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The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Shines Brightly
July 30th, 2024 – TCS # 865
Let’s Talk, My Readers! So, as The Late Joan Rivers would say on Her Show Fashion Police, “Let’s Talk”. “Let’s Talk” was her Trademark Line on that show when It came to Challenging Discussions about Who wore what at An Awards Show or Hollywood Event. But, For Me, This is One of those Topics that I struggle with Talking about because It is Very Real Topic to Me. The Struggles of a PTLS Adult.
You See, Being in The Honoured Place of PTLS Ambassador, I feel that I represent PTLSers both Young and Old. Too Often though it seems that PTLS Family Members that have PTLSers that are past The Children Walking and Talking Phase I’m sure are Wondering, What about The Adults? You might ask. It is a Curiosity of Many, including those that are still in The Child Phase but, Isn’t mentioned as often due to Fact that Those with PTLS are Often Diagnosed as Children and Yes, There are Several PTLSers that were Diagnosed later on when They are already an Adult.
The Most Important Thing that is I Want You to Know is that PTLS is Just a Syndrome, NOT A Disease! It is Not a Bad Thing! In Fact, It Makes us Unique.
The Attitude of some makes me think of A Sad Commercial about Abused Animals in which US Singer, Sarah McLaughlin sings
“In The Arms of The Angel”. It reminds of That because The Animals in The Commercial like They are Not Accepted in The World and They are seen, like They are Damaged. Thoughts of This Commercial make me Really Sad because People with PTLS are NOT Damaged. We want to be seen as People, Not by Our Label!
However, It is safe to say that All PTLS Family Members are curious about What Their Child will be like when They are of An Age like Me. So, I came to a Revelation, I looked at My Christianville Classics List and Found My “PTLS Adult Struggles” Newsletter in The List but, I don’t remember Introducing It as a Classic Newsletter. If You have noticed The Newsletter on The List, Go ahead and Check it out along with Many Other Brilliant Newsletter on My Christianville Classic List.
Without a due, This is The Christianville Classic Newsletter, “PTLS Adult Struggles”! Enjoy and I hope You have a Good Learning Experience!
This Newsletter was written on September 17th of 2014 (Refer to Newsletter 417)
So, As PTLS Family Members (I have Acronym’d them as PFMs) always wonder about The Life of A Young Adult with PTLS and What do They struggle with. Parents of Young Kids with PTLS often forget that The PTLS Adults also need Support for Different Things like Living Situation, Jobs, Romantic Life, and My Personal Favorite (Not Really!), Independence! At Least, that is What I struggle with. So, I guess I will start with The Struggle with Independence because That often Frustrates me The Most. The Truth is, although I love My Mom and Love Living with My Mom, I will eventually want Independence. So, Let’s Start with What I can do. I can dress Myself, Feed Myself, Cook Meals (within Reason), Microwave Meals are the Best I work with if I am by Myself. I don’t work with The Stove if I am by Myself, If I do, I have to have Someone There. I could go to The Grocery Store to get things If I need to, only Problem is that, I don’t announce that I need something from The Grocery Store until It is almost Gone, so I need to Work on that, and I can Shave My Face (But, only Top half of My Face), because Shaving the bottom bothers me sensitivity wise, and The Motor Skills don’t help much either. So, Yes, I need Help with that, usually My Mom helps me with that. The Things that I can not do, I don’t Drive (that is okay with Me). Now, that is not to Say that I Can’t Drive because I have Driven a Car with My Brother in The Neighborhood and I have driven numerous Golf and Go Karts. But, Again, The Problem is that living in a Suburban City like Plano, I would be more of a Danger to The Other Drivers, as They would to Me. Add to that, that I am busy looking at all the Surroundings and My Reaction Time is Very Slow, so Someone could cut me off or Slam on Their Brakes and I wouldn’t be paying attention or I wouldn’t react as fast. I’ve always told Myself that, “If We lived in a Small Town where Everyone knows Me, then I would do better Driving.” In My Head (which is a Saying, I use ALOT!), People would know me well enough, that They would be like, “Oh, There’s Christian on The Road, be Careful!” and Next Thing that I believe holds me back the most is The Shaving. Now, before You tell me that I should use a Good Razor, I have tried Every Razor that I could. I use an Electric Razor because in My Head, It seems easier to use than a Straight Razor. Believe Me, I tried a Straight Razor once (a Single one) when I was Younger and it got caught and it ripped My Skin off on My Chin. The Next Thing that is a Struggle with is Finding a Job that suits me. Meaning a Job that is not too Overwhelming, Has a Calm Environment, and has Good Structure. Let’s not forget to Mention, Something that Interests me. Now, I have seen Jobs that I have liked like Navteq, The Weather Channel, and Google. I would want to do the “Street View” side of Google. As Far as Jobs that I have done, The First Paid Job was The Frisco Roughriders (a Double-A League Baseball Team) as a “PlayBall Attendant”, meaning Someone who passes out Programs to The Community. I have to say, although, I had to stand in The Heat most of The Summer, It was actually an Enjoyable Job. I also did “Kid Sitting” one fall, All I had to do was Make sure that He did his Homework. I did well at that job because I am a Rule Follower. Unpaid Jobs, I did what I now refer to as “Parking Lot Duty”, back when I was in 10.5 Grade (a Repeat of 10th Grade) which I had to walk the Staff Parking Lot and jot down the License Plate if They were parked in The Wrong Place. That Job, I am Very Proud of because I got 100% Compliance from The Teachers at the High School I went to. While I was doing that, I also Delivered things to different Classrooms as well as Office Work in The School Office. So, The Next Thing that I want to move forward with is My Living Situation, Now at the Risk of Sounding Negative about this, It is not really a Struggle but, a Concern. Currently I live with My Mom here in Plano, but The Concern comes in when I want to be Independent. I have told Myself that I have always wanted to live near The Smith Family and My Mom wants us (meaning Myself, Michael, and My Mom) to be near Each Other. I, of course, want to make sure that My Mom lives nearby so that She can help me. By Nearby, I mean, Down The Street, Next Door Preferably, or at least in The Same City. By The Way, as Far as Living Independently, I would probably live with a Roommate if I am Single at The Time (Which I don’t believe I will be!) or I will live with My Significant Other (aka, My Future Soulmate). I have a Feeling that She is Reading This, Secretly Admiring Me, even though I have never met her. Speaking of Romantic Life, that would be something that I am watching for. Although, I think that I would have Control of it for The Most Part, I would meet her, Date Her, and then Eventually, Marry Her. I would Love My Future Soulmate with All My Heart! And, I am sure that She would too. Considering The Fact that I get Anxious about New Things and New Events, I would hope My Wedding goes off Anxiety-Free. Which is Normal for Everyone to get Anxious about it. My Honeymoon will be Excellent, I have that all planned out to Possible Places to go! One Area that I am Really Concerned about is Having Sex with My Wife (This might be Personal, but It is Reality), due to having Texture Issues, I am not sure how I will respond when that time comes. Seeing and Touching Body Parts, and The Act of Sex may or may not go over so well. That Thought Alone makes me Very Anxious.
As Far as Married Life goes, Her and I would live together and Travel The World together! We would not have Children because They would be hard to take care and It is a 50/50 Chance of them also having PTLS. In The Event that We wanted Children, We would Adopt. So, All in All, It is not always Easy living with PTLS, but I would never give it up for Anything, Not even a Cure!
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. PTLS makes me who I am, Wonderful and Unique.
