Allegra

I had a job interview yesterday (Wednesday). It was for a mother's helper job in a nearby town. The lady who I met with has three kids. Allegra is thirteen, Caleb is ten, and Lucas is eight. I didn't get a chance to meet Caleb, but I met Allegra and Lucas. Lucas seemed like your typical eight-year-old boy. Allegra, however, is autistic.

To be honest, that kinda made me uncomfortable. And this was for a couple of reasons. First, my last babysitting job interview was a very high-maintenance job watching two-year-old twin boys who had minor disabilities and delays (could not feed self, underweight, hearing impaired, etc.) I did not get the job.

The second was probably the primary aspect of the job that made me uncomfortable. We've talked about dealing with special needs students in my Early Childhood Music class. I had a babysitting job when I was fifteen that involved watching a six-year-old boy who suffered from learning disabilities due to his biological mother's drug usage. (He was not potty trained, he had a limited vocabulary, and he often went completely out of control). In elementary school, there was an autistic boy who was a year older than me that went to school and a church daycamp with me.

But, I am generally uncomfortable around people I don't know. And when you throw in something like autism, it's almost scary. I'm not experienced with that. Sure, I went to school with an autistic boy, but all that really did to help me for this was make me a bit more comfortable simply around Allegra.

After the interview, I was given a ride closer to the bus stop (a mile-and-a-half away from their house). Yes, I was given a little insight on what it would be like working with Allegra (hand biting, etc.) But that car ride also opened my eyes even more.

The radio in the car was turned to my favorite station: Star 99.1 (the local Christian radio station). It's the only station they can listen to in the car, and they have to prepare Allegra when they go out of town because that station is not available everywhere.

I just thought that was awesome. I would be perfectly fine not changing the dial on the radio from that station and if I ever drive that's going to be my primary radio station of choice. It's really nice knowing someone else who likes that radio station.

And, suddenly, Allegra wasn't that autistic girl I was potentially going to watch a few afternoons a week. She was a thirteen-year-old that I shared a common interest in: the love of a particular radio station.

And sometimes, it only takes one common interest to start a friendship.

(After all, Alex P. and I became friends after one conversation on the topic of our mutual hatred of our science class).