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Anything is Possible if you Dare to Dream

January 27, 2008

Autism: A World without Shades of Grey

I can't imagine living in a world without color, dimension or multiple possibilities. A world that is only black and white and never anything in between. My daughter's world.

Good or bad, true or false, love or hate, yes or no, never maybe.

I'm a very cynical person with a dry sense of humor. I rarely agree with others and love to debate or argue about controversial topics. (Give me a break, I'm a lawyer)

Nevertheless, I am learning, slowly but surely, to watch everything I say around my daughter. She believes what she hears. Literally.
  1. Bad and country in the same sentence, means I hate my country.
  2. If I like someone else's house, I obviously hate ours.
  3. No money to eat out, means that we're poor.
  4. Hurry up, or you'll be late for school, means she's already late.

Today, my daughter was watching the history channel and heard that the world was going to end in 2012. She told me that it wasn't fair, because she'll only be 16 years old and can't join the Army until she's 18.

I was tempted to reply that, if the world is going to end in four years, I'm going to Party Like Its 1999. Instead, I told her that the world was not going to end. She must not have believed me, because she asked her father too.

I don't know if my daughter will ever understand shades of grey, but I will keep trying to explain them and hope that one day, when I ask her a yes or no question, she'll say MAYBE!

Nianya


Links:

Taking Giant Steps for autism
Living the Good Life with Autism
Autistic Spectrum Disorders