Autism

Hey there, it's been a few days. I've been trying to kick this virus. It's gone for the most part, but it's leaving me beat. All I want to do when I get home from work is sleep. After dinner, I plopped infront of the tv and proceeded to crash. It's always horrible when I do that because I wake an hour or two later and can't go back to sleep for hours. Tonight is no different. So, here I am writing this blog. Well, here I am after reading my email, visiting a web link my mom sent me on autism awareness and now writing this blog.

You see, I have this great nephew that has autism. It's the "high functioning" form called Asperger's Syndrome. He wasn't diagnosed with it until he was older. He's 20 now. It's been a real challenge for my sister to get him the help that he has needed over the years. He has a lot of difficulty with socialization. Social situations are very difficult for him, which causes him to spend a lot of time alone, in the sanctuary of his room.

I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with him when we were living at my sister's house a couple of years back. He never really talked a lot, but being in his home environment allowed us to communicate with him on a different level than when we would just visit for family gatherings. The most touching moment for me was when he gave me a hug and said "I love you," on moving day. Over the years, I had never seen him express gratitude for anything, nor had I seen him express any positive emotion towards another person. It meant so much to me.

So, I'm telling you all of this because of the email my mom sent me. It had a link to a website that you should go to to learn more about autism. Here it is -
http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214 - go check it out! Money is donated towards autism research each time someone views the video clip...

Thank you.