Misty is not like most of my kids. Misty is autistic; sort of like Dustin Hoffman in ‘Rainman.’ As if this isn’t enough, she also has Tourettes Syndrome. This means that has an amazing memory, has problems relating to others and interacting socially, and twitches, yelps and swears like a sailor when she gets provoked. It can make for an interesting class.
Misty really enjoys telling stories about television shows she watches at home. She knows everything there is to know about Xena: Warrior Princess, and she can remember so many little details about that show--that’s the autism at work.
Then there is the Tourettes side of Misty.
She has a rather severe case and is on medication to control the spasms and ticks. Sometimes when she’s nervous or angry, she’ll have a mild facial tick here and there. But the obscenities are more difficult to control.
A few days ago, the class was busy working on individual projects when I noticed that Jay was talking rather fiercely to Misty. He was really getting in her face saying something about her drawing. Due to her autism, Misty tends to focus on her tasks intently, thus it is an effort to try and get her to break concentration when we are switching to a new project. Jay was persistent in distracting her and kept right on doing so, yet no matter what he said nothing seemed to be fazing Misty.
I was about to tell Jay’s to stop yammering at Misty, when she stopped coloring and looked up from her drawing. She had a sudden movement where she cocked her head to the right, blinked her eyes a few times, looked at Jay and said,
"Sss…ssslut ass buuhhh-uuuttt fucker!”
Then she simply resumed coloring. Jay glanced towards at me with shock stamped on his face. I gave him a look, and kept on reading my magazine article. He didn't bother her the rest of class.
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