Cliff's Mecca...

So, it's been a bit different in a very good way for me. Enough to warrant a general personal post, as opposed to something more general.

As of Saturday, Dad, my brother, a family friend, and myself took off on a little road trip (yes, laptop included!. We're in San Fransico, and we'll end up in Santa Barbara.

Of course, then, for me this starts off with a bang, because San Fransisco is quite possibly the coolest place ever for me. Better yet, I had today pretty much all to myself. It's been something I've been looking forward for weeks, and today really didn't disappoint.

It actually started with a few little misfire; I woke up around nine, having missed my alarm (I need to reconfigure it so that my iPod rings on its external speakers, not in the noise-cancelling headphones!), and after that I went to the Embarcadero Towers, only to find there wasn't something available for breakfast (hey, I forget the day of the week regularly enough!). I did manage to stop at a store on the way, though, and buy some comic books, so I was appeased without breakfast.

So I decided to do my every-trip Chinatown run, the one in which I go on my only serious shopping trip pretty much ever. To be honest, I pretty much buy clothes in red and shades of grey, but other than that my other major preference would be that the clothes have some form of Asian insignias. Not only that, but I design my room and accessories pretty similarly, and I even collect martial arts type materials and weapons. In other words, quite a number of the products you'll find in Chinatown, turning a usually highly-discriminating shopper into a maniacal spender.

Mind you, I knew this pretty well, having been here so many times in my life. So I even told myself that I would restrain myself until the way back, and pick up what I really, really liked. By that point, I should have forgotten some things, and I wouldn't be carrying anything until I would deposit my bags in my room.

Well, so much for that. I had hardly gone two blocks and I had a number of bags. By the end of Grant Street (which I had planned to get off of...), a shop clerk offered to give me a larger bag so I could fit the tons of bags I was carrying into one space, amazed by the number I already had. At that point, accepting the larger bag, I decided not to get anything else until I got back and deposited things in the hotel room. That almost worked.

During my shopping extravaganza, I also managed to slip into a resturant for dim sum. As I may have mentioned here, dim sum, along with pad thai, is pretty much my favorite group category ever, and so that was immensely enjoyable. Indeed, I left very happy and full, having consumed some fifteen or so dumplings of different varieties. Very full, indeed, for someone who otherwise doesn't eat excessively at all, to the surprise of others (indeed, teenagers aren't supposed to eat lightly, apparently, and sometimes I can. Occasionally, not so much).

In other words, I was having my little mecca, and in the process the time of my life.

After that, though, I did actually return to the room, to some surprise. Dad was there, already tired from doing, well, I don't know. After that, I was out again, back towards the touristy areas (the Wharf, Cannery Row), to and around Nob Hill, to North Beach, and back to Chinatown for a different trip, with the exception of a hat and sweatshirt. I went to a local temple (Golden Mountain Sagely Monetary, I think), saw a ceremony there, looked at a martial arts class that was conducted well enough to make me envious I didn't live in San Fransisco, and watched a volleyball game, amongst other things. It's always something I've done out of interest, and since no one seems to mind (in fact, some people seem flattered. It might have been more uncomfortable for me if I thought people honestly thought me a nuisance; however, my experience is that martial artists are flattered when people are interested in what they do, and the people at the temple are always friendly to visitors), it was good fun just to walk around and just be in that environment. I was having again a lot of fun throughout.

After that, I was at Union Square, just looking around, mostly in a confused yet bemused state. Not being one who is familiar at all with department stores, it was interesting just to see the kind of behavior there and at the prices, almost as a way of seeing a bit into a social life I otherwise never really saw much, for reasons of my choice. It was also fun looking at the prices, which to me were just astounding.

At that point, it was time for a scheduled dinner, so I returned to the room and changed. Dad had wanted to get us dressed up and go to some well-regarded resturant he had me pick, and so we went. The food was good, the acoustics too loud for me (typical enough, I suppose, but more of an issue here than most places I head to), service fine. I won't mention the price, but let's say I was, ahem, amused that my Dad didn't mind as much as I did. I'm one of those people who likes food that's just as good that exists outside that environment, but since it was very much Dad's thing and not mine, it was fine for his tastes, I believe.

And here I am, back at my laptop, having gone through all that. I think what's interesting is that it's not all that different from my normal San Fransisco trips. They always have very consistent elements to them, and I think it's very ingrained in my mind, a pocket routine in an exceptional situation that I derive a ton of pleasure from, and one that lasts a lot longer that any simple high I normally have, actually, though it's complicated. Complicated, but very good.

And, anyways, I have some very awesome new hats. I'm extremely happy about that.

Explaining Said Neurodiversity

I've been busy this week, doing more of my personal project that I'll talk about later. Right now, however, I'm going to be doing more of the typical.

So I was on autismvox.com again, looking through the comments regarding a new ABC article on Neurodiversity. No, I'm not going to be ripping into ABC (actually, there wasn't as much to rip into, though I read complaints about the TV segment). Instead, I'm going to answer a really well phrased question of sorts. Here it is...

"My daughter (3.5) and I just saw you (Cliff's note: Kristina) and Charlie on GMA. I had recorded it to watch when I had a few minutes to sit down. We came to the couch to watch and my daughter kept asking for her favorite cartoon. I told her that we were going to see Charlie first. Then I saw him and said “There’s Charlie!” and she kept watching with me. Then every time they showed Charlie, she said “there’s Charlie!!” :)

On the “accepting autism” front, how can you help parents (like me) see that their/my child isn’t in pain? My 3.5 year old is doing much, much better these days as she’s able to express herself a little better, so we’re able to fix what might be wrong, but it was 3.5 years of her doing little but crying and very little sleeping. All the time. Nothing medically was wrong, but she was constantly upset and constantly awake. I know that for a long time, I would gladly have said that I would have her take a magic pill to take away the autism if it would make her happy and not so prone to what seemed like such pain and anxiety and misery. How do I readjust my thinking to not want to make that go away for her, to accept it as just part of who she is? I don’t think all parents just want a typical kid or one that doesn’t embarrass them (I have run into those kinds of parents and I’m not one of them). I do think I’m one of those parents that hates to see my child so upset so much of the time. I would love to see her just enjoy the day without having to experience so much worry and anxiety or frustration. I’ve long since strayed from the idea of “I’d do anything to make it better” and I’m much happier on the neurodiversity side, but it is difficult to “accept” all the tears and seeming pain for someone I love so deeply."

I liked, this, actually. It comes from a parent perspective which is actually trying to understand, and I really find that heartwarming (enough so that it made my day, really). So I'm going to answer the question in my own way, as well.

I think what this does so well is to help clarify a distinct point the neurodiversity has had issues making clear: there is a distinct difference between accepting your child's autism and your child's lack of certain skills. What this is, in essence, is that it confuses the DSM notion of "autism" with the reality of autism as a whole, underlying condition. I can poke holes in the DSM notion until it makes corkboard seem solid, but let's leave it at this: Those who read the DSM would look at a behavior and say "Oh, that indicates autism", but they wouldn't go so far as to consider what that implicates for the person as a whole. A more complete notion of autism includes that implication.

What also might be made clear is that a child is not upset because of autism per se. A child is upset, in my view as an autistic, more often than not because of a lack of understanding of the rationale behind certain events. The rationale for events, it has to be understood, is largely a product of social communication, and with that gone you're largely exposed to having to ideologically construct the surrounding universe in your own terms. It's a daunting task.

However, teaching someone how to socially communicate and thus communicating those ideas is not "curing autism". In fact, it doesn't even come close. See, autism itself is implicated in almost everything an autistic person does, because it essentially sets the person out on a specific remove for social influences. Because of that, it's also then is implicated heavily in the creativity, intelligence, willpower, and eccentricity of an autistic individual. None of those would be said to be 'autism" per se, but they're no less a part of it than a lack of social reciprocity. Again, I would define, for reasons you will find on this blog and other places, that autism is defined as a specific distance from social media. Its a complicated concept (because then, as it works out, the individual is more influenced by the media that he/she is receptive to because there aren't as many other influencing factors that are competing ), but that's the basic outline of it.

So a neurodiversity perspective itself isn't at odds inherently with things like ABA (which can be understood, in my view correctly, as a teaching mechanism), nor in supporting autistic individuals. What it does fight distinctly against is the attempt to eliminate said remove which defines autistics. That, in a neurodiversity perspective, is changing the individual to such a degree that he/she can no longer be considered the same person, and is effectively a form of personal substitution. The notion of "cure", in that regard, is challenged on many ethical grounds.
Indeed, many neurodiversity advocates are primarily arguing that the current perspective isn't paying enough attention to autistic individuals themselves, and instead are seeking a nebulous cure. Neurodiversity advocates would prefer research into more effective teaching methods and practices, better supported living situations, and discrimination of autistics in the social realm.

I think I answer the question, and I hope I didn't use too many wacky constructed sentences (a byproduct of different, autistic thinking, though it brought you the good stuff, too). It was well framed, and something so much clearer to write about.