Living Life With Autism: Definition Essay With Sources (10/23/2014)

Living Life With Autism

Carleen Brandenburg

Throughout my elementary school years and part of my middle school years, I wondered why I was different and why I did the weird things that I did. I knew that I wasn't like any of my classmates, and that made it a bit more difficult to make friends. My mom took me to various doctors because the schools I went to wanted her to get an opinion on what was different with me. In eighth grade, my mom found out that I had a mild case of Aspergers syndrome. “Asperger’s syndrome, also called Asperger’s disorder, is a type of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). PDDs are a group of conditions that involve delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize with others, to communicate, and to use imagination.” (WebMD, n.d.). When she was given the diagnoses, which was confirmed by more than one doctor, she told me. This made a little more sense, but I had to figure out how I would cope with being Autistic. Although I'm diagnosed with a 'disorder', I have my positives as well as my negatives.

            My social life is different because I can't figure out and live by different social cues, since I have Aspergers. People with Autism may have some difficulties understanding others’ point of views and even if the Autistic person has good language skills, there may be a difficulty with having back and forth conversations. One aspect is that I can't understand sarcasm very well as well as other social cues.  I tend to pick up sarcasm as seriousness, especially on the internet where tones of what's said are hard for me to figure out. People have to tell me exactly how they feel about what they're telling me, or else I may mistake something negative as humor and laugh at the sad event. There are times where I can detect sarcasm, but it isn't a lot of the time. Usually, people have to tell me that they're being sarcastic. Unlike a lot of other people, when people use sarcasm towards me, I find it rude because I associate sarcasm with negative or hate instead of being funny. Since I can't figure out various social cues, I come off as socially awkward amongst others.

            A lot of Autistics have various talents. Some Autistics are good with art, others are good with learning things at a faster pace. For me, I have a few fortes. The first talent I have, is a talent with technology. Objects are easier to figure out than people are for me. The concept of an object has a beautiful concept. Through my knack with technology, I'm going to college majoring in Information Technology today. I can also learn a language faster than most people. Because I learn things at a fast pace, foreign languages are no exception. When I have an expertise, it's usually because I have some form of obsession with the talent. If my obsession is a true obsession, it helps to learn it easier, which turns my obsession into a skill. If my obsession is true enough, I’ll also practice on it more. My biggest obsessions are Korean Pop Music, Japanese Pop Music, and anime. These three things have inspired me to learn how to speak and write in Japanese and Korean.

            Being an Autistic, means that I'll have more difficulties socially. People with Autism have different mannerisms, which seems weird to a non-Autistic. I have obsessions that majority of people wouldn’t think twice about. Seeing that I have different mannerisms, some people may view them as weird.  Through my uniqueness and people not understanding who I am, people can be harsh to me. There was a study that took place and in that study, children with Autism Spectrum Disorders are more likely to be bullied than their peers that are developing at a normal rate. Children with Autism who could speak well vs. the Autistics who had limited or absent conversational ability were three times more likely to be bullied. Throughout high school, even after knowing that I was autistic, people never really understood why I did those weird things, which got them to talk about me behind my back and not invite me to anywhere with them. Some people would believe others, instead of getting to know me, so it made making and keeping friends difficult for me.

            When I get upset, I tend to throw tantrums usually because I'm stressed out. Stress, for me, is difficult to cope with. My tantrums last anywhere between a few minutes to a few days, depending on how stressful the situation is. When I have a tantrum, I can either argue, be passive-aggressive or even freak out (sometimes causing physical harm). It depends on my surroundings and the person/thing causing my stress.

            Along with not coping well with stress, I also can't cope very well with change. I'm a creature of habit, meaning that once I'm used to something, please don't change it on me because if you do, I won't like it and I'll throw a tantrum. If I get comfortable with where I'm living at, and end up having to move away, it would be a difficult transition.

            Along with my Autism, I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Basically my mind is all over the place, causing me to have everything out of place. I'm usually unorganized because of this. However, I can usually find my things even though I'm unorganized. My lack of organization would cause problems with school, but it took a lot for me to get organized, no matter how upset people were with me.

            Since being diagnosed with Autism seven years ago, I'm able to cope better with my Autism. I know why I'm different and why I do weird things. I know that I'm not like all of my peers but I'm able to make friends because I have an easier time working around my Autism. I'm glad that my mom took me to see the doctor, and multiple doctors at that rate, so she could figure out why I was different. Even though I have a 'disorder', I focus more on my positives than I do my negatives.

References

Autism Spectrum Disorder. (n.d.). NIMH RSS. Retrieved October 21, 2014, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml

Szalavitz, M. (1970, January 1). Why autistic kids make easy targets for school bullies. CNN. Retrieved October 23, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/07/health/autistic-kids-bullied-time/

What is Asperger's Syndrome? Symptoms, tests, Causes, Treatments. (n.d.). WebMD. Retrieved October 23, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/mental-health-aspergers-syndrome

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Environmental Research Paper "Hydro-Power" 9/11/2014

Hydro-Power: How We Can Use Our Water Sources for Conveniences

 Carleen Brandenburg

            Have you ever thought of the different ways that our electricity, fuel for vehicles, and many more things are created? Some of the things that give us convenience and comfort are created through non-renewable sources, for example fossil-fuels. However, there are also renewable sources that help create conveniences and added comforts, such as wind-power, solar energy, and even hydro-power. Hydro-power has been around for a really long time, about as early as the ancient Greeks. Hydro-power is a very good source of renewable energy that can help with the conveniences in our daily lives that revolve around electricity.

            There are many ways that we can use water to help with the conveniences and comforts in life. For example, hydro-power can help with providing for the electricity in our homes and the work we go to. Generators can be powered by hydro-electricity and can be used for our homes and various machinery. During the mid-1700s, a French hydraulic and military engineer, Bernard Forest de Bélidor wrote a piece called Architecture Hydraulique,  which began the evolution of the modern hydro-power turbine. In 1880, at Grand Rapids, Michigan, a brush arc light dynamo that was driven by a water turbine provided theatre and storefront lighting. During 1881, in Niagara Falls, New York, a brush dynamo connected to a turbine at a flour mill provided the street lighting for that community. Today, only about  6-8% of the electricity in the USA comes from hydro-power and supplies about 1/5 of the world’s energy per year (making it the most commonly used renewable energy source, according to Energy 4 Me).

            There are two different kinds of hydro-power, which are hydro-electricity and hydro-kinetic. Hydro-kinetic energy is similar but different from hydro-electricity. This is because with hydro-kinetic energy, the power is generated from waves or other flows of water, usually from rivers and oceans. Through hydro-electricity, the energy is generated from gravitational force falling or flowing water.

If we use hydro-kinetic energy, there is enough energy that could be captured from the waves of the USA to power more than 67 million homes. Hydro-kinetic energy is equal to displacing 22 power plants that are dirty coal-fired. Hydro-electric power is about seven percent and produces a total of 19% of electricity.

            Hydro-power is created in a power plant, but most projects for hydro-power use a dam and a reservoir to retain the water from the source. According to Energy 4 Me, “when the dam gates are opened, water flows through a pipe called a penstock and applies pressure to turbines, making hem turn. Just like other kinds of power plants, the spinning turbines power a generator to produce electricity (Energy4Me.org, n.d.)”. When a hydro-power plant project doesn’t require a dam, the force that comes from the river current that’s diverted to canals or pipes applies the pressure to the blades of the turbine to produce electricity.

            Even though there are various ways to create the electricity, hydro-power is the best way to go. The ancient Greeks would create water wheels and use the wheels to grind wheat into flour as well as saw wood  and power textile mills as well as manufacturing plants. Since the ancient Greeks used a method of hydro-power, we should be able to as well. This will be a good way for civilization to create electricity without putting pollutants into the air.

References

Energy.gov. (n.d.). History of Hydropower. Retrieved September 4, 2014, from http://energy.gov/eere/water/history-hydropower

How Hydrokinetic Energy Works | UCSUSA. (n.d.). Union of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved September 4, 2014, from http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/how-hydrokinetic-energy-works.html

Hydroelectric power water use. (n.d.). Hydroelectric power and water. Basic information about hydroelectricity, USGS Water Science for Schools.. Retrieved September 4, 2014, from http://water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html

Hydropower. (n.d.). Energy4me Hydropower Comments. Retrieved September 4, 2014, from http://www.energy4me.org/energy-facts/energy-sources/hydropower/

Hydropower. (n.d.). Energy4me Hydropower Comments. Retrieved September 4, 2014, from http://energy4me.org/energy-facts/energy-sources/hydropower/4/

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All About My Summer

So, my last blog post said I would post updates on my summer and add photos. But...I didn't (obviously). Please don't mind my few errors in writing, since it's my first early morning in a long time. Anyway, I did a lot over the summer, even though I didn't take a lot of photos.

At the beginning of June, I went to Iowa to visit relatives with my brother and my mom. On the way to Iowa, we stopped at Winona, MN so my brother could see his friend from his freshman year of high school.

View of Winona, MN 1. The lake is called Winona Lake.

View of Winona, MN 2. I took this photo on what's called Sugarloaf.

So, I only stayed at Winona for a day or so, and then it was off to Northeast Iowa to visit my grandma. It takes about an hour and a half to get to NE IA from Winona. Once I got to NE IA, the first thing I did was chill with my cat and play card games with my grandma.

This is my cat Smokey. Not the best photo of him, but I love him so much.

I spent a couple weeks in NE IA before I went to Ames, IA. While I was in NE IA, I spent some time hanging out with my friend Monica and her boyfriend (who's one of my cousins). Hanging out with her is something I hardly get to do, and so I had a lot of fun with the time that I had with her. Another thing I did with my mom and brother, was eat at Don Jose's (it's a Mexican Cuisine restaurant) in Decorah, IA. The food was so delicious there, and it made me happy.

This is the chip and dip. The chips were very warm, and the salsa was pretty spicy, but they were both very good.

Burritios, spanish rice, and black beans. I couldn't eat it all, which meant that I would have some leftovers to eat later. I have a tiny appetite (so that's how it goes whenever I eat somewhere nice). Overall, I could tell that the chefs put time and effort into making something delicious for their customers to eat.

Throughout my time at NE IA, I worked on making a bead work piece. I ended up making a hair clip for my cousin Naomi.

This is the front of the hair clip. I started off doing kirigami, which is a form of origami. Next thing I did was use my skills that I learned in my bead work class the first semester I spent at Sitting Bull College.

Here's what the back of the clip looks like. Yay for my kit from beauty school (otherwise I wouldn't of been able to make this clip possible). It took me a long time to send it off to Japan (where my cousin lives), but I finally sent it off a few days ago.

On June 18, my cousin Ryan, his fiance at the time (now his lovely wife) Lindsey picked up my cousin Matt, Monica, and I to go to Ames, IA (a day before my mom and brother came on down). Being at Ames was a fun time. I got to see some of my other cousins. On the 20th, there was a rehearsal dinner for Ryan and Lindsey's wedding. 

On June 21, my cousin Ryan and now cousin Lindsey, got married. It was a very beautiful wedding. I enjoyed being there for my cousin's big day. The wedding was an outdoor wedding, which was my first. This wedding was a bit different than all the weddings I went to in the past.

My uncle George, aunt Donna, the bride Lindsey, the groom Ryan, my dad Melvin, my mom Rita, my brother Cedric and I before the wedding ceremony.

On June 22nd, which was my 20th birthday, my mom and I went back to NE IA for my cousin Beth's baby shower. It was a fun day that day, filled with good memories. My dad would bring my brother to NE IA a day or so later.

On June 27th, my mom, brother, and I went back to North Dakota. Going back home, we took a pit stop for about an hour so I could see my friend Jazmyn and her daughter RaeLyn. It was a very good hour with her, one that doesn't happen very often as well.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, my family went to Yellowstone to visit my sister and my brother-in-law. That whole week was a very cold and rainy week, but it was a good week since it was a whole year since I last seen my sister and brother-in-law.

My sister Helen, brother-in-law Dallen, brother Cedric, my mom Rita, and I.

Today, I'm sitting in the computer lab, waiting for my day of school to start. This summer was mostly busy, and very fun.

Summer 2014

Konnichiwa (Hello)!

This summer is going to be an interesting summer. I'm finally done with my freshman year and received my grade. I ended up with a 3.19 GPA for this term and overall I got a 3.41 GPA. So I wonder if I ended up with honors this year.

For my plans this summer I want to be as productive as I possibly can be. My summer started on Wednesday and I haven't been productive since the start of break. Tomorrow I'm going to change that. I'm going to do better on learning Japanese, cleaning house, keeping in touch with my friends, keeping up with the blog (which will be just entries about traveling and life, until school starts up again in August), as well as traveling.

Next Saturday, I get to celebrate end of my Freshman year with my family and my boyfriend by going out to eat at Hu Hot Mongolian Grill. My favorite food is Asian food, so this will be a treat for me.

I may not post all that often this summer, but when I do, it will be full of stories about my adventures, before I get in the motion of actual Information Technology classes, in which I will be super busy.

Oyasuminasai (Goodnight)!

Who I Am

Who I am

Carleen Brandenburg

My name is Carleen Brandenburg. However, I go by Carlee Margaret. In my writings I'm Carlee Em. On June 22, 1994 in St George, Utah, I was born to a wonderful mother and father. I would end up being the younger sister to an amazing woman, yet an older sister to a unique brother. When I was 1 1/2 years, I moved to Iowa, where I would spend most of my life so far. I experienced a mixture of good and bad events in my life. My theory of all the hurt I've dealt with is that it makes me into a stronger person. In fact, that's what I think of hurt for anyone. Hurt makes us stronger, even if we don't feel like it.

Currently I'm going to Sitting Bull College. I was originally going to do General Studies, but earlier this term (Spring 2014), I decided to do a major switch, to Information Technology. Throughout this year, I've had a variety of different experiences. I've become better with my grades, formed an Anime Club with my friend Hunter, learned about Lakota and Dakota culture, and went on a conference called AIHEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium). When I compare college to high school, with all the experiences and everything, I personally think that college is way better than high school. 

I have a lot of favorite things. My favorite things to do are watching movies, singing, learning languages, learning instruments, dancing, art, reading, crafts, computers, and quotes. I also love hanging out with my friends and my family. My favorite music is K-pop (Korean Pop), metal, and pop music. My favorite shows are Doctor Who, anime, House M.D., and Sherlock. I consider myself to be a nerd. I have this huge theory that nerds are ultimately the coolest people you'll meet.

The languages I've learned any bit throughout any part of my life are Spanish and Japanese. When I was in high school I took Spanish class for a couple years. I've haven't practiced Spanish since my Junior year of high school (which was about three or four years ago). Since my Senior year of high school I've been learning Japanese. My motivation is my cousin Naomi, who was born and raised in Japan. She's married to my cousin Steven, so that's how she became my cousin. She has helped me so much with learning Japanese. As an example of what I learned in Japanese I'll give you this sentence:

わたし　は　ﾆﾎﾝｺﾞ すき　だよ。

Watashi wa Nihongo suki dayo.

I like Japan.

I have a few conditions. I have ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and when I was young I was diagnosed with depression. Living with these conditions can be difficult sometimes, but I figured how to empower myself anyway. In fact, I think all the conditions I was diagnosed with has made me into a fighter and a believer of being the best you that you can be. When I was in high school, I don't think any of my classmates really knew about all I went through, so I was deemed as the weird kid.

So who am I? I'm a 19 year old. I'm a college freshman. I'm a daughter and a sister. I'm a nerd. I'm one of 68 who have autism. I'm amazing. I'm the person who will defy labels. I'm a free spirit. I'm a person who doesn't let people tell her no. So who are you?

My Favorite Place (College Prep Writing) 10-3-2013

My Favorite Place

Carleen Brandenburg

When I’m in Ames, Iowa, I’m at my favorite place to be. Ames is nice because it can be both lively and relaxing. I can go to the parks all over the city, go walk on the trails, go shopping at the mall, as well as watch movies at the theatres. Whenever I go out and about, I see diverse groups of people. Sometimes, I’ll go out to eat at the various restaurants like Asian, Mexican, American, Bar-B-Que, fast food, and even pizza. In Ames, there are a lot of entry-level and professional job opportunities that would provide a better life style. My favorite part of Ames is my relatives that live off of Lincoln Way; I enjoy visiting them. These are the many reasons why I like Ames, Iowa.

Important Relationships in My Life (Classification and Division Essay) 4/10/2014

Important Relationships in My Life

Carleen Brandenburg

Everybody has a few important relationships in their life that make them who they are. Sometimes their children and friends are their relationships that help them be who they are and sometimes it’s their family. A relationship that people have could even be their enemies, even if it’s not a good thing that the enemy of a person is what’s important for them. For me, I think of my friends, family, and significant other as my important relationship. My family, friends, and significant other are the people who have helped me become who I am today.

Family is important to me for a few reasons. My family has always been there for me no matter what I did. Because they were always there for me, I feel as though I can trust them with most everything I say. I’m glad to be as close to my family through various family bonding activities. The activities that helped me bond to my family were eating dinner and other meals together, having game nights on some Sundays, and going on vacations with them. Jane Howard once said “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

Just like family being important to me, I also feel as though my friends have helped me become a well-rounded person.  Friends are just like my family to me, because they helped me through so much.  My friends influenced who I’ve become and influenced my personality as well. They have helped become the best person I could be, even if what they have told me made me sad sometimes. Since they have helped me become a good person, I can trust them with my secrets, since I know they won’t betray my trust.

Having a significant other is just like a friend but I can connect with him on a deeper level. My significant other is the one person I can tell absolutely anything to and not have to worry about it. He is the person that makes me feel completely special and good about myself. My significant other is the person that I can love so much. Intimacy is important in this relationship, especially if it’s emotional intimacy.

Although everyone has different relationships that make them who they are, my family, friends, and significant other have helped me become who I am today. I’m always so thankful for these people in my life and I always will be.

References

More on Disney Baby. (n.d.). Disney Baby. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.disneybaby.com/blog/10-of-the-best-quotes-about-family/#slide4

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