My Autism Insights

This will be a non-autism related post…sort of.  I’ve just spent the evening watching the first African-American president become elected.  And I feel hopeful.  I feel hopeful that my bi-racial children will now grow up among a different world view, that there is now an image of success at a whole different level than I’d ever imagined.  I feel hopeful that no matter what my son’s differences, it has been proven in a very visceral way for me that the sky is truly the limit for him, for my daughter, for generations to come.

I’m rambling a little because I’m, honestly, floored.   No matter what happens now, beyond political alliance or color of skin, the majority of the people of this nation have stood up and looked beyond difference toward our best hope to achieve the common good.

So in that way, maybe this is a post about autism, about succeeding regardless of difference.  Maybe it is a post about possibility, and vision, and hope.  Yes, we can.  I will look at my son with the renewed belief that yes, he can too.

Ha!  They waited long enough to send it!

Maybe I should just rant about how the clocks changing has really upset our lives instead.  I woke up at 3:45 this morning and had to force myself to stay in bed for at least an hour.  The kids were up by 5.  It’s a very tense day here today.  My husband took today and tomorrow off all because of this historic election, which quite frankly has me nervous as heck.  I think Gus has picked up on this because he is completely off the wall this morning!

We went early to our polling place and did not encounter long lines.  Gus came into the booth with me, turned the little levers, and then pulled the big red lever to cast our vote.  I missed one little initiative that was hiding in the top corner of the ballot, but I didn’t mention this to Gus because he’d just get stressed over it.

The kids did very well in not making loud proclamations about the candidates, and Gus didn’t mention anything about how, “Alaska is going to become independent!” because he heard my husband and I joking that Sarah Palin isn’t setting herself up to run in 2012, but that she was planning on becoming the first president of an independent Alaska.  We always get busted when we don’t watch what we say around this boy.

I was going to post about voting rights for persons under guardianship or with ‘intellectual disabilities,’ but I honestly am too wired to say much on the subject that would be coherent.   I did find it disturbing that there are still 8 states that have provisions to deny people the right to vote based on a disability, and there are a couple who have some really deplorable language on the books at that.  The Americans with Disabilities Act is supposed to protect voting rights for persons with disabilities.  I never thought much about it before now, I mean, Gus is only 7, but I think this is something I’ll be looking at a little more closely and hopefully I’ll have something coherent to say about it soon.

Posting twice today because this is so important.  Borrowed from Celebrity Today!