My New Eyes

I was online at CVS and noticed an odd looking man in his twenties. He looked as though he tried to give himself a backward Mohawk. His hair was all chopped up, and clothes a bit disheveled. Honestly, my first impulse was to be leery of him, I mean he looked kinda out of sorts. It soon dawned on me that he may be "Out of Sync".

"The Out of Sync Child" is the bible of autism world. It discusses SPD in length (Sensory Processing Disorder). SPD is a key component in autism. Autistic children do not process information from their environment like "normal" children do. Essentially their senses are out of wack. They either crave stimuli, or are over stimulated by their senses of smell, touch, hearing etc.

I continued to watch this young man purchase his goods, and talk on a cell phone. His voice was louder than normal, and he was repeating himself a bit. What was more interesting to me was the way the cashier addressed him or rather didn't address him. She wasn't outwardly rude, however you could see that she was distancing herself. She offered little or no eye contact and "forgot" her normal "Have a good evening" at the end of the transaction.

A heavy blanket of despair hung over my shoulders that night. I was disappointed in my own initial reaction. I was suddenly hit with the realization that this could be my son in 20 some odd years. It was then when I started to think about the times I was irritated by a misbehaving child in the store, the mom who I perceived to be negligent in discipline.

Andrew's diagnosis has given me a new perspective on the world, and I am a better person for it.