Archives for category: Autism, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome

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my mind feels kinda like this lately: a little dim, a little brilliant, what the heck is that thing in the sky, a tightly knotted mess of limbs and leaves but thank goodness there’s a trunk and roots… somewhere… is that really a jet, or a flying saucer… oh yeah, Ghost Radar calls those Bob, have you ordered the pizza yet (it’s getting dark… now where can I find that little copyright symbol…), and would you look at the stuff flyin’ out of that big dark thing!

My fingers feel like doing a little tapping, so I hope y’all enjoy it as much as I do…

Siriusly, things seem to be going rather well right now, and I’m quite enjoying some of the ideas being batted about lately, especially now that the Vatican has been outed.

It’s just going to get more and more fun as things progress.

I mean that sincerely… Those of you who know me personally might have some idea of what the past 3+ years for me have been like. And those of you who may not know me as well… are about to.

I’m pretty happy that I’ve been spared from having to ask for anything more than unemployment benefits (from the government – family deserves their fair credit for being there for me!) while I was laid off for two years. Many of you can perhaps imagine what it’s like to lose 2 homes, move 5 times in two years looking for work, give up custody of your only child (with special needs), end up with nothing left but what can fit in the 12-year-old CRV, and spend a little time in a certain now-closed mental institution, the mere name of which causes mental health care professionals to groan.

At least that part was free… well kind of. Since I had to file bankruptcy, I guess it’s in someone else’s hands now.

I know my Mom is probably reading this and thinking, “Oh dear, I thought we were doing so much better!”

Well, Mom, we are, and I love you and Dad from the bottom of my heart.

In fact, I’m doing so much better that I’ve realized that if I share this little bit, maybe some people who were feeling down will smile, and some who’ve had an easier time will remember feeling grateful…

Because there is one thing that I’ve learned in the last 3 years for sure: there are a whole lot people with similar stories in this world, who might be feeling alone or embarrassed.

And they deserve to know they’re in good company.

And we’re all going to be alright.

Another thing I’ve learned is that a lot of us are on meds. And who knows why, but even if meds are a poison of “Big Pharma”, they may still help. I was surprised that they do for me, and I’m still me. I’m glad I gave ’em a chance.

Because I’m here to tell you that there are also a heck of a lot of people out there who are brilliant and kind and psychic… or empathic… or just “sensitive”… or maybe even telepathic.

So I’m glad to know that I’m not alone.

And many of us have diagnoses of depression, bi-polar, schizo-affective, ADHD, but there’s really not anything “wrong” with us. We just would benefit from other people dropping their fears and allowing us to be different from them.

“We” are here to teach.

And most of the folks we call “Autistic”? Don’t even get me started. I prostrate to anyone who has the guts to fearlessly refuse to engage people who try to manipulate them.

(I know that sounds like a broad-brush accusation, but I promise it’s not. Some contemplation and compassion might reveal the meaning behind those words.)

So I’m here, and I’m gonna say it as loud as I can in a blog:

I REPRESENT.

And I advocate.

I’m getting clear messages from around the globe (and our unseen dimensions) that things in this muddy old world are finally shifting. I’m ready.

I think I have 8 blogs registered with WordPress (and a YouTube channel, and soon an online shop, but we’re talking about the blogs, right?). Seven of them are active (well, okay, a few are a little cobwebby right now…), and the idea was that I needed these to keep my trains of thought in order.

That’s actually worked pretty well, like filing cabinets… But with re-blogging, it’s like having little wormholes between them!

As I prepared to return to work a couple weeks ago, I caught a glimpse of how we can expend a lot of energy trying to keep things separate. Really, it might be easier to integrate.

To talk about stuff… together, like…

So I decided to have my coming out party here online, and boy it feels good.

This little blog is my “normal” corner of the world. Other pieces dispense Buddhism, Fed-Up-Neo-Buddhism, New-Age-Wacko-UFOlogy, Just Havin’ Fun with friends on the Spirit Train, My Bandaid Buddhist Dream Log, and Because U Think To Ask, a nascent but soon-to-burgeon resource about the Hollow Earth and Extra-Terrestrials. Another (Up2the5th) is a resource for folks who just remembered why they’re here and want to connect and learn more.

Last but not least, the newest one, FORT (which is still waiting for posts), will teach anyone who wants to know, a wonderful way you may be able to connect with your Spiritual Guide (I use a pendulum and Intuition).

For free.

See? I’m all over the place…

The best part is this: if you enjoy my posts here, but are not interested in Buddhism, and think UFOs are Ultimately Freakin’ Odd, that’s quite alright. Please know that as long as you’re polite, you’re welcome in all my little corners!

And I love questions.

So thank you for hangin’ with me for this long. I’m so grateful for the web, and blogging, and people who are different.

This finger-tappin’ session was particularly enjoyable for me.

Thank you for sharing my space, and may we all have a remarkably wonderful week!
Namaste,
Leslee Hare/Kelsang Namkhyen/Jetsun Dorje

May We All Realize Oneness Very Soon.

(I’ll try to add links later, but you can find everything at my gravatar.com profile, and maybe on the About page here, if you’re curious. Thanks!)

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(Conversation at a pizza joint…)

What is the ____ religion?

-Well, it’s ____, and ____, but I’m not an expert, so you might want to look it up and read about it some…

Yeah. So: “Fear what you don’t know.”

-Huh?

Well, that’s what everybody else does…

(I know I’m not objective, but my kid sure does ask incisive questions. He calls ’em as he sees ’em. We may be talking about this one for a while…)


http://youtu.be/p2FugTurW7Q

“RIDING THE SPECTRUM: HIGH GEAR AND LOW GEAR”

a Video presentation for the ADHD Coaches Organization Conference, Atlanta GA 2012

[This video is a remix of the original version (http://youtu.be/JYTwSWzG3wE); the original gives a more accurate rendering of the spectrum experience… My friends on the spectrum “got it” immediately… My “neuro-typical” friends said it was too fast and mixed up… So there you have it… Vive la difference! ;)]

A peek inside the experience of very special minds, that receive and filter sensory information in ways that defy “neuro-typical”.

In 2000, Leslee Hare began a journey with many twists and turns. She was working with specialists who eventually diagnosed her son Lucas with Autism. During the process she realized that if Lucas was “Autistic”, then she was certainly “Something” not very far removed along the Spectrum.

Lucas simply rode in high gear, while she coasted along in low gear, under the radar and managing to fit in… somewhat.

Through over a decade of working with Lucas, Leslee became convinced that the “Spectrum” encompasses more than just Autism, Asperger’s, PDD-NOS, Sensory Integration Issues, Proprioceptive Issues, etc.

She perceives that ADHD, Asperger’s and Autism – and many other labels that we use to describe neurological differences, including some “paranormal” phenomena – simply describe different points on the Spectrum.

And the folks who think they’re “neuro-typical” slide along the Spectrum, too. They just happen to have been in the majority… until now.

We all share this ride.

Part One:
High Gear reveals the world that appears to someone with very high-functioning ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, or Autism.

Part Two:
Low Gear filters the world into the more regulated experience of a person who’s managed to qualify as “normal”.

The two versions of Riding The Spectrum loop in sequence.

Experience them both, and glimpse a wider view of the world as it flies by.

(Words, images, direction & production by Leslee Hare; Music by Matthew Pelosi)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Leslee Hare

Keep the words concise and the images overflowing with content. You see everything you’re meant to see, in the many layers of intention and desire.
My tendency to use strong words to express my understanding of life taught me that editing brings deeper understanding. I rant and then sift through the chaff, lifting out the essential grains of my truth. I love getting help and comments from friends. Each word struck and added indicates progress.
I begin with a concept, next comes a script, then the images arise from the energy behind the words. I use only original work… my own artwork and fonts, my amateurish photography, half a dozen software programs, and some amazing original music by Matt Pelosi. With this trance-like process, intuition nudges these videos into being.
I hope they help you find another bit of your own inner spark!
9 January 2012


I’m so sorry they “had” to die… But they gave themselves to a very honorable cause: MY SON cooked dinner with me last night!!! (Oh, and it wasn’t a grilled cheese sandwich or a pizza!)

I am so proud of him… 

Those of you who’ve followed this blog for a while may remember that he has an autism diagnosis… And since he’s turned 15, he’s been on a remarkable tear of learning life skills.

At his own initiative.

Last night, he and I cooked pasta, enhanced a marinara, chopped Belgian endive (…um, no, not for the pasta…), and sauteed shrimp.

He learned what paprika tastes like, and what al dente feels like. Oh, and to wait until the water boils to put the salt in.

But guess what the totally unexpected BONUS was?

When we got home from shopping, I was exhausted from a long, busy day. I was dreading heating up the bottled sauce and waiting on the spaghetti to be done… I just wanted to go lie down.

But when I realized, after a few minutes, that he was actually going to stay there in the kitchen with me and do whatever I asked to help, I became energized! We had fun, the food was excellent, and I felt so good when we were done that I even happily washed up.

We really never know where the next quiet, unassuming gift of love is going to come from, do we?

May we all enjoy such gifts, just when we need them!


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(I think this is the refrigerated boxcar…)

I’m in the middle of a class trip to Savannah with my son, and we went to both an aviation museum and the Georgia Railroad museum today…

Amazing textures, shapes and colors…

Amazing group dynamics… A couple dozen teenage boys on the Spectrum, seven adults, beautiful weather, a well-planned excursion, and the wonderful opportunity to see a group of young men work it out.

Life is good.


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Selecting Musical Instruments for Children – Guest Post by Dr. Vicki Panaccione.

I hope my fellow Mom-Blogger Laura Lamere doesn’t mind my re-posting this wonderful article… It’s Saturday morning and my eyes are still half-closed! Thank you, Laura and Dr. Panaccione!

Selecting Musical Instruments for Children – Guest Post by Dr. Vicki Panaccione

 

– Originally published: January 26, 2011 – Reposted with permission by Dr. Vicki Panaccione   –

Selecting musical instruments for children seems like the responsibility of parents.  Piano seems to be the starter instrument of choice for many parents who have pianos in their home.  But what if your children don’t want to play the piano?  Or, what if they like to plink upon the keys but have no interest in doing more than that?  What’s a parent to do?

Playing an instrument has many benefits, including helping children learn patience, develop coordination, stimulate their creative juices, and so on.  Some children have obvious talent, while others not so much.  But, I feel that if the selection of musical instruments for children is left to their own choosing, their natural guidance systems will lead them to the instrument(s) that ‘sing’ to them.

Selecting Musical Instruments for Children with Different Learning Styles

(please click to read more)

 


HAPPINESS IN THE HOLE
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Who says you can’t buy happiness?

A tough morning with a doctor…

Add flour, water, sugar, oil & love (and a little chocolate)…

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Who says there’s no panacea?

We call it Krispy Kreme & conversation!

(and a hug helps, too!)

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My son talks with me a lot.

The conversations are often challenging, but words cannot convey the depth of love, pride, and amazement I feel when he asks questions that I doubt many 15-year-olds ask anyone.

And society teaches us that Autism is a disability. Makes you wonder.

Now, he may wish I were dead before this is all over, but I’ve decided to start writing about our conversations.

Some of the topics don’t belong on a blog that’s not rated “mature”, so I’m afraid you won’t hear about those (except in thickly veiled terms). But many of them seem quite universal. And having these conversations with a young adult who looks from a very a-typical point of view sheds a sometimes poignant perspective on the topics.

“Mom, am I a bad person?”

My heart wrenches, just remembering those words.

This question arose in the car on the way to school one morning, the day after he had told me about three incidents at school.

Incident 1:

“I kinda got in trouble today because I threw fluffy seeds on a kid when we were outside.”

Oh, he didn’t like it, huh?

“No, I guess not.”

Well, it might help to remember that, just like you can’t stand it when other people sing, other kids at school have their things that they can’t stand. So maybe this kid doesn’t like fluffy things.

“Yeah, maybe.”

So, why did you do it, anyway? Did you mean to upset him, or were you teasing him? Or you just wanted to see what he’d do?

“Well, I was doing this story in my head where this other guy and I were doing a joke to throw fluffy seeds on him, and see if it made him turn fluffy… And that kid just happened to be there.”

Oh, so you were doing a story, and it wasn’t even about the kid you threw the seeds at?

“Right.”

Oh, okay. Well, just try to remember that you don’t like people singing around you, so it’s nice to be considerate of others when you do things to them, and ask yourself if you think they’d really like it. Okay?

“Okay.”

Incident 2:

“Well, there was this other thing that happened…”

Yeah? What was that?

“Well, I kinda went ‘Arrghhh’ (gesticulating a lunge) at SingerBoy today because he was singing and I didn’t want him to.”

Ooooh… Wow, that’s pretty agressive! So this is back to having consideration for others, isn’t it?

“Yeah…”

So, what did SingerBoy do when you did that?

“Well, he kicked me in the… you know…”

(I’m sorry – I couldn’t help but laugh…) Gee, I hear that really hurts!

“Yeah…”

So you must have really made him mad. Maybe he thought you were picking a fight. And you know, maybe his Dad has taught him to fight back when someone picks on him…

(silence)

And you know he really loves to sing… Just like you love to do your stuff. You wouldn’t like it if someone lunged at you for leaving bits of sticker paper on the floor, would you?

“Well, no…”

Incident 3:

“This little kid asked me what I was playing on my DS today, and I said, ‘Well, you don’t really need to know; it’s rated Teen’. And then he said, ‘Oh, Ghost Recon. That’s nothing. I play Halo.”

Such confusion. To the literal mind, never in the world would a 10-year-old be playing Halo, of all things! So I focused on the tone of voice.

You know, it sounds like you might have been talking a bit like a Know-It-All… People kinda don’t like Know-It-Alls…

(silence)

Do you know what a Know-It-All is?

“Well, I guess not… Someone who knows everything?”

Explanations ensued. How we make friends. How we think about other people’s feelings. How we try to get along with others (amazingly, he was actually listening).

How, in a school, where EVERYONE has something that drives them nuts (since it’s a school especially for kids with ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s, etc.), it’s especially important to understand that we never know what’s going to push someone’s buttons…

(silence)

Do you know what “Push Someone’s Buttons” means?

“Well, no…”

More explanations.

The things we take for granted, assuming others automatically understand…

All in that 30-minute ride home. It was enough of a dose of parenting to last us both all night. I tend to focus so much on trying to help him understand “appropriate” (read: expected) behavior, hoping he’ll get less-blind-sided by life that way.

Yes, he thought about it, so much so that by the next morning, he was worried that he might be a “bad person”.

Geez, is there any part of parenting that’s not guess-work?

I wonder if priests feel this way when they hear confessions. At least with my son and our long commute, we can spend the aftermath doing damage control.

It’s far more fun spending half an hour telling my kid how awesome he is, and how the other kids might have gotten ‘talks’ too (since in many cases their actions deserve a little discussion, as well), and watching the smile and raised eyebrows of relief spread across his face… than it is to lecture on how we should behave in order to keep out of trouble.

Thank goodness both sink in.

And like magic, the next day is a good day.


“Asperger’s”

Diagnose & inhibit people with voices speaking the truth so others might hear.

(what does this mean to you?)

Make yourself known.

(unknown artist deserves credit.)

Make a new image of yourself.

(keep going.)

(Squiggly red line on the screen. . . Word. Word doesn’t understand or define “Asperger’s”. . . )

(this post is part one of a script for an upcoming video on autism, asperger’s syndrome and adhd. the preliminary version of the video may be viewed here.)