When I met Eileen Parker, I never knew that what began as a business contact would turn into a valued friendship. After just one email from Eileen, I knew this was a chance to know someone who took their special needs and molded them into a company to help millions of autistic children.

Eileen Parker is the creator of the Cozy Calm weighted blanket. Weighted blankets are very useful for helping those with autism and sensory processing disorders sleep more soundly. While there are a plethora of weighted blankets available on the market, this one is very special. You see, Eileen is a high functioning autistic adult.

The Cozy Calm blankets are available at Eileen’s website, CozyCalm dot Com. The site has an About Us page, but the casual visitor would have a hard time understanding the depth of the meaning behind these blankets.

The internet is full of information about autism and children, but learning about adults with autism is a little harder. Autism is a spectrum of disorders with children and adults in all areas, from low to high. Eileen, as I mentioned, is High Functioning. That means that she is able to communicate at a far higher capability than anyone residing in the low range of autism. In some people’s minds, autism means a child or adult who is locked in their own world. Unable to reach out, never speaking.

To me, Eileen embodies everything about the ’high’ end of the spectrum that so many are unaware of. High functioning autistics have trouble understanding figurative meanings, they take almost everything in a literal sense. This can be confusing for them. As Eileen said in one of our conversations: “I am very literal, which is a disadvantage because I often don’t get jokes and sayings. For years, I wondered what “dropping the ball” meant.”

This can be a disadvantage in social situations, but for business being very literal and focused can mean success. In another quote from Ms. Parker she explains this.

“On the other side of the coin, I am successful at my business because it is black and white: have the best product on the market, deliver customer service, sell it at a competitive price, create and refine systems, and more. And, for me, the store programming and graphic design I learned easily.” She continues, “ My obsessions turn into depth of learning. Once I am on to a new obsession that gives me breadth of knowledge and understanding of ideas and how they interconnect.”

It is refreshing to have a glimpse into the inner workings of autism. To begin to understand what makes a child on the spectrum ‘tick’. Parents find themselves at a loss to ‘get’ their child, even those who can speak and relate some of their feelings. As one of those parents, I can honestly say that my conversations with Eileen have given me much more hope than I ever thought possible for my autistic child.

I have come to appreciate the openness and beauty of those with autism even more. One particular moment that Eileen related to me sticks in my mind when I go through my day and especially when it is a rough one. For those of us who are classified ‘neuro-typical’, we forget to see the wonderful parts of everyday life. Or in each other. I would like to share her story of one moment with you, in hopes that it will stay with you as well. Perhaps it will give you insight into your autistic child, friend, or co-worker.

“My naiveté often gets me in trouble because I believe people, assume they are good, and don’t assume ulterior motives or their real meaning. It is an advantage with people because they say I am so real and refreshing.

I talk too much or blurt out the truth, which people sometimes don’t want to hear. But it can make people feel good, feel validated, or feel heard. As one example, I was off to the fabric wholesaler and I had to wait in the parking lot for a lady to cross in front of me. She smiled at me and her smile made me feel elated because it made her face so beautiful, almost beatific, and I normally don’t notice faces. When I got inside, I told her that and she smiled again.”

We don’t hear often enough that we are beautiful. We worry about the media, that we are too fat, wrinkled, or more. That none of us are good enough. Maybe if we all looked at each other and ourselves through the eyes of autism, we could see how gorgeous that we really are.

Thank you, Eileen, for being you and sharing that with us all.

For more insight into the world of autism, visit Eileen’s Blog.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 9:53 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.