Nighttime

Want to know one of my favorite times of day? Nighttime. Here is why.

The daytime is very nice too. Bright lights, sunshine, and it’s very warm most days during the summer. Nighttime however is something special. Time to go way back and understand the benefits of nighttime.

Everyone has their own experiences relating to the topic, here is how I see it in the experience of nighttime.

• Dark
• Stars
• Quiet
• Crickets
• City Lights
• Crashing Waves

We lived on this island; several miles away from the city of Seattle. Though far away, we can still see the space needle from the shore. When I was a toddler, my mom would take me on a small joyride in her car and we would go by the shore of the island and look at the city at night. That would be the last thing I want to see before falling asleep. Worked every time when I needed to sleep. Just a trip to look at the city lights and all lights will be out; falling asleep and not wanting to open my eyes until morning. Next to the visual...

I hated getting on the bus.

I LOVE going on the bus!

Little bit of elementary lesson there about past tense and present tense. Class dismissed!

The school bus is a humongous breakthrough for me. Perhaps the bus can be yours too. Here is how the bus system works in the topic of autism.

I had to go to school. Being dropped off by my parents was not much of an option back then. Off to the bus whether I liked it or otherwise.

It would be easy to say something on the lines of:

• "I got used to the bus after a few hundred times of riding it."

True, many things become much better over time, but there is a bit more to it than just time. You see, I didn't take the BIG bus to go to school, I took a much smaller bus going to school. A bus so small it can carry around ten students at a time. We call it: The Little Bus. That little bus was not so noisy; Only about four students that ride it including me, and it would always be a quiet ride the whole way to the school and back home.

I...

Watching paint dry.

It is a very common activity to think about when a boring activity comes to thought. Who'd want to sit there and watch paint dry?

I DO!

Probably not today, but as a toddler, I would totally be into something like that.

HERE IS WHY.

Not just about the paint drying that is the topic. Other subjects that fit the boring category.

• Boring movies.
• Boring games.
• Boring video games.
• Boring cartoons.
• Boring colors.
• Boring music.

Examples of many boring things in the topic. This all can do some incredibly good things in the topic of autism, and I will share with you why that is.

The entire world excites me! Full of action packed adventures all over the place. I would not be going on buses and letting them take me to somewhere new if I did not start with the boring. Here is how I see it.

• Before you go over ninety on the open highway, you must first spend the first months admiring the tires.
• Before taking the exciting chances at poker, you must first familiarize with the...

As the late great Al Jolson would say:

"I love-a to- I love-a to sing!"

After he would tell his audience that he loves to sing-a about the moon, the month of June, and the season of spring.

I love to sing! Used to sing with my mom and my dad when we were in the car. Whenever Dad sings, it's always so cool how he turns with a smile and goes: "Do ya like ma singin'?" In recent news, I learned that he used to slay it in karaoke bars back in the day. Trying to follow his footsteps. One more personal note real quick is that I discovered this thing called Twitch Sings, and I can sing all kinds of songs with lots of people online! It's a lot of fun! All kinds of singing styles are a joy to sing the tunes with. Spent the last several hours singing and dancing when no one was watching.

Wish I can talk a whole lot about personal singing experiences, folks; But onto the same topic relating to autism. Here is why the topic of singing to me is incredibly important and something to be positively...

Bad habit! Bad bad bad! I do not approve.

HOWEVER! I would like to take the time to share with you why this gross habit can be so popular with people that have autism or otherwise; Sort of a universal thing that a lot of people would do. Including me. Not as bad as much earlier, but I am so much better at stopping myself before it continues.

Lots of people have their reasons why they bite their nails. I would like to share with you my reason why. I hope this can help you understand why the nail biting happens. This is going to be one of the most discussing and embarrassing things I have ever put in words.

Here we go!

It was true that I have had a habit of eating nails. Finger nails, toe nails, and even actual nails used for construction. Actual nails where I attempted to swallow but dug them out by sticking my hand down my throat and getting them out. Easily learned that you just don't do that; Swallowing nails, just stick with the swords; I don't encourage sword swallowing, just...

"C'mon, Tyler! We're going to Idaho!"

No way to negotiate involving staying at home, minds were set, and we were on our way to Idaho to see my uncle and aunt.

Traveling is one of the biggest challenges relating to autism. One of the biggest reasons why is because traveling involves the one important key word that can be a challenge:

DIFFERENT!

• Different place
• Different people
• Different location
• Different experience
• Different environment
• Different way of going from place to place

May expect some chaotic moments when it involves travel. I know it was painful whenever I would travel. Couldn't even go to the city of Seattle; Which is one thirty minute boat trip away by the way.

That is why I have identify traveling as a skill.

The more you travel, the more you get better at it. It is very possible to become a master traveler, all there is is just some practice.

I could make it easy by saying keep on traveling, but I would also like to share some strategies that can help making...

You are perfect just the way you are.

It can be a common struggle for people who have autism. Wanting to escape from the diagnosis and be perfect. Possible to escape indeed and become someone else, but you still have autism. In this case, it can be very difficult to want to be perfect and to make no mistakes; Truth is, there is always going to be mistakes. Another truth to this is everyone that does not have autism also makes mistakes.

There is one thing I have always wanted to try out and see if it may work. Whenever mistakes happen and children know that they have made a mistake and beat themselves up for it, the idea that I came to mind is a series of videos of people making similar mistakes. Reason why I wanted to see how the strategy play out is so the children can understand that it it not just them that makes similar mistakes, a lot of people can relate, but one of the key parts of these videos is how do they handle these mistakes. Now that I think of it, if I...

Talking to myself. Talking for myself.

“You are the real struggle.”

No one had anything to do with the problems with autism. In fact, many of them have been there wanting to help. Already have chosen to move on from past mistakes, but I felt like it was necessary to share something like this to understand what may be a key challenge in what makes the diagnosis would feel like a struggle. The main key struggle (okay to disagree) is ourselves.

My parents always taught me to accept mistakes when things go horribly wrong, and that I know it would be my mistakes. Readers can believe me when I say that I have made many mistakes. May sound cruel when I said to myself that “you are the real struggle” as I see my reflection, but after staring at that person for a while, I had a feeling that this may be the reason why autism may be so hard for those who have it. No one had anything to do with it, to me, they are innocent.

May have limitations whether it is in speech,...

Little bit of a disclaimer here; I speak for myself. I am not advertising for any products, I am sharing insight for an interest I personally find extremely fascinating and may be beneficial. The Sims is the property of Electronic Arts and the image is free to share. All rights are rightfully reserved.

The hit computer game series, The Sims.

What is The Sims?

Why did the games become huge hits?

What are a few things can we learn from The Sims?

The Sims is a franchise developed by MAXIS and produced by Electronic Arts (commonly known as EA) in which the player can take full control on the characters in the game. You can make them go to places, you can make them eat, you can make them dance, cook, sing, swim, sleep, play games, show off, play a musical instrument, become a gardener, become a detective, and just about anything else you can think of that the game provides. Not only does the games encourage the player to make these characters and make them do whatever they...

Photo by me.

Ten years old, few years after Dad left, we have moved over to a log cabin in the island. I remember the time very well. We lived normally, I went to school, Mom was a medical assistant, and things have been so very well living in the cabin. I can even remember the dancing that we would do when the music plays in the log cabin.

The one part that I remember very well, was when Mom brought home a motorcycle. A good pair of wheels like that would make parking in the city a lot easier, and it's fun to ride on. She enjoyed the two wheels and wanted me to be on the motorcycle.

I did not want to be on the motorcycle, and I was not very welcoming for the offer.

I wasn't too worried about how to balance on that thing while Mom drove it, it was primarily all about the noise it would make. It's not like a car at all because many would get used to the noise by now whenever someone goes out to the supermarket; And most would be inside the car when the engine stars. A motorcycle...