Two True Love Stories

What could be better than a true story? Two true stories, intertwined with a third.

When the movie Julie & Julia came out I puzzled over how to justify a blog about it--off topic again! Lo and behold, it's emerged.

The film had me so jazzed! I had already devoured the original source material--My Life in France and Julia and Julia, the book. Blogging author, Julie Powell, is my hero. I love food, France, writing, the ambition of both these women, and butter.

I love that by pursuing their bliss, they both arrived at national recognition. I love their bawdy gusto and sense of humor. I love that their husbands were supportive and pushed them to greatness. I love the larger-than-life humanity they both exemplify--living in Queens or mis-flipping omelettes. Most of all, like them, I love to eat!!

I love that Julia is a near amazon with feet bigger than my size 11's. I admire her obsessive attention to detail; identify with her wanderlust, self-deprecating humor, and moxie.

As a fanatic, I watched Julia's oral history on Youtube recalling her years in Paris. With exemplary pluck, she sums it all up: "I find that if people aren't interested in food, I'm not very much interested in them...they seem to lack something in the way of personality...that side...that gustatory pleasure syndrome is lacking."

What is it that separates friends from kindred spirits? It must be a shared passion. Autism is a passion and I have others: food, faith, art, writing, books. When I meet a friend who shares more than one of those it is kismet. Having a friend who shares all of them is nirvana for we can eat, talk and pray with fervor. Pursuing a special interest is important to neurotypicals and aspies alike. Thus, the musical mentorships we will offer through Banding Together.

Like a mother adjusting her own oxygen mask first in the event of an in-flight emergency, I dragged my kids with me to the opening day matinee back on August 7. Allie reminds me she was had a slight fever. Five minutes into it, Reid started squirming, "is it almost over?" to which I parroted, "here comes a good part..." Fortunately (since I was not leaving), the onion chopping scene hooked him in and he is now an avid fan also. We've rented the original French Chef episodes on WGBH from Netflix. His gustatory sense is re-invigorated as is the life skills training going on in our kitchen. I already know what he's getting me for Christmas:)

Can I just say, I love this kid! I love his impersonations, his perfect pitch, the accuracy of his dropping the lower lip. I love that he loves food. I love his lack of inhibition. I love him more than Julia Child and Julie Powell put together! He is my special interest.

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:28-30

And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:10-12

We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself. Job 5:26-27

A happening in my neck of the woods

Last month, an unprecedented gathering of the special needs community of faith took place at Mission Hills Church in San Marcos. The Concert of Prayer was born as a burden on the heart of one pastor's wife to be praying for those who experience special needs. A moving and shaking mother advocate pulled together several others who embraced the conviction as parents or professionals and our committee was born.

Our aim was to include everyone who is touched by special needs --from parents, to therapists, to bus drivers, to pastors, to intercessors--and unite our hearts in prayer. That night, the most exciting thing was being all together under one roof. The 85 who came shared many emotions and life circumstances as well as a pursuit of the same Shepherd. The diversity, and the unity, in one room was remarkable--a little slice of God's kingdom come.

The background song on the slideshow, "Fellow Traveler" by Ginny Owens, is one I sing at the top of my lungs in traffic cruising up and down Highway 5. The lyrics describe our pilgrimage here and the antidote to the all-to-common loneliness that resonates in the disability experience. It can feel like we're alone--the only one with this or that reality--and no one understands. The Concert of Prayer is a visual reminder that that is simply not true! We are in this together.

The song is made all the more special because Ginny Owens became a friend when she sang at our church Christmas Eve a couple years ago. She is a living testament of walking by faith not by sight. Comfortable in her own skin and blindness, she inspires and jokes and relates the guts of the gospel to me. I appreciate her musical bread crumbs that often lead this "fellow beggar" to a place where there is "rest...and true happiness"...as the lyrics go...

The beat rolls on; The enthusiasm was such that we have already begun planning for another Concert of Prayer soon. An inter-church council of churches with special needs ministries is emerging as well from the drawing board. I love when the Lord leads and answers prayer in bigger and better ways than we could have imagined!


"...always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, Philippians 1:3-5



Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:4-6


"What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also." 1 Corinthians 14:14-16

Myrrh Toothpaste and Gold Fillings: A Moriarty Christmas

My mom was a 2nd grade teacher throughout my childhood. She was adamant that anything entering our home be educational. We were not big consumers anyway, but at her insistence, we learned to value books and board games over electronics, "record albums," and most of what Target now sells. Between her legacy, years of home schooling and a veritable degree in autism training, I have developed a similar tendency to seek out games and toys that either strengthen social skills, improve proprioception, stimulate sequencing and reading comprehension, desensitize tactile aversion, or something.

Any purchase must pass through multiple filters. First, I must be able to justify it educationally. Then it must pass Reid's tough standards of being engaging and more entertaining than what he can conjure in his head. While Allie is our barometer on what is cool, pure fun or popularity is way down the list in my decision-making process. Instead, we evaluate based on whether the activity is visually motivating, offers concrete literal explanations, strengthens social skills, requires turn taking or develops critical thinking. We are loosening up now, but there was a time I purchased gifts based on how many IEP goals they addressed. I may have reached a compulsive level, you decide.

Our cupboards and closets are filled with specialized products from stores like The Therapy Shoppe, SuperDuper Publications and Timberdoodle. They are far superior actually, but not always kid pleasers on Christmas morning. In Christmases past, our living room has looked more like moving day at a Speech/OT clinic than any child's dream come true. The Mind Your Manners board game went over like a lead balloon. Allie rolls her eyes recalling a time Reid sent me to Toys R Us to pick up a specific TeleTubbies video he'd earned (by behaving appropriately at the grueling all day Saturday CYT rehearsals). Unfortunately for him, it was out of stock so I made an alternate selection: Mister Rogers' What Do You Do With the Mad that You Feel. Poor Reid, when I gave it to him he was too stunned to cry.

So it is, this Christmas, that I search for ways to make the Biblical reason for the season come to life in a concrete way in our home. Not with more stuff but with traditions and props that entertain while they educate about the historically significance of Christmas and the spiritual wonder. We are each giving 3 gifts to each other this year, dramatizing the three wise men who came bearing gifts to worship baby Jesus, the newborn King. You remember what they were: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Guess what I found at Trader Joe's? Myrrh toothpaste! Actually, it is myrrh, fennel, propolis toothpaste from Tom's. Wow, that is the perfect stocking stuffer or what? It meets all my criteria, with a hygiene component to boot. And it's gluten free so if the kids don't comply, Jim can use it! I bought a case. (Kidding:)) Allie was with me in the store. We ran across it as I granted her request for her own tube of toothpaste. "How bout this one? for Christmas!" I said in my glee at the discovery. "That's totally disgusting!!" she scoffed. Now, to show you how self-aware I am, I replied with a straight face, tongue in cheek, "What part don't you like--the propolis, the fennel or the myrrh?" At which, we both cracked up laughing. I did buy the stuff but, she is holding out for her own tube of Crest.


Jim is wondering if we're trying to secretly embalm him since we learned that myrrh was used to prepare bodies for burial in Jesus' day. The myrrh actually foreshadowed Jesus' death on the cross reminding us that He came with the expressed purpose of dying for us. Try that on for an attitude adjustment each morning and night at the mirror. These object lessons are as much for us as for the kids. Apparently Reid is not the only one in the house who takes things literally.

So yesterday I was at Jimbo's, our local whole foods grocery, and what to my wondering eyes did appear? But two bottles of aromatherapy oil in scents oh so dear! I sprung for the cheaper ones mixed with jojoba oil and now have an olfactory link to the ancient stable. Aura Cacia has got my number. They offer this object lesson-in-a-bottle with no seasonal marketing or fanfare just there for the taking, for those with eyes to see. They categorize the frankincense as "Sanctifying" and the myrrh as "Comforting" on the labels. I am using a few drops of it--in my car diffuser and lamp ring--to stimulate my Advent meditation before it gets popped into a stocking late Christmas Eve. It reminds me what the Bible says about our prayers reaching heaven like sweet incense and that we are the aroma of Christ to those around us. If you were a scent, which one would you be?

Gold, I thought would be easy. Although since Allie and I prefer silver, I am not going for the obvious jewelry choice. I am actually still on the hunt for a gold incense box or bauble to put the toothpaste in? Or not. Perhaps at Whole Foods I can find some gold leaf sprinkles for the Nativity gingerbread cookies we make next week when there is NO SCHOOL! I'll keep you posted. Gotta go find gold that is fit for a king, The King of Kings.



On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:10-12


Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Mark 15:22-24


These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-8



Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Deuteronomy 11:17-19 The Message

photo credit: www.eslpod.com/.../page/2/, i.dailymail.co.uk

Do What I Do

As I write, a finish carpenter is here building a handrail for our staircase. We have been living under the radar with a sub-code, high-risk staircase for several years. Point being, he's chatty and we got to talking about how there is currently a dearth of young people (at least in San Diego) willing to learn the trades. How is that done? Most often through apprenticeship. He has a young man shadowing him and is hopeful he'll stick it out and become one of the few, the proud, the master craftsmen!

Before being subject to extensive intervention and brainwashing about autism, we parented the way our parents parented us. It is natural to repeat the familiar. In reality, we apprentice our kids in their prayer life, faith disciplines, hygiene habits, driving practices, and eating preferences. We lead by example whether intentionally or by accident. My kids haven't had any sugar this week, because I do their shopping and I am abstaining from the unholy trinity of sugar, alcohol, and dairy this month. Are they upset? I don't think they've even noticed. How easily they adapt from our formerly frequent trips to Golden Spoon and Panera. My example (in this case, positive) becomes their familiar.

After his recent baptism, Reid was introduced with the New Member class at church. This involved walking up onto the dais with a group and being prayed for by two pastors. Reid loves to be in the limelight but was also appropriately nervous to do this "correctly." Anticipating the cue and blushing brightly, he stood behind the organ as the pastor made the invitation. Then in the bat of an eye, he scampered across the distance of the chancel to reach the other pastor who seemed more available (accurately reading his body language). Once there, they stood arm in arm in poignant solidarity. Since I was intentionally not assisting and letting Reid take this step independently, I was grateful for that pastor's presence, finesse and intuition.  He served as a literal and figurative anchor to which Reid could cling.

Now physically linked Reid, the senior pastor took the mic to pray aloud. He invited the congregation to raise a hand of blessing toward these new members. Well, bear in mind, Reid is in a weekly pattern for the last 3 years of listening intently and studying this man's preaching and leading style. He tracks him in the church bulletin, noticing who is responsible for the "Worship Focus," "Life Together," and "Prayer of Confession." As a result, those few moments of "being" the Senior Pastor thrilled Reid. He did what Mike did, raised a hand and mouthed the words along with him in a prayer welcoming new members. So much for Theory of Mind or pronoun comprehension or whatever it is that the other new members had which informed them to just bow their collective heads, keep their hands at their sides and receive the blessing! No harm done, Reid is a pastor wannabe! He is blessed.  AND he blesses other people ALL the time.

Another example of powerful role modeling is Peter Reynolds. As founder of Fable Vision, he has produced major media including all many of our favorite (albeit banned) pbskids shows as well as the some clever short films. A big kid himself, he travels to inspire schoolchildren with his true love of writing. He models storytelling, thinking creatively, and exhorts teachers to do the same-not to assign writing but to write and let the kids copy them. He does what he wants kids to do!



Even more on topic, check out this group in Toronto. Keys to the Studio, has paired professional musicians with students on the autism spectrum to experience and create music together. The podcast on their site is worth listening to, to hear their inspiration and mission to focus on commonalities, growth and doing one's personal best. In essence, they have created functional apprenticeships for young people who want to pursue music professionally. Gotta love it!



But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:21-23

You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. Deuteronomy 11:18-20

Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men. 1 Samuel 2:25-27

photo credit:  www.davidblackonline.com, www.farm4flickr.com

Little Timmy Page Grows Up

Where have I been that I just learned about Tim Page, a Pulitzer-winning music critic who was diagnosed with Aspergers as an adult? This clip of him as a boy is a rarity. Who knew what path his life would take when it was filmed? The full-length film can be ordered here from The Hoffman Collection.

This brief NPR interview with him references the article, Parallel Play, that he wrote for The New Yorker about his childhood. Both will endear him to you.

I am glad his early obsessions of filmmaking, music, and words were seeds of greatness that grew. Through them, he has arrived at a prominent place in society. For our kids, he role models the awkwardness and hard work it takes to figure out social skills. To educators, he is a crucial example of how genius and disability can, and do coexist. Both need to be instructed. I wish I could attribute a methodology which has always stuck with me: We need to teach to the strength and remediate the weakness. After all, what is so horrible about having a good memory, attention to detail, and being obsessed with music?

I love the way Page writes. He is competent, inspirational, honest and practical. The fact that he shares some nitty gritty detail gives me hope for Reid.

"Were other “geniuses” so oblivious that they couldn’t easily tell right from left and idly wet their pants into adolescence? What accounted for my rages and frustrations, for the imperious contempt I showed to people who were in a position to do me harm?"

In the radio interview he recalls how he "flunked and flunked for many years" all while educating himself on subjects that interested him. He made an independent study of etiquette and was relieved to learn the intellectual reasons behind our countless social customs. I can't help notice how often he uses the word "explain." Nightly, at tuck in time Reid says to me (even calls me back into his room if he forgets), "Mom, explain about tomorrow." It helps him so much to know what's on the agenda in advance. The word "explain" haunts me a bit. A simple request that makes a world of difference in compliance, comprehension, and trust.

I was going to say, "Tim, we want a biography!" but in researching this I learned he is already writing one, to be released in 2009 by Doubleday. Yay!

In the meantime, I think I'll pull out my antique copy of Emily Post to read with Reid tonight.




Peter said to Him, "Explain the parable to us." Matthew 15:14-16


I beg you to listen to me patiently...especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews. Acts 26:2-4


"Come now, and let us reason together,"Says the LORD," Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:17-19


photo credit: www.usc.edu/.../faculty/photos/ellispag.jpg

Boing Boing!!

A ringtone on my new iphone...yes. And also an old recording you should hear.

Reid, ever instructive, ever holding me accountable, has informed me that Carol Channing did not do the voices on Tubby but rather was on the same cassette narrating Gerald McBoing Boing. I stand corrected.

Certainly, Gerald deserves his own post. In fact, he is more appropo than Tubby, as you will soon see. Gerald is a toddler with no words. He makes only sounds like "boing boing" and "vrooom vroom." This was a problem for his parents (how well we know). His dad freaks out, then calls a pompous and fruitless specialist. Gerald survives ridicule in the social jungle of recess. The parents endure pessimistic prophecies from the school district. In the end, he falls into a niche and becomes the very best radio sound effects announcer that ever lived. Doing what he was born to do, Gerald (and his parents) enjoy thunderous applause, adoring fans, and public acceptance. I do love a happy ending.

Notice, Gerald McBoing Boing wasn't cured. He overcame obstacles and found his destiny.

Maybe the reason I like Tubby so much is that he was on the same cassette as Gerald. There's guilt by association...and greatness by association. Gerald and Tubby go together in my mind.




You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:3-5


Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent...I am slow of speech and tongue." Exodus 4:9-11


Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 1 Corinthians 15:32-34

Ohh Tubby...

Yesterday's Trombone Player Wanted film series reminded me of Tubby the Tuba, a favorite in our family archives. (I mean that black hole we call a garage.) Tubby is an animated tuba who comes to life in a song, book, musical score, and short film conceived during World War II by Paul Tripp. It has been performed by Carol Channing, Danny Kaye, Dick Van Dyke and others. I see it discarded in library basement book cellars but orchestras still perform it for family concerts. I can't figure out why it remains so obscure. To me, and fortunately my kids, Tubby rocks! He even has his own website.

After hearing it so many times, Reid does an uncanny impersonation of Carol Channing's peculiar voice. Whether consciously or subconsciously, something about Tubby resonated with him even at age 3. Of course, he responds to all things musical. I wonder whether he picked up on the underdog theme or the empowerment of embracing how God made you. Reid has developed into such an adroit critic of music and literature, that now we take his preferences seriously, as endorsements of quality. I love multi-dimensional resources like Tubby which instruct on so many different levels all at once: social skills, self-esteem, character building, and music education in a format that clicks even with young and language-impaired listeners.

You want the Cliffs Notes? Tubby is sick and tired of being a tuba. He longs to play the melody not just the oompahs from the back row. (Sound familiar?) He makes friends with Peepo the Piccolo and for a time, wishes he could sound like her (ie. play the high notes). Alas, he cannot. He is ridiculed by the rest of the orchestra, runs away, and meets a bullfrog who talks some sense into him. The wisdom of the bullfrog is that Tubby can only be Tubby and furthermore the orchestra needs him just as much as the piccolo or the french horn or the tympani. (No man is an island.)

Now, do you want to see the whole 9 minute movie?



Acceptance of our individual strengths actually honors God. Conversely, it can be a form of spiritual rebellion to wish we were different than God created us. I am much more healthy emotionally when I am content with my blue eyes, brown hair, relator strength and moderate house, than when I wish for black hair, brown eyes, a woo personality, and covet my neighbor's sporty convertible. Being content in who we are (and who our kids are) demonstrates that we trust Him. Trusting His Omniscience to know what's good, better and best is one way to worship Him.

Like Tubby, Jesus knows what it feels like to be despised, rejected, displaced, and undervalued. He also knew the value of a good story to engage and teach. His parables continue to challenge and inform for all who hear them.



He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised , and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:2-4

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:14-16


Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
Philippians 4:10-12

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit...If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 1 Corinthians 12:17

A Friend In Deed

I have been reading Tim McGinnis' StrengthsFinder blog and happened upon this Trombone Player Wanted film series. Marcus Buckingham creatively makes his point with a boy in the school band who is a natural percussionist but has been told to play trombone. Let this whet your appetite.




If kids instinctively know their strengths, then our role as parents is to enhance their pursuit of them. It may save their lives either literally or figuratively (keep reading about Nathaniel Ayers). Kids with autism, and reams of paperwork outlining their deficits (otherwise known as IEP's) and obstacles stacked against them, desperately need our support to affirm and articulate their strengths. Arguably, it will cost them more than the "normal" population to be settle for mediocrity or be misguided.

In an odd coincidence, another performance at the Walt Disney Performing Arts Center is pivotal in Steve Lopez' true story, The Soloist. His arduous friendship with a destitute homeless man moves him from being marginalized to heroic. Lopez unlocks this man's potential using his obsession with music as the key. I'll show you this trailer if you promise to read the book first.



John Donne said, no man is an island. As an introvert, I sometimes prefer being alone. During stressors in my life, including Reid's diagnosis, my tendency is to pull inward, resign, recoil, resist. (Recall the funny scene in Father of the Bride with Steve Martin and the guard dogs?) That retreat only serves me so long. After a certain point, it is not beneficial to be alone. I need others to pull me out of my own quandry and keep me moving. So, it is easy to understand how Nathaniel Ayers, after his mother's death, basically lost his marbles.

When I see homeless people, I almost always think of the words of John Bradford (and my grandmother) who said, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." Knowing all the pieces that fit together for Reid to appear and behave as a functioning member of society, I can quickly imagine him (or any of us) in their shoes were the scaffolding to come down. What would it take for your life to come apart at the seams? A couple of "biggies"--loss of a job, the economy failing, death of a provider, hurricane, illness, a move--and any of us could be on the street needing a friend like Steve Lopez.



A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:16-18


Wealth brings many friends, but a poor man's friend deserts him. Proverbs 19:3-5


A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:23-24


The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp... Exodus 33:10-12

Where There's a Will, There's a Way...to College

Joining the ranks of college graduates this past June was Erik Weber. With the vision, determination, and support of his mother, Sandy, Erik made a way for himself at Grossmont College in San Diego. In his own pace and with some accommodations, he did it! Worth celebrating ! And repeating! Read all about it here.

His success story strikes a familiar chord in three aspects I notice consistently: 1. his mother's never-say-never, find-a-way attitude; 2. Erik's acceptance of gradual and steady progress; and 3. their capitalizing on his special interests.

In a related post, Bev at Asperger Square 8 points to an article by a caring and perceptive college professor about his experience with a student named Fred. Quickly, Stephen Yoder comes to realize that Fred must have Aspergers. It is another great success story, albeit fragile. At the end of the piece he offers a list of lessons learned about Fred and another list about the teacher, including this:

If the incidence of autism is indeed rising, all college teachers might need to learn to make adjustments for these students, who undoubtedly will seek higher education.

How true! Who do you think learned more that semester, Fred or Mr. Yoder?

I have often said that Reid is a great teacher, meaning that he is such a demanding, complicated, (yet undeniably smart) kid that anyone in the position of teaching him learns more from him than they could in any degree program, continuing ed seminar, or years of experience. All rolled into one irresistible ball of fire, he can teach anyone willing to learn the importance of being honest, following through, doing what you say, maintaining instructional control, attention to detail, organizing classroom materials, planning ahead, being flexible, differential reinforcement, you name it.

One of our early, home-program therapists recognized how much Reid had taught her. Wanting to accelerate the learning curve of her new recruits, she donated session time to us so that Reid could develop and break-in her employees. "Iron sharpens iron"(as the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17) and she counted on Reid's mettle to sharpen the skills of her staff. We took her up on the offer!


The teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. Ecclesiastes 12:9-11

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Psalm 32:7-9

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-20

photo credit: www.hs.wisd.org

The Power of Identifying Strengths

Arguably the two most articulate and successful adults with autism are Temple Grandin and John Robison. Their insight, personal experience, and advice is invaluable to those living with and on the spectrum. Their books are honest overviews of the challenges of growing up with autism as well as the ability, hope, and potential that can materialize from every hurdle. Watching these two clips, one is struck by the advice they give in unison: to identify and pursue special interests as a key to adult independence and success.

The truth of which they speak is underscored by their very different upbringings of a generation ago. In Robison's case, being obsessed with electronics and pyrotechnics provided an escape route from a dangerously dysfunctional home. In Grandin's case, it cost her mother her marriage and almost her life to follow a gut feeling that Temple had cognitive ability. Temple's mother, Eustacia Cutler, tells her own story on tour and in the book, A Thorn in My Pocket. It is inspirational to hear this genteel woman describe how she stood in the face of major opposition to save her daughter from an institution. Unknowingly she was also paving the way for future generations of different learners and those who advocate for them.

Whether it is Star Wars, math, mechanics, electronics, animation, music, or trains, niche interests (some would say splinter skills) can lead to significance, life purpose, and world changing contributions. Developing and nurturing those strengths should color the way we write IEP's, choose summer camps, and spend free time.

Click here for the video of John Robison at the top of this news story. It is a very abridged version of the book, Look Me In the Eye. And here is the latest trailer of Temple:





Know that wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 24:13-15

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:4-6


My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Psalm 139:14-16