I care about her needs, but since I do care about her, I also want more of her.
With all this being said, it's time to stop going to the gym and start bootcamp. I have eight weeks to lose this "weight". I have eight weeks to show the world what I am truly made of. I have eight weeks to transition E out of my DAILY life and it needs to begin right now. The most unfortunate part is knowing that I'm not the only person struggling. I think the college or at least ResLife as a whole are truly going to miss this unique, one of a kind individual who has the patients of an angel.
This semester, instead of going to her when I'm upset, I will refuse to meet with her until the next day for breakfast or lunch. E has taught me that I am so much better at reflecting anyway. I will try hanging out with the other RA's more, boosting my trust in them as competent individuals, and I will continue to practice my coping skills. I can't wait to push myself and show the world what I'm truly made of.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Happy New Year: 2016
2014 was an extremely difficult year me and my family. At the end of 2014 and at the beginning of 2015, I decided to take a look back at all the good things that had happened. This year, as we rang in 2016, I told my mother that I didn't want it to be 2016. I didn't want 2015 to end because it was such a great year and so much better than the year before. If we stayed in 2015, I felt like things would continue to go smoothly, but its as if changing to 2016 means a new year and also a different year that could be good or bad. So, here's to a recap of 2015 and a celebration of a great start to 2016!
Shortly after I arrived back at school for the Spring 2015 semester, I received an email stating that I was nominated by someone at my school for an Awesome Woman Exemplar Award. We had a beautiful ceremony and we all got to celebrate the many awesome women on our campus.
Although my brother and I have gotten older, we still really enjoy meeting up with family friends to decorate Easter eggs. This year we had several generations coloring eggs: Grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren.
No one knows who to celebrate April Fools Day and Hump Day like my school! This year, one of the major clubs on campus decided to celebrate the occasion of both by bringing in a camel for camel rides. Needless to say no one believed us and thought our photos were photoshopped. They thought it was all a joke, but it was real.
My parents decided to go away to a bed and breakfast for their anniversary. During their weekend getaway, they decided to rent some bikes and bike a rails to trails path. Needless to say, they really enjoyed it and when I came home from school, we decided to do it a couple more times. We all really enjoy biking now.
During the month of July, my town turns into a large tourist destination with large arts festivals. One of the arts festivals sticks to more local artists who are only from in state. This gave me a great opportunity to see a singer who was one of my favorite parts of Camp Chameleon growing up. She would bring her guitar to camp and sing songs around the camp fire. Seeing her perform at the arts fest, gave us a test of what she likes to do for adults. It was still really good to see her and she remembers me from camp.
I've never been one for really long hair. Right before school started in August, I decided to get all my hair chopped off. I really like it and I think I'm going to keep it this length for a while.
Two days before I had to move into the Residence Hall, we took trip to NYC to see a play on Broadway. It was pretty cool to see the NYC skyline as we entered the city. We even got a personal tour guy (my mothers friend) who helped us navigate the city. He even gave us a VIP trip to the top of the Empire State Building. I must admit, I was also pretty excited to get a new pair of Crocs at a legit Crocs store too.
What better way to start the semester off than by going to your favorite ice cream place with some of your best buds and the most AWESOME RA someone could ask for! This trip was planned the previous school year and promised to me. We ended up getting most of our floor to go and some RA's after so many of us ended up moving in so early! :) Thanks E we're are really going to miss you!!!
This year I got a job with Student Activities which has been wonderful! Before my first shift at work, one of my supervisors caught me on my way to class and allowed me to show my silly side. He thought it would be a great idea to show my mom that I was really on my way to class. It was my FIRST DAY of OT CLASSES!!! :)
September came up pretty quickly and my family FINALLY moved into the new house! We love it and it is so cozy. Although I wasn't at the house for the moving part, I was there in spirit. Despite my difficulty with change, it was a rather smooth process with daily visits to the new house before I actually moved in. I don't think I could ask for a better room; it's purple!
After our move, I finally managed to get my parents up to Camp Victory! They were having an open house and I said, why not? It was a good day to get away and enjoy some time as a family and one of my homes away from home where I can truly be me. I also introduced someone to Asperger's who had never heard of it before.
October and midterms came around. My parents were finally able to get away on a vacation by themselves and with my grandmother. In the meantime, a good family friend had the opportunity to bring her grandson up to visit my school during our open house! It was a pretty cool experience and they got to meet some of my friends.
October is typically a busy month and includes a bunch of fun as well. My LLC went on an awesome hiking trip. We were fortunate enough to enjoy a picnic at one of our mentor's house's who lives out in the middle of no where. Across the street from her house is a huge shale cliff that we climbed. We love going on adventures.
November brought with it an awesome opportunity for my mother and I. We had the privilege of getting amazing seats at a Matthew West concert! Matthew West came up to me, wrapped his arm around my waste, put the microphone in front of my mouth and posed for a picture. I couldn't have been more giddy and I really didn't know what to do.
The school year concluded with an awesome school dance with my buddy Caleb and my friend/RA Eileen! I was super nervous to go to the dance without friends, but C is really good at swing dancing and taught me a little bit about it.
Some crazy weather we've had this year. We were fortunate enough to wear t-shirts to go pick out our Christmas tree. With my brothers fascination with tie-dye, we made it a tie-dye t-shirt trip! We had a lot of fun!
Just like last year, I rang in the New Year at Radiate, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Cru Conference! There was so much learning and growing and socializing with friends. We truly had a blast!!!
Shortly after I arrived back at school for the Spring 2015 semester, I received an email stating that I was nominated by someone at my school for an Awesome Woman Exemplar Award. We had a beautiful ceremony and we all got to celebrate the many awesome women on our campus.
Although my brother and I have gotten older, we still really enjoy meeting up with family friends to decorate Easter eggs. This year we had several generations coloring eggs: Grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren.
No one knows who to celebrate April Fools Day and Hump Day like my school! This year, one of the major clubs on campus decided to celebrate the occasion of both by bringing in a camel for camel rides. Needless to say no one believed us and thought our photos were photoshopped. They thought it was all a joke, but it was real.
My parents decided to go away to a bed and breakfast for their anniversary. During their weekend getaway, they decided to rent some bikes and bike a rails to trails path. Needless to say, they really enjoyed it and when I came home from school, we decided to do it a couple more times. We all really enjoy biking now.
During the month of July, my town turns into a large tourist destination with large arts festivals. One of the arts festivals sticks to more local artists who are only from in state. This gave me a great opportunity to see a singer who was one of my favorite parts of Camp Chameleon growing up. She would bring her guitar to camp and sing songs around the camp fire. Seeing her perform at the arts fest, gave us a test of what she likes to do for adults. It was still really good to see her and she remembers me from camp.
I've never been one for really long hair. Right before school started in August, I decided to get all my hair chopped off. I really like it and I think I'm going to keep it this length for a while.
Two days before I had to move into the Residence Hall, we took trip to NYC to see a play on Broadway. It was pretty cool to see the NYC skyline as we entered the city. We even got a personal tour guy (my mothers friend) who helped us navigate the city. He even gave us a VIP trip to the top of the Empire State Building. I must admit, I was also pretty excited to get a new pair of Crocs at a legit Crocs store too.
What better way to start the semester off than by going to your favorite ice cream place with some of your best buds and the most AWESOME RA someone could ask for! This trip was planned the previous school year and promised to me. We ended up getting most of our floor to go and some RA's after so many of us ended up moving in so early! :) Thanks E we're are really going to miss you!!!
This year I got a job with Student Activities which has been wonderful! Before my first shift at work, one of my supervisors caught me on my way to class and allowed me to show my silly side. He thought it would be a great idea to show my mom that I was really on my way to class. It was my FIRST DAY of OT CLASSES!!! :)
September came up pretty quickly and my family FINALLY moved into the new house! We love it and it is so cozy. Although I wasn't at the house for the moving part, I was there in spirit. Despite my difficulty with change, it was a rather smooth process with daily visits to the new house before I actually moved in. I don't think I could ask for a better room; it's purple!
After our move, I finally managed to get my parents up to Camp Victory! They were having an open house and I said, why not? It was a good day to get away and enjoy some time as a family and one of my homes away from home where I can truly be me. I also introduced someone to Asperger's who had never heard of it before.
October and midterms came around. My parents were finally able to get away on a vacation by themselves and with my grandmother. In the meantime, a good family friend had the opportunity to bring her grandson up to visit my school during our open house! It was a pretty cool experience and they got to meet some of my friends.
October is typically a busy month and includes a bunch of fun as well. My LLC went on an awesome hiking trip. We were fortunate enough to enjoy a picnic at one of our mentor's house's who lives out in the middle of no where. Across the street from her house is a huge shale cliff that we climbed. We love going on adventures.
November brought with it an awesome opportunity for my mother and I. We had the privilege of getting amazing seats at a Matthew West concert! Matthew West came up to me, wrapped his arm around my waste, put the microphone in front of my mouth and posed for a picture. I couldn't have been more giddy and I really didn't know what to do.
The school year concluded with an awesome school dance with my buddy Caleb and my friend/RA Eileen! I was super nervous to go to the dance without friends, but C is really good at swing dancing and taught me a little bit about it.
Some crazy weather we've had this year. We were fortunate enough to wear t-shirts to go pick out our Christmas tree. With my brothers fascination with tie-dye, we made it a tie-dye t-shirt trip! We had a lot of fun!
Just like last year, I rang in the New Year at Radiate, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Cru Conference! There was so much learning and growing and socializing with friends. We truly had a blast!!!
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