Monday, August 8, 2011
Doheny Doctor
When I moved from New Haven back to Los Angeles in 1996, I had to enroll in my final year of preschool. Most preschools had rejected me due to the fact that I was not toilet-trained at the age of 4, but there was one semi-accepting preschool in West Hollywood called The Doheny School, which was very far from our home in Mar Vista so it was a long trek there daily. The school's namesake was Doheny Drive, the street on which it was located. During my first journey to preschool, I saw a Beverly Hills street sign which said "Doheny Dr." and I assumed that meant Doheny Doctor. My mom had immediately corrected me and told me that it was in fact Doheny Drive, but the damage had already been done. I already knew that Dr. stood for doctor, but I had no idea that it stood for drive as well. This was due to my autism, which gave me concrete thinking and a complete lack of common sense. Had I been cured of autism at the age of 2 via chelation at the Yale Health Plan (and they do cure autism there), I would've been completely normal and I wouldn't have confused Doheny Doctor with Doheny Drive.
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3 comments:
You were only 4 or 5 that time, almost all children that age still have a tendency to think concretely. It is a child thing, not an autism thing. I did the same when I was that age. So did my NT peers.
Today, I still have trouble pronouncing certain words, because the English language is so arbitrary and difficult to follow. And of course it only makes it harder if you are someone on the spectrum who prefers reading over talking.
But still, it's not something I feel ashamed of. I just get annoyed with my sister constantly correcting me like it is a big deal in casual conversation. If valley girls are allowed to say "like.....like....like..." then there is no reason I cannot get a way with some mispronunciation or stuttering.
People would find this story rather cute and humorous, so you should not be ashamed of it at all.
You still show a complete lack of common sense.
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