We’ve all heard the saying, “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” While that is true of many things in life, it cannot be said of Autism. People on the spectrum are different from one another, and there is no such thing as typical. Many can share similar characteristics (e.g. need to have a schedule, social awkwardness), but the degree to which each person exhibits these characteristics also varies from person to person.
I can hear your wheels turning in your head, “Another Autism blog. It’s like the new trendy thing to do or something.” If that is your attitude, then nothing anyone says will change your firmly held beliefs (a characteristic of Autism as well by the way) and you should stop reading now and continue on in ignorance.
If, however, you understand that there can be as many blogs about Autism as there are people with Autism and you want to learn more, then stick around! I will be taking you along on my journey through parenting a (nearly) teenaged boy with Asperger’s syndrome.
A Little Bit About Me
I am a divorced, single mom with two children – Isaiah, the focus of the series, and his older sister Reyna. I live in a small town in Texas (this will be important) with my sister and her family who have helped us quite a bit these last two years. I teach special education in the middle of another small town 20 minutes from my home.
I’m also a Geek. There, I’ve said it. It’s on the internet now, and I can’t take it back. I wouldn’t want to anyway because being a Geek has helped me to help Isaiah and has allowed me to share his world.
A Little Bit About Isaiah
Isaiah has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism that is highly intelligent but lacking in social awareness. Isaiah knows that people have friends, hang out in groups, and interact with others. He just doesn’t quite know how to do it. He often tries to mimic the behavior he sees, but it doesn’t always work for him either because it was inappropriate or he was over-the-top with the behavior. Emotionally, Isaiah is much younger than his peers. This often causes problems in the classroom where he functions academically higher than his peers. Isaiah also has ADHD and the quickest metabolism I’ve ever seen.
So, to summarize Isaiah. He is a socially awkward, intelligent tween who is skinny, likes superheroes, believes in Santa Claus, obsesses about the weather, often communicates using movie quotes, and bounces off the walls. And that’s before you really get to know him.
About the Title
Isaiah Unmedicated refers to the real Isaiah, the one who isn’t muzzled by ADHD meds that dampen his senses so he can function at school. I am hoping to give you the purest look I can (understand that I am still his mother and biased to some degree because of that) at what it is like to live with Isaiah and experience his world. I tell Isaiah all the time that he just sees the world differently than most people. I hope you enjoy, or at least become empathetic to, the world through Isaiah’s eyes.
To become more familiar with Isaiah before this blog series gets going, please view the earlier post Help Needed. https://cleverlyquaint.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/help-needed/
cleverlyquaint 