Enjoy your zombies
Mon Nov 02 10:43:00 CST 2009
Did you enjoy your annual zombie movies? I know I did.
Woody's portrayal of a character who lost a child to the zombie virus actually touched on something very dear to me. Zombie movies are only fun when you can suspend disbelief and enjoy the absurdity. Get ready: those zombies are coming, and they are your kids. Look at the autism growth curve, and compare its shape to the growth curve seen in viral epidemics.
The US is now at 1 in 58 boys.
The concern over increasing autism numbers has finally jumped from the first and second wave of victims to "the authorities." Yeah yeah, I know, everyone has been screaming "this should be considered a national emergency" for a decade now, but here we are. I'd love to be chicken little, and fade away but there is no escape from this R0 and the usual suspects are slowly turning over.
I haven't seen or heard of a video game where the goal is to shoot as many Alzheimer patients as you can before they overwhelm you and eat your brains. It's a lot harder to shoot zombies when they are your neighbor, your spouse, or are moaning "Daddy, more brainz please."
Zombie movies and zombie games aren't fun for me any more, because I see neurologically injured people who didn't deserve the affliction and instead of moaning for brains, could just as easily be moaning because they are in pain as their GI systems, immune systems and their nervous system fail them and they are locked inside a tormenting body lashing out the only way they know how...acting strange, smelling like poop and vomit, trying to communicate, flapping hands, strange walking gaits, rolling on the floor, biting, ramming their head into the floor....
It isn't something I can disassociate from real people any more. I suspect this will be the case for a lot of people. If you are interested in understanding why an autism parent is exhausted, besieged and angry, go re-watch your favorite zombie move and put your kid in the cast.
We are a light case. We are one of "the lucky families." I know how good I have it. I am going to remember the other unlucky families who are struggling with what I would know would crush us.