Confession... I'm not perfect...

I have a major flaw in my brain.  Those closest to me know what it is.  My mother really needs some sort of award for dealing with this flaw through my teen years.  It could NOT have been easy.  Imagine that you have a 16 year old daughter, who has amazing ideas, who always takes the sentence "You can't do that" as a challenge.  My mom learned quickly, though, how my mind worked.  I think she tried to use it against me, but it probably didn't always work.  "You can't take auto shop", my Dad told me.  Boy, was he ticked when he got my report card and it said I had an B in Auto Shop.  hehehehe  Yeah, it really isn't easy having to deal with me at times.  My mother even told my ex-husband "The fastest way to get Lisa to do something is to tell her she can't do it".  He didn't learn.  After three years of him telling me what I couldn't do, I left.

So, recently I was having a problem with the dogs taking my covers while I was sleeping.  We have a king sized bed, and the bedding barely hung over the sides, and they'd steal my covers.  So, after months of brain storming, I told my mother my idea.  "I'm going to take 2 twins of everything, and sew them together and make new bedding."  Mom made a fatal error.  "You can't do that, it won't work".  Oh, really?

So, I dropped it.  I learned a LONG time ago, there is no arguing with my mother.  So, I did what I always have done in the past, and just did it anyways.  Rob was watching me every step of the way, trying to figure out what was going on in my mind.  Oh, I was a good girl.  I picked up a bright salmon (a pinky-orange for you guys who don't know your colors) sheet on clearance and said "I LOVE THIS!!!  We are going to use this in our new bedding, ok?"  I don't know what he said... but I did ask him.  Every time I put something together, he'd have this look that said "EWW!!  This is gonna suck, but if I say I don't like it, it will just get worse."

So, I took this:

And made THIS:

The comforter hangs off the edge a good foot or more, and last night I had blankets ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

Me: 1, Puppies ZERO!!!!

Oh, and sorry, Mom.  But I love you very, VERY much!!!!  If it weren't for the strong woman you are, I would never have the guts to be the strong woman I am.

Special Education: Its like comparing Apples to... umm.. Androids.

As all my friends know, I'm immersed in a strange world called Autism.  I thought I knew a lot about it, but I have learned so much more.  I was considered a "Great TA" in my time in public schools... but I wish I knew then what I know now.  The most important lesson is that people on the ASD spectrum can NOT think and feel at the same time.  So, when I'm having an intense discussion with Pitman, and I ask him how he feels about something, he truly does NOT know!  Why?  He's too busy thinking to access his feelings.

Recently, I was given the computer analogy that people with Autism have a different operating system than people who aren't.  The more I've thought of it, I realized its even more than that.  Its a-whole-other proprietary hardware system, also!  What does that mean?  Let me explain it to you.

The Autie's brain is physically different from NT's.  (Autie= my term for people with Autism, NT=Neuro-Typical or simply everyone else)  The nerve thingies that send messages through out the brain (mainly front to back) do not have as many connections as a "normal" brain.  Yes, the messages may eventually get to where they are going, but it will take longer and the message might get a little messed up.  So, its not about running a Windows 8 program on a Windows XP, its actually more like trying to run Microsoft Word for XP on a Macintosh.

Wait, Lisa, you are talking nonsense!!  You can't do that!!

 Exactly.

And Special Education needs to realize that.  Everything from teaching to discipline MUST be different for Auties than it is for the mainstream.  These kids need to learn not only academics, but how to interface in an Android world.  It sounds like an impossible task, but its one that every Autie Mommy (and wife) has taken on to ensure the success of our loved ones.

Wow.  We are taking on a task that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs couldn't even do.  Yes, we ARE amazing.  And the chances of any of us becoming millionaires is slim.