Jenks Spends a Week with Autistic 20-year-old

This week, Jenks spent time with Chad, an autistic 20-year-old living with his parents in upstate New York.  Chad attends Westchester Exceptional Children's School, which caters to the special needs of children and young adults whom are unable to attend any public or private school because of their medical condition.  Jenks witnessed first-hand how autism can effect a person's everyday activities and the enormous challenge and patience that goes into raising an autistic young man.

Once Chad warmed up to Jenks and his crew, Jenks was able to venture into Chad's world little by little.  Jenks found out the most important belongings to Chad are his photos.  He has loads of pictures -- covering his walls; in boxes; in bags; print-out pictures; developed pictures; drawings, any format of a picture you can imagine Chad has it.  His pictures calm him, offering Chad a sort of sanctuary.

Along with photography, Chad loves:

• Italian culture.  He even has a huge Italian flag hanging in the middle of his room.
• Collecting take-out menus.
• Collecting sand from different beaches he goes to.

Chad also has an impressive knowledge of what I like to call "Did You Knows."  These are trivia questions, fun facts; the kind information that you would find on the inside of a Snapple cap.

Chad has a very sharp sense of humor.  His witty remarks were a refreshing reminder to me that he's very aware of what's going on around him.  He flirts with girls at his school, complains about girls being moody, talks about dating "a hot Puerto Rican girl", and finding the right girl one day.  Those sound like topics any 20-year-old guy can say he's talked about with his friends.

Personally, I related with Chad very much on one particular activity.  Sleeping in.  Oh yeah baby!  Chad and I  are on the same level when it comes to sleeping in.  I think I may have a gene that has yet to be discovered that allows me to sleep in for hours.  Chad shared some very wise words about waking up someone that doesn't want to be woken up.  "You don't wake up a bear when he's hibernatin'."  Well said, my friend, well said.

After watching this episode, I felt the way I would approach someone with autism or any disability would be from a more considerate point of view.  I realized that simply because a person may have a disability doesn't mean they can't "keep up" or relate to others their own age.  If we are patient and understanding then we could see that we could have many things in common with this special person.

Visit the following sites to learn more about:

• How to Get Involved
• Improving the Lives of All Affected by Autism
• The Facts of Autism

To read about Jenks talk about autism:

Visit The Autism News.

This is a drawing Chad's best friend, Joe, made for him.  That's Joe and his girlfriend, Helen, on the far left, Jenks in the middle, and Chad on the right.