Vacuuming -

These economic times - three dogs - five humans - I've been doing a lot of vacuuming lately. Vacuuming has become almost therapeutic for me. I always laughed when my husband would be plowing the snow or power washing the deck with that focused and preoccupied look on his face. As I looked up and saw my image in the mirror I saw that same look, that same preoccupation - and it was great. I realized as I was cleaning that I was really removing the dust from my mind.

I think at these mindless times we do our best thinking, our best reflecting and our best brain storming. So many thoughts went through my mind today. So many ideas and images.

I thought of the word "Autism" I thought of all the amazing people I speak to and correspond with every day. Then I thought - how misunderstood that word "Autism" really is. It truly is a spectrum, a broad sequence or range of related qualities, ideas or activities. An umbrella term for so many subgroups.

The perception by most people about autism is an extreme and hopeless childhood illness. Unfortunately, for some it is devastating and keeps them locked in a world that until recently has been a mystery. For them it is a prison. However, the majority of the people I speak to do not find it hopeless and are not on the extreme end of the spectrum. One of the subgroups in autism is Asperger's Syndrome. Although autism starts in childhood it is not only a childhood disorder. The autism or aspergers does not go away. It is accepted and reshaped and it is in the mind and hearts of many adults who suffered as children by the lack of support and understanding in an era of ignorance. The many adults I speak to like to refer to themselves as Aspies. Aspies are fabulous. Aspies see a different spin on the world, a spin that makes them some of the most creative, intelligent, successful and caring people I have the pleasure to know.

So, I kept vacuuming.

Now, I was thinking of a guest I had on my show The Coffee Klatch, Taylor Morris. I was so moved and touched by her and her mother and found myself truly able to look at my daughter and myself in a completely different light. As I vacuumed it seemed like a whole new language came to me and a dialogue played in my head.

So, I kept vacuuming.

I began to look at what I once saw as a curse - to be a gift. I saw that if used properly with self acceptance and understanding this "gift", could be channeled and cultivated and lead to an amazing journey through life.

That dialogue that had been going through my head, I believe, once spoken, may have changed the course of our lives and true understanding of acceptance.

I think I'll keep vacuuming.