He’s 50, autistic and tons of fun!
Autism ain’t a joke. It ain’t fun for the kid and it’s hell on the parents. Depending on what end of the spectrum the kid is on, he probably can’t interact that great with other kids, tends to be into compulsive and ritualistic behaviour (has to do stuff a certain way, has to do stuff…exactly… the same every time) and he might even do the head rocking sorta thing. If you don’t get it, if you haven’t seen it before, oowee, it’s wild. In a darker time back, y’would’ve called ’em spazzes or retards and threw things at ’em.
If it’s your kid, you love him, of course you do, but it’s hard. I watched a marriage break up in front of me over their autistic kids.
So it’s nice when y’read a story or watch something, as in the case of this 17-minute documentary of southern Californian surfer Curt Harper, that shows, what is it, the beauty, maybe, the humanity, of an autistic person’s life.
Curt Harper is 49 in the documentary and is the maddest surf dog y’ever seen. Gets up at four-forty in the morning so he can hit the Ventura Highway and beat the crowds at Silver Strand. Runs around like a fool at little kid’s surf contests, stays in shape, surfs his ass off.
This fine film was made by Jordan Tappis and Brendan Hearne. The Curt website is here. (Click!)
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Best surfing flick this year, not one air in it
A few years back I met an amazing father and son in Nosara. Colin, the son, suffered from autism, but surfing, pottery, a healthy diet, and great support from locals helped him manage some of the issues from the disorder. They took me around, we surfed and had a great time. Here is some of his pottery if your interested:https://www.facebook.com/pa…
I hate pretty well everything to do with surfing. I’m bitter, cynical, hate the WSL (but still watch it), loath the brands and laugh at the sponsors trying to cash in.
This though. Was something.
I actually thought Derek had just written a story without an exclamation mark. I was wrong!
Lovely film.
…they just have so much… zing! I’m an addict…
Derek is a writer with style.. and substance!