PFA Tips: I See a Talent
By Shelly McLaughlin, Pathfinders for Autism
Download a printable version of “I See a Talent”
In a month where we’re celebrating Talents and Passions, I’m trying to change my perspective. Yes, basically, I’m trying to calm my nerves when I see “disasters” in my house, or am coping with challenging behaviors. And with a little imagination, and the knowledge that our kids have amazing brains and ideas, you can change your perspective too.
You See…… Spaghetti sauce splattered all over the kitchen wall
I See This Talent…. An abstract piece of art depicting the notorious eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79
You See…… Glow in the dark stickers pasted on walls, ceilings, the TV screen, and the dog
I See This Talent…. The mappings from Neil deGrasse Tyson of a stellar formation
You See…… A naked person running wildly down the street
I See This Talent…. An up and coming star in the Broadway revival of the musical “Hair”
You See……18 blankets and towels nailed to the wall and upper bunk bed frame
I See This Talent…. A medieval fortress built using modern day engineering techniques
You See…… The apparent remnants from an exploded Pillsbury Dough Boy
I See This Talent…. The ingredients of the world’s most fluffy, made from scratch, pancakes
You See…… 8 million LEGOs spread across the floors of 6 different rooms
I See This Talent…. I see an unassembled masterpiece like:
You See…… A frustrated kid who’s yelling because the store clerk is bringing him the wrong computer cable
I See This Talent…. A filmmaker who is getting more techno in his technique
You See…… A child who looks too old for dress up in a super hero cape
I See This Talent…. Super human brain power, able to imagine inventions you’ve never dreamed of
You See…… Papers with scribbles taped to all the walls and windows
I See This Talent…. An elaborate movie set
You See…… A hacked Amazon account with a credit card charge of over $3,000 of LEGOs purchases
I See This Talent…. A future high paying job with either Homeland Security or NSA
You See…… Someone on his aimless 20th lap walking the perimeter of the yard
I See This Talent…. An explorer who is identifying three yet undiscovered botany species
You See…… 48 photographs of the sleeping dog in the same position from 48 slightly different angles
I See This Talent…. A Pulitzer Prize winning National Geographic photographer
You See…… Undecipherable handwriting
I See This Talent…. A cryptologist who is creating secret codes and encryptions
You See…… 879 full colored sheets of text and images spitting out from your home printer
I See This Talent…. The next great American novel on the topic of Amphipteres dragons
You See…… A quarter mile trail of tiny confetti size paper cuttings strewn about the house
I See This Talent…. A meteorologist simulating freezing precipitation patterns
You See…… A toaster, disassembled down to its core metal workings and wires
I See This Talent…. An engineer who is going to solve mankind’s dilemma of perfectly cooking a frozen strudel
You See…… A child who blows into every bottle, toy, kitchen item, or spare car part with a hole
I See This Talent…. The most loved inventor of an instrument which will replace the most parent-hated instrument ever, the recorder
You See…… A TV that is only playing your favorite shows now in Dutch, German, French, Slovak, Arabic…. Basically every language but English
I See This Talent…. A future linguist with the United Nations
You See…… A person who reminds you of his birth date 365 days a year
I See This Talent…. The masterful art of “milking it to the extreme”
You See…… A child screaming that he can tell by the bite marks that his sister sampled his chocolate bar
I See This Talent…. A crime scene investigator
© 2014 Pathfinders for Autism