From 2009 to 2013 I went to high school at Griffith High School. I had a very memorable high school career. I went to the dances, rocked the talent shows, and more.

 

The field trips

 

One thing that made my high school career memorable was the fieldtrips. One place I went on a fieldtrip to was the museum of science and industry. It is a place that anyone visiting Chicago should see. They have several awesome exhibits. One of my favorites in the weather exhibits. They also have an omnimax theater which has a big dome shaped movie screen which makes for and awesome movie watching experience. Another fun place I went on a fieldtrip to was county line orchard. The county line orchard is an apple orchard by where I live. They have apples , donuts, pumpkins, a corn maize, hayrides, and more in the fall. They have a restaurant with great food and a petting zoo.

 

The talent shows

 

Another thing that made my high school career memoriable was the talent shows. I did my music in my junior and senior talent shows. For my junior talent show I play my first song I wrote called the jimmy lee boogie on my piano. I won 3rd place. For my senior talent show I did johnny be good on my guitar. The talent shows were a lot of fun.

 

The school dances

 

Another thing that made my high school career memorable was the school dances. I got a date for all of the dances. First was my junior homecoming dance, which was the first school dance that I went to. Then came my junior turnabout. I went to that dance with one of my childhood friends and had a lot of fun. Then came my junior prom. I came very close to not getting to go to this dance because my date didn’t have her school fees paid. Lucky after coming home from school on the original last day to buy the tickets stressing out thinking that I was going to get to go to prom, they extended the time to buy the tickets, which saved the day and allowed my date to get her fees paid so me and her could go. It was a very fun time.  Then came my senior homecoming dance. I took and girl with autism to be nice and had a fun time. Then came my senior turnabout. Of all of the dances I have went to, this is the one that I had the most girls say no to. Luckily I still got a good date in the end and had a fun time. Then came my senior prom, my last high school dance. After having so many girls say no to my senior turnabout, the 3rd girl I asked to my senior prom said yes. I would say that my senior prom date was one of my most beautiful dance dates. I sure to miss going to the school dances. I have plenty of special needs dances to go to now but they are not the same as the school dances.

 

My graduation

 

Of course the highlight of my high school career was my graduation and my final days of high school. After the fun of going to my senior prom came my senior ditch day. That made for a 3 day prom weekend. Then came my last mothers day in high school. It was definitely a time to thank my mom for all she had do to help me through high school. I could have done this without her. Then came making my grad party poster and making and giving out grad party invitations.  Then came getting my cap and gown. Then came my last assignment for the photography class that I took and my last day of doing homework with my tutor. She was also a person who helped me a lot through high school and was one to thank. Then came my final week of high school. It was a 3 day week. There was no school that Monday because it was memorial day. Then there was also no school that Friday. That Tuesday and Wednesday I took my finals. Then that Thursday was my last day of high school. That day I practiced for the graduation ceremony and we had a senior cookout. Then that Sunday was the big day of my graduation ceremony. It was the day that I walked across the stage a got my core 40 that I worked so hard for.  Then the next Sunday was my graduation party. I had a good amount of people come after being worried about not having a good turnout. At the party, I gave certificates to those who helped me through high school.  I did my music and even smashed one of my guitars there. It was a lot of fun.  Graduating from high school was bittersweet. It was like yeah no more school, but at the same time it was sad leaving my friends that I had known for a long time. I made a lot of great friends and memories in high school. There are politicians who say that autistic people don’t deserve to be in pubic schools and The teachers at the elementary school that I went to tried to say I couldn’t function in a regular school, but I totally proved them wrong. All my years of hard work and all my moms years of fighting with the schools to get the help I needed had paid off. my journey through school was a long journey with many obstacles, but I overcame them all.

 

Conclusion

 

On May 30th, 2013 I graduated from Griffith High School after having a fun high school career. made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun at the dances, talent shows and more. Graduating from high school was bittersweet. It was like yeah no more school, but at the same time it was sad leaving my friends that I had known for a long time. June 2nd was the graduation ceremony. Thanks to everyone who helped me through high school, I graduated with a core 40. The teachers at the  Elementary school that I went to tried to say I couldn’t function in a regular school, but I totally proved them wrong. All my years of hard work and all my moms years of fighting with the schools to get the help I needed had paid off. my journey through school was a long journey with many obstacles, but I overcame them all. On June 9th I celebrated it with my graduation party. I did my music and smashed one of my guitars there. It was a lot of fun.

 

Me and my mom at my graduation ceremony. 

The certificate that I gave to my mom at my graduation party for helping me through high school.

My graduation party invitation.

My senior homecoming.

My senior prom.

 

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
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In the beginning of my blog post about my experience with the great American eclipse talked about how ever since I was a kid I have wanted to experience a total solar eclipse. A few years before the great American eclipse brought me my first total solar eclipse experience, the May 20, 2012 solar eclipse brought me my first partial solar eclipse experience. Like the great American eclipse, I knew about it for quite some time before and looked forward to seeing it. This eclipse happened at sunset. The evening of the eclipse started out stormy. The sky was mostly cloudy and things weren’t looking good for seeing the eclipse. Then a little bit before sunset I rode my bike to a place where I had a clear view of the sunset to see if by some chance I would get even a glimpse of the eclipse and boy was I in for a surprise. Just before sunset the grey stormy evening turned into the sight of a lifetime. We had the eclipse, a beautiful sunset, and a rainbow at the same time. It was definitely an amazing sight that I will never forget. Not only was that day a day to remember, but 2012 was a year to remember,

The winter

The first thing that made 2012 so memorable was the lack of snow and above average temperatures in my area that winter after it was predicted to be one of the coldest and snowiest winters in a long time. The above average temperatures and lack of snow allowed me to start the year with a fun trip to Woodside Ranch in Wisconsin. When I was there, the only people that were there was me, my mom, and my sister. Normally people come there at that time of year to ski, but the skiers weren’t that when we were there because there was hardly any snow. That made for a fun time. Usually my area gets a good amount of snow each winter with a few additional inches from lake effect snow from lake Michigan, but didn’t get much snow that winter.

The Spring

The next thing that made 2012 so memorable was the unusual 80 degree march weather. Just one 80 degree march day is my area is very unusual. In 2012, my area saw about a week of 80 degree weather in the beginning of March. It set several record daily highs. I was still in high school at that time. It wasn’t even spring break yet and yet it was feeling like the middle of summer. What really made this heat wave memorable for me is that it caused the flowers and trees I my area to bloom about a month early. The trees in my yard don’t usually start flowering until the end of April, but that year they were flowering by the end of March. Then by the time my junior prom came around all of the trees had there leaves. Normally the trees in my area are flowering during the time of my school prom. I also rocked my high school talent show that year with my piano playing and won 3rd place.

The transit of venus

Next a few weeks after the solar eclipse, there was a transit of Venus, which is where Venus went in front of the sun. Lucky that day was a nice clear day. This isn’t something you can see with the naked eye, so I went to a viewing at a collage near me. I got to look at the transit through telescope with a solar filter. That was very neat. Unfortunately, if you missed the transit, it wont be happening again for another 100 years, which I will most likely be dead by then.

The summer

The next thing that made 2012 so memorable was the unusually hot summer. The above average temperatures during that winter and spring continued into that summer. That 4th of July was my last 4th of July in high school and one of the hottest 4th of Julys on record for my area with a high temperature over 100 degrees. Luckily for me, I got to enjoy nicer 4th of July weather. I spent that 4th of July in Cody, Wyoming with my aunt. It was hot there too, but it was better feeling dry desert heat, rather than the muggy humid heat back at home. That Memorial Day was also one of the hottest memorial days on record for my area.

The Fall

The next thing that made 2012 so memorable was the fall. First after that trees getting their leaves early that spring, they lost their leaves early that fall. Normally the fall colors peak in my area around Halloween, but that fall the trees lost most of their leaves by Halloween. What made that fall even more memorable was hurricane sandy just a few days before my last Halloween in high school. Hurricane sandy was unforgettable for many. While there were several unusual things about the storm, one unusual thing was its size. It was so big that my area was on the edge of it as it made landfall and my area is anywhere close to the ocean. Its clouds brought my area 2 days of beautiful sunsets. My area even had some strong winds from the storm, but was too far from the center to get any rain from it. There was some snow from hurricane sandy just a few hours east of where I live. Another thing that was unusual about the storm was that it produced snow. Parts of the Appalachian Mountains got a good amount of snow from the hurricane.

The Christmas season

The last thing that made 2012 so memorable was the Christmas season. It was my last thanksgiving and Christmas in high school. Then the year ended with a fun time of counting down to 2013, another great year, the year of my high school graduation and the rest of my last high school moments.

Conclusion

2012 was a very memorable year for me. The highlight of the year was the solar eclipse and rainbow at the same time, but there were many other very memorable moments from my last holidays in high school to the usual weather. 2012 may not have been the end of the world as many believed, but it is a year that I will never forget.

The solar eclipse

The rainbow

The sunset

The venus transit

Woodside ranch

Early booming dandelions after the unusual march warmth 

Fireworks in Cody, Wyoming 

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
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If you have read the about section of my website, you know that I started my business in 2013 after graduating from high school. The idea of my business didn’t start after I graduated from high school. My older sister got the idea form seeing autism artwork up at the lake county library, but we had one problem, we didn’t know how we would market my artwork. Then the summer of my high school graduation was the first summer of the Griffith Central Market.

I sell my pictures and products at the central market

The Griffith central market is something that I have really enjoyed ever since it started. When I set up my booth there I do good as long as the weather is nice. They also have great food and music there. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends there. The Griffith Central Market is every Friday from 4-10pm, May through September at central park in Griffith, IN. I set up my booth once a month and selling my pictures and products. See my events page for the next time I will be setting up my booth there.

They have great food

Now for some of my favorite vendors at the market. First is Bucks bbq. They sell delicious bbq food. One time a few years ago I was selling at the market and the owner of the booth decided to be nice and give me some free ribs. They sure good and I ended up buying more after that. There is Ladys Popcorn. Ladys Popcorn has a storefront in Griffith and get addition business by setting up a booth at the central market. They lots of good sweet, salty, and spicy flavors of popcorn. They have even been nice enough to donate popcorn to my social group for adults with disabilities called the nwi differentability club and let me put up one of my card dsplays at their store. There is also the grindhouse café. They also have a café in Griffith and get additional business with a food truck at the central market. They have good coffee and food. They also let me put up one of my card displays at their café. There is also sinfully delicious brownies. They sell lots of good brownies at the market including gluten free brownies. There is also Jill Maries Gelato. I definitely look forward to the gelato at the market. There is also Bens Soft Pretzels. If you like soft pretzels, the central market is a great place to get them. There is also South Shore Ovenworks Wood Fried Pizza. They have several kinds of pizza that are very good and they have gluten free pizza sometimes. There are many other great food and craft vendors there as well.

 

They Have great music

 

There is are also a lot of good bands that play at the central market. 2 bands play each week. They mainly play blues, rock, and country music. Some of the great bands and musicians that have played at the market are the J Johnson Blues Band, Nicole Jamrose, Michelle velez, Frank Ravoli, The Wise Guys, The Corey Dennison Band, The Rak Brothers, Got Issues, Jasion Jakes, and many more. The manager of the market has even been nice enough to let my do my music at the market before the featured music starts. I play rock, blues, and country music on my guitar and piano.

 

Conclusion

 

In the summer of 2013 I graduated from high school and Griffith put on the Griffith Central Market for the first time. I sell my pictures and products there and they have great food and music. I have also done my music there. The Griffith Central Market has been a big help to my business and is a fun place to be.

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
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In school you were taught that dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago before humans existed. The truth is humans and dinosaurs lived together and there are still dinosaurs alive today.

Humans and dinosaurs lived together

 

At school they told you about the fossilized dinosaur bones and footprints that have been found, but what they didn’t tell you is they have found dinosaur footprints and human footprints fossilized right next to each other. There are old paintings of dinosaurs in caves, on cliff sides, and on old pottery. The bible even talks about dinosaurs. The book of job talks about a creature called a behemoth which sure does sound like a dinosaur. The bible doesn’t use the word dinosaur because the word dinosaur wasn’t made up until the 1800s. Before that they were called dragons. There are many stories all over the world about people killing dragons.

 

There are dinosaurs alive today

You are probably wondering, if humans and dinosaurs lived together then what caused them to go extinct. The answer is they didn’t. there are still dinosaurs alive today. There isn’t very many of them and they are not as big as the ones found fossilized. There is a verse in the bible that says that dinosaurs live in swamps. One they didn’t tell you in school is there is a huge swamp in Africa that is about the size a third of the united states. 80% of the swamp is unexplored because of the mosquitos. They are much worst there that they are here. There are natives that live on the edge of the swamp where the mosquitos aren’t as bad. If you talk to these natives about it they will tell you that there are dinosaurs in that swamp. They will tell you that they have heard them and seen them and they wonder they teach us here in America that they went extinct millions of years ago. There has also been dinosaur sightings in south America. Anyone who tells you that no one has seen a living dinosaur is wrong. They definitely didn’t ask everyone. No one has ever asked me if I have seen a living dinosaur. There are thousands of people who say they have seen a living dinosaur and that is just the reported sightings. I am sure there has been many more sightings that weren’t reported due to the fear of sounding crazy. Also reptiles never stop growing. I talked before about how the earth was different before Noah’s flood and how people lived for almost 1000 years. Just let a lizard live and grow for 900 years and I bet it would be very big.

 

Aquatic dinosaurs, the dinosaurs with flippers instead of feet.

 

At school they taught you that aquatic dinosaurs lived before the land dinosaurs and evolved into the land dinosaurs. They also taught you that Christopher Columbus discovered America. That is all wrong. The romans sailed to America before Columbus did and on these voyages there were reports of sea monsters commonly described as aquatic dinosaurs. Some of you may have heard about the loch ness monster. There is a lake called loch ness lake in Scotland. There has been many aquatic dinosaur sightings there since the road making it easily accessible was built. There has even been sightings as close to home as lake erie. The truth is we only know about 10% of our oceans. You never know what can be out there.

 

Pteradactyls, the bat like dinosaurs.

 

At school they taught you that pteradactyls, went extinct millons of years ago . They are also in the African swamp I mentioned before. The natives there will also tell you that the see pteradactyls and they are scared of them because they sometimes carry people away. There also be sightings of them in south America. There is even a story about a cowboy killing one in the us.

 

The leviathan, the fire breathing dragon.

 

You are probably thinking, come on James, do you don’t believe in fire breathing do you? I do and there are 4 good reasons for it. 1. The bible talks about them. 2. There are many stories all over the world about them. 3. There is fossil evidence to them. 4. It is actually possible for an animal to breath fire. There is a fire breathing beetle alive today. It has 2 compartments in their body where the chemicals are stored that allow them to breath fire. When they are offended, they release these chemicals which explode when they come together producing fire. T rex and some other dinosaur skulls have these compartments. Evolutionist say it is unknown what they are for, but creationist say it what allowed then to breath fire. The book of job talks about a creature called a leviathan. There are different theories for what the leviathan is. Some people say that is it a whale. I would say that that is wrong because the bible says that this creature has scales. Whales don’t have scales. A lot of people say that it is a sea creature. The bible say that this creature breaths fire which would be useless for a sea creature. To me it sounds like a fire breathing t rex, aka fire breathing dragon. One more interesting thing the book of job talks about that is good evidence that the bible is true is springs under the ocean. It wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists discovered springs on the ocean floor.

 

Conclusion

 

In school you were taught that dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago before humans existed. The truth is humans and dinosaurs lived together and there are still dinosaurs alive today. There are many stories about people killing dragons, which are dinosaurs and the bible talks about them.

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/

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If you believe in god to begin with, there is the big question; will you go to heaven when you die?

One common mistake that people make is they think that is being good that will get them into heaven.

Believe it or not there are many people who think that they are getting I to heaven but aren’t. One common mistake that people make is they think that is being good that will get them into heaven. That is not the case. In fact when in the book of Mathew when Jesus gave his sermon on the mount, he said that on judgment day, many people will come to god and say, wasn’t I a good person? I went to church, gave to charities and did other good things. God will say to those people, I never knew you.

The first step to getting into heaven is realizing that you are a sinner.

The first step to getting into heaven is realizing that you are a sinner. The book of romans says that no one is a good person, not one. We have all broken gods laws. If you’re not a sinner, then you don’t need a savior. If you’re not a sinner then Jesus didn’t die for you. It is hard to admit being wrong, but it would be much harder spend an eternity in hell.

After admitting that you are a sinner, you ask God for forgiveness.

After admitting that you are a sinner, you ask God for forgiveness. Another thing that the book of romans says is that if someone has something against you, you need ask them for forgiveness before you ask God for forgiveness. You can’t just go ruin someone’s life and then expect God to forgive you.

Many people also don’t fully realize what Jesus went through se we could be saved.

Many people also don’t fully realize what Jesus went through se we could be saved. Jesus was crucified by the romans. The romans were masters at torture. They studied it for a long time. They had many horrifying ways of torturing people. There worst way of torturing people was crucifixion. First he has beaten for hours with a whip that had spikes that tore his flesh. Then they put a crown of thorns on his head.  They then made him carry the cross which was about the size of a telephone pole a long way. Then they nailed him to the cross with nails the size of railroad spikes. After he died they poked him to make sure he was dead and just water came out, because they beat every drop of blood out of him. He then rose from the dead. Before he did this, people had to sacrifice things like animals in order to be saved. because of this, now people don’t have to do that anymore.

Conclusion

Many people think that it is being good that gets them into heaven. It is actually admitting that you are a sinner and asking God to for give you that gets you into heaven. People use to have to sacrifice animals and other things in order to be forgiven. Thanks to all Jesus went through people no longer have to do that.

Do you think that you will go to heaven when you die?

There is a lot of money being made off of autism and other disabilities, from colleges charging massive tuitions for specializing in autism-related courses both undergraduate and graduate levels to non-profits raking in millions upon millions of dollars tax free and to what end? 

ADHD medicines are not always the answer

Over the past years I have had many highly educated and degreed behaviorists, speech therapists, aids, psychologists, etc. they all said that I need to take ADHD medicine to help me calm down and focus. These medicines made what seemed from the outside as a calm and controlled state of mind. But in reality on the inside my brain would race creating more frustration and pent up aggression. As I got older, around eight or nine, I began to show signs of frustration and anger. I was told that this was a “natural tendency” in autistic people at my age.

When we began to research the side effects of all these ADHD medicines, it became clear to me that these medicines can and do cause these “natural tendencies” in most people that use them over extended periods of time. I don’t remember when I was first put on these medicines, but I know it’s as long as I can remember. When it was brought to my aids and behaviorists and therapists etc. we were laughed at and told that stopping the medicine would have bad consequences. I have not personally paid thousands of dollars to specialize in a career in autistic related science, but I have stopped taking those medicines and it has made a big difference. My behavior and aggression has gotten a lot better. T

his seems to be a recurring theme…people with a true desire to help with autism being run through this huge money generating system and coming out of the other end not much better off then before they entered. It makes me wonder, what are they teaching in theses classes. I am very thankful that these people have been and that some still are in my life. I don’t for one second doubt their sincerity or heart for autism. I just feel that they and I have become victims of a corrupted system that generates millions and millions of dollars

Autism Speaks has let me down

The greatest and most well known non-profit that represents autism in the worlds mind is undoubtedly Autism Speaks. They hold hundreds of events, have a huge full time staff, and a big Facebook presence and for what? Of the almost sixty million dollars generated last year, less than 4% went directly to people affected by autism. About 5% of the Indiana state budget goes to prisons. If autism speaks is about autism, then state budgets are about prisons.

Every spring people throw millions of dollars at them as they do their autism awareness day and their autism walks. I have seen a lot of YouTube videos of people with autism like me, high enough functioning to speak for them selves talking about how autism speaks has let them down and I agree with them. My experience with autism speaks started in November of 2014. On the Saturday of thanksgiving weekend I set up a booth at the highland holiday craft fair. At the craft fair I met a guy who works for autism speaks. While I feel that autism speaks could care less about me and my business, I feel that this guy truly cared. Unfortunate he didn’t have the power to do things that would be a big help to me like having something about my business put on the autism speaks website or Facebook page, but he did do what he could to help me. He bought one of my more expensive pictures and he shared my business Facebook page on his blog. Also a common complaint I’ve heard is how there isn’t much out there for adults with autism. I ended up starting a social group called NWI Differentiability Club for adults with disabilities because I didn’t have much of a way to meet people after I graduated from high school. It sure would be great if the Chicago chapter of autism speaks would start up some autism adult social groups through out the Chicago area. I bet that I would meet plenty of other autistic people that I could relate to and be good friends with, which would make my life a lot better. 

Selling at the Autism Speaks walk was a big disappointment

Later on that winter, the guy I met at the highland craft fair messaged me about the autism speaks walk for autism in Chicago that spring. I looked into it and saw it was going to be a big event with over 20,000 people coming to support autism. I got very excited about it thinking that it might get my business off the ground. I have sold at many different events and when I sell at events it becomes clear who really cares. Unfortunately the autism speaks walk for autism ended up being a big disappointment. For weeks leading up to this huge event in Chicago at soldier field it was obvious to me through all the online promotion and responses on their Facebook page that this event would not only be huge with over 20,000 people but could be a great opportunity for my business. Not only would there be a lot of people, but a lot of people coming to support autism. As the event got closer I was very excited about selling at this event put on by the most well known autism organization in the world. I imagined getting a lot of my products sold and making a lot of good connections.

The day arrived, we drove all the way to Chicago, to soldier field, to an almost full parking lot. As we carried all of our heavy bins of products to sell the crowd got bigger and we eventually arrived at the building. We stopped to see where we were supposed to go as a huge crowd walked into the stadium. We noticed the sign for independence corner, the place where me and some other autistic people sold their stuff, pointing away from the stadium. We walked around to the other side of the building, to an empty feeling field nowhere near the big crowd. We were told to set up at a small tent to sell my products. Around the field were sponsor booths set up and a stage. We thought that the crowd would come through there. All day we sat and waited for the crowd to come. It never did. It was very frustrating to sit there all day with the anticipation of a huge autism supporting crowd seeing my stuff. That was not what it was. It was like being invited to a bbq and then being told to sit behind the garage away from everyone. We weren’t even on the route of the walk. This did barely anything for my business.

I don’t expect autism speaks to go out of their way to help me and my business, but they could have easily made the event better for me. It is frustrating that they invited me to event and then barely gave me any access to the 20,000 people that came there to support autism. I feel like they used me to make it look like they were helping people with autism, but didn’t care about being an actual help to me and the other people that sold there.

Autism Speaks wouldn’t share my promotional video

Later on me and my older sister spent months working on a promotional video to help spread the word about my business. I messaged autism speaks and asked them to share my video on there Facebook page with almost 2 million followers and they didn’t even respond. With all of the money they are making they should have people in charge of responding to messages. Most of the people that I have heard talk about autism speaks have said that they have had bad experiences with them. The slogan for autism speaks is its time to listen. I would say that they need to take their own advice because they are definitely not listening to me or speaking for me. I would say that they are just speaking for themselves. Below is my promotional video that me and my older sister worked very hard to make and that many autism organizations have ignored my messages about sharing. Feel free to share it and help spread the word about my business.

Some organizations have helped me

While autism speaks and other autism organizations have let me down, there are some organizations that have helped me. The organizations that have helped me are smaller and local.  One organization that has helped me is the Special Needs Awareness Program. They had a thrift store in Griffith that recently closed down. I got my first job there thanks to another good organization called Work One that paid me with a grant that they get from Goodwill. The owner of SNAP was also nice enough to let me do my social group meetings at her store. Now that the store has closed, I am doing my social group meetings at the Griffith community room at the Griffith YMCA. The owner of snap is hoping to open a better storefront sometime.

Another organization that has helped me is Planting Possibilities. The goal for Planting Possibilities is to open a facility in Lake County, IN., where people with disabilities can do gardening work. I am definitely looking forward to seeing that happen. For now they have a class at Campaigna Academy where I volunteer. It something that I enjoy doing. Also they do an annual event called Rockopelli. I have sold my products there for a few years I have done good. In fact last year was my best day selling at any event.

Another organization that has helped me is the Indiana Autism Society. Last fall I sold my products at their Northern Indiana Autism Expo and they put me in a good place for people to see my stuff and I got quite a bit sold. I even met an autistic guy who is my age and high functioning like me and he has been a good friend and has came to several of my social group meetings. After the event I messaged them and asked them to share my promotional video and they said yes.

One more organization that has helped me is Special Olympics. The Special Olympic sports have made for a great way for me to get out of the house and meet other people with disabilities. It has definitely made my post high school life a lot better.

Conclusion

There is a lot of money being made off of autism and other disabilities. Over the past years I have had many degreed people tell me that I should be on adhd medicines, but they didn’t help me. After doing research I found that the medicines were causing the side effects that I was experiencing. Autism speaks has let me down with my disappointment with selling my products at their autism walk and ignoring my messages about sharing my promotional video. The autism society of America is another autism organization that has let me down. At the same time organizations like the Indiana autism society has helped me. You should definitely think before you “light it up blue” this autism awareness month.

Have any disability organizations let you down or helped you?

 

For more on why you Shouldn’t donate your money to Autism Speaks check out the following

2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of Autism Speaks

New Autism Speaks Masterpost (Updated 4/4/17)

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/

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In September of 2013, I started my business by selling my pictures at the Griffith central market. One thing I wanted to do with my business was start a website. One problem I had was I knew nothing about starting a website. I didn’t know where to start.  After the first central market season ended I got my online ball rolling by opening an Etsy store. Unfortunately I didn’t get much sold on my Etsy store and I couldn’t do nearly as much with it as I could my own website. About a year after starting my business, my older sister met someone that did websites. She asked her if she would make a website for me. She said she would. She then started on it and what she started  looked good. Unfortunately she became too busy to work on my website because of fighting with the school to get the help that her autistic son needed, which I can understand that after what my mom went through to get the help I needed in school. After waiting for a while, I gave her the money for what she had done and moved on.

My experience with Blue Domain

Later on a friend of mine who also has a photography business told me that she was using blue domain to do her website and that she was happy with it, so I tried that. Her business is called white harvest photography if you want to check it out. I looked at blue domains templates at they had some nice ones. One thing that was nice about the templates is they were geared toward photographers. The way that starting a website worked with them is you would place your template order and then they would sent you what you needed to get started. I placed my order and should have received what I needed the next day, but I didn’t. a few days went by and I still didn’t receive what I needed to get started, so I emailed them and asked them what was going on and they didn’t respond. Finally after 2 weeks, they responded and sent me what I needed. At that point I was very irritated with then and even my family agreed that I should not do business with them, so I told them that I wanted my money back. Getting my money back was a big hassle, but thanks to Paypals protection I was able to get it back. While they had such a hard time sending me what I needed to get started and giving me my money back, they had no problem taking my money. I looked at their reviews and saw that they had almost all bad reviews complaining about similar problems to mine.

My experience with Squarespace

After that I did a Google search for the top website builders. After comparing several website builders and getting my family’s opinions on them, I decided to go with Squarespace, which I am still using to this day. The first thing I liked about Squarespace is unlike blue domain, I didn’t have to wait for them to send me what I needed to get started. What I needed was right there on their website. Also I didn’t have to pay right away. They let you do a 1 month free trial to see how you like it before you pay. Blue domain didn’t do that. One concern that some people have with starting a website is not knowing computer code. On Squarespace it is easy to build a website without knowing code. As far as their customer service goes, I haven’t needed to contact them very much since if I have a question about something, chances are I can figured it out using they many guides that they have written out. There has been a few times that the guides didn’t cut it and I needed to contact them. All of the times I have contacted them, they have responded very quickly and have been very helpful. I have also been able to have everything on my website that I wanted to have. I you are looking to start a website, I would say that Squarespace is a great way to go. If you look at their pricing, you might wonder why I pay that price when i could save that money by using a free blogging platform like blogger. There are some good reasons for that.

You look more professional

One disadvantage to using a free blogging platform is you don’t get a custom domain. For example if i did my blogging on blogger, the name of my blogger would be blogger.com/autisticeyeart instead autisticeyeart.com. That looks way less professional. One thing that all very successful websites have is a custom domain.

You can get a custom email address

If you have a blog, you should have an email list that you send emails to every time you put up a new blog post. The email address that you use to send these emails has a big effect on your open rate. If you put in the money to have a website with a custom domain, you can pay a little bit more to have a custom email address on your domain, for example james@autisticeyeart.com. Not only will a custom email address make you look more professional and increase your open rate, but it will also lower that chances of your emails going into people’s spam folders. One more thing that you can do to lower that chances of your emails going into people’s spam folders is to only have people on your email list that have given you their permission to have them there. Never buy or scrape emails.

Getting backlinks is easier

When it comes to blogging, backlinks are very important. Unfortunately getting people to link out to you is hard even with a custom domain. When i contact websites asking for a backlink, 9 times out of 10 I get ignored and that is normal when it comes to backlinks. If i used a free blogging platform, getting those backlinks would be even harder. Just think about it, when you see backlinks on websites, most of the time they are links to custom domains rather than blogs on free blogging platforms.

Seo is easier

When it comes to blogging, seo are very important. Seo is a lot harden on a free blogging platform. First backlinks play a big in search engine rankings and like i already said, getting backlinks is harder on a free blogging platform. Search engines look down on free blogging platforms because it is common black hat seo method for people to create a blog on free blogging platforms to link out to there main blog. If you are thinking about doing that, dont do it, because it can cause search engines to penalize you. That can really hurt your website.

Building domain authority is easier

A big reason that link building and seo is important is because it builds domain authority. The higher your domain authority, the easier it is to rank in search engines

You own your blog

When you use a free blogging platform, that platform owns your blog. You have to follow their rules which you agree to when you sign up. If you dont you blog can be deleted. A great advantage to putting in the money to have a website with a custom domain is that you actually own your content and are not restricted to another company’s rules.

It is easier to monetize.

Free blogging platforms are very restrictive when it comes to selling products and services. The reason that i started my website in the first place was to sell my artwork. Another great advantage to putting in the money to have a website with a custom domain is that i can sell my artwork without the fear of my blog getting deleted.

You have a lot more customization options.

On a free blogging platform you are very limited on customization options. Another great advantage to putting in the money to have a website with a custom domain is that the customization options are endless. My website definitely wouldn’t look as good if it was on a free blogging platform.

Conclusion

In September of 2013, I started my business by selling my pictures at the Griffith central market. One thing I wanted to do with my business was start a website. After researching how to do it, i started my website with a website builder called squarespace. My experince with them have been great ever since. There also great advantages to putting in the money to have a website with a custom domain from customization options to seo.

 

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/ 

Be sure to subscribe to our blog to receive an email each time we post a new blog article, like our Facebook Pages, and follow us on Pinterest.

Today is groundhog day, which marks 7 years since the groundhog day blizzard of 2011. The winter of 2010-2011 was a very memorable winter for me. Christmas of 2010 was a white Christmas for my area and getting snow that chrismas eve made for the perfect sight to wake up to on a christmas morning. Later that winter came the groundhog day blizzard of 2011, which that and our crazy lake effect snow in January on 2014 was the craziest snow that I have seen in my area. A few days before the storm, I looked up the weather and I was surprised when I saw that we were supposed to get 2 feet of snow. On the evening of February 1st 2011, it started snowing. This storm was strong enough for there to be a blizzard warning, which dosent happen very often in my area. It snowed like crazy until after I went to bed that night. The next day was groundhog day and when I got un it wasn’t snowing any more, but there was a lot of snow on the ground. My front porch and flowerbed next to it were buried in a drift of snow. The snow was not over yet. Not long after coming outside and taking pictures of the snow, a band of very heavy lake effect snow came through. The snow was so heavy that I could barley see anything. We got an about additional 6 inches of snow in a very short time. After that the snow was over. I was in high school at the time and it snowed so much that my school was canceled for 3 days. That is very unusual. As you already know it was getting close to valentines day. When we have a good amount of snow on the ground on or near valentines day I like to make snow hearts by walking in the snow in a field by my house. The 2 feet of snow on the ground made for a perfect time to do that. After making the hearts I took pictures of them. My field of hearts picture that I have for the thumbnail picture for this article is one of the pictures I took after making my snow hearts in the snow from the crazy snowstorm. Unfortunately after the 3 fun days of off school, we had to make up those days since despite how crazy the storm was, it wasn’t crazy enough for us to be under a state of emergency. Lucky for me I am one who likes snow, so it was exciting for me to get all of this snow. That is my experience with the groundhog day blizzard of 2011.

The start of the groundhog day blizzard of 2011 on the evening of february 1st 2011.

The crazy lake effect snow on groundhog day 2011.

my snow hearts i made after the groundhog day blizzard of 2011

my house after the groundhog day blizzard of 2011

 

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/ 

be sure to subscribe to our blog to receive an email each time we post a new blog article, like our Facebook Pages, and follow us on Pinterest

In December I released a blog post about my frustration with being autistic and trying to have deep relationships. I talked about how when I ask friends to do fun things with me, 9 times out of 10, the ether say no, ignore me, or say yes and then cancel on me later on. When I do get a friend to say yes to doing something, then sometimes comes the frustration on not having a car or drivers license. Luckily I have a family that is pretty supportive when it comes to needing rides, but it is still frustrating that I have to rely on people to take me places. It will definitely make my life better If I had a drivers license. If I had a drivers license I would drive to neat places like the Indiana dunes and take god pictures. It would be nice to be able to go to the store to get stuff for my business with out having to rely on people to take me. Im sure that people not having a drivers license as to be something that takes from my social group turnouts. If I had a drivers license i would offer people rides to my social group meetings. Planning my open mic shows would also be easier if I had a drivers license. It would be nice to be able to offer to pick friends up with I ask them to do fun things with me, instead of hoping that they will get a ride. I am hoping that 2018 with be the year I get a drivers license. I am going to be starting a special needs drivers ed soon. That is my frustration with not having a drivers license or car.

 

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/ 

be sure to subscribe to our blog to receive an email each time we post a new blog article, like our Facebook Pages, and follow us on Pinterest

In my blog post I released in December about my frustration with being autistic and trying to have deep relationships with people, I talked about how I started a social group for people with disabilities, called the nwi differentiability club after not having much a way to meet people after graduating from high school. One person that comes to my social group meetings sometimes is a girl named Alexis. Alexis isn’t someone I met through the social group. I knew her long before I started the social group through my sisters. Alexis doesn’t have a disability, but her son Adrian does. Adrians story is a neat and rare story. In the spring of 2013 alexis became pregnant with Adrian. About half way through her pregnancy she had an ultrasound done to see if he was a boy or a girl. She saw that he was a boy but also wasn’t growing like he should be and found that he had a heart condition. On January 17th, 2014 adrian was born. He was put on machines and the doctors told her that he would never be able to walk or talk and that he might not even be able to breath on his own. Unfortunately he did not weigh enough to have the surgery needed for his heart condition. After 6 weeks in the hospital he hadn’t grown much and the doctors still could figure out why he was born so small. The doctors told her that since he was still so small and wouldn’t have a good quality of life, they would not do the surgery. He was very alert and her gut was telling that the all the doctors were wrong, so she kept pushing the surgery and got multiple opinions form other hospitals, but she could find a doctor that would do the surgery. Adrian was than put in hospice care and the doctors told alexis that it would be a miracle if he lived past 2 days after being taken off of the machines. Luckily the doctors were wrong and after a few monts Adrian was still alive and making improvements. Alexis then had some genetic testing done and come to find that Adrian had a form of porimordial dwarfism. On February 13th, 2015 adrian finally had the heart surgery. After that alexis went to a dwarfism conference and came to fine that the doctors were also wrong about Adrian not being able to walk or talk. After the doctors saying that he wouldn’t have a good quality of life, he has had a great quality of life. He is always smiling and happy when I see him at my social group meetings. He was even walking around a lot at the last meeting that she brought him to. In January of 2017 adrian started preschool. To this day he is doing good and is very happy and healthy and hasn’t had a hospital stay since his heart surgery. After the doctor telling alexis that Adrian wouldnt live past 2 days after being disconnected from the machines, he will be turning 4 on January 17th. Adrian is definitely small for a 4 year old. I am glad to see that he is doing so good after all of the worries. I cant wait to see what his future holds. I look forward to seeing him at my future social group meetings. This story goes to show that doctors aren’t always right and trust what your gut tells you. Also I would say that this is some good evidence that god is real and is who he says he is. I would say that it is a miracle from god that Adrian is still alive and doing so good. If your want to learn more about Adrian, then check out the support Adrian facebook page.

Alexis at my 2016 birthday party

Me holding Adrian at one of my social group meetings at Twincade in Griffith,In.

© James Leslie – Autistic Eye Art-The world through at autistic eye.
website: autisticeyeart.com
business Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutisticEye
social group Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/nwidifferentabilityclub/
music Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimmyLeeLeslie/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/autisticeyeart/ 

support adrian: https://www.facebook.com/SupportAdrian/

be sure to subscribe to our blog to receive an email each time we post a new blog article, like our Facebook Pages, and follow us on Pinterest