Once Upon a Time There Was A Tangram by Laura's Cookies

Hello Everyone!  I'm Laura from LaurasCookies, and I want to thank Kim for allowing me to do a guest post in honor of Autism Month on her blog. I 'met' Kim a couple of years ago when we were both part of the same cookie swap.  And through her, I 'virtually' met her son Collin, and learned a little more about autism and about the people and families whose lives have been changed by it.  As I pondered what to share with you today, I tried to imagine what it must be like to be inside Collin's world and, through reading on some autism sites, and knowing a little bit about Collin's life through Kim, I created a short story and some cookies to go along with it.  I hope you will enjoy!

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Once upon a time there was a jumble of pieces which would become a person.

Each shape was meant to do something different and special.  Some pieces would be muscles, some would be circulatory, some would be skeletal and some would be brain function.

The day arrived for the little one to be born and there was excitement in the house.

 

But after the young one was born, others notice that there were some things about him that seemed to work differently. Things like showing less attention to social stimuli, smiling and looking at others less often, and even responding less to his own name.  This made them notice, and watch:

 

As he grew, the little person often felt like he was running to catch up…

Sometimes he felt like he was swimming in deep water…

 

Or sailing alone on a big sea…

But he was becoming the person he should be.  A person with his own talents and gifts, and a big loving heart.  Even though he experienced the world a little differently from others, he learned he was unique, special and valuable.  He spread his wings:

And hopped along…

 

Being the best HIM, ever!

 

The End.  Or maybe not…

A word about these cookies:

These cookie pictures use “Tangrams.” Tangrams are a Chinese puzzle made by cutting a square into five triangles, a square, and a rhomboid which are capable of being recombined into many different figures. 

 

The upper two pictures show different geometric patterns and a tangram shape.  I searched ‘tangram’ on the Internet, printed out patterns, and then hand-cut them with a sharp knife on chilled vanilla sugar cookie dough (bottom two pictures.)  Once these were baked, I iced them with bright colored Royal Icing and they were ready to use!  My family had a fun time creating the different shapes used in this story.

I want to thank Kim , for the opportunity to research and understand autism a little better through her invitation to do a guest blog.  If you are interested in finding out more about autism, here are a few sites where you can find out further information:  

·         Austism Society of America Foundation: http://www.autism-society.org/

·         Autism Foundation: http://www.autism-society.org/

·         The Autism Research Foundation: http://theautismresearchfoundation.org/

·         The Center for Autism: http://www.thecenterforautism.org/autismfoundation

·         American Autism Foundation: http://www.americanautismfoundation.org/About_AAFI.html

·         National Autism Association: http://nationalautismassociation.org/

Thank you Kim and Collin, for helping me learn, and for inspiring me by sharing your lives!