My next book!

Yes, I finally figured it out (at least right now; it may still change).

I grew up with a bunch of girls at church through my teenage years. Several of us ran in different social circles, but we were still friends with church as our common bond for many years. Three of us stayed in contact with one another over the years. Now, what would be the odds that all three of us would end up with children on the autism spectrum? I'll have to have Isaak figure that one out for me.

I couldn't find any old pictures of Corrine, but here are some of Dana and me (and some other scattered people).

Dacyl, Dana, Me around 1987...

Dana fixing my hair around 1985. Gotta love the hair!

Julie and Dana at Girls' Camp in 1987...

Youth Conference in 1986. Dana and I are in the middle.

So, we've started hanging out the past few years as we've been traveling down the autism path together. We've shared horror stories, joys, and lots of yummy Claim Jumper food. A few days ago we got the three boys together for the first time. It was a hoot! We were the model of autism! Quite a sight to see. We took the boys to a Mariners' game. It was such fun! We are going to try to do some outting together every month now. It was really fun.

Here we are in the parking lot...

And the goof balls...

Watching the baseball "bloopers" on the screen...

Joshua...

Isaak...

Kyle...

They are very interesting boys, especially together. They all have a different "flavor" of autism, so to speak. Isaak has the high intelligence, but is quite content to be by himself. Social awareness is really impaired. He'd live a happy life, I'm sure, if no one every bugged him to do anything with them. Kyle is very social. He struggles a lot with language processing. He's very into looking "normal," so when he isn't understanding, he has a lot of anxieties. Joshua is the clown of the group. He is loving and silly and fun. He has a lot of pent-up energy he struggles to control (especially when meds wear off). They ALL struggle with having a "flexible brain" and doing things differently than they want to.

Anyway, they are really funny and I think can learn a lot from each other. What a great journey that will be! So, if i can get my mind wrapped around it, I may have a new book to write! A flash-back-flash-forward of the three of us and our three ASD kids.