A Personal Story
D. Thomas

When I first came to San Antonio, I was having the worst year of my often difficult life. While it is not the Clubhouse Way to stress the clinical details of one's illness (we deem it fitting and proper to underscore the positive aspects of the lives of our clientele) it does seem appropriate here to say a few words about the issues that make this essay possible.

My road to the Clubhouse door was paved with multiple failures and faux pas which are the result, I suspect, of the developmental malady popularly called Asperger's Syndrome.  People with Asperger’s Syndrome are confronted with a host of problems which can wreak havoc upon their professional and social lives. We can be obsessive about pet interests, and often lack the ability to grasp a comprehensive view of larger realities. In addition, we often lack adequate organizational abilities, which can result in the pursuit of said interests in a manner unconnected with what the world deems success.

We may desire friendship intensely, but fumbling attempts to socialize often extinguish over time due to the cascade of social debacles which can accompany the syndrome. Our inability to properly 'read' social situations can make us naive and gullible.  Against our inclinations we can become trapped within the horizon of their quirks and obsessions, in an inner world which the cognitive realities of other, "neurotypical" individuals rarely penetrates. Whenever we attempt to escape this "self-ish" situation, we may slam into invisible barriers of rules and customs which we simply cannot grasp. As a result, some people with Asperger’s Syndrome can be irritable upon occasion, and some may acquire cynical or negative world-views. Other conditions which accompany Asperger’s include (but are not limited to) hyperactivity, depression, and disordered sleep cycles.

The above dire picture is incomplete since it does not mention the fact that such individuals may become inordinately successful due to precisely those developmental issues. A laser-like focus on a narrow field (often coupled with elephantine memory capacities) is an obvious recipe for certain kinds of achievements. If the routines and neurotic rituals which are the hallmark of the condition can be linked to socially valued endeavors, the results can be stunning. While the diagnosis of famous people with this condition is often marked by overkill, experts seem to agree that Isaac Newton, Bill Gates, and Thomas Jefferson managed well enough with it.

While such lofty results are not likely in my case, a combination of Asperger’s  traits, the wisdom which negative experiences sometimes brings---and the latest antidepressants---have given me cause to hope for a more productive and enjoyable future. A safe space in which the excesses of my condition are tolerated, and its strengths celebrated, is a valuable piece of the puzzle, because the world can be a harsh and unforgiving place to the likes of us. So far, the members of the San Antonio Clubhouse have been supportive and caring, and have already done more than they can know to begin healing the wounds which life regularly inflicts upon the neurologically diverse.

Interviewing Elijah
S. Valdez
 

 

 

Sports Update: April is Most Cruel
D. Thomas

April is the cruelest month…for fans of the Marlins. For the rest of us, it’s time to celebrate the ritual that is another baseball season (complete with human sacrifice, aka A-Rod). It’s time to watch perennial pushovers like the Astros, Cubs and Mets, now stocked with young talent, rise like soufflés. The Yankees, on the other hand are toast. Burnt toast. Unless lightning strikes in the Bronx, somehow re-animating the corpses of all of the washed up players that the Yankees’ gullible brains trust has recently assembled.

The Yankees truly need a hero to have a real shot in 2015, a man on horseback as it were, to set things right. Alex Rodriguez seems to fit the bill. Now, we shall see if he can contribute positively to team ahem “chemistry.”

Okay, enough half-horsing around. The World Champion San Francisco Giants are already in trouble, as the first crack of a bat in spring training was accompanied by a fracture---that of the forearm of well-compensated slugger Hunter Pence. The legendary Kung Fu Panda ate his way out of a big contract in SF, and will be having seconds heaped upon his plate in Boston in 2015.
 
The Red Sox, by the way, are in terrific shape (Panda aside) for a last place club, having acquired deadly slugger Hanley Ramirez and wisely deprived him of an infield position. Bolstered by a brace of promising young players (Bogaerts and Betts, just to name the B’s), the Red Sox have a fair chance of going from first to worst, back to first. Especially since the Orioles let two thirds of their outfield walk during the winter (retaining the services of Adam Jones, who refuses to walk), and the talent laden Blue Jays have yet to prove anything in the real world. This season will feature more hits by Cubans than a good conspiracy theory. And a freaky Padres outfield stocked with silver bats and stone gloves.

The spotlight of 2015, on the field anyway, is baseball’s answer to Lebron James, the incredible Mike Trout. How talented is Trout? In 2014 he set career lows in all of the “nerd” stats, and was deservedly elected MVP in a landslide. Alas, he shares the outfield with a fallen angel---Josh Hamilton. At first base, Pujols’ star also descends. The Angels may not win their division…but the Astros just might. Led by their mighty mite of a second baseman, Jose Altuve, who can do everything except use the adult water fountain, Houston is reaping the benefits of tanking like an NBA East team for a half-decade.

My vague predictions for 2015 are that the last shall be close to first when all said and done. Chaos Theories and Butterflies will be in full effect. I should conclude this piece with a bit of sympathy for baseball’s latest devil, A-Fraud. Love him or loathe him, the man may be the greatest shortstop to ever play the game…and is among the greatest third basemen. He is certainly a good sport for moving to third so that Manos de Piedra Derek Jeter could ply his sorry trade at short. The man is going to end up with Hank Aaron numbers, Willie Mays numbers, but as an infielder. Like Barry Bonds or Ty Cobb, we may despise him, but future generations will remember his numbers long after we have stopped holding our noses.


A Voice for the Voiceless
S. Valdez
 

Do you ever believe that you are being guided by a divine force? I am not talking about fate or destiny, but that there might be a reason for wherever you are or whoever you meet. Or maybe that is fate or destiny. Either way, I want to tell you about this conversation I had with a bus driver.

Another Clubhouse member and I left the Clubhouse at almost the same time. She was walking faster than I, and was thus slightly ahead of me. She walked over to the next bus stop, rather than the one right there. I thought about following her, but thought that maybe she wanted to be alone, so I didn't. Soon a bus was approaching. It turned out to be the number 3 which only stops at every other or so bus stop. So, it didn't stop where I was, but at the next one where the other member had gone to. I figured, "oh well." Another bus came along, but it was garaged.

Then another one came. It was garaged too, but the bus driver stopped and said he could take me a ways down the street if I wanted. I accepted and got on the bus. He then said that the ride was conditional on us having a conversation. He said this in a congenial manner. So we started talking. I found out that his hometown is Rochester, NY, and I have family living there. He asked me what I do. I told him that I was a volunteer at a nonprofit organization that empowers those with mental illness, and helps them function better in the community.

He said that he was very glad to have picked me up, because he saw an article on Facebook that day about a woman with a mental illness. She was having a psychotic episode and called the police. They were unaware of her mental illness. She had an altercation with them and ended up in the hospital. After being released from the hospital, the police put a warrant out for her arrest. In another town, she had another psychotic episode and ended up in police custody. That police precinct called the warrant issuing police precinct to tell them that they had her. There was no response for 2 or 3 days. Meanwhile, another altercation occurred and she was tased at least 4 times, and died. Her mental illness was still unknown to the police officers. The woman who posted this on Facebook did so in order to bring awareness to the case. She wanted people to know and remember the name of the woman who died.

In the news, we often hear about men dying during encounters with police, but it happens to women too. I told the bus driver that I would look up the case. He said he respects the work I do, because it's difficult, and because I am giving a voice to those who don't have one. The woman's name is Natasha McKenna.