Autism Dreams: Dreaming is for everyone!

It is a wonderful thing to feel good and to make strides in our personal and professional lives. We measure our achievements and our successes by comparing to the goals and challenges we set for ourselves. In setting goals sometimes we are inspired by our dreams and what we hope to accomplish. Dreams are sometimes ideals and visions we have and some are intertwined with the goals we set or are the impetus for the goals we set. In setting goals for ourselves we have to know ourselves and evaluate our strengths and weaknesses and build upon both to realize our goals and dreams. To dream means to have hope and to be young for most of our dreams evolve in our youth which is so important in our vision and view of ourselves and what we feel we can accomplish.

Some of our dreams are fantasy that we wish for but realistically may not be suitable for us. I remember as a kid I dreamed of being the starting shortstop for the Mets when I was old enough as I lived for baseball as a 7 year old and all I wanted to do was play the game and my love of the game was nurtured by my mother who adored the Mets after her first loved team, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to the west coast.

I still love the game but realize that my dream of playing at the major league level was nothing more than a fantasy but one I cherish because I still have that youthful innocence whenever I have a baseball catch. My dream today is to have a baseball catch with my autistic son and teach him some of the fundamentals of the game.

I always tell my son that he should dream and hope for things and that it is a great thing to have dreams, hopes and visions. My son is very creative and loves to draw and he is a big fan of Disney animation and Walt Disney is his source of inspiration and he is amazed by his genius and his creativity. He spends hours at a time on the internet viewing all the Disney classics and the current Disney Pixar movies. In fact he has created a facebook page where he posts all his favorite Disney movies. He is very creative and loves the magic and splendor of Disney animation.

My son also loves music and he enjoys the occasional karaoke where he sings and is usually right on with tempo and the lyrics. It is fun to watch him when he is in the mood and singing with his best effort. He is very much influenced by Elvis Presley and just loves to listen to his music and he has a collection of his cds which is impressive for an 11 year old kid.

I believe all autistic children have so much to offer and we should always encourage them to dream and wonder and consider the possibilities. They have struggles and some are severely limited but they all have a right to be heard and to dream and strive to be the very best they can. Asperger kids are truly gifted and if they can harness their dreams and visions and turn them into viable goals utilizing their strengths and ideas there is no limit to what they can do and accomplish. The sky is truly the limit.

I advise my son all the time to dream and to never get discouraged and to focus on his strengths and the things that bring joy to him. I want most for my son to find joy in things he does and to learn self fulfillment and a sense of accomplishment and pride. I want my son to value family and to know love and devotion and to realize struggle and always to put forth his best effort in everything he does. I want my son to dream big and to live a life full of joy, accomplishment and companionship.

Edward D. Iannielli III