Wednesday, May 31, 2006

One year in Lake Mary

I purchased my first condo and home here in Lake Mary on 5/31/06.
I became employed here in Lake Mary 6 months ago on 11/21/05.
I was in the hospital from that 5/21/06 anniversary date through 5/24/06
Patti & I met in person 7 months ago on 10/24/06.
For the first time in a 2 weeks, I fee better.
I Love Florida.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Sprint Becomes Embarq

A popular telephone company from our area is making a big change. Sprint has switched its name and will now be called "Embarq."
The group used to control the wired-line side of Sprint, but was able to spin off and become independent. Pat Stutzman of Embarq says local customers can expect some new pricing and packages. “We will have wireless, data, voice, and entertainment, so we'll have the whole package for our customers in our footprint, in our territory. So, we're very excited about bringing it all together.” Embarq is now located in 18 different states across the country.

Monday, May 22, 2006

A update

An "A" has been subtracted from my family. My first and oldest cousin Annette Barth, has died at age 70. She lived in New York State, in the county of New York, New York City, on Manhattan Island, downtown. The previous person with an "A" name to die, was Aunt Anita Lerner. In chronological order, my seven (7) living family members whose names begin with the letter "A" are myself: Andrew, Arlene, Adam, Alison, Alan, Aron, and Aaron. I am named after my maternal grandmother Anna.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

10 concepts of an autistic adult

Aspies For Freedom The Autism and Aspergers Group

  1. I am autistic, not just an adult with autism. It is part of who I am. Autism is a part of who I am. I was born this way. I would not choose to change that. Acknowledging my autism as a part of me is entirely compatible with respecting me as a person with thoughts, feelings, and talents. I am a human being like everyone else and deserve the same dignity and respect that any one else deserves. Please consider whatever term I prefer and do not use language that suggests I suffer from an unfortune disease.
  2. Autism is a neurological variation, not a disease, or mental illness. Autism often includes differences in social behavior and practical skills. My behaviors and learning styles might vary. My perceptions may differ. I may learn and understand things in way thats different and process the world in a different way. Please do not judge me or other autistics for our differences.
  3. Who I am and what I am capable of is not defined by medical diagnosing criteria. I am born with my own set of abilities and difficulties, autism included. Those who use it to tell me who I am and what I can do are using it as a sterotype. Please do not make generalisations and assumptions about me or other autistics.
  4. I am not going to be cured. Nothing will change me, and if it could, it would destroy who I am completely and would leave me worse off. I have the right to refuse questionable or risky treatments. My life is my own, I do not want to be cured and I think the idea of curing me and other autistics is wrong. Please respect my individuality and do not try to fix me, because I am not broken.
  5. I may be your adult child, but my life is own. Parents do not have the right to choose questionable or risky treatments without my consent. I have my own mind. I can think for myself. I know what I want and don't want.
  6. Focus on the positives of my, and others autism, I am living my life as best as I can, I want to make the most of it every day. Talking negatively about autistics and focusing on our weaknesses all the time causes me and other autistics emotional distress. Please do not use language that suggests that being autistic is bad
  7. I am a logical thinker, that is one of my strengths. It can make me take words literally, or misunderstand jokes. Also I may be misunderstood equally by others, if you do not understand my own logical style. I do have my own sense of humour that is unique to me, it's a stereotype that autistics have no humour.
  8. Socialising is not always easy, if I don't want to join in, thats my choice, and I will avoid a situation if I am uncomfortable with it. I am not trying to be'rude' or impolite. It is simply better for me to participate socially when I choose, rather than feeling forced.
  9. I do have emotions, autistics are not emotionless like some stereotypes suggest. However, I may express them in a different way. What may make someone else cry, can be different for me, it doesn't mean that I don't care, or am an uncaring person. My facial expressions might not always reflect my emotions.
  10. If you have an autistic adult in your family, try to find out information about autism. Many articles in the media only concern children, try and find out the differences in an autistic adult. Some autistics do get married, have jobs, leave home, some don't, we are all unique. Please do not use language that suggests that being autistic makes a person violent.

This list was written by adults on the autistic spectrum in order to educate people on the views and opinions of autistics.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Odie Zephron 1987 - 2004


Wednesdays will continue

Supervisor:

I would like to come in on the next three Wednesdays for the training classes. I will have to cancel doctor appointments I have made during those times to accommodate this. I usually have Wednesdays off. I have other dentist, doctor, and other appointments made for the next three Wednesday's. It is urgent that I not reschedule these appointments. Please arrange it so that I may work on Saturdays instead of Wednesdays for these next three weeks. I am still willing to come in for the thirty or sixty minute training sessions in addition to working the other five full days. This will avoid prolonging health issues, and much rescheduling inconvenience.

Andrew Lerner

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Mon-Fri 8:30-5:30

Without warning, and against my will, I have been scheduled to work Monday through Friday, 8:30 am through 5:30pm, with Saturday and Sunday off, for the next three (3) weeks! I have been schedules for training classes every day from 9am to 9:30 am , training classes for the next three weeks. These working days and classes include all of the next three Wednesdays. I am scheduled to be off for the next three Saturdays and Sundays. My work schedule has been made from May 15, 2006 through June 3, 2006. I am required to attend a class each day during that time period. The exception is Saturday and Sunday. I am scheduled to be off on those days. This has usually been the case with my employers since September 2005. This means that I have been scheduled to work from 8:30am to 5;30pm on the following three Wednesdays: May 17, 24, and 31.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

American Idiot

"American Idiot" - Green Day Lyrics:

Don't wanna be an American idiot. Don't want a nation under the new mania. And can you hear the sound of hysteria? The subliminal mindfuck America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension. All across the alienation. Everything isn't meant to be okay. Television dreams of tomorrow. We're not the ones who're meant to follow. For that's enough to argue.

Well maybe I'm the faggot America. I'm not a part of a redneck agenda. Now everybody do the propaganda. And sing along in the age of paranoia.

Welcome to a new kind of tension. All across the alienation. Everything isn't meant to be okay. Television dreams of tomorrow. We're not the ones who're meant to follow. For that's enough to argue.


Don't wanna be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.

Information age of hysteria.
It's calling out to idiot America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alienation. Everything isn't meant to be okay. Television dreams of tomorrow. We're not the ones who're meant to follow. For that's enough to argue.


George W. Bush is a corporate hero and planitary nemesis. What say you? I'd like to know.






Tuesday, May 09, 2006

MY Autistic SIGHT

Autistic Adults and AdolescentsAutistic adolescents and adults are people you might encounter every day but not know it. There are many things you might think about us, but often they are not true.Some of us may appear selfish or self-absorbed or egotistical because we do not respond adequately when someone says something, or because we talk on and on about one subject with little regard to the rest of the conversation.We may look childish in some or all situations because we seem to overreact to things that other people would not react to at all. We may seem gullible and naive, and some people out there will take advantage of that. You may wonder why we never seen to learn that there are people in the world we can't trust.Others may appear almost paranoid, trusting no one at all. Some might seem "psychotic" because of our eccentric behaviours or suspiciousness. Some of us might talk to ourselves out loud.Some of us might seem changeable or "fake". This is because it is fairly common for autistic people to develop a coping mechanism of a "normal" looking persona with which to interact. Some of us have more than one such persona, and hence seem changeable. Sometimes this persona is fairly convincing, and other times it looks false and "put on".Some of us might appear like loners, or eccentric loners. Some of us might appear as the opposite -- people who try hard to be social but don't know how.Some of us might appear eccentric, and others might appear, in the common language, retarded. You might love us or hate us or like us or tolerate us or dislike us. You might keep your kids away from us because we might look like there is something wrong with us.We might look heartless because we do not have the same emotions you do, or more often don't show them in the ways you expect. We might look too sensitive, or too insensitive, or both. We might seem too immature or too mature, or both.We might do things we have done since we were kids. When we were kids, adults might have thought of some of these things as cute, but we are now adolescents and adults who are too old for cute. Now, such things might be irritating or annoying, at best.We might have so much skill in one area that we seem to be deliberately trying not to understand another area. We might seem to be manipulative or callous when at one moment we can do something "complicated" like fix your computer, recite things, or do complex mathematics, and the next moment cannot see that you are upset, or what to do about it.We might seem to ignore you, or seem to ignore your feelings. We might not know when to stop talking, or when to start. We might not be able to talk, or might talk oddly or in short repeated phrases. We might use extremely formal and precise language and intonation patterns, or speak in a monotone or singsong. We might talk what seems to be normally.Some of us may have been diagnosed as children with autism. Some of us may have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Some of us may not have been diagnosed with anything at all, or held other diagnoses. Some of us may have been called "psychotic". Some of us may have facial tics left over from decades of antipsychotic medications that did us no good. Some of us may have facial and other tics for no reason other than our neurological makeup.We might now be undiagnosed, be diagnosed with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, atypical autism, or things that have nothing to do with developmental disabilities. We may have additional diagnoses of depression, anxiety, psychosis, personality disorders, epilepsy, or many other things. We might think of ourselves as "cured" (even some of us who are quite obviously still autistic), or might look forward to "cure", or might hate the idea of "cure". We might have "a few autistic traits".We come from all different backgrounds, and have all different appearances. We are classified as high-functioning, low-functioning, anything in between, and any combination of functioning levels. Different people might classify us as different functioning levels depending on when and where they see us. We may obviously have something different about us, or might just appear odd in some ways. Some of us wouldn't appear different at all until you got to know us. We may have been lower-functioning, or higher-functioning, or the same level of functioning, as children. Our skills might fluctuate dramatically. We present our autism in as many ways as there are autistic people, and have as many opinions about it.We may have high-paying jobs, or low-paying jobs, or no jobs. We may live alone or with our parents or in a group home or with roommates or have families. We may be students or work in any of many fields. We may live in a house or apartment or institution, or be homeless.The thing we all have in common is that we are autistic. We may not always appear like the child that so many people have heard of, who rocks and bangs his head on the wall and does not make eye contact and is completely mute and will never speak and lives in an institution. We may not appear like the "Rainman" savant who does complex calculations in his head but is otherwise autistic. We may not be Einstein or the Silicon Valley computer programmer stereotype. We may look like these things sometimes but not others. But we are autistic. We share some of the same difficulties and the same advantages in being autistic. We have differences, yes -- everyone does -- but we do have that in common.The next time you think of autistic children, remember that children grow up. The next time you think of someone who you get furious with because they just "don't get" something simple even though they can do some things that are complicated, remember us. The next time you see someone walking down the street flapping their hands in front of their face and making odd noises, remember us. They may not be autistic, but you never know. Autistic children grow up, into autistic adolescents and autistic adults. We do not appear always the same as autistic children, though we may have a lot in common with them that may or may not be visible to someone unfamiliar with autism.Autistic adults and adolescents exist, and live in this society, but not necessarily connect to it normally, every day. We are out there, trying to live. Remember our existence.A M Baggs, 1999

Monday, May 01, 2006

AAAAAAAA+

An "A" will be Adding Another "A" to my family as of April and May. There will be at least nine people in my family with their first name beginning with the letter "A". Anna will be an A+ addition (no redundancy intended). In chronological order these living family members will include Annette, Andrew, Arlene, Adam, Alison, Alan, Aron, Aaron, and then Anna. Alan has announced that he will be marrying Ana for a new "A Lerner" like me! Two of these three "A Lerner"s will be in New York. The other "A" is in FloridA! I put my registered Florida tag on my car just in time!

By clicking on the above "AAAAAAAA+" you will be taken to the original posting of the "A Lerner" plate posting.