Mozart and the Whale by Jerry & Mary Newport & Johnny Dodd

Author:Jerry & Mary Newport & Johnny Dodd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2007-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

By the end of the summer of 1993, we came up with a name for our truly unorthodox group—AGUA, which stood for Adults Gathering United Autistic. The acronym for our organization—AGUA—means water in Spanish. Many of us joked that autism was really our first language and English our second. It only seemed natural that anyone who wanted to know about our group would have to learn at least one word in another language. By then, our membership swelled to a whopping twenty-four people. With each meeting we held, our members grew more relaxed with one another. Dean was a perfect example. The first time he showed up, he wandered about the room talking to himself about his various interests, such as the space program or gardening. But over time, he began to feel comfortable enough to share his hobbies with anyone willing to converse with him.

Before long, the group had become much more male than female, which proved disappointing to a number of the guys who would attend one meeting desperately looking for a mate, then never return. It always made me sad that they didn’t stick around just to have some friends. They would have certainly discovered plenty of them. We had so many characters in our midst, there was never a dull moment. Glenn was a perfect example. Incredibly high functioning and addicted to structure, he worked as an accountant, and each day he followed the most rigid, activity-packed schedule imaginable, which included everything from clarinet lessons to self-defense classes. Glenn drove, too, but it was difficult for him to deviate from the menu of roads he knew. AGUA helped loosen him up just a bit, allowing him to become a tad more tolerant of situations and moments that weren’t part of his schedule.

The more our group met, the more I allowed myself to believe that I’d finally done something for all the right reasons—and not just because it was going to make me look good. I was also having the time of my life, getting to know others who had been through most of the same battles as I had. Within a short time, we’d become a close-knit band of brothers and sisters.

But it wasn’t all good times. One of our early members eventually had to be asked to leave. The notion that he needed support beyond what we could provide proved to be a sad and frustrating situation for all of us. I’ll never forget the meeting when our steering committee came to its decision. We were all feeling pretty glum—that is, until one of our members said with absolute seriousness: “You know, even we have standards.”

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