What If Your Doctor Had Autism?

What if your doctor had autism? Would that be so hard to believe? I guess if your view of autism is seeing helpless children and adults who can’t speak and can’t care for themselves in any way, then it probably would be. The truth is that such a view of autism describes a limited number of people who have been diagnosed with classical autism, not the entire autism spectrum. The rest of the people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are very much able take care of themselves and to be great contributors to society in many professional ways. Yes, I am a doctor, and yes, I have autism. So what is it that you should know and expect from a doctor who has autism? First and foremost is to know that the care you receive in such a doctor’s office is done with such empathy for your concerns and with such diligence at giving you the best care possible that you can be grateful for such an individual who can give you such outstanding attention. Secondly, you need to know that people with ASDs will almost always appear socially uneasy. That’s because they just are, and there is no “why” to explain this. It is something that you will need to look past in order to appreciate the gift that such a person brings into your life.

While many people with ASDs become great scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, those who choose professions where direct, and often personal, contact with people is required, such as being a doctor, do so for a very humanitarian reason. They are not doing what they do just because it was a good choice of profession; they are true healers. They knew from a time early on, perhaps due to having had their own health concerns, that they could make a difference for other people. As for me personally, I had many many health challenges throughout my life. Therefore, I can understand how serious your concerns are to you. I can ESPECIALLY understand the concerns of your loved one who you may be bringing to my office because they have an autism spectrum disorder. Also, it is necessary that you understand that a person with autism will express themselves differently. The social mannerisms of an autistic person may oftentimes be peculiar. This is not always evident to somebody who is not familiar with autistic people. Therefore, in jest, while listening to me speak, you can think of Dr. Gregory House on the TV show House in order to feel more at ease.

Personally, I feel that I can be more at ease when talking about health concerns. The reason is because I have been through so many of my own, and I turned out to be okay. Some of these concerns include having had open heart surgery, and I am also a stroke survivor. When I am talking to you about a condition or situation that worries you, and I know that it is something that I can help you with, then I will convey uplifting, hopeful vibes to you. My goal is to help you feel more comfortable with the care you are receiving, to instill hope, and to help you see that being positive-minded is the best healing power of all. By having appreciation for my good nature that I relay is key to seeing beyond serious “doctor-ness” which is usually expected and realizing that I am a real, down-to-earth person, one that really cares.

So, what is actually going through my autistic mind as I am caring for you? Do not be surprised if it sometimes seems that I am “zoning out”. This is actually how I go through the problem solving routine. I am searching through the “hard drive” in my brain, much like Dr. Temple Grandin, a world-renowned autistic scientist, does when she is trying to solve a problem. I have to think in pictures, to visualize what is going on in the body or in the mind, as the case may be, in order to derive the correct treatment, procedure, or piece of advice to give. This is not to be mistaken for cluelessness. It is just how many autistic minds work. Keep in mind that the answers and advice I come up with may be very different from what another doctor may have told you. One doctor’s response may be based on academia or past experience alone. Mine is ALSO based on the conceptualization of processes and outcomes. It is MORE insightful.

It may surprise you to learn that people with autism may be great contributors to society. It’s just that they are challenged because they do not interact, nor does their mind function, in the ways which are considered “norms” by society. They have to think and do things in alternative ways. Unfortunately, this oftentimes affects how one communicates as well. But once the autistic person finds the way in which he or she can communicate, whether it be through writing, drawing, speaking, or some other way, it is amazing what they can accomplish! Having an ASD does not doom most people who have them. It does give them obstacles they must maneuver around in order to be functional. They are, nonetheless, FUNCTIONAL. The stereotypes of autism being a taboo subject, a curse, or a life sentence need to be thrown out. The autistic child who disrupts the normal schedule of a classroom is not to be disciplined but is instead to be encouraged to think and do what he can in the ways that he can. Many thoughts and feelings about people with autism are actually shadows of Dark Age paradigms. This is NOT a medical condition that can be cured, and people with autism need not be institutionalized, shunned by society, or, worst of all, be made a pin cushion of by the medical establishment. One thing I often contemplate is whether or not there will ever be a cure for “neurotypical-ism”. Now THAT would be nice!

The Coincidental Omen: Ominous Or Auspicous?

The date was Saturday, October 2, 1982. It was 11:30 PM in Ganeshpuri, India. The man who would become my spiritual teacher and guru in due time, Swami Muktananda, took his last breaths before leaving this world. In the meantime, some 7,800 miles away in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was noon. I was standing in the back yard of the house I grew up in. I was talking to my next door neighbor, a man named Anthony. Suddenly, we heard a very loud buzzing noise directly above our heads. We looked up to see a very strange sight.

     “Do you see what I see?” Anthony said.

I shook my head, laughed, and answered,

     “Yeah. That’s a plane flying backwards!”

Well, that was a conversation piece for years to come. We never could figure out what kind of plane could do that. We never saw the plane again.

Fast-forward exactly 28 years to the day, minus about eighteen hours, to Friday, October 1, 2010. I was standing behind the Coyote Moon Grille on the grounds of the Territory Golf Course in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. I was dressed in my ministerial attire, mentally preparing myself for the wedding ceremony I was about to officiate. Suddenly I heard that strange buzzing noise again. I looked up to see that plane flying backwards again! It was the only time I had seen it since the first time. It took no time before I realized the coincidence of the date. Instead of laughing at the irony, a bittersweet feeling came over me. Anthony had since passed away just a few years ago. Muktananda was leaving this world the first time I saw this plane, and now my head and heart are full of his teachings and his presence. I was only twenty years old then, and I am forty-eight years old now. So much of life has been lived in those years. All of these thoughts flooded my mind. As the plane flew over my head, going east toward the Saint Cloud Regional Airport, a tear came to my eye in wonderance of what this could possibly symbolize. I feel that a new era in life is about to begin.

Add to all this strangeness the absolutely bizarre dream I had just before 7:00 this morning. The alarm went off for my wife Bianca to get ready to start her day as a school teacher. Now I’ve had all sorts of very strange dreams over the years of my life. But I never had a dream like this. I was inside a building, and I didn’t know where I was. I was in a room that was deep blue in color. On a big screen TV, there was a very weird program playing. What started off as an adult entertainment film very quickly deteriorated into a horror show. I thought this was definitely not something I wanted to be watching, either way. While purposefully avoiding eye contact with the TV, I walked over to the large windows to see if I could get a clue as to where I was. I found that I was on the ground floor, looking out into a parking lot where a few cars were parked. I then turned to leave the blue room. Instead of pushing open the door, I walked THROUGH the door out into the hallway. I saw in a large meeting room down the hallway that a couple people were gathering. Instead of approaching them to ask where I was, I figured I’d venture through the building myself, using my newfound superhuman power of being able to walk through walls. Besides, maybe I didn’t even BELONG in that building? Next, I walked through a wall and found myself in a dark dressing room with curtained cubicles and hospital gowns. Was I in a clinic of some sort? Then I thought I’d get really adventurous, and I walked through the wall behind the dressing room. That’s when I ended up in a cold place where I couldn’t see a thing. The dream then came to a sudden end as the alarm clock rang. The alarm probably woke me from my dream at just the right time.

This dream left me shaken and wondering. Just the night before, I had performed two Reiki sessions in a row. I equated being able to “walk through walls” with being able to penetrate through, very clearly, the walls within the subconscious mind. The Reiki sessions had more to do with helping people find clarity in their life choices rather that helping them to heal from some kind of ailment. Was I not using the healing gift I was given for what it was intended? Was I going into places where I didn’t belong because I was actually reckless? And what about the horrid show that was playing on TV? Somehow I intuited that it had something to do with the naivete of years gone by, particularly during the period of time when I first lived far from home when I moved to Valparaiso, Indiana n 1993. Was the building I was in my own clinic? Were the people in the meeting room coming to hear me speak? Was I trying to escape from them? Many thoughts and contemplations ran through my mind until I was finally able to fall back to sleep.

One thing that I considered odd is that this all happened on the first day of what I consider the most reflective, bittersweet time of the year – the months of October and November. Last year at this time, I felt such a deep sadness and, I ended up having a stroke. The rest of the months of October and November would be marked by profound sleep disturbances. While I feel happier and much healthier this year, I feel that this time the Universe is bringing about a profound change. Today’s events seemed quite evident of that! But is it a good thing or a bad thing? Muktananda once wrote a book entitled “Where Are You Going?” Perhaps Muktananda wanted to remind me that I need to be contemplating this question right now by sending that airplane flying backwards over my head.

The Doctor Is In: An Audie Journey

Last night I attended the Richfield city council meeting. Ten of us were present to promote a new city ordinance whereby tobacco usage in city parks would be banned. In attendance were four of us from the city’s Advisory Board of Health and two medical doctors who were administrators of HealthPartners. When they passed around a sheet so that we could sign in, the two doctors from HealthPartners signed their names as “Doctor -----“, with the word “doctor” spelled out. Without batting an eye, I did the same. I just never saw that done before, which is what surprised me. In the end, the new ordinance passed, and it will go into effect on January 1, 2011. Tonight’s event put the icing on a day-long contemplation about how and, more importantly, WHY I became a doctor. Also, how and why I became a CHIROPRACTOR. I will share this contemplation with you, which is the most truthful description of the journey there is.

Doctors and health professionals of all kinds have always surrounded me throughout my childhood years. I was either constantly ill with ear infections and other illnesses or being evaluated for my neurological sluggishness, stunted growth, and heart problems. Another interesting point is that I witnessed a lot of tragedies in my lifetime where the emergency responses stuck in my head – Hurricane Agnes, numerous severe fires during the 60s and 70s, numerous severe accidents at the intersection just 200 feet from the house I grew up in. All of this exposure was fascinating. While I could probably make a strong case that all of this influenced my choice to make a career in health care, the truth is that none of this was the primary motivator.

Back in these childhood years, I knew that I was different. I knew that I was a social recluse. I knew that I had very different interests and very different ways of looking at things. I was so different that I didn’t dare try to be social with people my own age. It’s not that I was afraid to. It was just that I didn’t know how to. I derived my greatest joy from receiving compliments from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, and neighbors who were all astonished by this hyperlexic, awkward runt. Reading Gray’s Anatomy, textbooks on astronomy, and researching paranormal phenomena in the adult section of the Reading Public Library was my favorite pastime when I was only nine years old. I had no social life per se. Therefore, I also felt as though I didn’t belong anywhere. I felt that I had nothing to offer, and all of my interests really wouldn’t take me anywhere in life.

During this time in my life I did have a couple friends that I hung around with. One was the boy next door. The other was a kid named Michael. Michael’s dad and uncle were members of the local fire department. Michael would always talk about really neat emergencies that his dad and uncle were at. When Michael and I were seventeen years old, Michael joined the local fire and rescue explorers post, where people our age could receive basic training in firefighting and rescue techniques. While all of this sounded fascinating, the fascination itself was not the motivator that finally led me in this path. It all boiled down to one thing: if I was ever to be looked at as somebody who could make a difference to other people, I needed to be able to help them during their greatest time of need. Otherwise, I would just be this socially isolated, strange kid without a purpose. THAT was the motivator. And the more I learned over the years, the more potential I discovered within myself.

My social awkwardness did prevent me from becoming “liked”. Whether I was a member of the fire department, working for an ambulance service, or working in a hospital somewhere, I was always that hyperlexic, awkward runt. It’s just that now I had a tendency to bring out the worst in others since I was easy to pick on. But I kept going in what I did because I enjoyed it so much. Also, what I was doing in the health care field did make a difference to me. I really was helping people during their greatest times of need. I finally had a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

My early years of health care were spent in emergency care. I enjoyed the thrills of being a firefighter (until my heart condition prevented me from being able to be a firefighter any longer), an ambulance attendant, and a nurse aid. Eventually I became a Respiratory Therapist. At no point during these early years did I consider going to medical school. I was enjoying the adrenalin rushes more than anything else. Being there in life-and-death situations was where I belonged. This is where I could make that difference in people’s lives. As a result, though, I didn’t focus so much on academics. Even though I was college educated, GPAs and class rankings had no importance to me. A year after graduating from the first-ever Respiratory Care class at Reading Area Community College, I finally saw the potential in me to become – a DOCTOR.

Now working at the Porter Memorial Hospital in Valparaiso, Indiana, I saw a brighter future ahead, a clear vision of moving up the ladder even further. But because of my floundering past academia, I knew that it would be near impossible to get into medical school. This was further quashed by a conversation I had with the dean of the medical school at Indiana University in Gary, Indiana. As he slammed a rubber ball onto his desk, he said to me, “It aggravates the hell out of me to see these nurses and therapists who think that they can do a doctor’s job better than the doctor, and this becomes the reason why they want to go to medical school.” My only thought was, “What a jerk!” I knew that there were many other options to become a physician within the world of health care. So I did some research into various schools and programs, and I did some meditating.

One place I loved visiting after I got done working at the hospital at 11:00 at night was the Indiana Dunes State Park. It was so soothing and inspirational to walk in the sand, looking out over Lake Michigan in the still of the night. While standing there on the beach one night in August of 1993, the water just touching my feet, I meditated on what the right path to follow would be. I imaged myself as a doctor of various professions – dentist, podiatrist, osteopath, etc. The one that felt absolutely right for me was being a chiropractor. The rest was history. After looking into all the chiropractic schools in the U.S., the school I chose was undoubtedly the best one for me: Life University in Marietta, GA. Whereby many schools placed too much emphasis on medical didactics, I figured that if I was going to study chiropractic, I wanted to learn chiropractIC. Life University teaches more hands-on techniques and more anatomy and physiology courses than any other chiropractic school. But being part of the largest chiropractic school in the world at the time would prove to be a social challenge in itself.

I found the academics to be very interesting. My GPA soared to above 3.5 effortlessly. Just six months into the program, on April 11, 1995, I began a 15-1/2 year battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The GPA fell and attendance suffered. But I plugged away and made it through. Along the way, the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome would not be my only health challenge. But what was even more of a factor in how I did was the fact that I was still a socially awkward recluse. Now, spending more time with peers, I appeared to be even more awkward and naïve. While it takes most people four years to complete this graduate school program, it took me five and a half years. While part of that was due to my health problems, most of it was due to my social incapacities. Student interns must scrounge for their own patients to care for during their internship. Making meaningful contact with people would prove to be my greatest weakness, as it always had been throughout my life. I made it through, nonetheless.

I’ve been in practice now for 10-1/2 years. Looking back at all I have done throughout the years, I can truly say that I accomplished my #1 goal: I became somebody who could help people during their greatest times of need, health-wise. And yes, this does give me a great feeling, to be able to rise above the perpetual social awkwardness. We know now that I have an Autism Spectrum Disorder, which explains everything regarding my lifelong social struggles. I feel better knowing this. But because the social awkwardness is still there, the attempts at building a practice over the years produced mere drops in the bucket. Now I turn my primary goal toward accomplishing another great feat: finding a way to be successful at what I do or at anything whereby I can financially sustain my household and my family. All along I thought that everything would just fall into place just by being what I am professionally. It has not. The doctor is in, but nobody notices.

How To Choose The WRONG Chiropractor

This past week my wife Bianca had a terrible episode with her lower back. She had been sore for a couple days, and then she went to her massage therapist. After her session, she was in such severe pain that she couldn’t get dressed, go out the door, or get into her car without assistance. She called me to ask what she should do. I told her to take her time and come home. Since she had the massage therapist to help her there, I would take it the rest of the way once she arrived home. After taking forever to get out of the car, I took her right into the breezeway of our house, which is where my chiropractic office is set up. Although I knew quite well what the problem was, the possibility of her needing to have x-rays or even an MRI done were coming to the forefront of my mind. I worked on her in my office, doing what I could by hand alone, wondering if it would be enough. Just a few minutes later, she was significantly better. Over the course of the next four days, both chiropractic care and a full Reiki session brought her back to almost 100% health. No x-rays, no MRIs, no electric stimulation, no ultrasound machines, no mechanical traction, and no gimmicks were used. My intuition, knowledge, and my hands were all that were needed.

Then, I thought back in time to a couple similar situations that happened back in 2001 when I was still practicing in Pennsylvania. Patients with similar problems came to me where other chiropractors and even medical providers have failed them, only to be completely healed. How did these things happen? It’s not magic. Not even close. It’s just that I do what I do using the basics and using my heart. I really care about the people that walk into my office. My primary focus is on getting them BETTER. When they are better is the time that I turn my attention toward talking to them about maintenance care, chiropractic philosophy, and bringing their family in for care. Also, I do it all without any gimmicks, just as I took care of my wife this time around.

A question that arises now and then is how do you tell the difference between a “good” chiropractor and a “bad” one. Speaking generally, this formula applies to doctors and health care providers of ANY kind. Not just chiropractors. First I should point out that the American Medical Association has succeeded to a great extent at brainwashing the people of the U.S. into thinking that chiropractors are uneducated quacks. They did so by forming a committee in 1963 called the Committee Against Chiropractic. It was later renamed to the Committee Against Quackery to include professionals of other non-medical healing arts as well. It took a group of seven chiropractors in the state of Illinois a federal lawsuit against the AMA, which the Chicago Seven so valiantly won in 1989, for the organized slander to come to an end. But the damage was done, and organized medicine continues its nonsense in underground and backhanded ways. How did the AMA lose this antitrust lawsuit? It was pretty much a no-brainer when study after study was presented in court showing how amazingly beneficial and effective chiropractic care is for a variety of reasons. The evidence spoke for itself.

Speaking of chiropractors in particular, the REAL one will talk to you like a person. That’s first and foremost. They will greet you by name, ask you what your concerns are, and will then proceed with care. From there, the answers are all very different because not all chiropractors have the same philosophies about what they do. It is helpful to steer clear of the ones who say, “We’ll adjust you three times, and if that doesn’t work we’ll try muscle stim, ultrasound, reverse traction, or (insert your nonsense here) instead.” This chiropractor has no faith in what he does. Likewise, the one who starts by telling you that this nerve controls that organ and that correcting the subluxations in your spine is going to help you function better and has you all confused with big anatomy and physiology terms and hardly breathes between words just like this sentence is going is likewise somebody to be avoided. This person is an idealist and really doesn’t care about the pain you are in.

Physiotherapy equipment such as electrical modalities, cold lasers, and roller tables do not belong in a chiropractor’s office. Most of the people I’ve ever seen in my office say that those things either never did a thing for them or actually made them worse. These things are awesome ways for the chiropractor to pad the bill that he’s going to send off to your insurance company. Another question I often get is if x-rays are really necessary. The answer, in general, is “no”. However, there are certain chiropractic techniques that are entirely dependent on x-rays for specific analysis of your skeletal structure. And, if you were just involved in a vehicle accident and hit your head against the windshield right before walking into my office, you better believe that the first thing I’m going to do before doing any kind of adjusting or manipulating (there is a difference!) is have you get x-rays! The chiropractor who does x-rays on everyone that walks through his door is afraid he might make a mistake. He has no intuition, and he has been told that people are sue-happy. Then there’s the chiropractor who wants you to sign up for a year’s worth of care up front, or he pressures you to buy his line of products. This to me is unethical.

In the end, you are a consumer looking to purchase a service. It would be wise to shop around until you have found the person that you feel most comfortable being with. Go with your instincts! When I was still practicing in Pennsylvania in 2001, I had worked as an associate doctor to a well-liked chiropractic speaker. It became evident, though, that this person missed the mark when it came to actually caring for patients when I was the one receiving complaints about her! After that point in time, I realized that I had a unique gift – a piece of myself that I could offer, with sincerity, to people in need. I could especially understand people because there have been so many times in my life when I was the patient, lying in a hospital bed, not knowing if I was going to live or die. I feel that people who can actually EXPERIENCE such an event, let alone more than once, make more intuitive healers. All in all, I certainly know enough that I can be confident to speak up and write this article!

A New Money Paradigm

It has been said that money is the root of all evil. Some new age healers believe that one shouldn't charge for their healing services, probably because they see money as an obstacle. Over the years, I've come across people who avoid conversations about money because it brings up a lot of bad feelings. Obviously it does bring up bad feelings between married couples because it's the number one reason why divorce exists. Even homeless, and hopeless, people see money as an obstacle, something unobtainable. Oftentimes people will say, "If only I made more money, I'd be happier." But, when you've been in a state of lack for a very long time, how you think of money does tend to change. It has to.

Some people may say that I was homeless for a period of time. To me, being "homeless" means that your bed was the most comfortable patch of weeds you could find under a bridge somewhere, or maybe even an obscure park bench. Although I was never in this situation, I was in a state of pretty extreme hardship during a ten-month period between 2001 and 2002. For two years before then, it was the generosity of my family that pulled me through the rough times. But from October 1, 2001 until June 30th, 2002, I lived off of whatever money I could put into my pocket from having my office located at a truck stop in Bartonsville, PA. I wasn't making enough money to support both a place to live AND the office. So I lived in the office, sleeping on an air mattress every night, and hoping that I had at least one customer the next day so that I could buy lunch.

Now we know, all these years later, that being an audie was the main reason why I had so many difficulties, and still do to a large degree. As I was driving toward my Scrabble club get-together yesterday afternoon, an interesting thought about money hit me from out of the blue. Lately I had been so busy with making lists of places to contact about my autism seminar, trying to come up with article ideas, looking for work, and taking care of the house while my wife is away on vacation. Then today, the director of a local college's continuing education department asked me if I could help her put together and promote an autism awareness program. I thought that what she wanted to do was a fantastic idea. But it would just be another big project added to my list. Therefore, it hit me, out of the blue, to charge for my services. The thought didn't arise out of greed nor of a sense of need -- it was borne out of the necessity to PRIORITIZE. Thus, a new paradigm was created.

Since being self-supportive, monetarily speaking, has always been an area of desolation in my life thusfar, perhaps seeing the whole money thing in a different way will make the difference. Instead of seeing money as something elusive yet necessary, or drowning in a state of extreme lack thereof, I will see it as a way to prioritize the tasks and services that I provide to others. The more effort something will take, the more its cost for me to do it. It is more than just giving to receive as in making a purchase. It is adding VALUE to what is given, and it puts things into a hierarchy on a priority scale.

Now I am not talking about receiving a paycheck for a job. I am talking about prioritizing the things I do as a self-promoting freelancer and entrepreneur. I am also not talking about egoistically embellishing my self-worth. Lord knows that money is NOT something that is needed to live. If you can't afford a place to live, there are always homeless shelters and food banks to carry you through. I say that because I was THIS close to being there. Being in such a situation does tend to destroy a person's ego and make them more appreciative of what they DO have (if they don't lose all hope in the process). It's about knowing that you have a lot to do and a lot to offer in this world, and about knowing that the only way any of it will lead anywhere is if you prioritize. The measure by which priorities are set is MONEY.

Just a thought.

Audie Communication

It may be strange to see me writing another blog post so soon after the last one. I typically average three to four weeks between posts. I guess you can say that I made a self-discovery in the past day. If somebody asks me a question that deserves an answer, then I can come up with something to write about. Otherwise, my communication is pretty sparse. I recently started a fan page on Facebook, which as of the writing of this blog post has 109 fans. Thanks to Facebook Adwords, I am getting the word out about me and what I do as a Holistic Physician, minister, and educator. But the Adwords advertising campaign will not last very long because money is not a commodity for me right now. And, like for most audies, it never had been. Thanks to that most intriguing and baffling art form called “communication”, I, like many audies, have a terrible time making ends meet in this world.

There was once an essay written by Emily Perl Kingsley entitled “Welcome To Holland”. This writing has been adopted by many autism activist parents to describe their struggles with raising an autistic child. I recently told my wife that the neurotypical world really seems like Holland to the autistic person (the audie). She wondered how that translated. I explained that it is JUST as hard for an audie to figure out what the neurotypical (“normal”) world wants as it is for the neurotypical person to figure out how to relate to the audie. This is largely because of miscommunication and misinterpretation. Audies are very capable of communicating, but they do so in their own way. Communication is not always verbal, and when it is it is often misunderstood or done inappropriately (according to the rules of the neurotypical world, that is). What an audie is communicating, however, may make perfect sense to another audie. Figure that one out! Such is the nature of living in Holland.

Just as there are all types of audies ranging from the brilliant scientists to the totally incapacitated, there are also all levels of communication. Dr. Temple Grandin is an excellent example of an outstanding communicator, even though she has classical autism. As for me, my best form of communication is writing. This is true for most nonverbal audies, and also for those who are socially awkward with their verbalism. For nonverbal children, perhaps the best way to get them to communicate is to use picture cards. One of the followers of my Facebook fan page invented her own picture card system that helps her to communicate, quite effectively, with her autistic daughter. I have seen other such systems being used as well to help in communicating with the nonverbal audie.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that with the audie, communication has to develop and occur at its own pace and in its own way. It may never be the way the neurotypical wants it to be. Also, for the audie to learn his/her own way around Holland, I strongly urge him/her, and the neurotypical caretaker, to read the book “Unwritten Rules Of Social Relationships” by Dr. Temple Grandin and Sean Barron. Just by reading this book, the caretaker will FINALLY get a very good glimpse at what is going on in the audie’s mind. Also, the audie will learn what is expected of him/her by the neurotypical world in order to fit in, to some degree anyway.

One reason why audies, especially as children, may have tantrums or may become short-tempered is because they are TRYING their darnedest to communicate, in the way that they can, and are still often misunderstood. This is all the more reason for discovering proper communication abilities and channels early on in life. This trying and being misunderstood is still incredibly frustrating for me when I know that I didn’t exactly say what I wanted to say, and people thought I was actually meaning something completely different. Jobs have been lost because of this, and my current practice goes unbuilt for this same reason. Just because I have what some people call an “impressive” resume doesn’t mean I’ve been successful with making a living at it. I have not. Goodness knows what bridge I’d be living under if it wasn’t for the unhuman amount of patience that my wife has.

One thing that I strongly encourage, for communication building, is for the audie and their caregiver to become involved in their local chapter of the Autism Society of America. With attending their support groups and classes, each person can learn some very helpful techniques to help build and discover an effective line of communication. Not only that, but you will find that you are not alone in your plight, and you will have others that you can count on. I feel that the lack of proper communication between audie and caregiver/the neurotypical world is the most frustrating part of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder. If we all knew what the other meant and was expecting, the rest of it would be easy. How to communicate effectively is something that can only be found out by trial and error.

The Prediction

It was the summer of 1994. I had just moved into my new apartment in Smyrna, Georgia. I was about to begin my final quarter of undergraduate prerequisite studies. In just another three months I was to begin chiropractic school. I sat down to write a letter to an old friend of mine, a Catholic priest that I had known since I was nine years old. Father Stephen Halabura was a part of my growing years, and he and I spent a lot of time together. He was always my go-to person when I was feeling out of place around my peers during junior high school and high school. In the letter, I told him how excited I was about studying to become a chiropractor. Much to my own surprise, I had written to him, “Becoming a chiropractor is merely the next step toward my real calling in life.” I had no idea what the next step was. In that moment, I knew that there would be something beyond. I have been a chiropractor now for over ten years. I feel that by the end of 2010 I will finally discover what the real calling is.


Almost nine months after writing that letter, my struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome began. Three years after that, my most amazing Spiritual journey began. In April of 1998 I joined a meditation group hosted by one of my teachers. In July I learned Reiki, and in August I was introduced to my Guruji, Swami Chidvilasananda, more lovingly known as Gurumayi. On October 3, at about 8:00 PM, I received the gift of Shaktipat, the awakening of the Kundalini energy. That firmly grounded me in the knowledge and the experience of the entire universe, manifest and unmanifest, being God. This event, along with all the healing arts I have learned, are key to what my real calling will be. The pain and suffering I endured, and continue to endure of sorts, from my own health challenges are also key to whatever my real calling is. Something amazing lurks in the not-too-distant future.

This past weekend, my wife Bianca and I spent a weekend in Chicago at the Celebrate Your Life conference which is hosted by Mishka Productions. It was a life-enhancing event. It was good to be around so many people who held the Spiritual path in high esteem. Not since visiting the Siddha Yoga ashram in South Fallsburg, New York (which I last did in 2002) did I feel so fulfilled. Although there were many famous speakers there, the three that I got the most from were Caroline Myss, Neale Donald Walsh, and Deepak Chopra. What these three people had to say pretty much summed up what I have been experiencing on the spiritual path for the past twelve years. Caroline Myss said, “Imagine that…” and she went on to describe EXACTLY what I had experienced the moment I received Shaktipat in 1998. Neale Donald Walsh explained in a very practical way not only how we can have our own conversation with God but also the fact that everything that is IS God. And Deepak Chopra really reeled me in with a scientific look at how everything that appears to “exist” is actually a waveform, God’s Consciousness, or, as Swami Muktananda would say, a “Play Of Consciousness”. None of these things were new to me. It was all profound because everything I had contemplated, meditated on, and read about in the words of Muktananda during the past twelve years was re-divulged in a most awe-inspiring way.

So, what is the “next step”? What is my real calling? Many people over the years have said that my greatest strength is my gift of writing. My Reiki Master just reminded me of that again today. In a recent blog post, I wrote that I can only write well, if at all, when inspired, and that this doesn’t happen more than about once a month. I am feeling, though, that this past weekend put a charge into my motivation to write more. That’s a good thing. Professionally, things are being rearranged. Today is the day I will be closing my office in St. Louis Park, MN. It doesn’t mean that I will no longer practice as a chiropractor. Instead, I will see people in my own home and will focus even more on holistic practice. I am also working more on bringing my ministerial work to the forefront. I think that if I contemplate things long and hard enough, I could find a way to be an avid writer. Making a living at it would certainly be a challenge, just as everything else I ever tried had been. One nice note to make is that I’m being invited more to speak about living with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I received three invites just in the past week! Only one of them will be a paid gig though, and it’s not even for sure that it will take place. Perhaps I can challenge myself a bit more and advertise again for The Wellness Interfaith Church and for doing health talks in my “new” home office setting? Yes, I have so much to say and so much to offer in the realm of healing. I don’t want to give myself false hope, as I’ve done so often, but I do feel that some positive changes are about to take place. The real calling, whatever it is, is near.