Just posted pictures on flickr from a day of surfing with autistic kids. We had a blast!
Years ago I worked with autistic children in a program out in the Berkshires. The program involved joining the children in their world, and I spent quality time w/kids rolling around on the floor, hitting bells and spinning plates. By entering their world, they entered mine.
What glimpses I got of their world, (beyond the outwardly visible dispay of repetitive behavior) was amazing. Some say these children are multidimensional, and are unable/unwilling to communicate with us because we are 2 dimesional stick figures to them. I believe it.
I interviewed with a wealthy family who had an autistic adult. He’d been institutionalized all his life, no one knew he had an incredible photographic memory, or that he could, from the second floor of his home, hear both sides of a phone conversation taking place on the first floor. He wasn’t sure he wanted to ‘integrate’ into our reality, because he was out there flying thru space with enlightened light beings. I don’t blame him, and as a result, didn’t get the job. (His aging parents thought they might finally get a ‘normal’ son.)
When a friend invited me to help these autistic kids surfing, I was in. I love the ocean, and know how powerful a healer and equalizer she is.
The waves were pretty big from beginner standards. We put them on boards, swam them out to the sandbar, and launched them shoreward with the smaller waves. A few stood, most were quite content to ride the waves laying on the board.
Naturally, some of the adults kept encouraging their kids to stand up. We want them to meet our definition of surfing, we want our loved ones to be what we think of as normal. I have a teenage son, and I want him to be normal too. After this day, I’m thinking, do I?
I made eye contact with a lot of them (its easy when they’re surfing straight at you, and you’re helping them get on and off the board) and am still inspired by the light in their eyes.
One child didn’t even get in the water, and was quite content to watch the waves carry his plastic bucket up and down the shoreline. When my ferrying duties were over, I was quite content watching him watch.
Its amazing what we can learn when we see the world thru the eyes of another…
Click on the link below, and it’ll take you to a slide show (complete with a few short fun video clips) of some first time happy surfers! Warning; you will duck the waves and find yourself smiling!
{ 0 comments… add one now }