"PTLS Gang" searching for Independence
The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Brings Hope
January 15th, 2020-TCS # 671
Let’s Talk about Independence, My Readers! Wow! A Great Greeting and Very Different! Ah Yes! Independence! Through The Eyes of a Typical Adult, Independence is really not that Hard. I would Imagine anyway. Eventually, You decide One Day that You feel like Living on Your Own, away from Mommy and Daddy (Mom and Dad) and Figure that If Your going to do it, It might as well be Now. Everyday Care Things like Shaving, Grooming, Driving, and The Like are Things that You just do, You don’t have think about it. Well, except for Driving, that You have to think about all the time, to Make Sure that You are in the Right Lane, Making sure if Where All the Cars around are, and Of Course, Watching The Road ahead of You. However, in The Mind of Someone like Me, with PTLS, It is not at all Easy! You do have to think about all those Everyday Things in More Detail because We are Detail Oriented. Independence, although It is Something that I am gradually doing, One by One, It is still a Struggle for Me! I am reminded of This because First of all, Since The Newsletter that I am going to Rerun was written, My Independence has gotten a lot better, including staying home alone for long weekends (including one caring for a Sick Puppy), successfully ordered food for me, even though I can make my own meals, and a big one, 4 out of 7 Laser Hair Removal Treatments completed and Honestly, I can’t wait to finish them! So, The Newsletter that I am going to rerun explains more about My Struggle for Independence. Enjoy!
This Newsletter was Originally Written on January 13th of 2016 (Refer to Newsletter 481)
So, My Readers, I have been Watching This Interesting Show that I want to Tell you about. When I was first told about This Show, I was told that It was a Documentary about People with Down Syndrome. Thinking that It would be a Documentary, sort of like that of Catfish, I thought it would be a Sad Look at Those who Lived with Down Syndrome, but It actually was not. You See, It actually was a Reality/Documentary Show about The Day-to-Day Lives of Young Adults with Down Syndrome. It was Very Interesting to watch and See some of The Similarities that They have in Terms of Morals and Values, Not so much in Physical or Developmental versus Those with PTLS. Before This, I always thought that Down Syndrome Adults were completely different than Us PTLSers. In Other Words, I thought Down Syndrome was one thing and PTLS was another. It is only in The Sense of Genetics that it is in and Health Issues are Just different. But, In The General Sense, They are like us. I saw a lot of Common Themes, The Guys wanted to Get Married and have Girlfriends, While The Girls wanted more of a Baby and Getting Married. Hmm, just like PTLSers. They do have struggles like with Jobs, Irrational Fears, and of Course, The Biggest One, Independence. Watching This Show really made me realize all the similarities us Special Adults have, We are generally Happy People, and that We all struggle with Wanting Our Dreams to come true, but Don’t Realize The Toll (In My Head, I picture a Toll Booth that does not always have Passes to Get Through) to Get to Their Dream or To What They want in Life. In My Case, I want a Job that is Geared toward My Interest, which is Geography, All while having a Moderate Speed-but-Predictable Style of Work. Like The Down Syndrome Young Adults, I do want to Find My Soulmate and Get Married (Not sure about Proposing and Wedding with My Anxiety though!), I hope to Live in a Nice Place with My Soulmate, Near My Mom and Brother, The Smith Family, and Some of My PTLS Family as Well. But, The Toll to pay, or at least I would believe is Independence or At Least, Some Independence. I mentioned about This in My New Years Newsletter and I thought that I would mention about that. You See, Independence to Me, I need Enough that I can do some things on My Own, should anything happen to My Mom; I also need it for My Own Benefit. So, that Brings to What I call, “The Dents”, What are The Biggest Dents in My Independence? Other than My Anxiety about it, that plays a Big Part in it. The Biggest Dent, I would say, has to be Grooming and I struggle with it a lot. Shaving is a Big One! You See, Due to My Motor Skills and Lack of 3D, It is Hard to correlate My Hands with What I see in The Mirror, It is in Reverse which confuses me. It is like Shaving in Literal Reverse. I can cover the Top Half of My Face on My Own (from Sideburns-Chin-Sideburns) with a Bit of Patience, but The Bottom Part, Not so much. It bugs me to Shave The Bottom (South of Chin to Adam’s Apple) because It feels funny to me, It hurts a bit but, not in a Painful Way, if that makes sense). Usually when I am at Home, I shave the Top part and What I can of The Bottom, If We are going out, then I need My Mom to shave it. Like I mentioned Last Week, There is usually Two Options, either to Let It Grow into a Beard or Remove it via Laser Hair Removal, which is Very Painful and has to be Done more than Just Once. I would Love to just be put to Sleep and then, Do It so I don’t feel it. Now, Of Course, We have tried Every Razor that I have thought of, From Electric to Straight. I tried shaving once and that was with a Straight-One Blade Razor at My Dad’s Mom’s (We called her “Bella”) House once. I tried it, it got stuck, I panicked, and Ripped A Little Skin off on My Face. It was not Pretty, A little Funny to describe it now though! The Next Dent is My Nose and Top Half of My Face, for Some Reason and I have never mentioned this to Anyone before, but My Face gets really oily and My Skin starts peeling, It looks like Chafing, sort of. We try to put to Lotion on It or Wipe it with a Cleaning Pad, and It works sometimes but, Usually My Face ends up looking Red and The Peeling starts again. It is Weird and Very Hard to Explain. Leaving The Dent of Grooming Section, the Next Dent is Driving/Transportation. You See, My Reaction Response Time is Not that Fast and Therefore, I would be a Danger to those on The Road as well as Those on The Road would be a Danger to Me. If We lived in Smaller Town where People knew who I was, then, Maybe I could Consider Driving. Many PTLSers have Attempted Driving but, For Their Safety, They had to stop. I can say that I do know somewhat of How to Drive. I have Driven a Go-Cart that We had in My Childhood, I even drove My Brother’s Car in Our Neighborhood once and That was, to say the least, Interesting. So, I would need someone to help me with Getting Me Places. One of Things in The Show that One of The Young Adults struggled with, was Counting Money and That is Not Easy for Me either. It seems like People with Special Needs across The Board, are Very Literal, so Math is not a Strong-suit, unless That is, It is Applied to Something in Their Life, that is relatable. Geography and Numerology are Relatable to Me. I would need a Bit of Help with figuring that out. As Far as Grocery Shopping goes, I can figure out What Item is in What isle it is in, but in terms of Complicated Things like Expiration Dates and The Cost comparison in Ounces versus The Total Cost, I would need help with. The Next Dent is Cooking, for The Most Part I can make Meals with a Microwave or Crockpot. But, The Oven or Stove, scares me that I will burn Myself and I don’t want that. I would need to Someone to help me make Prepared Meals to put in The Freezer. Other than That, I am pretty Independent. I can Dress Myself, Feed Myself, Do The Laundry, Clean The House, and Take Care of the Dogs. All in all, I might have a Few Dents but, I am generally Independent.
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Born This Way is Not only a TV Show, but It is How I see Life.
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