Autism Awareness in Boston

This past Wednesday, I went to Boston to give a lecture to 70 Emerson College RA's about Autism. Caitlin Courtney, former Resident Director at Utica College, is now the Resident Director at Emerson College. She wanted me to come because there are a lot of students at Emerson College who have Aspergers also known as High-Functioning Autism.

I took the bus there. While riding the bus and arriving in Boston, I noticed the large Citgo sign straight ahead. I reacted by shifting my head to the right, and there was Fenway Park. I was riding behind the Green Monster. As a person with Autism, I love structure and when I was watching games at Fenway Park during the 90's, I would always notice that Citgo sign beyond the Green Monster and thought that it was awesome that you can see a Gas-Station sign in front of the ballpark.

When I saw that Citgo sign while on the bus, I knew that I was right next to Fenway Park and that's why I turned my head to the right. If I never saw the Citgo sign, I would have never been able to look at Fenway Park. I also saw Fenway on the way back home as well during the pre-game and caught a glimpse of the people sitting in the Green Monster.

You can no longer see the Citgo sign when watching the games because of the seats that have been added to Fenway during the early part of the 2000's. It was cool to see Fenway Park in person.

The lecture at Emerson College was a great success. The RA's asked great questions and everyone was really supportive. One RA asked which type of Autism occurs more often? I answered that there are less diagnosis of people with High-functioning Autism because since the symptoms are mild, they think there is nothing wrong with them so they don't get evaluated. That doesn't mean that there are more people who have lower-functioning Autism than people who have high-functioning Autism. There are just more people with lower functioning Autism that are DIAGNOSED.

It was a great experience. Deciding to give lectures about Autism during my sophomore year of college has been one of the greatest and most important decisions of my life.