worth looking at ... i will keep adding links to this page .. ones that i think are worth visiting . and . worth mentioning . .... www.timebanks.org very cool idea ... .... www.dreamsgavemeaway.blogspot.com/ you know how i feel about this blog from my main page . ;-) brilliant . heartfelt . real . delicieux . .... www.thiswayoflife.org i became interested in autism via Temple Grandin's amazing book "Animals in Translation". i have since been moved to educate myself. on my journey across many blogs & sites, and for now, among my personal favorites is Joel Smith's,     www.thiswayoflife.org/iamnot.html perhaps I was at first struck with an invitation to the reader,     "You can also celebrate with me the beauty of autistic existence". the link/page above, though, is what truly caught my attention ... to one who is not autistic or has never known someone with autism, these words may not be as impactful   . for me they are . a humbling reminder of how easy it is to make assumptions ... to never question them and to live deep within the confines of one's very uniqely conditioned bubble of reality ... i ask that you step outside of your own experience and try to understand how his words mean so very much ... what you may take for granted everyday, is stripped from another simply because he/she is misunderstood, feared, treated differently. i am only speaking from my own limited perspective. i am not qualified to discuss any of this .. but i am qualified to speak from my experience, my feelings. if you were never treated as a someone different, how could you, or would you, even relate? the value of basic human, decent respect toward us is easy to underestimate .. until it is taken away. or we are ignored. perception will change when the critical mass for a sea-change of thought reaches the tipping point. i am ever hopeful and will do my part.      respect for all sentient beings i do have more to say on this .. but for now, i share this with you. ....