No Grasp of Your Reality

I sat some of my children (ages 5,4,3) down to watch these interviews as well as the video that Amanda made. They have never knowingly observed someone with autism before, and I wanted to teach them so they would have a better understanding.

“Why is she doing that, mom?”

“Because God gifted her in that way - she is more aware than we are of how things taste, feel, sound and smell. She is rattling the paper because she is looking at the flag out her window and thinking of the sound it is making as it flaps in the wind.”

We talked about how God made each of us unique - Thomas is good with numbers and likes adventure games. Tabitha can whistle - but Thomas can’t. She can eat more than mommy can, and yet she’s a little girl! Aiden is very sturdy when he climbs high.

I told them that God has made this woman to be unique, too. Yes, she does things differently than we do. But, she is a person just like we are.

We must never make fun of or hurt someone because they are different from us. To do so is like telling God that His creation is not good enough for us.

Tabitha was sad that people would hurt someone else just because they were different. I told her that if she ever sees someone being hurt or made fun of that she could tell those bullying to stop and to come get an adult if they didn’t.

This morning, as I was perusing the headlines at CNN online, I stumbled across the most fascinating interview series with Amanda Baggs, a woman who has autism.

I am so thankful to have seen these videos today, as they have helped me to appreciate the beauty of about how people with autism interact with the world on a holistic level.

Video Links:

Interview 1
Interview 2
Amanda’s original video uncut (8 min+)

Related written articles about Amanda Baggs:

Living with autism in a world made for others
Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s Blog Article

Psalm 139:14-18 means much more to me today

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
When I awake, I am still with You.

as does 1 Corinthians 1:25-29

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.

Much love,
Sarah Joy Albrecht

My dearest Tabitha has reached another milestone in her life. It’s been a tradition, on the nights before I travel, that we take the family out to dinner. I asked the kids what they wanted, and all of them wanted to go get cheeseburgers.

In Frazier, PA, there is a Cheeburger, Cheeburger restaurant. As you walk in the door, they have a corkboard with pictures of adults who have eaten a one-pound burger, and kids who have eaten a half-pound burger. Tabitha had tried about a year ago to eat the half-pounder to get on the wall, but she gave up before she was finished. This time, though, she was determined.

I don’t know if she’ll ever win a competitive eating competition, because she doesn’t eat quickly. She just doesn’t stop. She would patiently take a few bites of her hamburger, then reach for her root beer and take a few sips. The rest of the kids lost interest in the food after a while, but Tabitha just kept slowly eating. At home, she’s the last person to leave the table, asking for seconds and thirds. In this case, we had all finished eating, and we started to watch Tabitha reach the end.

As she was eating her last bites, she realized that she was going to finish the burger, and started to ham it up a bit. She held up the last bite for me, Sarah, and the rest of the restaurant to see, before she put it mouth and smiled.

The waitress was amazed, and one of the other workers at the restaurant brought out a large hamburger-shaped pillow and a digital camera. He announced Tabitha’s achievement to the entire restaurant, including her age, and took her pictures. A few minutes later, he came out with two hard copies, both of which Tabitha wrote her name on. One pictures ended up on the wall, and the other we brought home with us.

Sonya Thomas… you’d better watch your back.

There are two young sisters who are dear friends of mine, as is their mother. This morning, I collected a few things I had been saving for them and put them in a sweet Victorian Valentine note card and sent them in a mail. I wanted to remember this one part of the note even for my own encouragement, so I’m making an entry in my blog with the excerpt. I hope that it is of encouragement to you, too!

This month, I’m sure you will have fun at school making Valentines and thinking about love and what it means.

The Bible says in 1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” Who is the “He” referring to?

1 John 4 and 1 Corinthians 13 are two places in the Bible that talk a lot about love. We learn from reading them that unless we have love for people - unconditional love, as Jesus loved us - that even the nicest things we do for them are meaningless.

We can show love to everyone, even people who are mean, because we remember that God loved us even when were were His enemy.

Pretty cool, huh?

I hope you girls are having a lovely day!

Much love,
Your Friend,
Sarah Joy Albrecht

Despite the illness over here (this past week, THE FIVE had chest colds, four of them along with ear infections), there have been some cool milestones:

• Thomas pulled out his first baby tooth (got it on video!)
• Aiden learned to put together jigsaw puzzles (thanks to Aunt Lynn!) and is very talented in this area
• Micah learned to touch his tongue to his nose and can do it on demand (and has attained Hero Status)
• Leah, in defiance of gravity, rolled over this morning! There IS hope!

And Tab? She’s going on 40. She completely orchestrated the bringing in-and-putting-away of groceries last night - every item exactly where it needed to go. I was very impressed. I was talking to Grandma Becky at the time, and we were getting a kick outta Tab saying, “Hurry up, BOYS! That goes in the pantry!” She has also been volunteering to help change the babies. And, she’s been making me work out with her: “This is so relaxing, isn’t it mom? We should do this every day.” Really. Who could ask for anything more?