mekidsmom wrote:I have a 4 year old little girl that is high functioning autistic. I've just recently begun delving into that "world" - from therapies and doctors, to the educational and health laws and regulations around this disability. I think I've found a good place to put my "skills" to use in a way that will benefit me (my family) personally.
I've come to accept that working with children is my "calling". Being the very oldest out of four (with a 2 year, 7 year and 16 year gap) I was kind of catapulted in that direction, but have come to find it really inspiring and satisfying. I teach an afterschool class as my paid job, and am the "Assistant Children's Director" at my church (fancy title for a volunteer position lol). Recently I've found myself in charge of taking care of a boy diagnosed with high functioning autism, in a seperate class on sunday mornings. I've kind of fallen in love with the kid over the past couple of weeks and am looking forward to the learning experience. "Kid Stuff" keeps me pretty busy because I'm dedicated to coming up with cool and exciting activities for them, but I find time for guitar and a couple of other hobbies now and then
I'm pretty artistic in general, but drawing seems to be my niche'. I have a thing for sharpies, fine point pens, and prismacolor art markers. I'm also really interested in collage work, but can't seem to get around to working on anything substantial, despite huge collection of clippings and scrap materials. I flip flop between cutesy characters, illustration-esque pieces about fairies owls mysterious women etc., and abstract line work. I guess I'm pretty good at art, but I suffer from crippling self criticism and the completion of a piece is usually accompanied by a momentary high, then complete deflation of self confidence. I'm learning how to get past that!
I also collect "vynyl art toys", namely DUNNY's, which is a really cool new medium. (You can check out kidrobot.com to get an idea.) What happens is they make one "blank" white figurine, then send it to different artists to "customize" (paint, scribble on, add clay things to etc.). They come up with some nifty stuff!
I love to read, so you can add book collecting to the list. I like to write too, but again the self criticism comes in and have always been embarassed to let anyone read anything I've written. (I'm such a silly one sometimes! Oy!)
I also have a thing for animated films, photo taking, hamsters, poetry, and hanging out on Chordie.com!
All You Need is Love