Now that this situation has had a happy ending I can tell you about a similar situation that happened to me at age 13 during the summer of 1971. I went to this type of camp where you went on day trips and went on one 4 day trip. The 4 day trip was to Boston. This is the same trip referenced in this thread http://www.wrongplanet.net/postxf258553-0-15.html. We stayed at a Simmons college that was 3 blocks from storied historic Fenway Park where the Boston Red Sox baseball team plays. As teen away from our parents we naturally stayed up all night. We came back to the college from doing something I have long since forgotten about.. We were dropped at the college at 4 PM and told to meet the bus at 4:30PM to go to an amusement park for the evening. I figured I would take a nap and someone would wake me up. I woke up and noticed the sun was at a much lower angle and figured it was much later then 4:30 and that they had forgotten me. They in fact had forgotten me and it was now 7:30PM . Quite Autistic of me to remember these details 43 years later. What followed was even more autistic. Most 13 year old kids left behind in a strange city would panic and start crying. Not this "lone hunter". I thought since Fenway Park is 3 blocks away and since I am baseball fan going there was just the logical thing to do. I told a security guard what had happened and where I was going. I got a ticket from a scalper and attended the game. When I came back I was mobbed by the other kids like some sort of hero. The counselors said don't tell your parents. I was quite happy to be "used" that way since this was the greatest night of my life up until that point (still one of the highlights of my life). I never told my parents until 5 years later.
So on this trip I blew a chance for a threesome, had one of the great evenings of my life and almost got killed or maimed the next night. Our bus was sideswiped by a drunk driver going over 100MPH. A memorable week.
So I understand very well what Eliceo's though process might have been. He might have been thinking I am at Dave and Buster with no adults and endless video games, way cool.
I also think if what happened to me should happen to kid today it would go viral, be a huge scandal and the camp would be forced to close.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
18 May 2014, 7:21 pm
