The Autistic Me

I get extremely anxious around stressful people. People with no humility, too much need to be right, too much intensity... they annoy me. I am currently reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. In the book, he mentions that the doctors most likely to be sued are the worst doctors: they are the ones with poor interpersonal skills. They don't listen to patients. They sound condescending. They even hold patients in contempt, at times. The quality of a doctor, in terms of his or her knowledge and skills, had no correlation to lawsuits. Jerks get sued, nice people do not. As parents of "challenging" young patients know, those of us with stimuli sensitivities and other unique characteristics have a low tolerance for "aggressive" behaviors. We tend to become defensive or flee. Those are our two general options: flight or fight. In my case, I prefer to run away from conflicts. I had to deal with an aggressive, annoying doctor today. I will not be seeing her again — I will se...

The running gag in Warner Bros. cartoons is that any product from Acme Corp. is far from the "acme" of its kind. Acme rockets are the Yugos of rocket science. Acme trebuchet? It slings the operator, not the stone, as poor Wile E. Coyote should realize by now. About the only things that do work, with unfortunate regularity, are Acme explosives. My body is apparently an Acme product. You fix one thing, another fails. I've had too many medical procedures and tests in the last few years. This week I endured a sleep study, with wires to every limb and EKG leads scattered all over my scalp. Two straps, one around my chest and one across my stomach. A wire and tape around my neck. Fun, fun, fun. Not as bad as the eye surgeries, and less invasive than the upcoming surgeries to fix tears and rips in various locations, but the sleep study was still miserable. The paradox is that a sleep study leaves you sleepy.

Written Exams... Testing Sanity I spent the entire week taking my written exams, receiving questions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. With 24 hours to respond to each question, this meant I worked on exams six days straight. Immediately after completing my Monday-Tuesday exam, I had to rush to teach a writing course while also dealing with a potentially severe medical issue. Friday morning began with nearly 90 minutes of medical nonsense, straightening out records for an upcoming surgery and some tests, right before I had to begin my last exam cycle. In other words, my focus was elsewhere until about noon when my mind seemed to click into writing mode. Back to Routines Now, it's back to routines. I have a paper to prepare for Computers and Writing, to be presented this summer at U.C. Davis. I have numerous Web site projects to get back on track. Plus, I have my creative writing projects. I miss having time for fun things.