I Am Malala

By Philip

Malala is a hero to me. I think she made many courageous acts to get an education and insist on the same right to education for all mankind. I admire how she spoke out against the talk of the mullahs who said it was wrong to educate girls. She followed Allah and the Koran. She ate halal. She did not disobey her religion. The Taliban made up rules to abuse people. The men of the Taliban were the ones applying their religion wrongly. Peace was nowhere to be found under the Taliban. Learning was banned for all girls. Malala would not stop her education or saying the Taliban each day committed terrible injustices. Pakistan was a violent place to live in. Malala risked her life to save the right to go to school. Malala was shot in the head for what she stood for.  But God miraculously saved her. The person who shot her was forgiven. I admire her for letting peace put her mind to good use instead of revenge. Learn from her example, not from terrorists. Malala became even more recognized and brought her cause to the whole world's attention. She spoke at the United Nations. Pakistan passed law to educate all boys and girls. Malala’s power was more power than the terrorists. I am Malala. 

*Lisa's note- Philip has been learning about Malala Yousafzai from her memoir "I Am Malala" and from watching news specials and Malala's speeches.  She is a role model for so many, and I would say especially for Autistic children.  Even though Malala is not Autistic, she made her voice and position heard in a culture that denied women a voice and an education.  The world listened.  Because of her bravery, Malala has been able to affect the change she so passionately believes in.  There are still many Autistic voices needing to be heard in America and all over the world.  We must do all we can to help pave the way towards better methods of communication and accommodation, quality education, opportunities for inclusion, and acceptance of all Autistic people as contributing members of society.  Malala inspires us to bravely speak and act to bring about the change we want to see.     
 

Moses and Fear

As I wrote in yesterday’s post, Philip wanted me to teach him a lesson on facing fears over the weekend.  It just so happened that today I was leafing through Philip’s Stockade achievement book and the next activity was called “Controlling Your Fears.”  It was a lesson on Moses.  It was one of those little moments when you feel God’s smile and wink in your direction as He gifts you a little surprise.

I read Philip the story of Moses from Exodus 3 and 4.  It is the story of God calling Moses from the burning bush to send him to Pharoah to deliver the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land.  Moses was understandably intimidated by this tall order and kept coming back to God with excuses, even to the point of pleading, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it!”  

We began talking about fear as a natural part in everybody’s lives.  Fear can be good because it helps us to think before we act and avoid doing something stupid or dangerous.  But fear can be harmful if it keeps us from doing good things, including what God would want us to do.  We read from Exodus and then Philip answered the following:

When does Moses begin to be afraid? (Philip's answers in bold)

He began to be afraid when he hears God in the burning bush.  God says he was going to rescue His people.  It made him feel like he was solely responsible for all the people.  He was scared.  I am sure I would be scared too.

 

How does God comfort Moses?

God said “I will be with you.”  He is I AM.  He is timeless.  

In Exodus 4:13, why is Moses saying no to God? 

I think he is thinking he is not good enough to accomplish God’s plan too well.

What would be different if Moses trusted God?

He would be brave.

What would have happened if Moses let fear get in the way of doing God’s plan?

He would not see God’s glory.

How did God help Moses conquer his fear?

God answered Moses by letting him have Aaron to help him speak to Pharoah.  God gave him signs to show His power.  God gave His word.

What are some of your fears?

I am fearful of a hard life as an autistic.  I am tired from living in a world made for normal people.  I am tired of word spelling to talk when others get to talk normally.  I am sorely lonely.

  

I fear total elimination of autistics due to illness prevention programs.  Autism is not an illness.  It is a variation of humanness.  I do not want to be cured bc to be cured means to die.  There is too much talk about cure.  It is hurtful.  It makes me feel worthless.  It makes me feel so sad.

I fear the kind of learning most autistics get.  I am fearful that they won’t be educated to address important skills to understand the world and get a chance to communicate.  I fear they will get hurt by restraints.  I fear they will get nowhere.  No way out.  I fear they are so sad.  I fear there is no hope.  I fear they will die without a trace.  I fear they are terrified by the teachers who do not know they are smart.  Each day I yearn to help them.

How does God help you with your fears?

God helps me care about others to help them.  He works to help bring me to people who can help me.  He lead me to Soma coupled with Tracy, Harvey, and Lisa.  He answers my prayers to speak and learn.  God is my Savior and Lord.  He is always with me.  I do not have to be afraid with God.  He is my courage and strength.  I am blessed.  The end.

     

Einstein, Science, and God

Philip enjoys learning from people’s lives.  This week he said he wanted to study famous scientists.  We have studied Einstein before so this time when I saw a FB post about how Einstein saw the world, I read it to him (you can read Einstein’s own words on his view of science and a divine being here).  Here is Philip’s response.

Einstein is a scientist who believed in an understanding Being.  This Being gives life to creation.  Einstein gives credit to a creator because the laws he uncovers are so perfect.  Each law is orderly.  

I am in awe of God and His creation.  I am in awe of the laws that God made.  Each day God allows us to discover His laws.  I enjoy nature because I like needed time each day to eagerly discover God.  I see God a lot in the way He each day teaches us.  He teaches us by allowing today a pleasure someday to find.  He gives us a hope for each day to get a better understanding of Him.     

Presidents Day Essay

(Written by Philip after doing Brain Pop lessons on Barack Obama and FDR)

Presidents have a big responsibility.  Some presidents have done right for our country.  Some govern ahead of their time.  One president was FDR.  He had to lead our country out of Depression and the World War.  He aimed to create jobs to end unemployment.  He astutely allied with nations to end a war.  He gave people savings for seeing through retirement.  No president ever had to do so much.  He is an inspiring lame man too.  Though he was paralyzed, he was a great leader.  I am impressed with FDR.

What qualities make a good president?

I think a good president should be a good leader, honest, each day a good example, thinks independently, no problems via someone underestimating him, into serving people, some luck (“How so?” So he gets his way.  Lincoln was lucky to get his amendment passed before the South came back.), each day guided by God.  

Today is Presidents Day and the first day of the week-long mid-winter break.  We had a nice day going to Dave and Buster's for lunch with Kaylie and her mom and sister and then to a family friend's house to hang out and play the Beatle's Rock Band video game.  Philip played the drums and did some singing into the microphone.  He also wrote back to his friend Aidan in Louisiana.  It was a fun-filled day!

 

I Have A Dream

Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Philip wrote his own "I Have A Dream Speech."

I Have A Dream
I have a dream that various languages would be recognized and each celebrated for its prime ability to give people a voice. Are understanding and your speech the same?  Each day I better myself by spelling my thoughts on a letterboard. I am each day trying new things. I dream of each day learning new things in an understanding world.  I dream of schools looking out for each person's best potential. I hate prejudice. It cons people into thinking they are better than others. Each day I am dreaming you treat us autistics with respect. In my dream you see us like you see yourself. I have a dream.

            

Daring

I get a kick out of Philip’s use of words.  A boy of few words, he carefully chooses each one to extract the most meaning out of it.  A week ago I wrote a post here about Philip giving titles to my Dad’s photographs.  As a follow-up, I asked Philip how he came up with the titles.  He spelled, “I ATTRIBUTE A TITLE THAT SUMS A LESSON.”  Yesterday my Dad won a gold award (the highest honor) for his photograph which Philip named “CATCHING LIGHT OPULENCE.”   I asked Philip why he chose the name.  “I LIKE HOW THE LIGHT SHINES TO ACCENT THE BEES AND THE OPENNESS OF THE FLOWER IS EASY TO ENJOY.”  Why opulence, I asked.  He spelled, “VIOLET ROYALTY.”

"Catching Light Opulence"

One word Philip has become particularly fond of using is “daring.”  The meaning of daring is “willing to take or seek out risks; bold and venturesome.”  I’ve been thinking about this word today and how it is related to hope.  Hope is the dream we have, but daring is the action that allows us to realize the dream.  Over the past year, RPM has given Philip a voice, and along with that, freedom to dream.  He wants to go to a regular school and says “I WANT TO LEARN EVERYTHING THERE IS TO LEARN.”  He says he wants to be a mathematician when he grows up.  He wants to learn typing and computer skills.  He also wants to write his story and teach others who cannot speak to communicate through RPM.  Photography has piqued his interest and he wants to try his hand on a camera and accompany my Dad on photo shoots.  

The power to dream is an amazing thing.  It gives us a purpose to live for.  It gives us positive momentum to wake up every day with the expectation we can improve ourselves and the world.   For me, this was not always so.  When Philip was between the ages of 6 and 9, I had such a hopeless feeling about Philip and my life that many times I dreaded the morning knowing each day would be like the last without reason to think things would get any better.  How much harder was it for Philip?  Hope is where all dreams find their beginning.

Daring is each step we take in making our dreams come true.  When a child is autistic and cannot communicate, he has to rely on others to dream big enough for him too or else his own dream cannot be realized.  Daring to see Soma was the best thing we ever did to help Philip.  With no indication that Philip could read, spell, communicate, or even understand much, we went to see if she could teach us how to reach Philip.  And she did!  Philip learned to learn age level academics and answer questions about himself.  When we got home, Philip would not communicate as he did with Soma for months but we dared to persevere until he could.  Little acts of daring such as pushing for a sentence rather than a single word, letting Philip speak on his letterboard to others, or enrolling him in activities with inclusion, snowballed into bigger things.  We didn’t always achieve things on our timing and sometimes a dare was met with a fail, but within the whole process was progress.  Looking back, each breakthrough has been a result of daring a fear or the status quo.

I want Philip to keep daring himself to accomplish his dreams.  This is not easy for him.  Often he feels discouraged about things, whether it is his inability to overcome his own sense of overwhelm during stressful situations or not receiving adequate accommodations to help him communicate out in public.  I keep reminding him that many of his heroes, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr., did not have it easy.  To achieve their goals, they had to defy odds against them and in doing so, made a huge impact on the world for good.

I look at the growing number of non-speaking Autistics succeeding and living out their dreams as well.  What do they all have in common?  They have all dared the common perceptions of autism.  They have all dared to find ways to communicate that are out of the box.  They all had people to dare to dream alongside them.  Tito Mukhopadhyay and Ido Kedar are accomplished writers and speakers (how amazing is that!) who learned from Soma.  Kedar currently attends mainstream high school.  Naoki Higashida was homeschooled and learned communication via letterboard and typing.  He is an artist and has written bestsellers in Japan and the US (The Reason I Jump).  Carly Fleischmann types and now attends college.  Larry Bissonette and Tracy Thresher travel the world as speakers (by typing) and advocates and have made a fabulous movie called Wretches and Jabberers.  There are many others daring their schools and communities to accept them, working jobs to support themselves, and defying people’s expectations.  

I leave you with Philip’s statement to me this morning after reviewing the post: “I AM DARING TO BE MYSELF IN THE WORLD.”  How about you?  Do you dare?   

 Philip with Soma