Thank the teachers with me.

I would not be where I am in AutismWorks without the help of my teachers. They gave so much to help their students. Every teacher is different and that same goes for the students too when learning; Teaching differently and learning differently from each other. Here are ten things that have helped me the most from elementary to high school.

• Extremely patient

Admittingly, I was not an easy student in the classroom. Standing on top of desks, making a mess, having an attitude, etcetera, etcetera; Lots of patience coming from the teachers. The thing that became the game changer was that most of the things I have done were unintentional and didn’t know I was not supposed to do what I was doing. I really did want to improve and to learn.

• Wouldn’t let any of my improper behavior slide

“He’s just being himself, he doesn’t know better” is one of the worst things I have heard; The teachers I have...

The Real Reason Why I Look At The Reflection

It is a strange habit that I find myself doing for as long as I can remember. I just thought about this recently when I was on my lunch break and it got me thinking long and hard about it. I find myself looking at myself in the mirror almost every day; Not just mirrors, windows, lake water, and anything else where I can see myself.

I promise you, this is not a “you are so full of yourself, Tyler'' moment; trust me, I have heard of that reply from a good friend of mine several times. I laughed it off. It’s not really funny though I do not think. Oh no, most of the time as much as I do not want to look at the reflection, I just could not resist and this is why.

• Having a conversation with myself.

I get lonesome really easily ya know. I sort of figured if there was anyone I could talk to, it would be him, the boy in the reflection. How I talk to him doesn’t come from talking with the mouth, no it does not; we...

Don’t follow my example.

That’s my advice when it comes to this example. All kidding aside, I have explained why so many times in my two books that it became extremely exhausting. However, I’ll try my best to see what I would have done differently.

Never have been a huge fan of the bullying stuff; and I do not speak for everyone but I can very well imagine a large majority of people do not want to be bullied. Same with people who would want to talk about it; I know I am one of those people. But I’ll still share.

It is not an easy topic to talk about really. Always feel like I have to be extra careful on what to say in providing advice. I will do my best. The first thing I would do when being bullied is to not say anything and avoid eye contact; Avoiding eye contact gives bullies some extra unneeded attention and it is best to avoid them the best you can.

It's not fun being around them, and after such a terrible experience, it is always important to tell...

Let’s get this over and done with.

I’ve talked a lot about what causes a meltdown, but for this blog post, I’ll talk about what it felt like to have one. I don’t have them today, though I do get mad easily at times; not gonna lie. Mostly over the stupidest of things and for the fun of it to use that energy to get stuff done by letting off all that steam.

The vast majority of children with autism do not want to have a meltdown, same with everyone else that does not have autism. No one wants these things to happen. Here is why.

When a person doesn’t keep it together as hard as they try, eventually, the brain starts to explode! I like to think of a meltdown as a ticking time bomb. I know the old saying that relates to having a short fuse in the topic of temper; I know I get that way when I’m starving. Meltdowns are a lot like having a fuse and the length varies on everyone. Keeping a meltdown from happening is like putting out the fuse however way...

This was my most challenging speaking engagement yet! No one has asked me to speak at a school graduation ceremony until recently; Other speaking engagements I have done were about giving information relating to autism, but this was a GRADUATION speech I had to give, and that was scary! Before I took my seat on the front row, I said: “I want my mom.” My dad was with me, but it was just one of those feelings, ya know.

I think the main reason why I was so terrified, in this particular event, was because it reminded me of the time I graduated high school in 2013, not too long ago. That does not feel very long ago to me, maybe because I know how important graduation is. So we practiced hard on getting the outline right before going up on stage to make the best impression on all of those graduates since it can only be done once. 

Before graduation, Dad and I had the privilege to check out the school . Gateway Academy. Out of all of the schools I have been in, this one...

I was starving! All I really had for breakfast was a couple of waffles and two oranges. It was a work day but I already signed all of the books and had them shipped. Spare time was in full effect but wanted to make a business trip to Fry’s, one of my favorite stores for electronics. Before that, I took the boat to Seattle and made my journey out to the city culture once again; Currently live in an island, fun to get a city fix anyway.

Fried chicken would be one of my first choices for lunch or possibly dinner; Uncle Jack introduced the tasty goodness to me when I was six and I was hooked! Good with ranch! Wasn’t just the fried chicken for me, it was fried chicken, ranch, a biscuit, a cookie, soda, root beer, fries, and a burger; three pieces of chicken I almost forgot to add there.
I was starving! Went through the drive-thru, parked at a Taco Bell, and ate my meal sitting up against my car. Of course, that is the thing about having an empty stomach, empty brain. Forgot...

I have wanted to go to the moon. It is dark and quiet up there; Good place to read and play baseball. When I was little, I would think that every home run will turn the baseballs into comments and people on Earth will know I’ve been playing baseball up on the moon.

Years went by, the dream is still welcoming, but every dream can turn into a nightmare when reality hits hard. It is not the risk of going up there; I love the danger, it is the thought of the press. Here is what I mean.

Lately, I have been noticing a strange trend relating to autism. I will give some exaggerated examples.

• “First openly autistic race car driver.”
• “First autistic judge.”
• “First cartoon character with autism.”
• “First actor with autism to win an Oscar.”

It is this kind of thing I have been thinking about lately.

Do not get me wrong, I think it is WONDERFUL to have these kinds of things. Lot of opportunities and the most important aspect of the press is...

You are probably reading this on a computer.

I love the machine! About time I said it after twenty years. Try not to let it dominate me even though I may have let it control me after a twelve hour marathon of a favorite computer game of mine. Red eyes and a grande coconut cappuccino the next day.

Though it is true, I can be on the computer for days; For instance, I tend to enjoy producing videos on my personal channel that are not work related and spent the whole month doing masking work for a video project; But that’s not important. What is important is understanding why computers work. Here are my personal reasons.

• Fidget for the eyes
• Mentally challenging
• No physical challenge
• Colors on the screen
• Certain sounds are heard that can be fidgets to the ears
• A “recharge station”
• A creative outlook
• Typing on the keyboard is like a fidget

I learned how to type at a very early age. We used to play computer games that made typing fun. Practiced hard to go...

How do you do? My name is Tyler McNamer.

The long awaited sequel to Population: ONE is available to purchase!

Becoming ONE

Adolescence was one of the most difficult times in my life, becoming a young adult was even harder. I had to come to terms with being different, learn how I could use my differences to find my place in the world, then find and maintain relationships that would accept and support me. 

Professionals told me I would not live independently. Those limiting beliefs affected me deeply.  Thankfully with help of my parents, mentors, therapists, and friends, I now have the ability to live on my own.

My training for adulthood started in middle school. If you would like to help your child make the shift into young adulthood, now it the time to prepare.  The work you do now will have a profound effect on their future. 

Your child with autism has a tremendous gift to give.  They...