Inspiration: Carly Fleischmann

Looking for a little inspiration today? Then look no farther!

This short (under 2:30 min) documentary just won a silver medal at the Cannes Film Festival--in fact, I think you could say, it took the festival by storm! 

This film captures what it is like to be autistic--to not be able to speak or express your desires, to be trapped within your own body, constantly fighting against the external stimuli that throws itself at you as you try to focus on what is happening just at your own table at a cafe.

If you are ADHD you might relate a bit...

The amazing thing about this short film is that it was conceived and written and acted by an incredible young woman, Carly Fleischmann who is herself autistic and was unable to communicate until she was in middle school when they discovered she could control ONE finger to type very sophisticated and intelligent thoughts out on a computer...and not only did her world open up, but so did ours because Carly has an amazing way of actually explaining what it is truly like to be autistic!

There are 2 ways to watch this film on your computer--I suggest trying both ways. The first is an interactive way, where you use your mouse and just sort of move it around the screen as the dialogue progresses. Things (faces, sounds, etc) will come into focus or highlight more, giving an idea of what it is like to be autistic and not be able to block out any stimuli.  

The second way to watch it is by clicking on "Film Version" at the bottom of the screen and it will sort of do the unblocked stimuli for you. 

I then suggest going back and watching it in the first version but don't touch your mouse and see how much stimuli still gets through when Carly is simply trying to just look at her hands.

While they recommend listening via headphones, this isn't actually necessary.

Now on with the show!!!

http://carlyscafe.com/

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So what did you think? Were you as impressed as I am????

As a follow-up, for those of you who read this  who have FM, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and/or ADHD--could you relate to Carly more now than you could have prior to the onset of your symptoms?

I know it is much, much harder for me to focus, hear, listen, and really be involved in a conversation when in a busy environment, or when I am in a lot of pain or am overly tired. I cannot clearly think or express my needs in those times. And I even "stim" more during those times (an expression doctors typically usually reserve for autistic spectrum people) by shaking my right foot more--and I truly cannot control it even when I try! 

Carly described stimming when she was on The Doctors in the following way:

She explained a stim is a akin to a nervous tick. Many people twirl their hair when they are nervous or tap a pencil on a desk as they try to work on a problem. These could be considered stims.  Carly’s stims though comes through because of an overbearing amount of stimulus in the air. Noise, people, movement, light or any number of things bombard Carly Fleischmann on a daily bases, making her cover her ears and rock back and forth to try and stop the stimulus from getting through to her brain.

I love that Carly pointed out that to some degree, many of us, if not all of us, stim to some degree or another at some points during our day to day lives!!!!

I hope you were as touched and inspired as I've been by Carly!

If you want to learn more about Carly, her website is http://carlysvoice.com/ and you can also follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/carlysvoice 

Thanks for allowing me to share a bit of inspiration with you today!!!

~XOXO~ Mary

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Just in case you want to hear a bit more about Carly or autism in Carly's own voice, here's a couple more things you might like:

While on The Doctors, they also asked Carly what people most urgently needed to know about Autism. And her answer was quite clear.  

People need to encourage autistic people to be the best they can be. Carly said she wants people to believe in her and believe in her abilities to do whatever she wants to do in her life.  

She's already written a book and made a short film: what else can this young lady do to inspire us all?!?

BTW--This is what Carly wrote about her experience in Cannes (keep in mind typos occur when typing w/one finger!):

Oh my Gosh! Silver Silver Silver. TAKE THAT Ashton Kutcher ! A MUST SHARE WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. This Film was even endorsed by Ellen Degeners on her twitter page and now this amazing honor. WoW!

Conan O'Brien, Anderson Cooper and even Sean Combs or aka, PDiddy were at the Canne's Lion Festival in France this week. Everyone was there to see awards go out to amazing films, but the biggest shocker was a Autism short film called Carly's Café. “That’s mine.” 

I came up with a film that would allow people to experience what autism was all about without having to have autism. My fathers ad agency came up with a way to pull it off and supported my vision. They produced it with a lot of their friends and connections. This film that I am proud to say won a silver medal at the Cannes lions Festival yesterday in France is shocking the world. A huge thank you, to everyone who gave up time to put this film together.

Anderson Cooper 360 you need to talk about this on your show. Are you afraid to talk about autism?

I am so proud of this short film. Not only because it shows people what it's like to have autism, but because it's interactive and allows people to experience something and take something back from a film unlike any other film. 

This silver medal goes out to everyone in the autism community from parents to anyone on the spectrum who has autism and just wants to be understood. I am so proud to say that we showed the world what autism is all about. My dream and my hope is that one day soon, we can share different peoples stories of how they live on the autism spectrum. 

Conan O'Brien, Anderson Cooper, Sean Combs and Ashton Kutcher watch out because Autism has taken over the movies! 

Merci France, vous avez pensé au monde que l'autisme est important. 

From my iPad

To see the film go to:
Carlyscafe.com 

Join the Knit-a-Squillion Challenge

I found this blog posting via a friend on facebook...And the idea fascinated and inspired me (and I'm not even a knitter!)

So I thought I'd re-share! Mind you, I have know idea who the author of this blog (Kitty's Fiber Journey) is nor anything about her, but I liked the idea she is sharing here.

The following are portions taken from From Kitty's Fiber Journey blog posting:

Join the Knit-a-Squillion Challenge
..I invite you to join another challenge! This one is quite easy and yet has such a huge impact on the lives of children. We are all aware that the African continent is the one the hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. What most of us ignore, myself included, is that the adults who die of AIDS leave their children behind. There are an estimated 1.9 million AIDS orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa. 500 children a day are made orphans by the combined ravages of AIDS and poverty. The majority of them are left to fend for themselves in shanty towns. Governments and charity organizations do what they can, but it is not enough.

Percentage of adults infected by AIDS in 2009.

Since 2008, the KasCare foundation has been taking donations of knit and crochet squares to make blankets that are then distributed to these poor children. The idea is ingenious. Why just a square? Because squares are quick and easy to create and they are small and light to ship. People from all over the world can contribute and for a small cost, send the squares to South Africa. Once in Africa, the squares are assembled into blankets by volunteers and even prison inmates!...


...South Africa is faced with yet another horrendous problem and this time I am not helpless. I can make a difference. I have joined the knit -a-squillion challenge. I will empty my stash and send beautiful squares to help warm these beautiful children!

Beautiful AIDs orphans in their beautiful KAS~Care Blankets

Isn't this a wonderfully cool and simple and inspiring thing to do??? So all those of you who knit or crochett, get those needles clicking!

The goal of the knit-a-squillion challenge is to collect 1-2 million squares by July 1st.

Here are the different ways you can join them:
***As I do not know anything about this organization personally, I urge you to research them personally prior to making donations to them.*** (You can click on the link above to visit their site)


- Knit or crochet an 8” (20 cm) square (instructions)


- You aren’t a needle person? Upcycle a wool sweater by felting it and cutting it into squares (instructions)

- You want to do more? Hats and sweaters are also needed! (instructions)

- Make a donation on the knit a square site.

- Encourage family, friends, neighbors and colleagues to join.

Finding Inspiration in Surprising Places

If you look on my side-bar, you'll see different blogs I follow. Some are "in-real-life" friends while others are known to me via their blog only. One of these "strangers" is Cora's mom, to whom I was introduced through Maddie & Binky's mom (whom, I think, I may have met via MckMama-though I'm not sure...it could have been through Carter's mom!),and now Cora's mom has lead me to the blog written by Joel's mom.

These women are all courageous bloggers who have shared the triumphs and tragedies within their families. Today, I was struck by some of the things Joel's mom, Sara, wrote within days of the passing of her son. Her blog is called "Joel Lives" and this is what she wrote:

"....we look forward to sharing more of our amazing son with you, and to rejoicing that he is forever in heaven, safe and perfect. But we also know that Saturday will give us all a chance to grieve together, to share in the sadness that we don't get to know Joel on this earth, to mourn our loss...Everyday I wake up is one day further away from the last time I kissed his beautiful face, but also one day closer to seeing him again - it's terrible and wonderful all at the same time. God is comforting us, through the kind words of friends and strangers and the slow passage of time as the days continue on without our baby." (Bold highlights mine)

Days later, Sara went on to say:
"I want to tell all of you how I fight to say "Our son lives in heaven" instead of "our son died". It is so much easier to give death that sting and finality and I refuse because I know that our God reigns, even over the grave and he holds our Joel, our living Joel, in heaven. It feels like it is over here on earth, but I know it is not, and I won't give in to the temptation to make it sound like his life has ended. It has not. Our son lives in heaven. I want to tell all of you that providence is real, that grace exists and I see it in our lives...daily."
That statement is so breath-taking that the whole bit ought to be highlighted in bold! And so inspirational.



A month later, Sara wrote:
"I am glad that my Joel lives in heaven. I miss him in a way that can still suck the breath and hope right out of my spirit, but I will never mourn for him. I mourn for me, and for all of us who would have shared a lifetime with our son."

Please note that Sara's blog goes on to talk about the ups & downs of living here on earth while her son lives on in heaven, but I wanted to share the above passages written early on in their family's journey because I truly believe them to be inspirational and they infused me with hope.

My heartfelt thanks & prayers go out to these courageous families who have allowed total strangers to peek into their lives. They bring comfort, inspiration, understanding, and hope.

I wanted to share that hope with those who read my blog--though it is highly possible that no one actually does! But writing these posts are theraputic for me, so I will continue to "blog on"!