Autism and Me … a search for logic in an illogical world

I’m currently reading a book titled: Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen?: Exit Polls, Election Fraud, and the Official Count.

This book is great - it is well-written and well-researched. It provides an overwhelming amount of evidence showing the need for an investigation into our voting system as well as a need for standards to be set. However, despite showing this need - so far it has managed to steer clear from bias or even opinion and has not fallen into the conspiracy theory trap.

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning more about our voting system, exit polling, demographics of voters, election statistics, or just wants a good, well thought-out book to read.

Something in this book did concern me a bit today, though. The organization that was created to set and maintain voting standards nation-wide has so little funding or staff that it will not have anything in place for the November 2006 elections. After reading about how wide spread election issues are currently, I’m concerned as to the validity of the upcoming election. I’m not sure what to do about it, though - this administration is so good at squashing investigations into its practices. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see and complain like hell afterward if the data doesn’t match reason.

I recently had to get diagnosed. It isn’t that I wanted to get diagnosed or that I thought it might open up doors for me, it is that I was forced, by circumstances, to go get the letter certifying my aspieness.

There was basically one circumstance forcing this decision - work. When I first started with my employer 8 months ago, I was expecting to be a short-term contractor - there for the duration of the project I was brought on for. In fact, I’m not technically employed by them - I’m a self-employed Independent Contractor. Recently they’ve decided to extend my contract for the next year, which is nice and flattering and all, but has definitely brought up some workplace-related issues I’ve been having.

That place is a sensory nightmare. I know some of the people reading this have heard me mention this before, so I hope this isn’t a repeat, but I want to give an idea of how a normal workplace can be too much even for someone who generally handles sensory issues relatively well.

My cubicle contains the following sensory issues:

I have twelve fluorescent light bulbs in total of 4 ballasts surrounding my cubicle, they are uncovered and therefore not diffused. I sit right next to the printers. I have an aisle seat so people are constantly passing my desk as they walk down the aisle to their seat or to wherever they need to go. I also have people walking down the main hallway who pass my seat - this includes people having conference calls that choose to roam the hallways, trucks driving by delivering or picking up things, giant recycle bins (one of which has a really squeaky wheel), and a host of other flora and fauna. There is a thing that buzzes every few minutes - I still have not determined what causes the buzz. The microwave is right next to my desk and the beep is deafening. And to top it all off (literally), I have a giant safety mirror hanging just over my head so everybody can be mindful of those coming around the corner - I can see EVERYTHING

So ask them to move, you say, or ask them to turn off the lights - I have, but to no avail. They’ve turned off two bulbs, but that is nowhere near enough, and every day I get progressively worse. I’m less able to concentrate and focus, and less able to do my job. Hence, the diagnosis. With letter in hand, I will go to them - although I don’t know if it will make a difference since I am not an employee. We’ll see.

With this in mind, I wanted to make a list of what things I think are important to keep in mind when developing a workplace that can encompass those with Autism. Why should you worry about those with Autism in a workplace? Beyond just the basic disability laws, a lot of Aspies and Autistics are programmers, artists, mathematicians, writers, scientists, analysts, and just about anything else you can think of - entry level jobs and professional jobs alike - and the majority of us are very competent, faithful employees. However, sensory issues can be a drain on this workforce. In my case alone, I’m literally 10 times less productive in the environment listed above than in any other job I’ve ever had. Because I can’t focus, I can’t think. Because I can’t think, I can’t work. I take off early almost every day and when I’m there, I’m generally web surfing or trying to find a dark conference room. I’m still doing a good enough job by their standards, but you should see what I can do when those sensory issues are taken away.

What can the workplace do to accommodate this population ergonomically - some very basic stuff which will help considerably (Any comments would be awesome - I’ll be happy to post those as well):

• Make alternative lighting arrangements possible - fluorescents are definitely energy efficient, but it is possible to wire them in a way where sets of them can be turned off without affecting too many people. Natural daylight bulbs and diffusers are helpful, but this may not be enough for everyone on the spectrum. Dimmer switches may help and I’ve also heard of a small lamp being placed in the workspace helping too.
• Have cubicles designed in a way that the computer can be placed in multiple locations … this helps the person find their most comfortable place without necessarily having to reconfigure seating arrangements.
• Try not to place the person with Aspergers or Autistic Disorder in an area that is bustling with activity - I work best when I can focus free from unnecessary distractions such as people on conference calls pacing the hallways or people going to the printer and chatting.
• Set up loud non-work-related objects in an area where they will not be a distraction to the workforce (such as microwaves and coffee machines).
• Try to use sound absorbing panels on cubicle walls or ceilings - not too many people would enjoy working in a place where you can hear everything in the building, let alone Autistics.
• If at all possible, allow headphones.
• Try to make the area as allergy free as possible. Flowers received should be taken home the same night, all balloons should be mylar, air filters should be cleaned and maintained regularly and the external air should be monitored for landscape care, Spare the Air Days, or windy and rainy days. These are good things to do anyway, but many Autistics have a heightened allergen response.

Did I forget anything?

Okay - this isn’t really related to the “5 Men” thing, but it really bothered me and I needed to get it off my chest …

I ran across this chart today and was sufficiently sickened. Intellectually I already understood the ratio of oil use to oil production and that the US has the worst, but seeing it in visual form really drove it home.

I keep seeing lists of what people can do to conserve energy, but it doesn’t seem like enough. For us to use this much oil, we must truly be a nation of consumers, and to that end, the vast majority of us are not going to change our way of life … it isn’t the Hummer that is the way of life … it is the consumption. Oil is another form of consumption - those that continue to drive their Hummers are proving to us that they are still capable of affording that consumption. How sad.

But it isn’t just changing energy and oil consumption in our personal lives - it would require changes in our energy companies, our farms, our businesses. There is no reason for companies (especially energy companies and our government) to make this change unless we ask them to. I don’t mean just a couple of people standing on the street holding peace signs - I mean an extreme form of outrage … of boycotts and revolutions. What is so wrong with a revolution anyway? It seems like whenever that word is said, people shy away from it. Not all of the revolutions in history have been good ones, but in order to create great change they are sometimes necessary. If all of us rose up - if we boycotted big oil … if we became people unified to change, then big oil would no longer have the power… we would. However temporary it would be, it would be enough to change our lives, change the situation in Iraq, change our world.

But we live in fear … fear that if we aren’t good Americans, then wolves will eat our children. Fear that Iraq had WMDs … that we are going to be attacked at any moment … that some idiot with toothpaste is going to blow up the plane we will fly … someday. Fear that our way of life will come to an end. But our way of life is what is allowing them to keep us in fear. I wish we could all just see that.

It seems like we should see it by now, right? Well, here are the facts:

From an article in the Washington Times:

1. 50% of people recently polled, say that Iraq had WMDs when we invaded them - this is up from 36% from the previous year.

2. 72% of these same people said Iraq is better off now than when under Saddam Hussein’s regime. While that may be partially true in some very specific cities, is nobody hearing about the civil war going on right now? Yeah … better.

3. 64% of them said Hussein had strong links with Al-Qaeda … something even the Bush administration had retracted!

So why don’t we see the truth in their actions, rather than their words? Based on information from the Gallup Poll, we are amazingly influenced by the media. Given this, why haven’t we responded to a call to action? Because there hasn’t been one. The media is too busy telling us about Bush’s weight gain, or about how to turn down our thermostats, that they haven’t time to say “Rise up … get angry… This F*ING SUCKS!!! Be Mad, ride the bus, stop buying hummers, stop consuming, start giving, and, in doing that, change will come.”

No … they haven’t said that. But I will, and I’d like to hope others will too.

Given my interest in politics I decided to try and track down who the 5 men are who control the world and what their motivation is in all of their craziness. Okay - it most likely more than 5, but to be sure it is a small number. I plan on keeping a log of all of my research and findings to this and then eventually publishing a much more polished article … this may take awhile. Will I find something? Probably not, these guys are pretty good at covering their tracks, but you never know…

August 24th - I decided to begin with the Bush Administration. I’ve considered going to the richest people, but much of that is from inheritance or luck/strategy … not ruthless cunning and lack of concern for human life. I’m hoping the Bush Administration can lead me to the most powerful ones - if not the most rich, but I have a long road ahead of me, I’m sure.

I start with Wikipedia - which is usually how I get the tip of the iceberg info and then I move on to conspiracy theorists - they aren’t all crackpots.

Looking up George W. Bush, I wasn’t quite sure what the state of the article would be and was amused by the following message: “Because ofvandalism, editing of this article by anonymous or newly registered users is disabled.
If this affects you, please make your suggestion on the talk page, request unprotection, or create an account.” Darn it! I didn’t get to see the vandalism. I was hoping for a handlebar mustache to be drawn on his picture. Maybe I’ll download the picture and draw it myself.

So I’m specifically looking for ties to Big Business - we know what policy he has enacted to help Big Business since assuming office - I just want to see what ties he had to it before hand.

“Bush returned to the oil industry, becoming a senior partner or chief executive officer of several ventures, such as Arbusto Energy, Spectrum 7, and Harken Energy. These ventures suffered from the general decline of oil prices in the 1980s that had affected the industry and the regional economy, but he remained active through mergers, acquisitions and consolidations of his firms.”

Researching these three firms, I find:

Arbusto Energy - This was the first company that Bush started using investments from several people - including the half-brother of Osama Bin Laden (Salem Bin Laden). When Salem Bin Laden died, his interest in the company went Khalid Bin Mahfouz, a wealthy Saudi Arabian who is accused of supporting Al-Qaeda. The company went through some rough periods and, when nearing financial collapse, merged with Spectrum 7 in 1984. Bush became CEO and Chairman of Spectrum 7.

Spectrum 7 - Apparently unable to run a company, Bush led Spectrum 7 to a net loss of $1.5M. In 1986, Spectrum 7 was purchased byHarken Oil and Gas for $2.2M, where Bush joined the Board of Directors and the Finance Audit Committee.

Harken Energy - the main issue with this company and Bush (besides some different investors which I’ll be checking out later) is that he sold most of his shares in the company one week before it announced major loss. He did so in order to pay back a loan that he procured in order to buy the Texas Rangers. He was investigated by the SEC, but was cleared - oddly, chairman of the SEC at the time,Richard Breeden, was a friend of the family and had been appointed by George H.W. Bush. Also, the General Counsel, James Doty, who did recuse himself from the investigation, represented Bush in his dealings with the Texas Rangers. There are a couple more people to look up also, but I’ll get to them as soon as I can. The connection to Big Oil is deep with this one. Bush did make a lot of money off the Texas Rangers for a relatively small investment when it was sold …he received $14.9 million for an initial investment of $600,000. Also important to note,Bush, as president, has refused the SEC authorization to release a full report on the Harken investigation.

Interesting to say the least … a lot more to come. You should see my list of people to look into.

This afternoon, I quietly snuck out of work to see a psychologist. The intent of my visit was to potentially receive a diagnosis for Asperger’s Syndrome. Per request, I am posting the process that I went through from beginning to end, although it isn’t much.

You’ll have to forgive me in that I am terrible at replaying or summarizing conversation, so if I remember more later, I may add it as appropriate.

When I initially started learning about Asperger’s Syndrome, I saw some similarities in myself, but noticed that I functioned considerably better than many of the people I was reading about. Not to be one to give up easily, I dug more into it and began to see how I fit with this Aspie label more than any other in my life. Even despite that, though, I never really sought out a diagnosis - I didn’t think I needed one, so I never bothered. A few months ago, I decided to look up Asperger’s in my local area in a Google search. I found a couple of studies that were available to people in the area, but I also found a Meetup group in my local area. I was curious since I had never met another Aspie in real life, and I decided to attend. It was not required to have a dx, and many parents or supporters attended as well.

The Meetup group happened to be hosted by a psychologist that is quite familiar with Asperger’s and has been working in this specialty for a few years. It was a very informal meetup, no diagnosis or judging happening there, which is good for what the intention is. I’ve continued to go off and on each month since then.

Relatively recently, I’ve been having more and more problems at work dealing with my sensory issues. I am particularly sensitive to fluorescent lighting and have had some difficulty getting accommodated by my workplace. Given the level of difficulty, I decided at the last meetup group to ask the psychologist for an appointment for a potential diagnosis. She was very opened to the idea and booked me for today. She asked me what I was expecting out of it - whether a simple letter stating a diagnosis would do (if she confirmed such), or if I needed “a whole workup.” I’m not quite sure what the whole workup entails (it sounded like more tests and a very detailed diagnosis), but the letter was sufficient for me. She quoted me 3 hours at her going rate or 3 hours at her intern’s rate. I chose to go with her, since I knew her and had a greater degree of comfort.

Before I left, she handed me two questionnaires to fill out (one was very similar to the AQ Test) and the other was a childhood related one from Tony Atwood. She didn’t seem to have any major issues with the fact that I was not comfortable discussing this with mother, and I said that I would try to fill it out to best of my recollection. We also agreed that I would fill out the test found at rdos and would bring the findings from that one to the appointment.

I filled out all the tests over the following two days and brought them with me this afternoon. She was interested in the scores, but also interested in my responses. She probed for examples on certain questions such as obsessions and the fact that I like fiction (apparently a rare thing among Aspies - I like both fiction and non-fiction, for the record). She tried to probe for genetics, but I never met my biological father, so I’m a tough one to probe for that, I guess. She also probed for other possible disorders such as depression. I told her about some of my childhood and my marriage and she said I sounded like a pretty resilient person - afterwards, she expressed her opinion that it didn’t sound like I have anything else that may have been masking as Asperger’s and that it seemed pretty clear that I was definitely an Aspie.

We talked about sensory issues, but from our meetup group, she knew that I had them (me and my hats.) She did say that they are not listed as part of the diagnosis, but that she hopes that changes with next edition - (is “edition” the right term for the DSM?) In the diagnosis letter she would specifically mention reducing noise and turning off all lighting (especially fluorescent lighting) in the direct line of sight of my work area. I just followed up with her via e-mail to also consider adding a line for an “open door” policy due to workplace politics. We’ll see what she says.

All in all, it was a relatively painless experience. I was nervous, but that was about the worst of it. To this, I consider myself extremely lucky. I have heard so many different stories of people having issues in their search for a dx. I wish I had learned something from this that I can share, but it seems my experience was probably one of the easier ones.

To be clear, I did not seek out a referral first. I came bearing a checkbook. It was reasonably priced (she only ended up charging me two hours), but I know that when you are on a budget, the definition of “reasonably priced” changes. The majority of issues I have heard from are due to the referral process. If it is at all possible to skip past it and get right to an experienced person, that may definitely be the way to go.

All I can say is, for all those still waiting out there: Good luck and I hope it goes through quickly.

There seems to be a misunderstanding regarding the gifted population of Autistics in that a person can either be gifted or be Autistic, never both. There is much mention of Autistic savants, but there is very little mention of how intelligent those with Asperger’s Syndrome or Autistic Disorder can be. I have found several instances of allusions to the thought that those with Asperger’s, for instance, are capable of memorizing facts but not drawing connections from those facts, which is then contrasted with the gifted population.

There is also much talk of a Twice Gifted population (meaning learning disabled in some way, but gifted as well). So many sites mention the Twice Gifted population in relation to Autism, and immediately bring up Savants rather than other gifted Autistic kids.

I would like to dispel this myth, because I think it is vitally important for people to realize that, if you are Autistic, you do not need to be a savant to be intelligent. So much information is available that contrasts this basic thought that it seems that those with an ASD will never be considered gifted, or if they are, are still somehow at a lower intellectual status than other gifted children. This is an exceptionally false perception.

It only takes a few of the right internet searches in order to find some amazingly intelligent life on the Autistic Spectrum. Not only is there speculation about which famous people were or may be Autistic, but there are books, blogs, and articles written by current day people on the spectrum, which contain well thought-out, original viewpoints. I could post them here, but there are honestly too many to post. You can find a good starter list of them here, but even this doesn’t encompass everything: http://asdgestalt.com/viewtopic.php?t=381.

Unfortunately, it only takes a few of the wrong internet searches to see the overall perception of the Autistic population. For instance, http://www.twicegifted.net/asperger.htm mentions how those with Asperger’s can be differentiated from the gifted population due to their inability to grasp the concepts behind the facts they can memorize. Oddly, on the exact same page, it mentions Albert Einstein and Thomas Jefferson as possible Aspies. So, we’re supposed to draw the conclusion that Thomas Jefferson couldn’t understand abstract thought? I’m sure that isn’t their intention, but the contradiction remains.

Other places mention how those with Autism can be gifted, but only detail out savant skills when providing examples of the gifts. While this article: http://www.highbeam.com/library/docfree.asp?DOCID=1G1:776081 44 does a good job of mentioning the needs of gifted students and especially the learning disabled among them, the section on Autism never mentions above average intelligence not related to savantism. Given Wikipedia is by no means perfect, but their article on Gifted does the same thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifted.

Some of these even go so far to mention savant abilities as splinter skills, implying that it is only a splinter of the population that has these gifts, but not mentioning any other gifted possibilities among the Autistic Spectrum. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/aut.html is one such example of this.

Oddly, when looking up information on the gifted population, some of the common traits among those that are gifted sound considerably like Asperger’s traits. Take this quote from the Wikipedia article on Gifted* (this is fairly representative of the many traits and characteristics listed by other sources):

Generally, gifted individuals learn more quickly, deeply, and broadly than their peers. Gifted children may learn to read early and operate at the same level as normal children who are significantly older. The gifted tend to demonstrate high reasoning ability, creativity, curiosity, a large vocabulary, and an excellent memory. They often can master concepts with few repetitions. They may also be physically and emotionally sensitive, perfectionistic, and may frequently question authority. They sometimes perceive teachers and authority figures as their peers or even as inferior to themselves. Some have trouble relating to or communicating with their peers because of disparities in vocabulary size (especially in the early years), personality, and interests. As children, they may prefer the company of older children or adults.

Giftedness is frequently not evenly distributed throughout all intellectual spheres: an individual may excel in solving logic problems and yet be a poor speller; another gifted individual may be able to read and write at a far above average level and yet have trouble with mathematics. It is possible there are different types of giftedness with their own unique features, just as there are different types of developmental delay.

Some gifted individuals experience heightened sensory awareness and may seem overly sensitive to sight, sound, smell and touch. For example, they may be extremely uncomfortable when they have a wrinkle in their sock, or unable to concentrate because of the sound of a clock ticking on the other side of the room. Gifted children are often bothered by the seams in socks and tags on clothes. Hypersensitivity to external stimuli can be said to resemble a proneness to “sensory overload,” which can cause persons to avoid chaotic and crowded environments. Others, however, are able to tune out any unwanted distractions as they focus on a task or on their own thoughts, and seem to seek and thrive on being in the midst of lots of activity and stimulation. In many cases, awareness may fluctuate between conditions of hyperstimulation and of withdrawal. These conditions may appear to be similar to symptoms of hyperactivity, bipolar disorder, autism-spectrum conditions, and other psychological disorders, but are often explained by gifted education professionals by reference to Kazimierz Dabrowski’s theory of Positive Disintegration. [1]

Some of these traits sound considerably similar to those of ASDs. In reference to the last sentence in the quote, when looking up the theory of Positive Disintegration, the theories listed in there could be just as easily applied to Gifted Autistic people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Disintegration. I’m not claiming to be an expert on Psychology in any way, but given the severity with which a particular gifted child may experience these problems, couldn’t that child be likely fall on the Autistic Spectrum? Based on the prevalence of sensory and social issues alone, it seems to me that there have to be at least some currently labeled “gifted” kids that also belong to the Autistic Spectrum.

It is possible that the items considered to be the strengths of the gifted population are not seen as often in the Autistic population, since it is possible that many people with ASDs function enough to get by in society when they are gifted as well. However, if the perception exists that Autistic people are generally not gifted, then these strengths would never or rarely be examined among the Autistic population. For instance, it seems odd to provide a list of problems, many of which can be traced back to ASDs, without ever considering whether the strengths can be traced back to ASDs as well. This appears to be happening too often, though.

By no means am I saying that all people who are gifted have an ASD or vice versa, but I am hoping for further research into the Autistic population regarding gifts and talents (to be taken further than a study on savants). It seems that we’ve been given an unfair perception in society as either Rain Man or nothing.

This isn’t to say that we don’t still need help for our weaknesses, or that every Autistic person is a genius, but it should definitely be more widely recognized that many of us with ASDs constitute an intelligent and creative population, and that we are very capable of engaging in a critical thought process.

It is a tragedy to me that this isn’t more widely recognized already.

*In all fairness, Wikipedia did mention this regarding learning disabilities (in a section for Underachievement): “In addition, such failures may also result from learning disabilities which have gone undiagnosed due to the myth that one cannot be gifted and learning disabled (generally a difference of 1σ between scores constitutes an LD even if all of the scores are above average).” However, without specifically calling out Autism, this will not dispel the perception given to Savant skills in the article.

Please leave your comments - I know I couldn’t have possibly have covered everything here, and I’m sure that I’m missing something deeper in the Psychology of it all. I’ll be happy to edit as needed.

This is a list of things that other people will consider you to be a bad person for - some of them would have to come from different viewpoints, of course. But all of these are things I’ve gotten “the look” for or have been spoken to regarding.
Wearing Flip-Flops.

Wearing Flip-Flops at Work.

Calling Flip-Flops “Flip-Flops” and not “Thongs.”

Not getting your toes pedicured before wearing Flip-Flops.

Having chipped paint on your toe nail.

Not putting a hat on your baby when it is 300 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

Not following every bit of all of the helpful advice provided by the hundreds of parenting magazines and the intrusive grandmothers you meet in public.

Not having a Grocery Store Chain Card.

Not using a Grocery Store Chain Card if you have one.

Holding up the line while you search for your Grocery Store Chain Card.

Holding up the line while the cashier tells you try every phone number you’ve had since you were 5 in order to pull up your Grocery Store Chain Card in the system.

Shopping at a place that requires you to have a Grocery Store Chain Card.

Eating too much in public.

Not finishing the food on your plate at a restaurant.

Rejecting the offer to get boxes so you can take your food with you.

Drinking one can of soda instead of water (yeah… and your 7 cups of coffee today are so much better).

Getting the cold bottle of milk in the back while everyone waits for you in the milk aisle.

Doing the little happy dance when you get milk that is going to expire 2 days later than everyone else’s.

Drinking whole milk.

Eating real butter.

Blogging when you’re supposed to be at work.

More to add later… comments are welcome, I’ll add them into the list.

I fell in love with my boyfriend for the 50 millionth time last night. Every time I fall in love with him, I am reminded of how lucky I am to know him, and to have the opportunity to share my life with him. And I am reminded that he feels the same way about me, which just fills me up with such warmth and intensity.

A simple task of ironing. We had bought some shirts for him that turned out to have a tendency to wrinkle. So he washed them. And Dried them. And hung them up and they wrinkled. And he washed them again and tried drying them a different way and they wrinkled some more. So we bought some more shirts. But he didn’t want to wear them because he hadn’t worn the other shirts. So we bought an iron.

After bringing the iron home, it occurred to us that there is no good place in our apartment to iron. So I, the anti-MarthaStewart, convinced him to buy the Downy Wrinkle Releaser stuff … oh, I love that stuff. And we tried that and the shirt became unwrinkled, but he thought it smelled funny. So he washed it and dried it and hung it up and it wrinkled. God, how I love him. Then, we bought an ironing board. Finally … like, three months later.

And last night we ironed.

He ironed and was unsure of how to do it and made tasteless jokes about his Chinese heritage. And I ironed and was obsessive about the tiniest little creases and steamed his collar up so much that he commented about how wet it was. And together, it took us an 1/2 hour to iron one shirt, and laugh, and love each other, and talk about dry cleaners. And I fell in love with him again like I do every other day.

This morning, he got to wear the shirt to work, and I got the privilege of watching him button it carefully and inspect the sleeves. He is so adorable. And now that he’s worn it, hopefully we can put it away never to be ironed again. And I can look at it forever, hanging in the closet, and reminisce about the only time I ever had fun while ironing.

Okay - I’ll start this with what has become an Autism cliché - I am not a puzzle. I am a person. I mean this, though, with all sincerity. If I am a puzzle, then all people are puzzles.

The concept of Autism being a puzzle stems from the thought that Autism is different from what is considered normal and therefore needs to be figured out. Since no one person can ever really be defined as “normal,” are all people puzzles to be figured out? Doesn’t that kind of dilute the effectiveness of the puzzle symbol when speaking solely for Autism?

Alright, maybe I’m being anal here. The puzzle symbol really shouldn’t bother me, right? But it does. It does
because it implies that it is a problem presented in such a way that it can be solved. I am not a problem to solve. My autism is as much a part of me as anything else. If you were to “solve” my autism, I would no longer be me. This isn’t an anti-cure post (though I don’t want a cure), this is a stop-treating-me-like-I’m-a-trouble- shooting-opportunity post.

Know me for who I am. Accept me for who I am, negatives, positives, whatever. And Love me or Hate me for who I am. Don’t analyze me and try to solve me. If you don’t like me, fine … don’t. If you do, fine… do. But buy your puzzles at the game store, not at the Freak of the Month Club.

My boyfriend and I have been considering buying a home lately. We’ve looked into older homes, brand new homes by established builders, custom-built homes, and Earth Sheltered Homes. The more I looked into each of these options, the better the Earth Sheltered Home option seem to be the best.

I originally learned about the idea of Earth Sheltered Technology from the Gestalt forum, but I initially found that the information available for this technology was somewhat sporadic … some of it is available on the contractors’ websites, a bit of it from architects, some of it from general information sites. So in order to make the search easier for some out there, here’s what I’ve been able to find out:

Earth Sheltered Homes basically come in three types. I’m not sure what the technical names for these three types are, but they are as follows:

1. The home sits above the ground on all four walls and the bottom few feet of the home is built into the earth.

2. The home is surrounded on 3 walls by earth, generally built into a hillside, and the roof is generally covered by earth as well.

3. The home is surrounded and covered by earth, and is somewhat settled into the earth, so that there is very little direct light coming into the home.

If we decide to build one, we would build Type 2, which also appears to be the most common variety based on my research. An Earth Sheltered Home is very good for the environment compared to conventional homes. The home gets much of its heating and cooling from the surrounding earth, causing the internal temperature to remain much more stable than in a conventional home. The soil itself is not additional insulation, but rather just does not fluctuate in temperature as much as the air around a conventional home. Additionally, the Earth Sheltered Home in options 2 and 3, has less impact on the surrounding earth than a conventional home, since the plants and soil can grow on top of the home as well.

These homes are great for those with allergies as well (of which both my boyfriend and myself suffer). The homes, when well-constructed, are sealed and there is generally a single source of air into the house. A filter can be placed on this source and the air can be turned off and on as needed.

The general architecture of the home varies from builder to builder and design to design. However, most of them generally have one wall of mostly windows which faces South in order to get the best passive solar heating. Many designs have thick concrete walls (which can actually look quite pretty when designed well), but some builders use dome technology instead, which does not require the thick concrete in order to withstand the weight of the earth. It seems that the front of the home can look as unique or as conventional as you wish. Some of the builders use plans that they’ve already designed and some recommend having custom plans designed to tailor to your specific house requirements. One of the nice things about the dome technology is that the house does not need supporting walls, so it can lead to some very unique designs.

One of the great things about these homes is that they are not only good for the environment, but they are also protected from it. Simply being surrounded by earth and blending into the hillside helps considerably for this, but there are several builders who use dome construction as well (as mentioned above) and the dome is considerably stronger than a conventional home. According to the builders, these homes can withstand earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and even a nuclear blast.

There is a myth that earth sheltered homes are dark and dreary inside. Based on the pictures I’ve seen, nothing can be further from the truth. I don’t really want to link directly to a builder website to show you pictures, but many different builders, designers, and architects can be found here: http://www.malcolmwells.com/resources.html. On their webpages are some gorgeous pictures of both the inside and outside of these homes. If/When we build one, I’ll be happy to post pictures here to give everyone an idea.

There are homes, sometimes referred to as Earth Ships, which can be used in such a way that everything required for living is available within the home. The homes are often made out of recycled material and contain gardens, water sources, and waste disposal systems within the home. I have not done as much research on these, but if this is something you are interested in, more information can be found here: http://www.earthship.org/.

As far as Earth Sheltered Pricing goes, it does not seem to be that high considering the savings. It can cost 10-20% more to build an Earth Sheltered Homes than a traditional home, but depending on the builder you go with and the location, the cost can be the same as a conventional home or even less. The overall savings, however, are tremendous. Most people report a 75% reduction in energy costs, sometimes more. With today’s gas prices, you don’t need me to tell you how much that can add up to over a 30-year mortgage. You may also be able to check with your energy company or your local government to determine if there are any additional savings or benefits you can receive by building an environmentally-conscious home.

Some of these contractors or builders do not always function in that role - they offer kits that you can use to build the house yourself or to have your own contractors do it. Many of them do offer contractor services themselves, though, if you’d like to go through them. The one thing to be careful of is to make sure someone with experience is at least over- seeing the process since there are some construction matters that need to be considered specifically for these homes, such as sealing against moisture and airflow.

If you were to build an Earth Sheltered Home, you’ll want to be conscientious in your land selection. Different types of soil work better or worse for an Earth Sheltered Home, and you’ll always want to consider the position of the water table in relation to the home site. This website has information regarding some of the factors to consider when choosing a site: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/AE_earth-shelter ed_house.html (Scroll down to “Site-Specific factors for earth-sheltered home design”). If you get an experienced Realtor who can sell you the site, they may be able to help you determine these factors.

One of the considerations for us is financing. I’m not at a stage in my life where I can buy a custom home with cash, so I need to be able to finance it. There are, in fact, many construction loans that a good mortgage broker can point you in the direction of. Also, these homes are generally eligible for most if not all traditional funding since they are considered very safe and cost-effective for the owner, and generally have good re-sale value.

The most important thing I can say about these is to really have a good site, a good design, and a good contractor to at least oversee it. But, in the end, these homes can be unique, extremely safe, nearly maintenance-free, beautiful, and amazingly cost effective - all while being environmentally friendly.