My daughter is a Scout, and her troop was hosting a fancy breakfast as a fundraiser. I hadn't been to any Scouting function for two years. For a long time, I was so sick, and the church where they meet is twenty miles away, so another family down the street always drove her. They have girls in the same program, so it just worked out.
I found out about a Dial A Ride service my local bus service offers for the disabled. I called and scheduled rides there and back home. The ride there was really nice. They sent a taxicab for us, and we rode straight to the church in style! I watched the meter as it crept over $50 in charges, but I only had to pay $2.50. They classified my daughter as a "home health aide", so she got to ride for free. Pretty sweet deal, I'd say!
We got there early, and my daughter went right to work, volunteering in the kitchen, whipping up pancakes. This was a great placement. Number one, they wanted to put her in the dining room, but my little aspie teen said flat out that she doesn't like people much, lol, and she wanted to be in the kitchen. Number two, she's an excellent baker, and learned young how to whip air into any batter to make it fluffy. Her pancakes were tall and light as a feather.
Meanwhile, I paid for the $10 A PLATE tickets, and then schmoozed with the other moms I had missed for two years. I also saw my beautiful Pathfinders! I was a leader for two years, and had taught kindergarteners. OMG they were all young women! Well, maybe not, but my sweet little muffins were now all in fourth and fifth grade. And all of my daughter's peers, who I remember long ago as goofy little sixth grade Explorers, full of songs and giggles, were now mature, serious seniors in High School.
There were several times I went down the hall and found little nooks to lurk in because the whole being around people thing got to be too much. I'd hang out in another wing of the big church for a few moments and then come back down the hall to talk to people again.
After an hour of volunteering in the kitchen, we went into the dining room and sat down. We had a lovely breakfast. The eggs and the pancakes were amazing. The ham, not so much. It was like a fried bologna.
The waitresses were all very small children. I had four little girls between the ages of six and eight waiting on us hand and foot, bringing juice, ketchup, whatever we needed. They pleaded that they were so bored, so to be nice to them, I gave them little easy jobs.
I then told them all the story of how I used to work in restaurants, and the rule there is "If you're bored enough to lean, you're bored enough to clean." Then I explained, "If you're done cleaning the dining room, you clean the kitchen, once you are done with that, you clean the bathrooms, once you're done with that, you sweep outside, once you're done with that, even if everything is already clean, you clean everything all over again!" I chuckled a bit as I watched the little gears turn in their minds and they all looked on in horror.
All too soon, our ride was here, and this time it was a Dial A Ride bus, alas, no taxi chauffeur this time.
The bus driver informed me that she has two other pick ups before we'd finally get dropped at home. First, we picked up a lovely girl, probably about twenty years old, and she was very chatty and friendly. Telling us everything about everything in her life. My daughter and I were shy at first with her, and we just nodded politely and awkwardly. But in the back of my mind I thought, "This girl has got to be on the spectrum". Then she said, "I'm used to being around wheelchairs, because my father is paralyzed; and did you know he has autism? I have autism too!"
Just then my little aspie light glowed in all the colors of the autism spectrum. I turned around with a big smile on my face, told her that I was an aspie, and then asked, "What is your special interest? Will you tell us about it?" She was taken aback oh so briefly, then she smiled big, eyes glowing, took a big breath and started with, "Well, are you a fan of children's cartoons?" At that very minute, we were all friends. She told us everything about everything about Thomas the Tank Engine, where it was made, how it was made, then she moved onto facts about Disneyland, and all kinds of shows on PBS and other channels. We all agreed that Britain put out more thoughtful and interesting shows for kids than any other country.
Soon she was dropped off at work. I told her about the Autism Forums and my daughter begged her to get on it. I hope I see her on here. She was a really sweet girl, just a ray of sunshine to be around.
Next we picked up an elderly woman with Down's Syndrome. At first I smiled politely at her. The driver told her that she has to drop me off first, and then she'll drop off the elderly woman. The woman piped up, grumpily, "Yeah, well she better not make me late for work!"
I was so surprised. I've been around a lot of younger people with Down's, and they were all joys to be around. But this elder woman was very high functioning, and she was so bitter, I've never met anyone like that before. I guess when you've met one person you've met one person. Everyone is unique. But it was cool being around her. She lives independently, goes to work and comes home, and takes care of herself. I wonder the discrimination she's gone through in her life, and how she's dealt with it, being so high functioning.
I told the driver it's alright if she drops the elder woman off at work first. The driver said it was against the rules. I then asked where she works, and it turns out it's right down the road from my house. I told her where I live, and that she'll definitely get to work on time.
So we got dropped off at home, and I had to go in my room, and sit and decompress for a while from all the different and new social situations during the day. It was a wonderful experience that I will treasure.
I found out about a Dial A Ride service my local bus service offers for the disabled. I called and scheduled rides there and back home. The ride there was really nice. They sent a taxicab for us, and we rode straight to the church in style! I watched the meter as it crept over $50 in charges, but I only had to pay $2.50. They classified my daughter as a "home health aide", so she got to ride for free. Pretty sweet deal, I'd say!
We got there early, and my daughter went right to work, volunteering in the kitchen, whipping up pancakes. This was a great placement. Number one, they wanted to put her in the dining room, but my little aspie teen said flat out that she doesn't like people much, lol, and she wanted to be in the kitchen. Number two, she's an excellent baker, and learned young how to whip air into any batter to make it fluffy. Her pancakes were tall and light as a feather.
Meanwhile, I paid for the $10 A PLATE tickets, and then schmoozed with the other moms I had missed for two years. I also saw my beautiful Pathfinders! I was a leader for two years, and had taught kindergarteners. OMG they were all young women! Well, maybe not, but my sweet little muffins were now all in fourth and fifth grade. And all of my daughter's peers, who I remember long ago as goofy little sixth grade Explorers, full of songs and giggles, were now mature, serious seniors in High School.
There were several times I went down the hall and found little nooks to lurk in because the whole being around people thing got to be too much. I'd hang out in another wing of the big church for a few moments and then come back down the hall to talk to people again.
After an hour of volunteering in the kitchen, we went into the dining room and sat down. We had a lovely breakfast. The eggs and the pancakes were amazing. The ham, not so much. It was like a fried bologna.
The waitresses were all very small children. I had four little girls between the ages of six and eight waiting on us hand and foot, bringing juice, ketchup, whatever we needed. They pleaded that they were so bored, so to be nice to them, I gave them little easy jobs.
I then told them all the story of how I used to work in restaurants, and the rule there is "If you're bored enough to lean, you're bored enough to clean." Then I explained, "If you're done cleaning the dining room, you clean the kitchen, once you are done with that, you clean the bathrooms, once you're done with that, you sweep outside, once you're done with that, even if everything is already clean, you clean everything all over again!" I chuckled a bit as I watched the little gears turn in their minds and they all looked on in horror.
All too soon, our ride was here, and this time it was a Dial A Ride bus, alas, no taxi chauffeur this time.
The bus driver informed me that she has two other pick ups before we'd finally get dropped at home. First, we picked up a lovely girl, probably about twenty years old, and she was very chatty and friendly. Telling us everything about everything in her life. My daughter and I were shy at first with her, and we just nodded politely and awkwardly. But in the back of my mind I thought, "This girl has got to be on the spectrum". Then she said, "I'm used to being around wheelchairs, because my father is paralyzed; and did you know he has autism? I have autism too!"
Just then my little aspie light glowed in all the colors of the autism spectrum. I turned around with a big smile on my face, told her that I was an aspie, and then asked, "What is your special interest? Will you tell us about it?" She was taken aback oh so briefly, then she smiled big, eyes glowing, took a big breath and started with, "Well, are you a fan of children's cartoons?" At that very minute, we were all friends. She told us everything about everything about Thomas the Tank Engine, where it was made, how it was made, then she moved onto facts about Disneyland, and all kinds of shows on PBS and other channels. We all agreed that Britain put out more thoughtful and interesting shows for kids than any other country.
Soon she was dropped off at work. I told her about the Autism Forums and my daughter begged her to get on it. I hope I see her on here. She was a really sweet girl, just a ray of sunshine to be around.
Next we picked up an elderly woman with Down's Syndrome. At first I smiled politely at her. The driver told her that she has to drop me off first, and then she'll drop off the elderly woman. The woman piped up, grumpily, "Yeah, well she better not make me late for work!"
I was so surprised. I've been around a lot of younger people with Down's, and they were all joys to be around. But this elder woman was very high functioning, and she was so bitter, I've never met anyone like that before. I guess when you've met one person you've met one person. Everyone is unique. But it was cool being around her. She lives independently, goes to work and comes home, and takes care of herself. I wonder the discrimination she's gone through in her life, and how she's dealt with it, being so high functioning.
I told the driver it's alright if she drops the elder woman off at work first. The driver said it was against the rules. I then asked where she works, and it turns out it's right down the road from my house. I told her where I live, and that she'll definitely get to work on time.
So we got dropped off at home, and I had to go in my room, and sit and decompress for a while from all the different and new social situations during the day. It was a wonderful experience that I will treasure.
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