Age Classification according to Ethan

Interesting to see a little boy groups together age groups.

He is pretty smart, obviously, but then there are room for exceptions.

I happen to be chronologically 35 years old (I just turned 35 on May
8th), but I happen to also have moderate to high functioning Classic
Autism. I also have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
and Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which comes with Autism
about 99% of the time. I also have been diagnosed with emotional
and social immaturity. That being said, it is very real when I say that
I function, emotionally and socially, at the level of a 4 1/2 to 5 1/2
year old. I’ve been to college and graduated, so obviously intellectually
I’m okay, but when it comes to social understanding and emotional
maturity, I’m like a 4 or 5 year old. I love Teletubbies, Barney, Care
Bears (at least, the 1980s version), Arthur, Wimzie’s House, and
Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear (I have recently gotten really obsessed
with Little Bear and have gotten a lot of the Little Bear DVDs). So
while Ethan may be right about age groups in general, Joyce, that
doesn’t apply to people who happen to be developmentally disabled
or intellectually handicapped. I volunteer with preschoolers 3-5 years
old at my local library on Thursdays, and my librarian friend Lauren
reads the children stories, and then we do dances such as the Chicken
Dance, Five Little Monkeys Swinging From A Tree (that’s the one with
the alligator snapping off one monkey at a time), Lucky Ladybug (which
is a 1958 song by Billy and Lillie that I introduced to the library), Peanut
Peanut Butter and Jelly. We also do a lot of oldies because my children’s
librarian friend loves oldies, as do I, and we’ve done “Rock’In Robin”
by Bobby Day, “Whole Lot of Shakin Going On” by Jerry Lee Lewis,
“Everyday” by Buddy Holly, “Willie and the Hand Jive” by the Johnny
Otis Show, etc. The best one is “Peanut, Peanut Butter, and Jelly”
though because the higher I jump up when the kids jump while singing
“Jelly”, the higher they jump up. I really rile the kids up, I really do!!
I put so much enthusiasm and effort into Preschooler Storytime, it takes
away my energy. When I don’t show up, which is seldom, the kids are
nowhere near as enthusiastic, and one time both my librarian friend and
I were sick and another librarian took over. The children were just
totally demoralized and unenthusiastic, and very confused and
had totally no direction or purpose!! LOL, haha.

But even in that group, it’s very clear that most of the 3 to 5 year olds
think and understand that I am just basically, an overgrown preschooler.
My attention span is about the level of a 4 year old too, meaning I
am unable to concentrate for more than 20 minutes at a time, and that’s
also partly why I cannot hold a job. I’ve tried, I’ve had quite a few jobs,
but I never lasted more than 3 months at any one of them. You don’t
need to know the word “Autism” to realize that I am developmentally
disabled. You can tell by how I act and how I view the world. Little
kids might not know what Autism means, but they DO know that
their parents are adults and act like them, and I certainly do not act
like a typical adult. I can’t count myself to even act like an adult, I
seriously act like a 4 year old all of a sudden without even knowing it.

So, I’m just saying there are exceptions to his chart. I’ve had a friendly
6 year old (he’s now 12 years old) tell me “You’re just like a big baby.
And you are 19!!”. Nice guess, I was 30 at the time. I am 35, chronologically, but even from the outside, I look like I’m 22 or 21 years
old, partly because I’m Chinese American (but VERY Americanized, by
the way). Some adults even think I’m 17 or 18!!! I get carded at
restaurants most of the time when I even want to get so little as a
margarita!!! Oh well, I guess I’ll look like Dick Clark of American Bandstand
fame when I get to 70, then I will get the final laugh!! Haha.

I wish I was much shorter though, like the height of a 4 year old, so
people wouldn’t look at me strange when I behave like a 4 year old.
I get excited about all the little details. I’ll be jumping up and down if
I even get a map in the mail (I collect street maps, I have 1,200 maps
in my collection) or if I get a 45 rpm record!!! Or a Care Bears watch!
Most adults would think “big deal”, probably.

And by the way, is your son Chinese? He looks like it!!

Take care

Warm regards
Codi Preston from the South San Francisco Bay Area, California
preston1632@yahoo.com