My Love Hate Relationship

Thematic photographic #303- Whats your tech?

Another thought provoking theme from Carmi.  As I am in the somewhat older age group, I have seen technology come into my life in leaps and bounds, but I am also still young enough to enjoy the benefits.  I must confess that I have a real love-hate relationship with the way affects our lives.  Looking at picture of my grandsons and their Kindles I see two kids wrapped up in their own little Kindle worlds.  While they have learned lots from the alphabet, to early reading and all kinds of things about dinosaurs and their Kindle makes this easier and more fun, but they are not learning about playing together or even about sharing since they each have one.  These are important skills that an autistic child needs as much as academic learning.  Personally I feel all children need more of this, but this is especially true for autistic children.
  

This problem has become pervasive in our culture with groups of people glue to their devices where once there might have been lively conversation and it is so pervasive it is showing up on popular television programs

I'm a big fan of Doctor Who and today I was watching the episode, 'Midnight' that kind of points out my biggest pet peeve with technology and that is with all the media that bombards us we no longer talk to own another.  Anyway The Doctor is on a tourist transport and the hostess is putting up all the media to entertain them for the 4 hour trip.  The transport is noisy and chaotic with all the choices bothering some, so The Doctor serendipitously pulls out his sonic screwdriver and this is what follows:

HOBBES: Well, that's a mercy. 

HOSTESS: I do apologize, ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We seem to had a failure of the Entertainment System.
DOCTOR: Oh.
VAL: But what do we do?
BIFF: We've got four hours of this? Four hours of just sitting here?
DOCTOR: Tell you what. We'll have to talk to each other instead.
[98 kliks later...]
(The idea has caught on. Everyone is listening to Val and Biff's stories.

Personally I say HOORAY for the Doctor

While the internet can bring use closer to some of our friends and family that we are separated from by distance.  It could just as easily separate us from those who are close to us and keep us from having deep meaningful relationships .

That being said I am a big fan of blogging and below is my set-up here at my daughters. This is a temporary set up but I wouldn't have come up here without.  I will admit that it is hard for me to think about being without it as I have come to depend on it for many things; quick research, maps, music (notice the speakers), youtube videos that show me how to do almost anything I want to learn,on and on and on.  Like I said this is a real love-hate relationship.  However through my life I have found that most things in life with a few exceptions are not either wholly good or wholly bad and finding a balance among the different options, the trade-offs offered is the most important part in choosing how to spend your life.

I do not have the newest computer, nor mouse, nor phone or even speaker but I love what I've got; I'm comfortable with them  all I would want would be more memory to store all my photos, but then getting a new computer would mean learning Windows 8 which I do not want to do.  Like I said we need to find balance and also work with the trade-offs in our lives .  Big time sigh! 

☻☻☻Enjoy☻☻☻

Johnina

Autistic Grandchilden - http://www.autismspeaks.org/

These picture epitomise the symptoms of autism.  There are a couple behaviors shown in the picture above that are very typical of an autistic child,  First and foremost is the fact that even though they are are playing together; they are also each doing their own separate activies.  There is no social interaction.

When I was growing up and my siblings and I all faced abuse, we still faced it separately.  My phrase for it is 'We were all in it together, separately.'  How much better it would have been growing up if my siblings an I could have talked and worked together, but alas it was not to be.  We still do not discuss it.  It makes for great loneliness, feelings of self questioning and doubt without that social interaction.  While my siblings could have had that interaction, due to the abuse it never happened.  With autism that social interaction is missing; it is part of the autism condition.  How very sad to go through life, to be an insular individual devoid of the comfort of human interaction.

This lack of interaction is again shown in the fact that autistic children lack interaction with their playthings, also.  Instead  of playing with their toys and having them interact; they line them up.  Notice that Wyatt is lining up the crayons while Hayden is coloring.  Hayden has been in therapy and Laura has worked hard in encouraging some kind of interaction, but when Hayden was little he often lined up he toys and heaven forbid you moved them.  It was meltdown time.  Now he can interact with his toys sometimes with great enthusiasum.

There is great hope in the research and therapies now. I believe every person has their own special set of talents and gifts, but autistic children need extra help in coping and developing social skills so that their own personal talents can show and shine. 

For more information on autism please go to http://www.autismspeaks.org/.

If you go through this website to Amazon I have a wish list under my name Johnina Young and under my wish list Autism look for items that help with autism if you would like to learn more or would like to help me help my grandchildren.  Or you can go to the Amazon link or my wish list on my sidebar.  I have checked these books out at the library when they were available so I know most of them to be helpful and informative.

ENJOY

♥♥♥Johnina♥♥♥