Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Marching to Her Own Drum

I just wanted to direct you to a story from the San Diego Union-Tribune titled "Candidate Wears Her Difference With Pride".

This article tells the story of 19-year old Evan Delaney Rodgers and her quest to earn a spot on the Carlsbad, CA City Council. She is running her campaign absolutely free of any donations from anyone, an expects to do it all for less than $1000. Oh, and she has Asperger's Syndrome.

From the story:
“If you meet a person with autism,” she likes to say, “you've met one person with autism. I'm not like Rain Man, not like Einstein. I'm not like Thomas Jefferson.” (It's been speculated that Einstein and Jefferson, socially remote geniuses, had Asperger's.)

In her campaign release, Rodgers speaks with clear-eyed candor about Asperger's:

“I wouldn't be where I am today if I were neurotypical because I would have been interested in social things. Having a little autism helped me achieve my goals and not miss what most people thought I was missing out on. I'm not really 'driven' in the sense of being a wound-up over-achiever – marching to my own drum just happens to cover a lot of ground.

What a great line. I need to remember that one as my boys grow older so I am armed with some sage, fatherly advice. And I need to remember that I got it from a 19-year old girl.

I don't live in Carlsbad, and therefore don't have a vote in that election. But if I had, I bet you can guess who I'd be voting for.

Rodgers for City Council!

4 comments:

Niksmom said...

Just when I think I should worry about the next generation I read something like this and feel better! Such a sage young lady; I hope she wins and can do great things for her city.

Anonymous said...

"marching to my own drum just happens to cover a lot of ground".

That's a great quote, and a great sentiment.

I was just thinking this evening (again) what a great privilege it is for me to know my ASD kid and to be able to spend time with him/her the way I am able to. My kid is not perfect but has a fantastic attitude and a very disarming and subtle sense of humor, and loads of patience.

I frequently wish I was more like my ASD kid in the area of patience and in seeing the good in all people. I'm much more cynical...

Anonymous said...

I meant to post that comment as me, not as anonymous, but somehow I hit "publish" while I was trying to type in my name...

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work.