Letters to the Editor 12/05/2007

To the Editor,

On a recent trip to Ray's in Sisters, my daughter had major autism-related meltdown in the store. While patrons glared at her with disgust, I was once again met with compassion, kindness and understanding from Ray's employees who twice this month opened up a register to allow us to get through the checkout without delay.

During this holiday season shopping with any young child and, let's face it, any age can be trying with more people crowding the aisles, the next time you witness a seemingly "normal" child screaming "diarrhea" through a store - please don't snap to judgment. Offer compassion, understanding and a smile to the parent who is doing all they can to calm/comfort their child.

Here's a relevant piece from "Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew:"

"My sensory perceptions are disordered. It means that the ordinary sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of everyday that you may not even notice can be downright painful for me. The very environment in which I have to live often seems hostile. I may appear withdrawn or belligerent, but I am really just trying to defend myself. Here is why a 'simple' trip to the grocery store may be hell for me.

"My hearing may be hyper-acute. Dozens of people are talking at once. The loudspeaker booms today's special. Musak whines from the sound system. Cash registers beep and cough, a coffee grinder is chugging. The meat cutter screeches, babies wail, carts creak, the fluorescent lighting hums. My brain can't filter all the input and I'm in overload!

"My sense of smell may be highly sensitive. The fish at the meat counter isn't quite fresh, the guy standing next to us hasn't showered today, the deli is handing out sausage samples, the baby in line ahead of us has a poopy diaper, they're mopping up pickles on aisle 3 with ammonia and I can't sort it all out. I am dangerously nauseated.

"Because I am visually-oriented this may be my first sense to become over-stimulated. The fluorescent light is not only too bright, it buzzes and hums. The room seems to pulsate and it hurts my eyes. The pulsating light bounces off everything and distorts what I am seeing - the space seems to be constantly changing. There's glare from windows, too many items for me to be able to focus (I may compensate with "tunnel vision"), moving fans on the ceiling, so many bodies in constant motion. All this affects my vestibular and proprioceptive senses, and now I can't even tell where my body is in space."

Autism information can be found at the Autism Research Institute's Web site: http://autism.com.

Happy Holidays,

Andrea Clarke-Schleufer

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To the Editor:

I enjoyed reading about Naomi ("Sisters pioneers: Naomi Smith - Sisters' longest continuous resident," The Nugget, November 28, page 12).

Her daughter Sunny, who was my sister Marilyn's best friend throughout our school years in Sisters and still maintains that close friendship, alerted me to the article.

My mother Velma (Graham) Miller, who died this past August at the age of 99, was also a Sisters pioneer, born in 1908 in Plainview (now a part of Cloverdale) where her mother's parents (the Charlie Gist family) operated the post office. She and her parents also lived for a time at the Graham ranch or homestead with her other grandparents (the Ebenezer Graham family) who later moved to town. Her Gist grandparents by then operated the Gist Hotel there in Sisters.

Diane Miller

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To the Editor:

I really enjoyed Terry Burke's letter (The Nugget, November 21) and took the trouble to reproduce it and send it to a few friends.

At first I thought it was a spoof (e.g.. "bordering on treason" ... "liberal media"... "deficit shrinks daily..." etc.). Now I'm not so sure.

However, I am confident that Terry Burke's views are not shared by most Republicans; such convoluted thinking would virtually ensure a Democratic victory next time around.

Jim Kennedy