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Mesa Verde, Native American high rises
Originally published July 18, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com My family and I went on a trip to Southern Utah last week. On the way back, we went to Mesa Verde in southern Colorado. It was amazing. It has an incredible collection of the ruins of the Pueblo and Anasazi Indians from about 600 A.D. to 1200 A.D. There were various stages of development of houses in the same areas, sometimes built right in the crevices of a cliff. Can you imagine going out for food and water and having to carry it all back up the cliff? I was really impressed with their ingenuity and resourcefulness. The Native Americans have a…
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My first backpacking trip
Originally published June 22, 2016 A rough start and a bucket of pinecones. This week, my dad took me on my very first real backpacking trip. We started out after driving to the trailhead on Monday afternoon. My dad was getting the stuff ready in the packs, and I decided that I needed to go gather pinecones in a big bucket that I brought from home. My dad didn’t know where I had gone. He was worried and angry that I had disappeared. He went looking all over down by the river which was raging very hard from the winter snowmelt. He was gone for just a few minutes. My…
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Moving bites
Originally published June 11, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com This week our family moved to a townhouse. We are building a new house in a very nice area that is right near the mountain where there are mountain bike trails galore, right out our front door. I can’t wait to get over there but, in the meantime, the house that we were living in is being sold and we had to find an interim situation for our family. We decided to move into a townhouse that is closer to town and school and everything. It is an okay place, but it is really small compared to what we were in before and…
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The autism sack of treats
Originally published May 16, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com I am always wondering why autism always leaves such a bad impression on people. My dad and mom say that it is because people just don’t understand. But I think it is because people are afraid that we are going to do something to make them uncomfortable. I really don’t ever try to make people uncomfortable around me, but my behavior sometimes does make them feel that way. I am sad that this is the case. I wish that it wasn’t but I’m not sure how to control myself entirely yet. I am trying to do better though every day. What I hope…
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Why I stim
Originally published May 16, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com Stimming is the short way to say self-stimulatory behavior. In autism terms, it is the repetitive behaviors that we do that seems odd or unusual to the rest of the world. My stims include making loud noises or saying letters in funny ways or pacing back and forth. I also have compulsive behaviors like needing to go through a particular pattern when I leave a room or needing to be sure that doors are closed, especially to refrigerators and freezers. I really can’t explain why I need to do these things. I just know that if I don’t do them, I get really…
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Mother Near Me
Originally published May 6, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com Mother Near Me by Aaron Jepson May 6, 2016 Mother are you listening to me? Heart is beating in sync with yours. Soon the time for me to enter, Eyes will meet and mine will close. Am I a child that came with angels? Am I an answer to a prayer? Am I a loved and precious addition To a family sealed forever? Mother, are you sad and crying? Has your heart begun to tear? Do I ask a price that’s heavy, Far too much for you to bear? My new beginning has been challenged, Travelling on a winding road. My journey starts…
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Lame plays for autistic people
Originally published April 23, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com I am not much of a theater goer but I can imagine that people who enjoy that sort of thing would like a play about someone who worries about what other people think of them. People with autism think about that, too, but we can’t dwell on it or we would be depressed all of the time. I’m so glad that the people that I care about the most love me for who I am. I can’t imagine living your life always trying to please everyone else. Shouldn’t we all be more accepting of each other so that everyone feels loved? I think…
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A hard lesson
Originally published April 23, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com I often think that people are pretty clueless about autism. My suspicion was proven true again, recently. Without going into detail, there was a situation at school when an adult said some things about our class of special needs kids that was hurtful and petty. Why do people assume that we can’t understand what is being said around us? Many, many times, learned men and women try to show that they are smart and use language that is flowery and impressive, but inside, they are simple and dense. Truth is, the people with autism that can speak, all frequently talk about helping others. …
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Never give a mouse a cookie
Originally published April 18, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com One of my favorite books as a child was If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. It shows how our actions always have consequences and lead to more reactions and these are not always part of the original intent. A lot of cool lessons are taught in this story like how people often have made a mistake and then tried to cover it up with another mistake and it spirals out of control. And simple fixes become complicated and may not be able to be cleaned up. If you go against the trend of not taking responsibility for your actions and own up…
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Born on a blue day
Originally published April 16, 2016, on Jepsonfiles.com A while ago, my mom and dad read this book to me. I don’t remember most of it but I do remember the feeling that I had while they read it. I felt like running and shouting because a boy and a book became real to me. I understood a lot about what he was saying about how colors helped him understand the world around him better. My own experience has been different. I don’t see colors but after reading the book, I realized that numbers and letters do the same thing for me. ABC magnets became like a way for me to…
