Autistic College Experience

I’m an 59 year old autistic person and, most of my life, had little ability to gain or hold down a job, even with the English degree I got from this institution,  so what did I do when my mother died and I came into some money? I came back to this institution!
Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to be something of an amateur artist. You can see my art blog at www.daru3-davidart.blogspot.com , so an art major was a natural. Also, the first time I was at CSI, I majored in computer science, but did poorly in the advanced classes before switching to an English major, so I’m trying a computer major again now.
I started the summer of 2015, with Intro to Computer Programming and, despite some problems with the last lessons, I got a B, so I went ahead with Fall classes. I registered for Intermediate Computer Programming, but couldn’t understand the teacher. She had a rather thick Russian accent, or at least I thought so. My class mates understood, but, being autistic, I need a certain amount of precision, so, to me, this Russian woman sounded like she had big plans for moose & squirrel.  I dropped her in favor of Intro to Portraits, which immediately followed Intro to Drawing, giving me eight consecutive hours of drawing models, nude and dressed. It was too much consecutive time. I missed much and only got B’s.
I also got a B for Intro to Painting class. It was hard in that, though I am an artist, my teacher, Geoffrey Dorfman, had to tell me to slow down and concentrate on my details, even while telling me to get done in the few weeks we have.
In the spring, I took Intermediate Programming for a second time and again, had to drop it, for want of an understandable teacher.
I also took Art 100 and had Mieke Paulsen, a wonderful lecturer. I loved listening to her. Just one thing. She just talked, wrote little or nothing on the board, so I wrote little or nothing, leaving me with no notes. I was so sorry to drop her course.
This left me with one course, Intro to Sculpture, which was a truly fun class, an easy A.
This year, I’m taking Intermediate Painting and, for a third time, Intermediate Computer Programming. I tried taking Intermediate Drawing, but my teacher, Professor Pels, couldn’t even handle normal students. She had no idea how to handle an autistic student and wouldn’t learn how. With the Art Chairman’s help, I switched to printing.

what do I do that I think is "worth it"

My buddy, Richard Parsons. He comes here a couple of times a week and we order a movie on demand, or go out to a movie, or go to Barnes & Noble and buy books, DVD's, cake and coffee. It can get expensive,  but it's worth it.

Have you ever spoken when you saw something wrong? Scared?

I was outside of the ferry terminal when I came upon a woman , laying on the ground, screaming for her life, because her man was harrassing her. I got between them and asked people to call the cops. I tried to help her into the terminal, where the police were, but the guy's buddies drove us back to the corner where her man was. Finally, police did arrive and I thought that was the end of it, and went into the ferry terminal. The man found me there and started threatening me, but did nothing, then walked away.

I might also add the time I was reading in Time magazine about clinics that claimed they could cure homosexuals. I responded by asking if they could cure Judaism and left handedness. It was published and I later got a call from a gay guy thanking me.

The Strict Parent

I'm one of those adults who sometimes gets amazed at the wealth of children, with computers, smart phones, etc. I have no children, but I sometimes imagine, what if I were one of those strict, cheap parents? My kids wouldn't have computers, phones, or even TV's. I'd give them a pencil and paper to draw on, a notebook to write in, and yesterday's newspaper to read. Decades ago, most children didn't have much more and were lucky to have that.

Legal Drug Abuse

Legal Drug Abuse

I've been reading about the advance of heroin in middle class communities. Everybody is in an uproar. Everybody is so offended by drug abuse in our community. Personally, I don't give a damn!

Look around you. How many people do you know who might possibly die of illicit drugs? How many in your family? One? Two? You? Now, how many will die from diseases related to smoking, drinking, over eating, and/or lack of exercise? My bet is everybody else, including you.

If I came to school and smoked a joint, there'd be serious consequences. Not so if I simply bought and ate a doughnut. But I'm a diabetic. That doughnut is a lot more dangerous than any joint,

What if every student who registered had to be tested for obesity and diabetes. Those people with those problems simply could not be served certain foods at our food counters and had to sign up for gym classes every semester. It may be a bit draconian, but consider the punishment for a joint.

David Rubin

Autistic Students

    By David Rubin & Kenny Velez

     High functioning autistic people may be developmentally disabled, but we have normal intelligence and can even go to college, like Kenny and myself. What we lack are basic interpersonal skills. For example, neither one of us have any idea of how to get romantic. I, David, am 59 and have yet to have my first date. Kenny hopes not to go that long.
      Because we are not very social, Kenny tends to be very quiet. He doesn't get involved in conversations with more than two people. That could be a problem, or maybe your just too loud. I go to the opposite extreme and try to be the center of attention, and I am very loud. We also stop paying attention to conversations that bore us, like relationships and dating.
     There are also people like me, David, that "stim". that means, when I get very upset, I tend to make growling noises, scratch my head hard and chew on my fingers, My boss used to call me "scratchy" and my index fingers are extremely calloused. Kenny says, when he really gets angry, he'd like to punch someone or the wall, but he doesn't and I think this is normal.
      We both have problems keeping up with notes. It's an attention problem. We have problems splitting it between the teacher and our note books.
       Because of attention problems, Kenny has trouble taking tests in noisy class rooms. Fortunately, the college has set aside special class rooms for just such a reason.
        We also worry about being late. We spend too much time on something that has our attention and completely forget about time.
        I have trouble with my art classes. I tend to concentrate on one part of a body and it goes completely out of proportion with other parts of the body.
       We have organization problems. We both tend to procrastinate. Kenny didn't get his financial aid work done until the last minute and doesn't get his class work done till the last minute. Me too.
       I'm also very impatient and impulsive. My impulsiveness takes the form of an insatiable appetite. I'm morbidly obese and diabetic. Even my art teacher tells me I try to get pieces done too fast and encourages me to take my time.
   

Amateur Artist

The Amateur Artist

I am now an artist

abstract

outsider

disabled

autistic

You name the adjective!

I paint like

Rothko

Matisse

Klee

Whom ever I can.

I commit my art with

paper cut outs

scissors and paper

construction paper

school glue

acrylics paints

magenta 

scarlet red

brilliant blue

iridescent violet

 primary blue