Speaking of lyrics, there aren't many songs that I've written. In fact, probably 4 (5 at most I'd say) that I've co-written in my whole life. I can only remember one right now, and it's from a long, long time ago and to the tune of something pre-existing.

Da Preppie Song

You're walkin' down the street on your way to school
You see a preppy on the sidewalk
She wears a skanky-ho shirt and she looks at you
And says "HEY! Look at the freak."

You walk over to her and kick her in the head
And make her bleed on the sidewalk
Then you walk to school, smiling to yourself
Thinking "one less prep to worry about."

It was written by me and my then best friend. She was one of the first people who accepted me for me, even if she didn't understand how I couldn't watch a movie because of the ticking clock down the hall, or that I could smell lettuce in her fridge ("lettuce doesn't have a smell" her brother exclaimed. But yes, yes it does.). She got in touch with me last fall. I don't know who's turn it is to email back, but my long-winded messages probably scared her off. We hadn't seen or spoken to each other in 8 years. We have our lives. Maybe we aren't supposed to be friends until we're 76 like we first thought. It was nice to reconnect even for just a brief time. She works with autistic kids. I like to think she always has been what with being such a good friend to me and all. There are many people who are strongly against the kind of work she does. That's one of the controversies out there.

Anyway, yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hans Asperger, a man whose work went largely ignored or unnoticed until Lorna Wing published a paper 25 years ago. The combination of these two anniversaries are the reason some refer to 2006 as the International Asperger's Year. Hans' group of little professors was fairly different than the subjects of Leo Kanner's, the man whose description of autism would be the prevailing idea and stereotype people think of when they think of autism even to this day. People now sometimes refer to the two "categories" as High or Low functioning, respectively, but I prefer to just look at it as a spectrum. We are all individuals with strengths and weaknesses and these categories can do harm. For example, some "high functioning" autistics might have unfair expectations put on them, and some "low functioning" autistics might not get encouragement to live independently because they are "lower."

Two things that have come up in my autism research and sparked an interest in me, but don't relate to me are synaesthesia and Williams Syndrome, and a third that I relate to very much, prosopagnosia, or "face blindness." But those topics will have to wait for another day. I need to do some chores. There is another wiki over at Aspies for Freedom that has some good information.

I'll leave with one last link, Getting the Truth Out. It was created as a response to a site called "Getting the Word Out." It goes from one page to the next, like an information booklet. If you have the time or interest to read it, it makes some very good points. I wonder what ever happened to that woman who used to visit us at Mahons...

What I've been learning has taken it's toll on me. It's tough to have your self-image come crashing down as an example of one kind of disorder or another. But, the positives have far out-weighed the negatives. Maybe I'm a little extra paranoid of what I think some people think of me, but I'm getting to finally understand myself.