Awkward Autistic Adventure #2 Making Conversation and Asking for Help

Big old Water Dog at Girl's Camp 2011

The greatest challenge I face every day is having a conversation. it may be simple to you, perhaps it comes naturally to you, but its perhaps the most daunting part of my day. This is why I don't like to go places on my own because I know there will be an awkward somewhat forced conversation, but I try to make the best of it. You're probably wondering what those conversations are, well like talking to the cashier at the store, ordering food, getting tickets at the movie theater, going to the library to check out books ect. you never know what they're going to say or if you can associate. I am constantly making associations that's just how my mind works. A simple subject can remind me of a hundred things nothing is just straightforward its a complex web of thoughts and details that connect to everything in-between. When you mention dogs (that's why the picture is on the side) I think of my dog Sushi, these huge white dogs with muddy paws that I ran into at girl's camp, Westminster Dog Show, Hounds of the Baskerville, The Fox and the Hound, Where the red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, Beethoven, Spot, hunting dogs from Mary Poppins, dogs racing around a track, Burn's attack dogs on the Simpsons, Flight of the Valkyrie, and it goes on. Or you mention water I think of Muir Beach in California, Hidden Lake, an oasis, puddles in the street,  rain, droplets, mist on a windshield, CSI night scenes, Orinoco Flow,  Mona Lisa (there's a body of water in the background). I see and think in detail and sometimes assume that others see the same. Some are not visual learners, but kinesthetic they learn through physical tasks or the other learners are auditory they learn through sound. A conversation is a game to me you have to get in quick, interact, associate, and keep making connections from one topic to the next while trying to spend little time talking about yourself (people like me can go on forever talking about our favorite subjects). I guess the greatest fear of talking with people you don't know is that I hate asking for their help. People with disabilities love to be independent and I always thought asking for help was reveling a weakness, when in fact its a strength. We all need help sometime in our lives and we shouldn't be afraid to ask. The second greatest fear is when someone gives me instructions. I'm a visual learner so I like a list to follow and if I don't understand I merely repeat their words to make sure I followed them correctly. Overall making conversation is just like everything else it takes a lot of practice and trial and error. Thank goodness we learn from our mistakes :).

Fact of the Day: Beethoven wrote his ninth symphony while he was completely deaf. He only ever heard his symphony in his head.