As is common in those with autism, Curtis lacks that part of the brain which immediately judges and assesses people he comes in contact with. Not that all people without autism judge others, but I think most of us will gauge people we come in contact with. That looks like a sweet old lady, that guy looks menacing, that kid looks fit to be tied, those sorts of things. Curtis does none of this, which I think is great and potentially scary.

A couple of weeks ago, Curtis had a large mural type of artwork going behind his school, other than the lack of permanency associated with murals as this was his standard chalk and concrete. He had returned several times to work on the elaborate drawings of roads and houses and asked me in the afternoon to go back. When we turned the corner to go around to the back of the school, there were several unsavory type characters hanging around.

Now I'll just say the police are generally on top of this area. I've seen them drive through quite a few times and even park there for awhile making sure no one behind the school is up to no good. But the police can't be everywhere.

In total, there were about seven "kids" behind the school hanging out near Curt's drawing and some played basketball. The leader looked to be about 18, with a button down shirt and a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag. He kind of smirked at me and slurred a "good afternoon, sir" in my direction. His buddy, a top henchman looking type, just looked at me like he hoped I would tell them they didn't belong there so he'd have a reason to get heated. Then there were about 5 kids raging from 11-15 ish dropping f-bombs every 3rd word and generally just berated each other. Curtis did not care about any of this.

With his box of chalk under his arm he marched straight through the group to where he left off with his drawing. It put me in sort of an odd position. I didn't want to give these guys the satisfaction of leaving just because they are there, but I also don't want Curtis hanging around while these kids hurl obscenities at each other. But as Curtis knelt down to his drawing and explained to me what the picture was, his recent progress, and how the picture would look when it was finished, I decided there was no leaving until he got the work in that he planned.

We shared the space with the group for about an hour before they left. The kids played basketball and swore a lot but Curtis hardly paid attention. I waited for him to call them out on their swearing as he does when anyone else swears but he was wrapped up in his work. The only other interaction came when one of the kids wanted to draw a 3-point line on the court. He came over and asked me if he could use a piece of Curt's chalk to draw the line. I said it was okay and Curtis shot me a look. He then stopped what he was doing and stared at this kid the entire time until he brought the remaining portion of the chalk b back to the box. At that time, work could continue.

I think a lot of kids would have stopped in there tracks when we got behind the school but Curtis didn't care. I guess I was proud of him for it, but at the same time wondered what could potentially happen to him later in life if he lacks the ability to evaluate people and their intentions. For now, he's always got someone by his side. And I remind myself that he is still just an 8 year old boy. And I admire the lack of judgement in his brain. But still, as he continues to learn and grow, I do hope there is a part of his brain that understands not everyone is as sweet as he is.

Greg, Dad