April and Autism #FridayReflections

This week, I learned just how much a giraffe can unite the world, and bring pleasure to those with disabilities.

And if a giraffe can do it, why can't we reach out to the world and make it a better place?

All over the world, people are watching a webcam set up by Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, about 30 minutes from where my brother in law with autism, "Bil", lives.  Yes, all over the world.  And now, you can, too.

The webcam shows a giraffe by the name of April, who is quite pregnant, and due any day, in her stall.  In the next stall is Oliver, her mate. 

She could give birth any time.  In fact, I am publishing this a day early, so you all can enjoy the experience of watching her obsessively.

What a perfect name - April, which also happens to be Autism Awareness Month.  As it happens, many children with autism, for some reason, have taken up the April baby watch, obsessively watching the webcam day and night.

They are reading about giraffes.  So, here are a few facts about our local giraffe:

April is 15 years old, expecting her fourth calf (first calf for five year old father-to-be Oliver).  As the You tube page explains:

"The calf will weigh around 150lb and will be about 6' tall at birth.
The front hooves will come out first followed by the snout.

Mom will naturally raise the calf, with weaning could take between 6-10 months, maybe longer. We will not rush this process – it is just a documented range of captive weaning.

The keepers will go in with April, clean her pen, give her treats (but not Oliver). He is a bull - and a bull is a bull is a bull!

Giraffes are pregnant for 15 months

Upon naturally weaning, the calf will move on to another facility to start a breeding program there. We cannot retain offspring, as it would lead to incestuous mating and undermine the genetics of the program and species."

I understand the actual labor and delivery may take as little as 15 minutes.  Lucky April!  We human women could wish....

Right now, as I watch, Oliver is sleeping.  Figures!  The bull (male) doesn't help in the child raising, either.

At first, I thought watching the webcam was silly.  But, daily, I learn how much pleasure it is giving people.  Tomorrow will be better for them, because they are shedding the cares of the day, in favor of a relaxing virtual visit to upstate New York.  It, hopefully, will be better for me, too, as my husband and I try to work through some of the concerns we have for Bil's future.

April doesn't worry about tomorrow.  For her, it's all about today.  It's a good philosophy.

Bil isn't one of those watching, by the way.  He's never had much use for the Internet, and I made the decision, a while ago, not to push it.  Animals aren't his special interest; he is interested more in the weather.

April doesn't have much use for the Internet, either but she now has her own website.

One more thing - some of you may be familiar with the symbol of autism, the "puzzle piece". When my husband came over to watch April with me, he said "you know, the giraffe's spots look like puzzle pieces."

I guess, in a way, they do.

Tomorrow will be better, because of the lessons a giraffe taught me today.

What about you?


Today's prompt for #FridayReflections is "Tomorrow will be better because today I learned…"

Why Fairy Tales Are More Than True

The United States Presidential election is over.  "Bil", my brother in law with autism, proudly voted.

He needed his brother's (my husband's) help.  He didn't understand much beyond the President and the vote for Senator. He's only lived here a little more than a year, and knew nothing about local candidates.  So he only voted for what he understood, and that's good.

But, in a way, his troubles may have only started.

I wonder what Bil thinks of all the post-election stuff happening - the fear, the protests.  He doesn't engage in any social media. He doesn't own a computer, a smart phone, or a tablet, and I decided years ago not to encourage it.  He is too naive - he is black and white in a grey, grey world.

Does he realize there are people out there who hate him, that consider him less than human, because of his disability?

Does he realize some of those haters want people like him gone from our society?  That isn't restricted to the United States, either.

Our President-Elect has not discouraged these haters, and there are, in fact, anecdotal reports of hate graffiti and worse since the election ended.

This is going to be a long four years for Bil, although he does not know it yet.

Which leads me to #FridayReflections.  One of the prompts is "What 10 things do you hope to be remembered by?  The first one would be "That I helped to make a better life for my disabled brother in law." because if we don't, who will, especially with all the incidents of hate taking place in our country?

Here are the others.

That I tried to make this Earth, in my own little way, a better place than it was on my day of birth;

That I raised a child who grew up to be honorable and hardworking;

That I remained true to my beliefs and did not give into hate (it's so easy to);

That I gave faithfulness and joy to the man I chose to spend my life with;

That I helped others with my skills;

That I did not misuse the talents I was granted from above;

That I honored the memory of those who came before me;

That I will be remembered for the good things I did and not the bad; and

That I recorded the beauty of this world and of the times I lived in.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” – Neil Gaiman.  

I hope Neil Gaiman is right, because I fear we are going to be seeing a lot of dragons in the coming months and years.

Please visit the other blogs linked to #FridayReflections.

I Cheated But There's a Good Reason

I am actually writing this post on 6/9.  But I have a good reason - to keep the Autism Blogging Self-Challenge alive.

I had internet problems.  Really.  I was offline for almost all of June 8 and much of June 9.  And even now, for some reason, the internet connection is very slow.

But I will prevail.  More tomorrow....er, today.