Pressing Puzzles

I'm not aiming to sound like a typical "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book, but as the end of this year is upon us; I can't think of any better time to address the one thing most people look for in a New Year...Hope. I've spoken on several topics that directly relate to my Asperger's Syndrome and others that simply are observations in my life, but hope is one of those that will tend to cross over between the two areas and I have addressed in other entries. I have written on topics that generally tend to be sad and negative so for someone like me to talk about something more positive and tying with my Asperger's is a little unusual, but I am a human being and I do like to look at life in a way were victory can be obtained rather than simply falling in defeat. So I guess the first question could be why in the world is a guy with Asperger's writing an entry about hope when most of his stuff is on suffering and death? I think the best answer I can give i...

I realize Christmas is coming and coming soon. I've always heard that Christmas time is one the most depressing times in the whole year! I have no numbers or articles to back this statement, but I think we can agree that depression can run really high during this time of the year. As everyone else, I've always heard about it and I thought I understood it, but I think in some way I really didn't. I could recall on several occasions as a teacher when I felt 'down' and disheartened, but I wouldn't call being it being depressed. Before I even knew that I had Asperger's, I probably assumed I was in a chronic state of being depressed, but I can honestly say that was never the case. There were many times when I was highly stressed, but not depressed. At this point it would be a good idea to see how the Webster Dictionary defines ‘depression’:   a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and often is unable to live in a ...

  I learned a new word! Reasonable! I have learned that sometimes it takes me a little while to catch on to the meanings of terminology. You would think that since I use to teach debate that I, myself would be able to define the terms being used in an argument! The Webster Dictionary defines 'reasonable' as:   not extreme or excessive . If anyone is a working person and you have a disability then the employer has to make an effort to accommodate the employee in a 'reasonable' manner. In an earlier blog, I did make mention of the ADA (American Disability Act) and how it affected me in my situation. It just took someone to hit me in the face with the most obvious about the term reasonable because if I had never caught on then I wouldn't know how to proceed.   The funny thing about how I've looked at my work situation is I always saw things as what the job can do for me instead of what   can   the job do for me. Yes, I have Asperger's Syndrome and I realize...

If you've read any of my previous posts then you know that November 6th is my birthday. It is a little ironic that I write this on my birthday. The reason I'm writing this is because as an adult with Asperger's, birthdays used to be very special to me, not just the fact it reminded me how old I was, but I guess I liked it because it was all about me. In some small way, I saw my birthday as a more special time than Christmas when I was young. For some crazy reason, I can still remember a moment when I had turned 7, I was climbing a tree in the front yard and just thinking that it was my birthday and I knew what was going to happen. I do remember a few times when I was little older, getting to go to Showbiz Pizza Place (it's now known as Chuck E. Cheese) and boy did I have a blast! Lots of arcade games, games that you could win tickets to get free stuff and they had an animatronic show with all the mechanical animals singing like the ones you see at theme parks. As for t...

With All Hallow's Eve around the corner, I thought I'd take a minute to address the evil doers that make the heroes who they are. No, I'm not the bad guy! I'm actually sure why I have had this fascination with the bad guys other than the fact that they make the good guys good. What I found ironic in many stories, the villain tends to have a deeper back story than the hero. I guess in many ways, I always wanted to know what prompted the villain to be so bad.  I remember when I was younger, G.I. Joe was still big and my brother and I always played with either other with our action figures. The funny part was that we didn't ever argue on who was going to play who because my brother what all the G.I. Joe figures and I had all the Cobra figures. I really loved the characters from Cobra: Firefly, Destro, Copperhead, the twins Tomax and Xamot, Zartan and most people's favorite...Storm Shadow! They even had the coolest vehicles so for me it was a no brainer; though...

One of the things that I get sometimes when people find out that I have Asperger's Syndrome is they all want to know what is my special gift. I guess this is a ligament inquiry because after all, many people how have been featured on television or movie that are autistic seem to all exhibit some form of talent that most people don't have. Not only do people inquiry about the talent, but how intelligent are you when it comes to these attributes? Some great examples of people with these talents like Dr. Temple Grandin who was revolutionary with her treatment of cattle, Albert Einstein of course developed the equation of E=MC2 and John Elder Robison has the special ability to modify amplifiers, rebuild cars and several other mechanical feats that few people can do. There are even others who can look at a city's skyline and then sit down in a studio with no picture in hand and then redraw the skyline to the last detail. I think you can see his talent on YouTube.  I gu...

Here is one of those funny times when it's really easy to say, but harder to do. For some, giving an apology and meaning it can be two totally different things all together. When I was growing up, I will honestly say that I did as little apologizing as I could. Please don't think of me as cruel or heartless, it's just that when something happened to someone else I just didn't see the need to apologize especially if I had nothing to do with the problem. There were other times when I just wasn't simply aware that an apology was needed. I can recall many times when I mom forced me to apologize for something I might have said or done. Of course, I was not very happy for two reasons, one - I didn't like my mom forcing me to say 'I'm sorry' when I wasn't; and two - I felt like it wasn't my fault so why would I apologize for something I had nothing to do with the issue. As I've gotten older, I have learned to be a little more cognizant of w...

I realize in today's family, the roles are changing rather drastically. I can think of another time when roles in the family were shaken up since World War 2. Life today seems more like unwed mothers giving birth to fatherless children and if they are married the couple only has about a 50-50 shot of staying married. I realize this doesn't seem to make sense, but that's the reality of the world we live in. Traditionally, in any house, the father was the person who was always considered the 'head of the household', but that role has deteriorated through the years. How did this whole idea start? Not surprising we can look to the Bible for the answer. As I mentioned back in a previous blog about Leadership, the book dictates that the male is the head of the household and will be personally judged on the spirituality of the members of the family. So we as the males have a heavy responsibility on the welfare of everyone in the family. Sadly, this task for the male o...

Being a director like I have for several years, there are things that I've had to deal with in this business. This isn't the professional method of directing, but this is my perspective on how to be a director in any medium. I will probably address the proper method of how to treat actors, but that is not the sole focus on what I'm going to share. As a director you will have to deal with people who think they know it all and you can't say anything that will benefit me. The problem that most amateur actors forget is that acting is an art form, but it's also an occupation. I think people tend to forget that acting is work...hard work. One of the things that I try to let the kids know is that it's a very difficult business to get into. I feel like they need to hear the truth about the world of entertainment. I tell them that they have to 'want' it very badly and do almost anything to get in. An internship is a great way to get your foot in the door, bu...

A large gathering people didn't bother me too much, but as I've gotten older my opinion has changed slightly. Now granted, I'm not talking about getting in the right crowd or a bad crowd, but just a large mass of people in one general location. I remember going to rock concerts, sporting events, museums, conventions and not be fazed by extremely large groups of people. I don't know if it's my age. I don't know if it's the new medication that helps me be more aware of my surroundings. All I know is my views on crowds have changes quite a bit. The idea of this posting actually came to me when I was in an elevator. Since I don't ride very many elevators I never gave this a lot of thought, but other than family or friends I tend to dislike elevators if other people are in it too. I handle the situation well enough, but when I enter and I don't see any one around immediately then I'm pushing that close button as fast as I can. There have been sev...

Recently we had a tragic event happen here in Kansas City. A five-year old boy that was autistic, ran out past the fence and headed toward the neighbor's pond. Sadly, the authorities found that the boy had drowned in five feet of water. What I'm going to address is how we have a tendency to put an idea in our head and go with it until we accomplish our goal. Here was the news story: KANSAS CITY, MO. —The drowning of a 5-year-old Cass County boy with autism on Tuesday is raising awareness about the special attraction that bodies of water have for children on the autism spectrum. Statistics show that nearly half of all children with autism wander. For a child with autism, that type of wandering means the child is on a mission and knows exactly where he or she is going. Children with autism are often drawn to pools and other bodies of water. Experts said they find them beautiful and are fascinated by the way light sparkles on the water. Experts said that attract...

  This might seem a little unusual for my blog to be talking about a certain person, especially one that I've never met in person, but he still has a special place for me because of how much we have in common...mostly because we both have Asperger's. Brant Hansen is or as of Monday July 7 th , 2014 was a DJ for a national syndicated Christian radio station called Air 1. He and I have exchanged messages through Facebook from time to time in pleasant conversations, but we have come to a point that is a little more serious. Brant has never shied away from his disability and if anything he has been a positive voice to anyone who would listen about his Asperger's. As I mentioned though, Air 1 is ready to shut him down. Here is what Brant had to say about his departure from the radio station: "If you've been a listener to our radio show, please know this:  I’m heartbroken over the end of the show.  I've counted every day as an honor to be able to have a platfo...