What Is An Audie?

If you are somebody that has autism, then you know that this is the word that is used to describe YOU. I just found out that I have something called PDD-NOS, which falls somewhere on the autism spectrum. How this finding came to be is a story in itself. And the fact that I have it is no great surprise. I always knew I was "different." I just didn't know why I had the problems that I had. Before even being diagnosed, I started reading the book "Unwritten Rules Of Social Relationships" by Dr. Temple Grandin and Sean Barron. What I was reading was MY OWN life story, particularly in Sean's case. That's when I knew that what I considered normal was actual NOT normal to the neurotypical person, that is somebody who does NOT have autism and fits the "norm." It is no wonder why those of us on the autism spectrum feel as though we are on the wrong planet, and the neurotypicals feel the same way about us.

Soooooo, how does somebody with autism become a doctor and a minister? Well, for most audies the book work is the easy part. It's with the practical work that they do miserably. And so it is with me too. Here I sit at my job as a security guard at a theater when I am a chiropractor and an ordained minister who is the pastor of a church. My chiropractic office and the church sit empty. They sit empty because I simply have no success with being able to advertise these things and to retain clients. Imagine how people come into the office expecting one thing and then end up being cared for by a doctor who they accuse of not being a "real" doctor, and then leave without paying. Yes, audies are indeed looked at very weirdly by the neurotypicals. We have it rough. But we have to make ends meet somehow.

Dr. Temple Grandin had it rough too. She is world renowned and is a college professor. But she wouldn't be where she is if she didn't have people who stood up for her and gave her chances in life, people who saw her true worth. Many employers wanted to fire her just for being "weird." Now that's something I can identify with very very well!

Anyway, my shift is ending, and it's time for me to head home to my wife and my home. Yes, I am married, and how my marriage survived is part of the audie journey. There is much more to come in this blog, and I look forward to communicating with those of you who read this.