Sunday, May 22, 2022

The Boy on the Rock


Sustained unusual repetitive actions... that's one of the frequent descriptors of behavior for those on the autism spectrum. When I present, I cover this topic and I say it may be unusual to you, but for us it may be the way we get though the day. 

Growing up, school was extremely difficult for me. It wasn't the material being taught that was difficult, but it was the daily grind of sensory bombardment and attempting to be a chameleon in a wild and hectic environment. The first couple of hours of school were manageable, but by noon I had a level of exhaustion that is near impossible to attempt to relate to you. I'll try, but it still won't be good enough.

At noon, each day, gravity felt heavier. The minutes of the day passed as slowly as a sloth on an intercontinental walking tour. The words spoken by the teacher and my peers took as long to process as it would to attempt to watch a video on YouTube on a 56k modem. With all this I was frustrated, exhausted, and I had no ability at this age to verbalize this to anyone. I didn't have many outlets to offset the weight of the day, but there was one. Yes, there was one and it was my first flag stand.

To my parents, the activity I took part in after school most certainly would've fallen into the category of a "sustained unusual repetitive action" because I'd go to the end of the neighborhood road and climb up on a rock with a checkered flag and wave the flag at cars driving by. Unbeknownst to those driving by, I was using a checkered flag given to me by Duane Sweeney. I can't believe my parents let me out of the house with such an impossible keepsake, but maybe they tried, and I went out anyway. 

There weren't many cars that would drive by. I could be standing on that rock waiting for the next car for a dozen minutes or more, but when that next car came, I gave it my best to look like Sweeney, or Ford (the NASCAR starter at the time), or I'd create my own style. 

The time in school may have been painfully slow, the time on the rock went by exceptionally quick. I was in a place that I felt calm, at peace, and the movement of my body moving the flag about relaxed me. At this age there would've been no way I could have spoken to my parents, or anyone for that matter, on just how important those hours of flag waving were. To be able to make it through as many hours of school the following day, I needed this sensory break/input that the isolation of the rock gave me, and the fun feeling of moving the flag through the air.

I doubt anyone could've predicted just where this sustained unusual repetitive action would take me. The hundreds, or rather thousands of hours of flag waving practice have made my flag waving style rather eye catching. Over the weekend, during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, many people took notice over the movements of my flags and there have been tens of thousands of social media views of my work. I too would never have expected this, but the story behind my start is so special. I know I have a special flair and my passion for motorsports is high, but the origin of my first flag stand and the reason why I did, and how it helped me get through the day so I could attempt to get through the next day of school is a story that should be known. 

Each of us on the autism spectrum may have a unique area of interest, or movement, or other motivator that helps us get through the day. The topic we talk about, or activity we partake in, may be done to the exclusion of everything else and may get, well, annoying for those around us. I would talk about racing and racing flags all the time. There was little else I'd discuss. When my family had enough of hearing about racing, I was out the door to let that flag fly high. And here's the thing; could anyone have predicted that the boy on the rock would go on to be in the flag stand of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? 

You may know someone that has the one-track mind like I did. It might be annoying now, but I hope you keep this story somewhere in your mind that someday that topic or activity may provide a chance or opportunity that could never have been imagined. I hope you remember that our strengths could be narrow (key thing to remember is "if you met one person with autism you've only met one person with autism") but do your best to let that strength flourish. I'm glad my parents did, because the world has now seen what that boy on the rock was capable of.


  

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