Dare To Dream Day

The one thing I admire the most about Coy is that He is a Dreamer, meaning He is able to vision things differently then they the way they are. What a great quality to have . I wanted to have a special day at my high school where all the kids in Coy's class could be dreamers. I organized the day and called it Dare to Dream Day. I recruited several of my friends around 25 to be exact, we planned out fun games, brought in fun snacks, and spent our last 2 periods of the day in the gym playing games with the kids. Coy's classmates get very little if any time with the regular ed student body at my High School, its just the way it is, mostly safety issues. They sit in their classrooms most days probably dreaming about what it would be like to hang out with some of the basketball players, or soccer players , or baseball players. Today was the Day they got to do that, it was awesome. I love seeing the smiles on their faces. As I am writing this Coy is up in his room replaying the events of the afternoon. I wonder how many of the other kids are doing the same thing? To make a difference in ones life, you just have to get involved. I love you Coy-Boy , and I love spending time with you.

My Favorite Moment

Today was a pretty amazing day for me. Like I said earlier I am a freshman in high school now. Well during my 6th period Social Studies class in front of the teacher and my class mates, a very cool very amazing very very attractive senior boy came and knelt next to me, recited a poem pulled out a ring and proposed saying I love you Boo Yeah! Hahahahaha So you get the whole Amazing part to my day. I will never forget this day, in fact I plan on talking about it for the rest of my freshman year hahaha. Obviously I'm not really getting married, and it wasn't a real ring, but it will always be a real memory. It may seem life changing to me tonight because lets face it how many freshman girls get engaged to a hot senior boy in social studies class.
Later that night when I was telling my Dad about the experience, he asked me " Was that the best thing that had ever happen to me in my life"? I mean it was super exciting and my face still hurts from smiling about it all day, but deep down it truly wasn't the best thing yet, or the thing that left me saying Thank you Lord.
People tell me they love me all day long. My parents over kill it! hahaha but its all good, and at the end of every text or face book post my friends will tell me they love me. There was this one time in my life that those words "I Love you Elli" made a difference made my heart go thump thump thump, and left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It happened probably 3 years ago now. We were both coming down the stairs, we had been on one of many hunts through the house for Coy's most prize possession, his baseball glove. He forgets where he leaves it all the time, and there is NO peace in our house until it is found and back on his hand. We had been looking for over an hour and Coy was getting more agitated and was convinced his glove was gone forever. I found it wrapped up in his comforter on his bed, he obviously had fallen asleep with it and it got lost in the bed. Coy does not like to be touched, hugged, or any close contact for more then maybe 5 seconds, and the last person on Earth he wants touching hugging or sitting next to him is me. I struggled with that as a little child because I didn't understand autism, but now I know he has boundaries and I try to respect them, hahaha for my own sake. Coy has learned to be polite and he always says please and thank you. We were walking down the stairs after the big celebration of finding his glove and he turned around gave me a Big Hug and said "I Love You Elli, thanks for finding my glove". WoW!! Just writing about it gives me goose bumps.
I was stunned, yeah pretty much the best way to describe it. Its was an amazing feeling, because that was not an easy thing for Coy to do. It was genuine and real, it changed our relationship by making it stronger. Thats by far my favorite moment.

*** Unified ***

I'm in high school this year with Coy. We car pool in the mornings together, walk into school together, and eat lunch together everyday. He knows all of my friends and I know all of his. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I get to work as a Teacher helper in his class which is always pretty much the most amazing part of my day. The other kids in his class are just as amazing as he is, well almost haha. Coy Rocks!
This is a amazing story that I'm about to tell. My high school this year for the first time ever teamed up with the Special Olympics and participated in a Unified Basketball Game where my school and our rival high school Heritage formed a team consisting of special ed/ regular ed students and played each other during half time at a basketball game. So many of my friends showed up to participate in the game or to cheer for the teams from the stands. It was a goose bump kind of night for sure. For Coy and his classmates it was the Big Game. It was an opportunity to be apart of the school outside their small corner classroom or their very back of the room cafeteria table. For my friends and fellow student body, it was an opportunity for them to look beyond the label or disability and see the potential of these kids, something I get to see everyday. I saw one of the most popular junior boys chest butting and high five-ing the special ed students with enthusiasm. The cheer leaders were cheering from the side, the students were cheering from the stands, and the kids faces lite up with triumph with each basket they made like it was the championship game. Although my high school won the game 16-10, and Coy lead the team with the most points 8, the real accomplishment was that for the first time in his life and the life of his class mates, they were shown value, and acceptance by their school. They were not over looked but the center of everyone's attention that night. They were not mocked or teased but cheered for and applauded for. I'm sure that night at that game lives were changed, eyes were opened, and memories were made. Unified, not a very big word at all, but a very big deal!!

Boo Red Sox

Coy is a complete Yankee fanatic. Meaning that he hates any team that is playing the Yankees especially the Boston Red Sox. He hates anything that has the name Boston in it, like Boston cream Pies, or Boston Celtics. One year we were taking a trip out to Dallas, Texas to visit family, and some poor dude in a Boston Red Sox hat boarded our plane. For three hours Coy wore that guy out, and my parents too. Anytime the guy would pass our row to use the bathroom Coy would unapologetically say to him Booo Red Sox they stink. At first the guy seemed offended but he soon realized that Coy was autistic, and seemed to enjoy the constant heckling by him. What a long flight. When we landed in Dallas and were getting our luggage the same poor dude approached Coy, and got all up in Coy's face having learned Coy's name by now, and said "Coy Yankees Suck"!! It was really funny, I am certain that guy has probably remember Coy from that trip and how much he loved the Yankees, especially when the Yankees beat the Red Sox. There are so many words that Coy can't say clearly because of the autism, but I will tell you this, he can say "Boo Red Sox they stink" extremely clear..

Always Dreaming Big

Coy is always dreaming about being in the Big Leagues and striking out the "Bad Guys" aka other team. As ofter as my Dad can he takes Coy into the Bullpen and lets him pretend to be in a game situation. Like, 2 outs guys on 1st and 2nd, go ahead run at the plate, and Coy will always throw the heat for three straight strikes, and then yell game over. Sometimes the Catcher who got suckered into catching Coy will have to make a trip out to the mound to talk things over with Coy, and sometimes my Dad who is the pitching coach has to go out to talk to Coy to settle him down. Everything is exactly how he sees it being done at the real games. For that short time it is real for Coy, and anyone else who has ever had the pleasure of watching. Keep dreaming Big Coy, you will get to the Big Leagues because you believe in your self..

Our family has been raised at a baseball field, all three of us Tomlin kids learned to walk, ride our bikes, do cartwheels, on some outfield grass some place. These posts will be some of my most favorite memories of Coy on or around the baseball field. Coy's two most favorite things in baseball are walk off home runs, and throwing the heat for strike three game over. Every summer Coy gets to take batting practice with my dad's team. He is always the last group to hit, group 4, hahaha. The guys on the team stay on the field until Coy hits the ball hard in the air to the outfield and someone will call it a walk off home run. Coy will chuck his batting helmet off, run the bases full speed, and the team will meet him at home plate for a pile up. This happens over and over and over each summer. Coy loves it, the players love it, and if anyone has the privilege of seeing it they love it too. Its never gets old..

Hey Whats up

Hey everybody this is Ellison Lane I am a proud younger sister to an amazing autistic brother. I am setting up this blog to help and talk to siblings who have an autistic brother or sister. In my house we do not call my brother autistic we call him"auSOMEtistic, (it is a combination of awesome and autistic). Everyday is something different for our family, living with an autistic sibling is not always easy, but it never stops us from enjoying life. My brother makes my family laugh louder, love deeper, and be more patient and understanding. He loves baseball, the Yankees, and all kinds of music. He has a smile that is contagious. I would never want him to be any other way. I would love to hear from all of you. You can share great stories about your autistic sibling or we can talk about things that could be bothering you. Either way I am sure we will have a lot in common.