This reminds me of the time ... having dinner at some seafood restaurant, the music came on and all the wait-persons came by my table and did some kind of shuffle-line dance. Here is the fun part: I was surprisingly entertained by this.

/not autistic
//am a curmudgeon

When I was in college, I drove past a colorful local character every day who would stand in his yard and wave. I thought it was kind of sweet, as he was an older, obviously mentally handicapped fellow. However, he apparently only liked cars. One of my friends jogged by him one day and waved, which the man responded to by screaming, GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I'LL KILL YOU MOTHERfarkER!

Splish: I believe you mean "Dustin in here."

Bradog: When I was in college, I drove past a colorful local character every day who would stand in his yard and wave. I thought it was kind of sweet, as he was an older, obviously mentally handicapped fellow. However, he apparently only liked cars. One of my friends jogged by him one day and waved, which the man responded to by screaming, GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I'LL KILL YOU MOTHERfarkER!

On the way from my parents house to the university we all attended was the home of a WWI veteran -- very old man when my oldest sister started college in 1967. He would stand at the side of the road and salute every car that came by. My sister met someone from the small town and asked about him. Found out he had "shell shock" ( PSTD today, I guess) and thought he was in the war. He lived with relatives that took care of him, but he had children, so he must have recovered somewhat, for a time anyway. He lived until the mid-70s, so he must have been at least in his late 80s/early 90s. Made me sad to see him -- but we always waved.

Yeah? So? What does he make? Paintings? Sculptures?

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yellowcat: "shell shock" ( PSTD today, I guess)

I read somewhere that the term "shell shock" meant an actual physical type injury where the percussive effect of an exploding shell (or several) jostled around the soldier's brain causing specific damage. That damage led to a syndrome of odd neurological disorders. Because of that true PTSD victims from the old days ended up just getting labeled as "shell shocked" because there was no other diagnosis for psychological trauma due to battle conditions.

Anyone familiar with this?

debug: 'Autistic child who loves horns'


Jeff Sheriff, is autistic and just turned 32 last week.

32 seems a bit old to be labeled as a child.

He may be 32 physically, but the mom said that he has the mind of a child

There's a young autistic lad in my city who hangs out on a street corner and dances the day away with his boombox. He has a poster board that reads 'Eminem is my daddy'. i am sure the claim isn't really true, but he could kinda pass for offspring of Marshal Mathers.
He's out most days, even during winter if it isn't too cold. We drive by and honk our horns at him. He smiles and raises a hand over his head in response to our attention. i believe he even has a Facebook page, i am not sure what name it's under since i don't have a Facebook account myself; his should be 'Dancing Joe' or something similar hailing from Lorain, Ohio.
Poor guy was beat up a few years back and his boombox stolen. The former owner of the store he dances in front of got him a new one and added security cameras. The store went out of business, but nowadays folks try to keep a better eye on him.
i kind of look forward to seeing him when i drive down that road.

debug: nightronin: debug: 'Autistic child who loves horns'


Jeff Sheriff, is autistic and just turned 32 last week.

32 seems a bit old to be labeled as a child.

He may be 32 physically, but the mom said that he has the mind of a child



That doesn't mean he is a child.


Do people ask your parents "do you have any children" or do they ask them "do you have any adults"?

Whether you or 3 or 30 you are still someone's child.

Ok, maybe not you. You could have been hatched.

Claude Ballse: debug
'Autistic child who loves horns'


Jeff Sheriff, is autistic and just turned 32 last week.

32 seems a bit old to be labeled as a child.

I'd also say that Autism shouldn't necessarily mean mental retardation either.

[www.nade2013.com image 290x331]

Unless he wasn't given the proper developmental attention I suppose.

/Very interested in learning more about Autism from someone whose not a Mommy-blogger and has actual facts.

I *SO* want to attend one of her speaking engagements. I saw the movie, "Temple Grandin" and
immediately went online and found every interview video clip with her that I could find. Fascinating
woman.

My youngest son has high functioning autism and asperger's syndrome and though he is usually
a happy kid, sometimes he gets very down when something takes him longer to figure out than
other kids.

That's when I point to people like Ms. Grandin and Spencer Reid (ok, he's a fictional character
but my son is fascinated with Criminal Minds and can tell what season an episode is in by Reid's
haircut) as examples of people who faced difficulties like he faces and were still able to go on
to do amazing things.

He's a funny egg, my Paul. Knows everything about weather because he's scared to death of
storms. Knows everything about sharks but won't go in the water. He can also tell you all about
the history of the MGM lions - which lion was used in what year, direction their heads turned
in, whether they roared or not, etc...

It's amazing the things he gets interested in.

He's 11 but he still comes and sits in my lap for a few minutes before bed each night so I can
rock him in my recliner.

leevis: I think the next step will be somebody arranging a nonstop parade of cars passing the house, and they'll all wave.

Red Sovine?

Growing up, there was a crazy, khaki-body-suit wearing, 60ish man who lived next door with his mother who used to cut the grass every morning at 6 and would chase us with his shotgun when we threw lit sparklers on his lawn on lazy, summer nights.