Autism Spectrum Disorders:

A few more Autism facts.
Most Autistic people, but not all:

1. They have trouble reading and understanding: Non-verbal cues. Such as body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc. Not only do they have trouble interpreting other people's body language, but, they often don't show much non-verbal cues, like facial expressions themselves.

2. One of the hardest and most uncomfortable things for them to do is to look somebody in the eyes! Giving another person direct eye contact is very frightening, uncomfortable, difficult and just feels weird.
It took me years to get used to looking people in the eye. When I first started trying to do it, it made me feel sick, rapid heart rate, hard to breath, I felt like vomiting, I had to resist the urge to run away, i was really scared and I actually felt like I was doing something illegal! Fortunately, I don't have that problem anymore.

3. Autistic people and Aspies (A person that has Asperger's) do feel a lot of empathy for other people, they just don't show it very well through verbal and non-verbal language.

4. They are not usually anti-social, they do want to talk to people. They just don't know how, they are uncomfortable approaching new people they don't know, they may of had a lot of bad experiences with people, they don't understand non-verbal language and don't know if it will be safe to approach a specific person.
But, if you make the first move and talk to them first, they will usually want to have somebody to talk to and they might hang out with you all day.

5. No verbal filter. Quite often, they will not know how to sugar coat things. They will not stop and think before they speak. They frequently just come right out and very bluntly say something that, to you, may sound inappropriate. They were not trying to offend anybody, they just didn't know any other way to say what was on their mind. Sometimes they might tell an extremely vulgar joke to somebody who is very religious and everybody in the room hears the joke, they think it's funny, but they don't dare laugh at it, because they don't want to be the one to offend the preacher that is standing next to the person who told the vulgar joke. (I've been there, done that!)

6. Selective Mutism.
If someone with Autism is uncomfortable around a specific person or doesn't know them very well, they might totally ignore that person and refuse to talk to them. This could go on for one day, a few minutes or the rest of their life! Usually, if the Autistic person gets to know the person they're ignoring or they just become more comfortable around them, they will stop doing this.

7. Not everybody with an Autism Spectrum Disorder is really good at Math and Science. They don't all think very logically. Some are more creative.

8.  A lot of Autistic people don't understand jokes. Sometimes if you tell a joke, everyone else will laugh and the Autistic will not laugh, they probably didn't understand the joke and will think about it for a while (Knock knock. Who's there....... What is so funny about knocking on somebody's door?), but they still won't understand it.
Worse yet, they might take the joke literally and think you were actually serious.

9. Literal thinkers. Just like taking a joke seriously, they might take other common expressions literally. If you say: "It's raining cats and dogs, a young kid might not understand that expression. The kid might look out the window and get confused because they don't see any animals falling out of the sky.

10. Blue lights are a sign that you support Autism Awareness. Mar-26-Apr-2, 2018 Is World Autism Awareness Week. April is National Autism Awareness Month. So, from now until April 30th would be a good time to put a Blue light on your porch.

11. Autistic people are often very detail oriented. If you see a car in a parking lot, you will notice that it is a Red, Ford Mustang. They will look at it differently. They might point out some small detail that nobody else can see. They might say: "The paint is chipped on the Right side of the hood."

12. Facial recognition. If an Autistic person sees someone they know and they are at a place where they see that person all the time, they will have no problem recognizing them and they will know exactly who that person is. But, if they go out somewhere else and see that same person somewhere else, they might not recognize them. It's even worse with people they have only known a short period of time.

13. Monotone voice sounds rude. A person with Autism often has a flat tone, pitch, tempo, inflection etc. They might tell you they're excited, happy, sad or anything else,  but, you can't hear it in their voice.
Some of them sound like a robot. Their voice is that flat and monotone. They don't realize it either. Some people accuse them of being rude or disrespectful, but, they are not being disrespectful. They don't realize there is anything unusual about their voice. So please don't let that bother you.

14. Multitasking. Most people with Autism Spectrum Disorders  (ASD) have a hard time multitasking. They may be able to handle doing two things at the same time, but, they will have trouble concentrating on both tasks.  Most of their attention will be focused on one of the two things.  They will forget about the other. Throw in a third task and forget it! They will probably not get all three things done at the same time!

15. Driving is a big problem for a lot of Autistics. Some people have Autism or a related disorder. They are 25 years old and still don't have a driver's license! They don't want it and are not ready.  They don't feel safe behind the wheel or whatever their reason is.
When they do start to drive, they often will never figure out exactly how to drive a stick shift properly and safely, without having any problems.  That requires a lot of multitasking.  You have to do everything with perfect timing and concentrate on too many things at the same time.  It is too difficult and a waste of time! Just keep it simple, get an automatic transmission,  you simply step on the gas and don't  concentrate any of that unnecessary, waste of time shifting!

16. Stimming: This includes things like, rocking back and forth or sideways, hand flapping, humming or fidgeting with an object, such as a pencil, toys or whatever they can find. This is one reason why Fidget Spinners were invented. They can help with stimming and fidgeting. (Please don't try to stop a child from stimming. It helps to keep them calm and prevent them from having a meltdown.)

17. Forgetfulness: Albert Einstein had Asperger's. Although, he was very smart and his IQ score was 160, he was very forgetful. People with Autism Spectrum Disorders often tend to be very smart, but, sometimes very forgetful. New Scientific and Psychological research has shown that most extremely intelligent people seem to be very forgetful.

18. Straight A students. If you notice when your kid is in elementary school, they don't have to study very hard and they are always getting straight As and Bs, that is a sign of Autism. It doesn't necessarily mean the kid is Autistic, it's just one symptom of Autism.

19. Intense interest or almost an obsession with a limited amount of things.
For some people with Asperger's and Autism, they might love Math, Chemistry, Physics, Dogs, Dinosaurs, cars or or other things.
Myself, I've always loved Astronomy, UFOs, planets and other things Astronomy related.
Also, ironically, I have always loved jokes. (Ironic, because, most Aspies don't understand Jokes very well. But, I've never had that problem.)

20. Less imaginative play. Some Autistic kids can be very imaginative. But, a lot of them are less imaginative and creative than other kids. They may choose to play games that are more simplistic and not as creative. They may require less imagination and be just logical and sometimes simple games.
They may be too much of a logical and straight to the point thinker. Or they might be too shy to want to join in a game that requires more creativity.
(I had that problem when I was younger. I was usually very creative, but, too shy to suggest a more creative game or join others in the creative games they were playing.)

21. Less interested in sports than most people seem to be. Autistic people often tend to be more independent and less team oriented. Other team members just get in the way. Aspies often choose games that are not team oriented games, such as Golf. There's no team, you don't have to wait for someone else to throw you the ball. Nobody can throw the ball to a dozen other players, etc. They prefer to take all the credit for the game and don't want other people getting in their way.
Autistic people often get bored watching sports. They don't understand the games or how and why people can sit there and watch them for a long time.
(I have had several friends who loved sports. I didn't understand that. However, in the Army, everybody hung out in one guys room in the barracks when any sport came on that they liked, especially: Wrestling and Football. If I wanted to hang out with my friends, I had to go suffer through the sports, just to hang out with everybody.)

22. Writing: Most people with Asperger's and Autism are more logical and less creative. They are usually better at Math and Science than they are at Creative writing. If they do get into writing at all, they are usually better at writing research papers, newspaper articles and Scientific reports rather than writing creative, fictional stories.
(Myself, I've done all of the above. I've written newspaper articles, fictional stories and as you can see here, Scientific and Psychological research reports. Writing has always been one of my strong points and something I enjoy.)

BEWARE OF TIMESHARE AND VACATION SCAMS::

BEWARE OF TIMESHARE AND VACATION SCAMS:

If someone wants you to go to a presentation about a timeshare or something similar, they are probably going to try to use high pressure sales tactics and make the deal sound too good to be true! One specific company that called me was called: "Nextgen Vacations". They said if I went to their presentation, they'd give me Two airline tickets to anywhere in the US I wanted to go, including Alaska and Hawaii. They would also pay for any hotel I wanted to stay at, even if it were a 5 star hotel.
I asked a few more questions, just to waste their time. Then, I set up an appointment and a time to to go to their presentation. However, I had no intention of going to something like this! I did that to waste Two seats at the presentation, that means, Two other people wouldn't be able to go and the people running the scam would be disappointed by having those Two empty seats and Two less people to scam!
They said they would call me the next day, about an hour or two before I was supposed to show up for the presentation, I said, ok, that's fine. But, I blocked their number, so they couldn't call me again!
I have heard from some people who say they had a good experience with Nextgen Vacations. I don't know any details of their experiences. But, they said it is a legit company and not a scam. They also said Nextgen did give them Two plane tickets and paid for their hotel. However, I don't recommend trusting anybody or any company like that. You would be taking a big risk. Imagine going to the airport, expecting to sign in and pick up your e-ticket to go from Detroit to LA for vacation. But, the tickets don't exist! The people at the airport don't know anything about your plane tickets either. You've been planning and looking forward to your vacation for Ten months now, only to find out at the last minute that it was a scam and the company didn't really buy you any plane tickets! Now you signed up for a scammer! The company stole your money and wasted your time! It does happen!
Keep in mind, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
If a company calls you randomly, especially if you are on the "National Do Not Call List" (DNC), and they want to sell you something, that should raise a red flag! It's probably not going to anything good. If YOU DIDN'T CALL THEM, but, they randomly called you, don't give them your personal information!
Nobody is going to give you something 100% free! Even if they did, you have to pay the tax, shipping fee, the companys processing fee, food, rental car and everything else. Yes, they may pay for your plane ticket and hotel, but, everything else is on you!
Years ago, I talked to someone about Amway
(AKA: SCAMWAY). I thought it sounded good at first, so, I scheduled a time to meet someone in a public place, I did not give them my home address! I talked to this guy about how I could make money without going to work. Sounds great right? Well, he was trying to pressure me into signing up. I would have had to pay a lot of money, buy a few books, videos and CDs to learn all about the company and how to use their high pressure sales tactics to get my friends and relatives to sign up under me. Then to get them to recruit their friends. Then, I'd have to keep going to their meetings, signing more people up, spending more money, etc!
After that, I realized, that guy was really trying to make it sound good, he was really motivated, trying to get me excited about the company and trying very hard to make me make a decision to sign the dotted line really quickly, immediately, without giving me any time to think about it! I also realized things like Amway are just too good to be true! They are going to use high pressure sales tactics and expect people to sign up impulsively.
Another time, I was in a bar, just hanging out. Some guy came over and started talking to me. I hung out with him for a while. Then, another guy came and started talking to us. This dude started talking about a company he works for and wanted us to sign up. I could smell a scam right away! It sounded similar to Amway and, again, it was way too to be true.
I told the scammer, "I fogot something. I have to go to my car and get it. I'll be back in a minute."
I grabbed the other guy by the arm as I was walking away and very quietly told him to follow me. I need to talk to you alone outside! It is really important!"
He followed me out the door. But, the other guy came out to.
We walked a few feet away from the scammer an I said, "This is a scam. He is trying to confuse us with some things he is saying. He is trying to pressure us into signing up for something stupid. He will expect us to sign up today and not think about it and the whole thing sounds bad! It is a scam! If you know what's good, you will follow me and just start running as far away from here as possible! If no, you go back and talk to that jackass and let him steal your money. I know we've only known eachother for an hour or so, but you have to trust me here and start running as far away from this place as possible, before he talks you into signing up for something stupid!
If you stay here, I'm leaving and our friendship is over!
I will not be able to stop that guy from scamming you!"
He went back and talked to the scammer. I ran as far away from that place as possible!

WHY IS CHRISTMAS CELEBRATED ON DECEMBER 25

WHY IS CHRISTMAS CELEBRATED ON DECEMBER 25?
Jesus was not born Dec. 25th. In fact, nobody knows for sure when Jesus was born. The best, educated guess as to when Jesus was born is the beginning of September.
(https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/jesus-born-september/)
Christianity was not an established religion until after Jesus' death.
(Some people did worship Jesus before the crucifixion, but, Christianity was not a well established religion with established traditions until after Jesus' death.)
Back then, there were a lot of Pagans. So, in order to attract them to convert to Christianity, they had to make Christianity as similar to Paganism as possible. Pagans have a holiday tradition they celebrate December 20-23 called Yule, which involves decorating pine trees, bringing other ever green plants, including Mistletoe, Pine Trees and Yew, into the house. The Pagan, Yule celebration also included exchanging gifts and some other things that Christians do now.
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year)
Christians did some of the same things on the date that was chosen to celebrate Jesus' birth.
The plan worked. A lot of Pagans changed their religion to Christianity.
To this day, Christians still do a lot of things that were borrowed from Paganism, judaism and several other religions. Most Christians have no idea that things like decorating a Pine Tree or Dec. 25, originally had nothing to do with Jesus at all.

Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear Weapons:

If we ever do have a WWIII,
it won't necessarily be a nuclear war!
If there ever is a WWIII, it will very likely start out, the same way as WWII and a lot of other wars started: Just a regular, conventional war. Two countries will decide they don't like each other. Those countries will grab their guns, tanks, troops, etc, one country will invade the other. Then, those countries will ask for help from their allied countries and possibly even places like the UN.
Once other countries join forces, someone will decide to attack an innocent country that doesn't want to get involved, just like in WWII, Japan messed with the wrong country and got their butt kicked!
If, however, all countries play fair and obey the laws that say you can't use nuclear weapons at all, unless another country launches one at you first, then, no nuclear weapons weapons would be used at all in the first place! In the US, we can use them in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons by another country, against the US.
In fact, ironically, the US and most other countries that have nuclear weapons, including: Russia, Canada, India and China, just to name a few, have them and keep them well maintained and ready at all times to PREVENT WWIII from ever happening in the first place! NOT so that we can fight a nuclear war!
The US invented both Atomic and nuclear weapons.
Atomic bombs ended WWII, but, those are no longer used. Soon after the war, the US invented nukes. Russia soon followed, along with other countries.
Since the US and Russia didn't get along at the time that nukes we're invented, they thought, " since the US has nuclear weapons, we need to have them to, so we can defend ourselves."
The US did not teach Russia how to make nuclear bombs, they had to figure that out themselves. They did!
Once the US found out that Russia had their own nukes now, the US no longer had an advantage and had that much power over the Russians. The Two governments had to have a talk with each other now and they both agreed on one thing:
Mutually Assured Destruction!
The US President told the Russian government, "If you ever launch a nuclear missile on the US, it's over, because, if you launch even one at me, I'll hit you with a whole bunch of nukes!"
The Russian government said, "I understand that. The same applies to you! If you launch one at me, I'll do the same to you! Launch several more than what you launched at me!"
Either way, they both agreed, it would be a bad day and possibly the end of the world! They called it: "Mutually Assured Destruction".
Eventually, other countries learned how to make them to.
Bill Clinton wanted to make some kind of a trade at one time with N Korea. So, of all things he could of chosen to trade, he gave them the plans of how to build a working Nuclear bomb!
Russia eventually created the largest and most powerful nuclear bomb ever: The Tsar Bomba. Much bigger than any US nuke!
Then most countries around the world signed a treat saying that they will no longer test nuclear weapons at all. This includes testing of nukes everywhere: Above ground, under ground, above or under water, suspended or launched into the air or anywhere in outer space.
The problem with a treat, however, is that it is just a piece of paper with signatures on it. Most treaties only last a certain amount of time and they have to be renewed. When one President signs a treat for anything, that ruins things for every President after them! If the next President wants to test nukes, for example, in this case, now they can't, because, a former President signed a treat, making it illegal. Now the next Presidents after the one who signed the contract can't do it. But, they are going to think, "I should be able to do it, because my signature is not on that treaty! I'll find a loophole in the treaty and I'll do it anyway!"
Treaties get violated all the time!
There is a treaty that protects Antarctica. It says that nobody can drill for oil or test nukes or do other potentially harmful things on that continent. Also, nobody, except: Scientists, government officials, military and a few other, similar people are allowed to explore the Antarctic Continent. There are probably a few places where regular, civilian tourists can step foot on the land, just so they can tell their friends they have been to Antarctica and walk around on the ice glacier.
However, the easiest way to win a nuclear war would be to launch 1,000 nukes on Antarctica! That would cause massive flooding, Tsunamis and severe, global warming, just to name a few problems! But, that would kill Everybody in every country, rather quickly!
When you see the President on TV, you often see one person staying close by, with a brief case handcuffed to his wrist. That is because, everything in that brief case is so important, so top secret and would be very dangerous if it got into the wrong hands.
I don't know what all is in there, but, one of the most important and dangerous things in there is: The codes to all the nuclear missiles in the US and all of them that the US has in other countries.
Other countries know that the US President has easy access to the nuclear missile codes at all times, 24-7-365! That is another deterrent to the commies and terrorist countries launching a nuke at us.
The most recent nuclear weapons test is suspected to of been in North Korea, just a few years ago. They deny having ever built and/or tested a nuke. However, the US and a lot of other civilized countries are constantly watching N Korea. We are watching them from outer space, on the and under the ocean, from S Korea and other countries, etc.
It only takes the International Space Station about 90 minutes to completely circle the Earth! Don't you think Astronauts and Russian Cosmonauts could see the big mushroom cloud out the window of the ISS? However, that would be only, if someone were looking out the window at the right time and when they were over N Korea.
The satellites in space could also see it and, in several different countries, including the the US, they have devices that can detect the radiation and other things that are a tell tale sign of a nuclear explosion anywhere in the world. All the nuke detection systems around the world detected a nuclear blast somewhere on Earth. Nobody owned up to it. So it was investigated and, the evidence showed that it came from N Korea.
These days, there are some people who don't like nuclear weapons. They are trying to fight to get rid of them and have every country sign a treaty to get rid of all nukes and never make anymore ever again!
That's not going to happen!
Like I said before, a treaty is just a piece of paper! It is not worth anymore than the paper and the ink that it was signed with!
People and countries violate treaties all the time!
Besides, with so many unethical countries out there that support terrorism and they don't like the US or a lot of other countries, we better have something to defend our country's with!
Some countries, I would never trust, Even if they did sign a treaty like that! They'd sign it, but, still keep some nukes. The US needs to keep some nukes, just to prevent those countries from attacking.
However, there are a few countries that have signed a treat saying that they, in their own country, will not have any nukes. The government and people of those countries agree with and support the ban. Maybe, they are near other countries that do have nuclear weapons. In that case, if a nuclear missile we're launched on their country, it could hit one of those neighboring countries. Even if it hit the intended target, the radiation, fallout, explosion itself, etc would affect the countries next to them, so, those countries would probably retaliate by launching their own nuclear missiles.

The origin of the expression: "Get your goat".

Don't let them get your goat!

Goats do keep horses calm.
The expression: Get your goat comes from Horse racing.
Years ago, people kept their horse in a stable before a race. To keep the horse calm, they put a goat in the stable with the horse. Now the horse could calm down and get some rest. Then the horse would be able to concentrate and have enough energy to run the race.
Sometimes, one of the competitors would not like one of the other people that was in the race or, maybe he thought one of the other horses was too fast and he didn't have a chance of winning against that horse.
So, the rider would try to give himself an unfair advantage. He waited till the day before the race, when nobody was looking, he'd go to that horses stable and steal that horses goat.
The next day, they got ready for the race and the owner of that horse noticed that his goat was missing.
Now the riders all brought their horses out to the track.
The one horse that was left to spend the whole day and night without a goat just wasn't ready for the race.
All the other horses were calm and well rested. Those horses were prepared to run really fast and concentrate on winning the race. However, the other horse acted like it had a severe case of ADHD.
The horse was too tired to run as fast as it possibly could, it may of been hyperactive and it couldn't concentrate very well on the race. That horse and rider were unable to win the race.
That left us with a very famous expression: "Don't let that other person 'GET YOUR GOAT'"!

What if NASA offered you a chance to go to Mars? Would you go?

DO YOU WANT TO GO TO MARS?
A lot of people, including myself, really love outer space. But, do you really want to go there? Probably not!

If NASA called you and gave you the chance to be one of only a dozen people to go on the first trip to Mars, would you go?
It sounds cool. I have always wanted to go to outer space. That would be so awesome to spend one day in space. If, it only took a few hours to get to Mars, that would be cool to.
But, be careful what you wish for, because, you might get your wish!
On the space station, they recycle water. In other words, the water they use to flush the toilet gets filtered and cleaned. Then it goes back into a tank and the Astronauts drink that water! Then, they pee it out into the toilet, it gets filtered again, goes back into the holding tank and repeats the process over and over again! Yuck!
They lose muscle mass, because, in almost 0 gravity, you don't get to work your muscles very much. They have to exercise 2 hours a day to prevent muscle loss.
Food doesn't taste the same in space as it does on Earth.
What would you do if you can out of food or if the food you have with you spoiled or rotted and it was no longer safe to eat? The nearest grocery store is about 35,000 miles away, on Earth.
It is a very small space on a rocket, space shuttle or the ISS. It would get boring up there in those cramped quarters. If there is someone up there with you that you don't get along with, that would suck for you! It will take about 5 or 6 months to get to Mars with today's technology. You'll be on the planet for probably 6 months to a year, then a 6 month long trip back to Earth. All that time, you'd be with someone you hate!
The closest Doctor to you will be on Earth! If you get sick or injured, you are on your own. You will be able to call the Doctor on Earth and talk to him, but, he can't give you any prescription medication, stitch up a wound, put a cast on a broken bone, perform surgery or anything like that!
Mars is much smaller than Earth. That means there will be less gravity. That will have an affect on your weight, the amount of pressure and stress on your Spine, how you walk and other things. Astronauts have no stress on their spine on the International Space Station. In fact, while their in space, their spine stretches out and the Astronauts are about an inch or two taller in space. After 6 months, they come back to Earth and the Earth's gravity pulls their spine down and puts stress on it again. That causes back pain.
There are a lot of dust storms up there. The wind blows the Red, Iron Oxide all around and it will be hard to see. The wind might even blow you around as well. You will be much lighter on Mars than on Earth.
(The surface of the planet is made up of Iron Oxide, which is basically rust from iron, just like on a car. That's what gives Mars it's red color.)
You'll have to wear a space suit everywhere you go. You might get a hole in your suit, which you can't just fix with duct tape. You could also run out of Oxygen or have problems with your O2 tank. Either one of those things: a hole in your suit or problems with your Oxygen, would be life threatening.
It is very cold and dusty up there on Mars. The atmosphere doesn't stop Metiors or harmful UV Ray's, Gamma Ray's, X Ray's, and other harmful things from space as well as the Earth's atmosphere does.
If your space ship breaks down, there's no one there to fix it and no way for it to be fixed. You would never make it back home to Earth.
I am sure you'd have to sign a waiver before you went to Mars, saying you know all the risks you're taking and if anything happens to you your family can't sue!
On the bright side, you would die famous. You would always be known as one of the first people to ever land on Mars. NASA would probably name a satellite after you, your birthday might become a national holiday, people would write books and movies about you and your name would be as famous as Neil Armstrong, Galileo, Stephen Hawking and Edwin Hubble.

The origin of the word: "SNIPER".

Sniper:
Years ago, up until the 1800s, there was a species of bird called a Snipe. Yes, there actually was a bird called a Snipe.
Hunters back then had a single shot Musket. They could fire only one shot, then it took a few minutes to reload.
If these birds saw or heard any signs of danger or people out hunting them, they wouldn't land and if they were on the ground, they would get up and fly away and they would not come back for a really long time.
A person who who hunted Snipe was referred to as a: "Sniper".
The term sniper is still used in law enforcement and military today.
The Sniper had to hide really well in the woods so these birds would not see them and fly away.
Snipers in the Army today say, "One shot one kill". That's one of their mottos.
This was true for a Snipe Hunter back then to, he only had one shot. If he didn't shoot the bird with that one shot, his day of hunting was over.
Today, most Species of Snipe, possibly even all of them are extinct. If there are any left, they are highly endangered.
In Boy Scouts, they have a joke that the really dumb People fall for. They take someone on a Snipe hunt. They give that person a bag and walk far out into the woods. Then, the prankster tells the idiot, "You wait here, I'll run over here into the bushes and Chase out the Snipes. When you see them running out, take the bag and catch the Snipe in the bag.
The victim is anxiously waiting to see a bunch of Snipe come running out of the bushes hoping he can catch at least one.
But, the prankster very quiet sneak away and goes back to camp. He just wait to see how long it takes before the victim figures out that he has literally been
"Left holding the bag"! This is also the how we got that Expression.