|
|
|||
|
Cecilia's Internet Celebrity Status
During the first few months after Cecilia dropped out of high school, she seemed happier than ever before. She was learning to read and she no longer anxiety-vomited in the morning. She spoke well and her communication skills were improving. Several of her unhealthy habits vanished. For instance, she stopped picking at her face and compulsively washing her hands. But after being away from school for about three months, we noticed Cecilia was gradually becoming less communicative. The lack of communication developed slowly and subtly. You had to pay close attention to notice anything different about her behavior. But we began to notice that she frequently pointed without speaking. While sitting at the dinner table, she pointed at the pitcher instead of saying aloud that she wanted a drink of lemonade. She also began grunting when she felt disappointed or angry. We recognized this communication breakdown as a danger sign. Many books and articles we have read about autism state that it is possible for a once communicative autistic child to stop talking altogether. This is especially likely at the onset of adulthood. At 18, Cecilia had entered a crucial time in her life. No longer in school, she was not being stimulated as she had been nearly all her life, from day care on. Joe suggested she return to school, even for half a day, but Cecilia wanted nothing to do with school. Attending school had been too painful.
Pets to the Rescue
Cecilia loves our cats with a passion usually reserved for bankers and our money. The cats love Cecilia, too. They join her on the kitchen table when she eats. They sleep together. Sometimes Maggie perches on the edge of the bathtub and watches Cecilia bathe in the evening. And every night, Cecilia draws a picture of her "cat of the day" on her white chores board. Knowing how Cecilia feels about animals, it occurred to us that she needed a hobby that involved her cats. From the library, we checked out two books about cat grooming. Cecilia loved the cat photos and illustrations, but she did not enjoy working with the cats. The cats did not enjoy it, either. Trying to brush Panda resulted in several deep scratches on Cecilia's arms and hands. Although Cecilia wanted to groom the cats, doing so made her feel anxious. Her movements were unsure and the cats reacted to her anxiety by striking out at her. Following several bloody attempts at grooming, we decided this was not our best hobby choice. And we were running out of Band-Aids. After brainstorming hobbies for a few days, we came up with the idea of Cecilia creating an Internet site about her pets. We already owned the tiny digital camera that Joe got for Christmas a few years earlier. Fortunately, it was an inexpensive model (more like a toy than a camera) that did not require focusing or lights. You just aimed and shot the picture. The photos were not as clear as you might get with a quality camera, but they were good enough for what we were already calling "Cecilia's Pet Gallery." Joe taught Cecilia to operate the camera. She took to it right away, snapping dozens of pictures of her thumb and fingers, the floor and ceiling, but somehow she managed to take a few great photos of cats. Her first few hundred photos looked too blurred for the Pet Gallery, but she improved a great deal with practice. By her three hundredth photo, she was getting it right every time. The beauty of using a digital camera is the cost of film. It's free. No matter how many photos you take with a digital camera, your only cost is the price of the battery. (The battery for our camera costs about $6.95. It lasts nearly a year.) For a few weeks, Cecilia followed the cats around the house and photographed them living their lives - usually sleeping. Most of the pictures were either beautiful or funny. It was a pleasure for Cecilia and Joe to examine all the photos and choose their favorites. This also gave Cecilia something exciting to talk about. It gradually drew her out of her school drop-out cocoon. We wanted all of Cecilia's creativity to have a showcase, so we collected some of Cecilia's pet drawings and scanned them so we could include them on the site.
Creating the site
Joe knew nothing about putting up a website, but he figured it wouldn't be a problem. There were four-year-olds putting up websites about Pokemon and Beanie Babies, so Joe felt he could do it, too. We had received Adobe's PageMill on the free software CD that came as a bonus with our computer. The software looked simple enough; no more difficult than a word processor. Joe and Cecilia looked at dozens of websites and decided what they wanted the Pet Gallery to look like, and set out to accomplish it. In a couple weeks, they finished Cecilia's Pet Gallery and uploaded it on the Web. Cecilia loves her website. Because she has received email about the site, Cecilia understands that people all over the world enjoy her pet photos. During the first few months after the site went up, whenever Cecilia saw a television commercial that referred to a corporate website, she would say, "I have one of those, too!" We tell her that she is a star on the Internet.
Everyone needs a website!
The Web is no longer new, so we are surprised that there are not more web sites centered around homespun creativity. We want to see websites about Grandma's poetry and Grandpa's watercolor paintings. Where are the home built websites devoted to children's art? If you have someone living in your house who becomes easily bored, why aren't they making art and putting it on the Web? Let's get going! ------------------------ Please also read Mainstreaming: The Most Hideous Days of High School and |
||||
|
Please send email comments to |
|
|||
