Autism Awareness

My mom is a teacher. People always ask me what grade she teaches. She has never really taught one grade because she is a special education teacher. She has taught many different disabilities but right now she teaches Autism Spectrum Disorder. I really didn't know much about Autism. I remember asking my mom once What is Autism when I was younger.  She explained it to me, and although I still didn't know much about it. 

I think when I was growing up there really wasn't autism awareness. I know that a lot more people have autism then when I was younger so it wasn't as talked about much. I think i only knew one person who was autistic. I really am happy that Autism is talked about now. What Autism is vs. what it us perceived in Hollywood is different.  It's important to know what it is.  It's also important to know the symptoms and that there are different levels of function. Some autistic people are high functioning and can perform at or close to grade level. My mom's students put together a really good reading about Martin Luther King called I have a Dream theater. They did an amazing job.  I know my mom is extremely proud of them.

I feel like with my mom's job, I have learned so much and it has made me passionate about raising awareness. I have friends now that have children with Autism.  The numbers are extremely high.  I continue to learn about Autism everyday.

Watching Old Movies

As you probably know I am a huge movie junkie. My mom isn't really in to watching movies. I have been able to coax her in to watching an occasional movie with me. Most Saturday nights we watch Law and Order on Netflix. We went to the library and I checked out some DVDs to watch. I asked my mom if she wanted to watch Strangers on a Train with me. She agreed. We have watched a couple other black and white movies together. I have wanted to watch Strangers on a Train since I saw an episode of NCIS where DiNozzo talks about it. I of course mentioned it to my mom.

We watched it and it was a great movie. I admittedly was a little scared. We decided we would watch all the Hitchcock movies we could together. Aunt Clara from Bewitched is in it. So is Alfred Hitchcock's daughter, who I decided is a red head. For some reason both my mom and I were both laughing uncontrollably during the most intense scene in the movie. I couldn't stop. I was laughing so hard I was bawling. I also snorted a few times I am sure. I really needed to laugh and for some reason we picked the climax to do so.

After the movie, I turned on NCIS and it was the episode where they talk about Strangers on a Train. I thought that was pretty weird.

Do you like black and white movies? Have you seen Strangers on a Train? What did you think of it?