Getting hungry just thinking about it.

When I was much younger, I would eat nothing but peanut butter jelly sandwiches, cereal, pizza pockets, and spaghetti. That’s basically it. Today, I’m eating a whole wide variety of things to eat!

Food may play a huge roll in the autism spectrum; remember the part about having a routine and that change is very difficult to those who have autism? Well, that’s no different when it comes to food. You get so used to eating the same thing that it’s hard to expand the taste buds and try new food items.

How did I go from a picky eater to eating just about anything the world feeds me? My parents encouraged me to try new things; if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have it for a while, but then as I grew older, I started to like the food item I tried. It may sound like the fact that we’re all the same when it comes to food, but autism takes a much longer time to be flexible with different tastes. Never give up when...

You’ve seen them in comic books, movies, television shows, video games, toys, and so on. What makes a superhero? Well, besides superpowers, every hero has one thing in common, they save lives.

As the years go on since the thirties, the comics develop a more personal story to tell for each hero, and tell these stories in different ways. For example, after Superman crashlanded in Kansas, what happened after that? He sure lived in his adopted home for a long time before he donned the red cape.

Every one of these heroes have some story to tell before they became heroes. All of them relatable in a way for completely different people. Realistic but with many fantasy twists to make the stories very enjoyable. Batman’s parents were killed, and he spent his whole life fighting similar criminals that cause havoc in Gothem; Flash’s mother was killed, moved on as a scientist, and then became the Flash fighting crime. Later on, there was a story where he was fast enough to...

It’s everywhere and it’s powerful! Knowledge starts when we’re all born. We all know what’s up in the world and how there are lessons all over the place. When a lot of kids think of knowledge, they think of school

School itself can be scary; let’s be honest, first time, during, and ending it all. Recently, I have learned a whole lot of very fascinating stories about school starring kids with or without autism. Some say schools destroy creativity, some say schools don’t help out with bullying, some say the knowledge is not required for living life and that it is to hard to understand.

It is understandable why people would be scared of school when putting these to mind; another thing I have to mention is that someone with autism would have an even harder time for them and for those around them during school time. I remember standing on desks, move around the desks, bumping heads, screaming, and rolling on the floor! Yeah, I was indeed very bizarre...

Art

Drawing, sculpting, and writing are examples of art.

I used to think that writing never really was considered an artform until I was sixteen. When I think of ‘art’, I think of the stuff you see at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) or anything that shows off a picture of some sorts. I’ve seen some drawings done by people with autism, and most of these drawings are no different than any of the other creative art that has being shown, but the meaning behind these drawings are even more surprising. For example, a man draws an entire city at bird’s eye view because of his uncanny photographic memory of the time he was in a helicopter ride. Another thing I saw recently is someone drew their favorite fictional made up characters next to the autism awareness ribbon logo, or another drawing where characters put all the colorful pieces together. To me, there are stories behind every one of these drawings and different kinds of artwork.

Photography is another type of...

Wait, what? This is a bit unexpected! What’s the meaning of this? I’ll tell you.

Reality television is a type of television show that depicts the lives of one person or persons. Why does this spark my interest? I don’t watch that kind of content on a daily bases, but is still fascinating. I tend to dissect the stuff I do not enjoy as much to understand why it can be entertaining.

I had a quick part-time job at a candy store on a December doing the basics such as sorting candy, taking out the trash, taking out the recycling, and making boxes for the fudge. I met a new friend who helped out with the boxes and putting the Bon-Bon sticker on the boxes and we talked about what we enjoy doing on our days off, she mentioned a reality TV show, and me being all clueless dug in deep on the subject. I knew it was popular, but never had the idea of actually asking questions about it.

People watching people living! It was then I put on a smug face and learned more about it...

It’s the stuff you put on everyday.

Fashion itself interests me a whole lot. Even though I like to keep it basic most of the time with my taste in fashion, I feel that clothing really expresses a person’s personality. Edgy, bold, contemporary, goth, retro, flirty, and many other different kinds of style tastes that are out there in the world; everyone likes to have a preference on who they like to be represented by.

It’s a neat way of understand people, and who they are and where they come from, but for me personally, I like many of these different styles and hope that one day I’ll try them all. I don’t believe the outside is what makes people; and that I know that there are people who are insufferable, but in their hearts, they are full of kindness and generosity. I would grow a goatee when I’m not doing anything special outside the house, and I enjoy growing it. Sometimes certain clothing styles fits a goatee well, but then Dad and Stepmom,...

Used to hate change and differences! I believe it is a major characteristic in having autism. It all starts at a very young age; you use the same coat hook everyday, when that hook is being used by someone else, you start to get cranky. That’s just an example; I had to go through the same thing of having my coat hanger to be taken. Another example is that there was a soccer goal that was facing the wrong way. Curious I was, I thought the teachers had it that way for a reason, and when I saw a bunch of kids working together making the goal face the other direction, I was a bit irritated and said that the goal should be left alone. Turns out there was a big wind storm back then and the goal flipped; the teachers told me it was alright.

Change is everywhere, and although it may be hard for someone with autism, it’s all in the matter of both the one with autism and one with not to work through the differences that goes on everyday. It took me a very long time until I was...

Time to get this over and done with… for now at least. It’s hard to talk about video games to both who play or don’t play because even though I’m good at it, I never want to be identified as someone that plays video games all the time. Anyway, here it is!

What are games? They’re games that you play on the video! You interact with what goes on in that little screen! It’s pretty cool!

What makes it all so popular and so fascinating?

I have my own reason why I like playing video games, but based on the content I’ve seen on other people whether it’s playing with friends or the stories being told with video games, I have it all figured out!

Remember ‘fantasy dominating reality’? Video games in a way let’s the player be a part in the fantasy and make it feel so real; it has been advertised for years and years with the concept of being a part of their worlds.

A lot of kids LOVE that! They love to idea of being in the make...

Which do you prefer? Traditional or CG (CG means Computer Generated)? Seeing them drawings move around like in traditional animation is pretty darn incredible!

Why is animation amazing and in some way be a part of autism? Well, there’s a theory that people who have autism would rather be around the fantasy of animation of any kind than being a part of reality; which is why many would quote characters from video game characters, TV show characters, movie characters, and so on. Why could that be? It can all be colorful, fast paced, full of adventure, and characters that can be somewhat relatable!

I didn’t really pay attention too much on story because I never really understood it too well, I just liked the funny faces and colorful vistas. Then again… most of the cartoons I have watched and actually understood very well were cartoons from 1920’s to the 1960’s. Yeah, there was animation back in the 1920’s; I’ve seen The Adventures of Prince...

What is music? Who invented it? Why is it so important?

Who knows who invented it. I believe we’re all born with it.

Same with humor, everyone’s got their own musical tastes. Still trying to figure out what my main choice is for music genres, but they are all so good. One thing that is a big part of me is music. I go pretty crazy about it, it’s one of my favorite things since chips and dip!
Ever heard the old saying ‘Rock n Roll soothes the soul’? Well, it’s not just rock that does the soothing, but any kind of music does that pretty darn well.

Now, a lot of the times, whether it’s ADHD, autism, or any kind of ability characteristic; music really helps calm down the mind, even when I was very little, music just helps me be in control. Early stages of autism really brings out the odd and the strange in the unique ability. There are ways to keep in check on certain situations where it is not appropriate to scream or put your hands down your...