Make me an instrument of peace;
Where there is rigidity, let me bring flexibility;
Where there is stagnation, growth;
Where there is shame, confidence;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is overstimulation, calm;
Where there is confusion, clarity.

Grant that I might seek not much to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.

For it is through giving that we receive;
It is through humility that we find pride;
And it is through effort that we bring ease to our lives.

Note: I'm not religious, but I have always loved the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.  I created this version to help clarify for myself my goals as I work with my own autism and try to engage people around autism issues. 

Joe Iadanza and Rachel Payne perform the Miley Cyrus song "The Climb."

Rachel Payne, who has Asperger's syndrome, attends The Mosaic School in New York.  When singer-songwriter Joe Iadanza did a benefit for the school, he perfomed this song with her. 

Click here to watch.

Mathew Ryan Morin is kind enough to give a shout-out to thAutcast in his latest Autism Weekly video.  He talks about the Judge Rotenberg Center, singer Christopher Duffley, and basketball sensation Jason McElwain.  Check it out!

I'd like to thank everyone who has joined the thAutcast community on Facebook.  We reached 2000 members this week, and the people there inspire me daily with their passion and intelligence.  If you've never been, please check it out.

This week in the world away from thAutcast I got a dog, which is still great!  And her name will stay Kiki.  I had hoped to change it but made the mistake of describing it as a "hooker name."  So now Max is enchanted with it and there is no hope.  Kiki it is.

Also I had a flame war, which is still stupid!  And I am working on a video for the site.  So there has been a lot less news covered on thAutcast this week.

Stacey Strauss was sentenced to prison for her role in the death of Bryan Nevins. James Durbin rocked the house with a classic Bon Jovi song.

I talked about why it isn't crazy for people with autism to worry about being unfairly restrained. Mathew Morin and Temple Grandin both talked about animals, and Dr. Grandin talked about autism and employment.

Charles explained most of what people need to know about autism in less than a minute. Lydia talked about being rejected for acting autistic. OWL looked at flying as a side effect. Adam, who does OWL, also finished his interview with me, so expect to see that here soon. 

Remember to order John Elder Robison's new book Be Different!  It comes out on Tuesday!

So-- I have to go hang out with Max and Kiki now.  You have a great day.

My beautiful new dog with the hooker name, Kiki.

Temple Grandin recommends I work in retail.

Sherry Kinney  interviews Temple Grandin about autism and employment.  This would be an especially good way to introduce someone to Dr Grandin's ideas on the subject as she covers a lot of material that I have only seen elsewhere in much longer pieces.  If you have a friend on the local Chamber of Commerce or hires a lot of people, it might not be a bad idea to forward a link. She has suggestions for employers-- be blunt and train people on the spectrum how to handle the social aspects of their jobs.  She also discusses the importance of apprenticeship programs, which I think are the best way to help people with autism succeed in the world of work.  I wish she had better recommendation as to career possibilities for people like me, who have verbally-focused, autistic minds.  but then I wish I better solutions for us, too.  Here, her best suggestion is retail, which she acknowledges is sort of silly because it requires the sort of social skills and multi-tasking that are hard for us.  Besides, her examples of people who were valued by stores because of their knowledge of inventory come from the time before computers. People with other kinds of autistic brains have made people with brains like mine pretty much superfluous.  Oh, well. Please support Dr. Grandin's professional aspirations for me by buying her books at my Amazon store, including the one she wrote on this topic.

Lydia at Autistic Speaks expresses perfectly some of my frustration when trying to communicate or form relationships:

A problem that seems to keep cropping up with people who know me, even those who know me very well, is that they want to be friends with me until I... get autistic on them. Until I misinterpret them and think they're frustrated with me when they're not. Until I melt down in public. Until I can't work, can't go anywhere alone without panicking, until I communicate something very poorly. Then, they get angry with me, and their words can be harsh, and it's very upsetting. It ends friendships... many.

People say they want to listen to people with autism until it actually impairs us in any way.  Then they use our impairments as an excuse to ignore us.  I would guess that it happens to all us every day.

Lydia goes to define how autism shapes her experiences:

This is my autism.

My autism is being too honest and hurting feelings.

Having so many words but limited ability to express myself, some times more than others.

Seeing the world, and people, in black and white.

Not understanding pretense and getting upset with people who use it overtly.

Having ridiculous anxiety, especially in social situations. . .

It goes on, and it describes my autism, too. 

Please read the whole thing.