Autism Twitter Day and Community

Thanks to all who sent the kind birthday regards. My birthday coincided with the last day of classes at my college and the morning was packed with review sessions prior to exams and a couple of phone calls about matters that needed to be figured out by today (meaning Wednesday, i.e., yesterday) and some missing files of a rather important nature. (Two found, one still missing.) At 11am a student came in to talk about her graduate school applications; she had a bag lined in red tissue paper (a little soggy from the rain) and gave it to me. Inside was a hardcover version of my Latin textbook.

Since I first taught my student Elementary Latin four years ago, I’ve been through three or four paperback versions of the book. The cover inevitably gets ripped off and the book’s spine splits, and the corners get ruffled and ripped, and a couple of pages fall out and become occasional bookmarks. So having a much more durable hardback book should help. But getting one was something I just would never have done on my own. I have plenty of (worn and weary) copies of the textbook and I know some students struggle just to pay for their book. I can’t say how grateful I felt that my student had noted all this, and helped me out.

I’ve worked for most of Charlie’s life and while the demands of a job certainly make things more harried and add to the stress, I’ve also gained a lot of support from mycolleagues and students. Jim and I are in a constant conversation about Charlie and autism and much else; we both also agree that having “other interests” (here’s a longstanding one of Jim’s) and reaching out to others, both those who have a connection to autism and those who don’t, has been essential.

Jim’s schedule changed much in the past few years and he can be home more, but when we first moved back to New Jersey in 2001 with half of a job for the three of us, he had to work much longer hours, plus we lived in central New Jersey and Jim was working in the Bronx. Charlie and I spent a lot of time with just the two of us, and those were the days when I couldn’t go grocery shopping with him. Soon as I turned my back, Charlie’d be opening a container of something and eating. I initially started blogging in June 2005 on a hot June day when Charlie was floundering in a summer school program (that was not at all “appropriate“) and I was scheming about how we were going to pass a long afternoon when even the playground was off limits, the slides scorching hot under the sun.

The internet’s a rich, unregulated, and sprawling source of information, about autism and therapies and treatments and who knows what. I’ve found it to be as much a source of community, especially as a parent isolated by circumstances and grateful for support and help from someone out there, anywhere. First there was email for me and then blogging and now there’s been the rise of all the “social networking sites.”

Ive been very excited that one of my sister mom-bloggers, Bonnie Sayers, has organized Autism Twitter Day for next Tuesday, December 16th. Here’s what it’s about (via Left Brain/Right Brain; also see the autism group on Twitter, via I Speak of Dreams):

Autism Twitter Day – Tuesday, Dec 16th pacific standard time – 9AM, 12:30 PM and 8 PM. Prizes will be given out and a panel will be available with information and to answer questions.

This is open to twitter members, specifically those who are members of the autism community, whether it be a parent, sibling or relative. If you are on the spectrum you are welcome to take part. Most of the prizes are geared to children and young adults with autism or asperger syndrome.

The hashtag to be used for autism twitter day is #ASD. This means when you post a tweet that day which is on the topic of autism – positive autism awareness, please use the hashtag, either in front or at end of the tweet. Open up a window at www.summize.com and input #ASD to follow along with the conversation at the specified times. Most likely they will run longer than one hour. Stay tuned here and to my blog for prize and panel info.

We will be testing your knowledge on autism spectrum disorders, this is how the prizes will be awarded.

Bonnie has assembled an ever-growing collection of prizes, ranging from a children’s hammock (Charlie is too big for this, I suspect) to software to storytime felt sets. I’m not a big Twitter-er (my Twitter id is autismvox) but will be sure to be Twitter-ing on December 16th, and I don’t think I’ll be alone.

I certainly wasn’t for my birthday. We had dinner at a diner a couple of towns over, Jim and Charlie on one side of a booth and me opposite, and then it was home and opening presents and my guys were (as always) very nice to me, though I didn’t get anything on the order of the Autism Twitter Day prizes likes Mary’s Gone Crackers or a hardback version of my ancient Greek textbook.