Friday, October 9, 2009

Interesting Documentary re: Living With Asperger's Syndrome

Not too long ago I read that Autism Spectrum Disorders affects over 1% of all school-aged children in the U.S.. You'll have to Google it, I don't have a reference for that, but THAT is a lot of kids!

Tonight while making the rounds of some of the interesting places I like to stop and read (HERE), I read an amazing story about a young professional surfer with Asperger's Syndrome. He's been misunderstood for years, and plays by his own rules, and just a few years ago he was diagnosed with Asperger's. Interesting. Ah....makes sense a lot of people thought....

Surfing legend Laird Hamilton describes Clay Marzo as "an artist who can't be pigeon-holed. He's something all together different that should be cherished.".

There is a lesson in there about the effect of the assumptions and biases we all have (whether we admit it or not) when dealing with kids (whether they have ASD or not)! I want to see the movie/documentary made about this kid....it looks good....read the article linked above, and then if you have 3:24, watch the trailer here to see some amazing waves:



Cheers!

2 comments:

hOMESCHOOLING 2020 COVID-19 said...

thats exactly what i looked like the first time on a surf board...kind of.

Krpy said...

Interesting article!

This is a topic close to my heart as it is believed my nephew may have Aspergers, as well as having taught two other students who have been clinically diagnosed as such.

These individuals have so much to teach us. They are "full" of ah-ha moments that make you look at things in a different way as you try to understand their perspective.


Thanks for the link to that story Sandy:)

Live well!

Krpy