The Hole in your life,

by Jason Ross

My life has seen water,
My life has seen sand,
My life has seen every aspect of an individual.
My life never has any way of going
up or down.  I seem to stay in the
middle and be happy.
I wonder when the day will come
when all I have known is gone forever.
Forever into a deep hole where
I know nothing. Endless nothingness.
I remember being a baby, knowing
nothing except to stay silent and
observe.
The world seems out of sorts,
The world seems like trial and error,
The world seems like there is a lot
to learn from you and I.
Take your journey to the never ending
hole, where neither knew this,
and neither knew that, and
during the trip through the hole
take your life and use it to
spread the knowledge.
For the knowledge to be spread
should be the greatest knowledge
of one’s whole journey through the hole.
That to me is a journey worth swimming through,
where the hole to be, is the hidden hole of life,
a whole to which no body knew nothing,
until they knew something to which
our truest destiny has been reached
and enlightened the world.

The definition of Freedom is very vague when you look it up in the dictionary since it means many different things to many different people. I feel one of the best freedoms to have is your own sense of psychological freedom. Psychological freedom means to be able to think for yourself and not have anyone influence how you think. It is the ability to be able to make your own judgments, decisions and have the ability to formulate your own opinions and ideas. As individuals we have the right to never give up and to be able to have success in order to feel our own self-worth. It is important for every individual to have a sense of worthiness and a high level of esteem to feel good about themselves.

People on the Autism Spectrum are variable and may seem slower in some areas than others. Trying to get individuals on the Autism Spectrum to achieve their goals takes patience, cooperation, and knowledge about the spectrum. This knowledge creates many different people to know how fast or how slow to teach the individual on the Autism Spectrum.  Once achieved Spectrumites need to speak for themselves rather than others speaking for them.

The Autism Spectrum is very variable which is why they call it a Spectrum of disorders. Some individuals need more attention to achieve their goals toward success. The many success stories of people on the Autism Spectrum came about because these individuals had the support of people in their life to help them. These individuals are capable of reaching their goals with the proper support system in their lives.

There are individuals in my life that believe that I have achieved my goals. They are very mistaken. What I have achieved to date is the stepping stone for me to move another step up the ladder to my many lists of goals. There are many achievements left that I wish to achieve and I know with time I will.

A success story consists of being happy for who you are. The more you achieve your goals, the more successful you become. You must always start out with small goals and work yourself up to the bigger ones until many achievements lead to success.

Individuals on the Autism Spectrum deserve every right to achieve the goals they want and live a life just like anybody else. You can not speak for anyone even those who can not talk. There are so many means of communication other than talking in expressing self-identity.

I hope people read this posting now allowing themselves to realize how important it is for every individual to express themselves. Helen Keller who could not see and hear was a success story because she developed ways to express herself. Individuals on the Autism Spectrum have ways to express themselves, you just have to listen, if not with your ears, with any other sense that you have.

Remind yourself everyday I am teaching an individual on the Autism Spectrum who is different and I am making a difference in this world. The world of difference in this world could turn out to be better than the world is today.

out, J

The Batman. The Joker. The new movie, The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan reviewed by Jason Ross.

I saw this movie two nights ago. I saw the movie with four other people in the city where nine other people were supposed to show up, but didn’t.  The nine people felt a midnight show was too late to watch and movie so they backed out.  I went no matter what.  I feel like I practically live in the city and only come back to Rockland to sleep because I live and work outside of Rockland. Anyway, I saw this movie and felt as if the movie was the best Batman movie ever made.  It was even better as a midnight showing.

I felt on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next. There were feelings of emotional horror since from the beginning the Joker started in. The movie didn’t reveal anything more about the Joker instead it went into his crazy world. A world where the Joker wanted no rules and the movie revealed how crazy people can get by bringing a Gotham city down to its core trying to make it crumble.  The Joker was played by the late Heath Ledger who made the audience feel scared by the Joker’s threatening actions. Batman who was played by Christian Bale played our hero.

Throughout the movie the Joker (the late Heath Ledger) tries to convince Batman to reveal himself in order for the homicides to stop. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhardt) who is a prosecutor for Gotham city and works with his fiancee, Rachel Dawe (Maggie Gyllenhaal).  They both try to bring justice to the crimes of the city eventually Harvey Dent admits to be Batman to convince the Joker to stop. This does not convince the Joker.  The Joker manipulates and twists the world of Batman to think that all heroes eventually become the villain themselves. Before Harvey Dent transforms himself into Two-Face, the Joker sneaks into the hospital room where Harvey Dent was recovering from face trauma.  After the meeting with the Joker, he transforms into evil and becomes Two-Face. The Joker who uses only knives and explosives to kill Gotham citizens; Two-Face uses a handgun for his own sense of evil identity.

Two-Face goes after all the people who led to the death of his fiancée Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). His anger kills many Gotham citizens. Eventually Batman and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) gets the better of Two-Face tragically.

The Joker influences every character in this movie and even the audience watching. He influences the characters especially Batman to show the audience not all good remains good. The audience is influenced since they start feeling scared and angry at the Joker. The late Heath Ledger did a great job portraying the Joker. Even though we don’t know how the Joker became so evil terrorizing Gotham citizens, we get a feel for what he means.

Feeling influenced to do things is a part of life and the main theme in this movie is to stay strong and true to yourself without letting anybody convince you to change who you are. The movie also shows people everybody can be influenced even your heroes in life. You should find strength within yourself, not to find it in other people. The Joker reminds me of individuals who seek out to demonize others.

I highly recommend this movie to anybody to see. In any case by watching this film you could figure out who is the Dark Knight. It is a great sense of comic fiction brought to life. I would even go see it again in IMAX!

take it easy,

out, J

This weekend was a great weekend. I went to Bridgehampton with my friend whose parents have a house there. It was a great weekend starting out with a party at a big producers house that my friend’s mother’s friend who is a chiropractor for the celebrities put my friend and I on the list of the big party. Thanks a lot for that and props to you. There were many different celebrities there. When I first got there, I was walking around with my friend Leigh, and we met the producer and friend who started teasing us about the food that was not served already. Leigh and I were taking pictures of each other pretending to open the food up when there was nothing in the food tray while a Jazz Band was playing consisting of the entertainment.

I saw many celebrities there and treated everyone there like a person because I would introduce myself to the celebrities as if I was talking to the average person on the street or a friend of mine. The first celebrity I saw was Sarah jessica Parker and I don’t recall seeing her husband, Matthew Broderick, but he could have been there as well.

At first when I saw Sarah Jessica Parker I wanted to go up to her immediately, though my feeling was that many people were talking to her at once so I couldn’t talk to her. I would have really liked to talk to Sarah Jessica Parker, but I will tell you who I spoke to instead. Many other people.

Most of the time how I introduced myself is I said my first name and everyone else said there first name as well. Even though some I knew exactly who it was especially Brooke Shields, but that I talk about at the end.

Anyway, I first went up to a very grand man who owns a Champagne winery in France. He was drinking obviously because he owns and knows about Champagne, and we were talking a lot. I told him about DMc and hopefully he remembered to read my website. We had a very good conversation in which I included my friend Leigh as well.

I also spoke with the writer/director of the New Will Ferrell movie. He was very interesting to talk to. He had a lot of charisma.

I saw and spoke to Donna Karan the woman who basically is a great fashion designer. At that point I wanted to soak in more talking with celebrities.

Though when you talk to a celebrity you must always treat them as an individual first because they are people with feelings too. Like I am Jason who has Asperger Syndrome, NOT vice versa.

I spoke with a songwriter named Brian, but he was a bit distracted on the phone.

I met two guys who were trying to teach me how they balance a glass on their middle finger. That was really hard.

I saw Richard Gere and his wife there, and said hello to them as well.

I met architects, painters, composers, musicians, and other people that are well known, but can’t remember names.

Anyway, I wish I saw Steven Spielberg there, but I didn’t. Oh well, another time.

Just before i had to leave because my friend wanted to leave, I walked up to Brooke Shields to introduce myself. She said “Hi I am Brooke. Nice to meet you Jason” and smiled at me. Aw, that was nice of her. I didn’t realize how tall Brooke Shields is.

The celebrities were all wondering why I didn’t drink alcohol there at all, and I replied to anyone who spoke to me “Sorry, I don’t drink.” And they all looked at me. Then a few of them offered me special magic brownies to eat and I said, “No thank you, I don’t eat that either because it is too heavy on the stomach late at night and I would get a tummy ache.”

They all laughed whether at me or with me or both, it doesn’t matter.

Anyway, I found that half the celebrities there came with their same sex partner while the other half came with their opposite sex partner, and a few came by themselves.

i was walking around the whole complex blurting out sayings that I remembered like, “You can pick your nose, You can pick your friends, but you can never pick your friends nose” and other sayings as well. LOL<, Just kidding, but I really was blurting out sayings that I knew just to ease anxiety. I told a few of them like the man from France who owns a Champagne winery about DMC.

It was a fantastic experience and I hope to treasure it well especially because a photographer took my picture there.

Afterwards when I left that party, I went to a Grateful Dead Cover band party where I met an entrepreneur who helped boom many businesses in the area.

That was the highlight of the year so far.

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty quiet and relaxing with my friend and his parents. I got to what NT’s say “CHILL!”

have a goodnight,

out, J

PS I told all the celebrities about the Vein Ablation procedure to get rid of varicose veins in their legs, and all their eyes iit up!!!!! SMILE

Anyway, when I told them about having to check for Venous Reflux in order to do the procedure they still had their eyes lit up because it meant Great LEGS for all!

And that is the procedure I am doing now at work with the doctor I work for.

I grew up in the 1980’s where there was very little information available for people to understand Autism Spectrum Disorders. Many people on the Autism Spectrum were left unnoticed and misdiagnosed. There was not the diversity or understanding about Autism Spectrum Disorders as there is today. Most people thought of a person with Autism as Dustin Hoffman’s character in the 1988 film, Rain Man. The movie actually portrayed a man with Savant Syndrome whose family had placed him in an institution because they were unable to handle his strange and difficult behavior.

Unfortunately, most people today still view a person with Autism the same way. The misdiagnosing of people on the Autism Spectrum still continues to occur. The sudden attention of the various disorders within the spectrum has shined some light and has brought about media coverage. This exposure has helped to make the medical community become more knowledgeable enabling them to correctly diagnose individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This exposure has made people believe that there is an epidemic of autism, however, this is not so. Previously, these individuals were misdiagnosed with various mental illnesses when in reality they had Pervasive Developmental Disorder. There is no epidemic today but the large number of correct diagnoses shows the sudden understanding of autism in the medical community.

My mother raised me knowing that I was different from my brothers, cousins, and other children growing up with me. She knew that there was something unusual about me but did not understand why. She sought out medical assistance but was never satisfied with the answer they provided. She felt deep down inside of her the need to uncover what made me function differently than everybody else. Only in my early twenties did I discover the real source of my unusual behavior.

I attribute my success today to the persistence and care of my mother. Throughout my life even though she knew I was different, she has always been there for me. She enabled me to grow despite my handicaps and become a productive member of society. She continues to build my self-esteem and to challenge me to be independent and work hard. My mother has an innate understanding of what is best for me. Her natural qualities of patience and social skills have enabled me to have a true sense of who I am as a person.

My life growing up was very difficult and rocky most of the time. Throughout my life my peers, teachers, and siblings did not have an understanding of who I was or why I acted and said things that they deemed odd. Life was and continues to be a challenge for me every day. Life is quite different for a child on the autism spectrum and know matter how one tries they can not compete with their “Neurotypical” counterparts.

As I moved through various periods of my life there was many times where I wanted to do things when I was not ready to. My mother would tell me “Jason, be patient and listen to me, I am only trying to help.” However, there were many times when I would push myself harder than my mother felt I should. I would become frustrated feeling I was held back, but she always would boost me up with words of encouragement.

Many people felt that without having tenacity a person can not achieve anything. My life has driven me to make it in a field where only Neurotypicals achieve. My drive has given me a sense of accomplishment. I have become just as good as my Neurotypical peers who are in the field of Cardiac and Vascular Technology by proving to them that by struggling eventually you achieve what you want to. Sometimes you must feel inside of you what you desire even though it’s a rough road, and go with it anyways no matter how tough it can become.

My life’s journey brings about many individuals who help guide me. At times these individuals became more influential then my support system. However, there are many misinformed individuals who have no understanding about Autism Spectrum Disorders. These individuals can be very insensitive and cruel. They can cause pain, humiliation with no sense of our feelings. However, in order to reach for the stars you must recognize who is helping and who is hampering. Learning to use our instincts is the best way to handle these situations even when we don’t like what are instincts tell us.

In order to have success in the world you must listen carefully to what people say and to make clear judgments for yourself.  No matter what seems to happen in my life, I always show the tenacity and drive to keep on going.  As a current friend always tells me, “I am like the energizer bunny.”

Success equals Special Unknown Catalyst Carving Extraordinary Social Skills

out, J