Kitty and the Captain

Last Friday I watched my friend, Michelle Carr, put on her cat hat and do her kitty routine on my living room floor. She had found a ball of string.

Michelle is a consummate thespian, she acting almost every minute of the day. If she does not have us in stitches, she has not had a good day.

A week earlier we watched Peter ‘Sellers in The Return of the Pink Panther’ and were roaring with laughter as we did impressions of Inspector Clouseau saying the word “Meenky”.

About 5:00 P.M. I told Michelle about First Friday Art Walk and the No Shame Theatre.

“Let’s go. Let’s put together a routine!”

We got there exactly at 7:30 and signed up. Seven acts later, we went before an audience of about seventy people.

“Help me not be nervous John.” Michelle asked. We had been actors for only 150 minutes.

“We are going to be just fine.” I reassured my friend, and rubbed her back. Kitty and the Captain – hit the stage!

Michelle has been my friend for over a year. She is twenty years of age, and autistic. I met her through my homeless Vet friend, Hollis Williams, who as of three days ago, is no longer homeless. I and other have worked hard to put an end to this Veterans ten years of having nowhere to hang his hat. For over six months we gathered at my house for Movie Night and spaghetti dinner. Michelle would bring her Barbie and Tinkerbell movies that never failed to give her chills, she rapidly clapping her hands during the scenes that reassured us “All’s well, that ends well.”

After the thunderous applause, we walked down Broadway to the New Zone art gallery where I introduced Michelle as my ‘Hand Model’. Kitty took off her glove to expose her beautiful hand that I have been rendering for a show I have in mind.

Going back to the theater, Michelle turned to me and said;

“We did it, John. We took a big risk, and now we are winners!”

I love my dear courageous friend who says I am like a grandfather. Since I have known her she has gotten a job at Goodwill, and purchases kitty food and dish soap with her wages. I am so proud of her.

Jon Presco

Copyright 2012

thes·pi·an  (thsp-n)
adj.
1. Of or relating to drama; dramatic: thespian talents.
2. Thespian Of or relating to Thespis.
n.
An actor or actress.

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old.[2] Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.[3]

Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child’s life.[12] The signs usually develop gradually, but some autistic children first develop more normally and then regress.[13] Early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills.[12] Although there is no known cure,[12] there have been reported cases of children who recovered.[14] Not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, though some become successful.[15] An autistic culture has developed, with some individuals seeking a cure and others believing autism should be accepted as a difference and not treated as a disorder.[16]

Autistic individuals may have symptoms that are independent of the diagnosis, but that can affect the individual or the family.[21] An estimated 0.5% to 10% of individuals with ASD show unusual abilities, ranging from splinter skills such as the memorization of trivia to the extraordinarily rare talents of prodigious autistic savants.[38] Many individuals with ASD show superior skills in perception and attention, relative to the general population.[39] Sensory abnormalities are found in over 90% of those with autism, and are considered core features by some,[40] although there is no good evidence that sensory symptoms differentiate autism from other developmental disorders.[41] Differences are greater for under-responsivity (for example, walking into things) than for over-responsivity (for example, distress from loud noises) or for sensation seeking (for example, rhythmic movements).[42] An estimated 60%–80% of autistic people have motor signs that include poor muscle tone, poor motor planning, and toe walking;[40] deficits in motor coordination are pervasive across ASD and are greater in autism proper.[43]
Unusual eating behavior occurs in about three-quarters of children with ASD, to the extent that it was formerly a diagnostic indicator. Selectivity is the most common problem, although eating rituals and food refusal also occur;[29] this does not appear to result in malnutrition. Although some children with autism also have gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, there is a lack of published rigorous data to support the theory that autistic children have more or different GI symptoms than usual;[44] studies report conflicting results, and the relationship between GI problems and ASD is unclear.[45]