Barb

Before attending today's field trip, I watched the videos to get an idea of what to expect. The videos however, did not do Barb justice. Being there in person today to experience it all was really eye opening. It took her nearly five minutes to type the statement, "Autism is my prism, not my prison." Combined, the effort it took to write the sentence and the message itself were a powerful way to begin the presentation. Barb's SS talked through the entire presentation, but that did not take away from the message. Autism is such a misunderstood neurological disorder, but today's presentation gave the audience such perspective. Barb is an inspiration because like the quote she said in the beginning, she doesn't see Autism as necessarily a bad thing. To her, all of the people in the world are over-stimulated. There is a weird fascination with being too busy to do one thing at a time; multitasking is the only option. Barb said that Autism is evolutions response to our current world. With Autism, Barb is able to pay attention to the dew on a blade of grass or the prisms of light in a drop of condensation. Instead of converse fervently with everyone around her, Barb takes in what she sees and hears and puts it into text. It took Barb ten years to complete her book, but it was a goal that she set and one that she met. It was so mind-blowing to me that someone so socially inept could say such intriguing, insightful, and true things on paper. She in her own way is a genius, despite her ability to act like everyone around her. She enjoys company and she has friends like most people, but her life is in a way more rich because she is able to take the time to listen and reflect, when most of us have a million things going on a once. I think what I took away from today was it is so wrong to just write off someone with Autism. Yes, from the outside those with the disorder don't look or act the same, but they have feelings and they're brilliant people. They feel like we do. They desire every basic need that we do and I don't want to forget that.