Sometimes I am just not able to contain my actions and myself. 90 percent of an autistic person's efforts while in public are spent trying to avoid inappropriate behaviors that "normal" people seem to be able to easily suppress. One place where I had a terrible time trying to sit still and not make noise was in the small theater watching the play The Diviners.
I didn't have a terrible time at the play, quite the contrary. In fact, I loved this play. Deep into the drama, I relaxed my guard and was soon a noisy, rocking back and forth in my seat, spectator. Good things don't often cause this reaction, so we might say that the Ian Wetherbee behavior-o-meter registered a four star reading for The Diviners and its excellent cast.
In this play, Buddy Layman was a young man who had suffered brain damage during a near drowning. Nick Vickrey's portrayal of Buddy was just excellent. Irrational actions laced with unexplainable abilities. Insightful observations woven with innocent naivete. Enthusiastic expeditions knit with irrational fears. That was Nick's Buddy, who always referred to himself in the third person.
Aside from Buddy's role, I found fascinating the reactions of the rest of the cast to Buddy. They were awed by his ability to find water. At the same time, they seemed to consider him to be a simpleton. Even though he was at least seventeen, since his younger sister was sixteen, he didn't even know where babies came from. He had never heard of angels and didn't know that his mom was dead. In the play, C.C. Showers was a friend of Buddy's. All through the play, C.C. had the chance to solve these enigmas for Buddy. C.C. was very nice to Buddy, but each time Buddy asked about such mysteries, C.C. spouted the same kind of platitudes we use with little kids.
The worst thing about this attitude toward Buddy was that when he asked about Jesus and heaven, no one explained to him about who Jesus was and why he died for us. I think that someone with the beauty of soul like Buddy had would have easily understood about who Jesus was.
From the time of his near drowning, Buddy wouldn't touch bath water because he thought water kept him from breathing. Sometimes all of us have fears that we don't completely conquer in our lives. We let them affect our decisions and our actions. Buddy needed help with his fear of water. Instead, Buddy was allowed to be dirty and infected with ringworm. Probably this failure to help Buddy further reflected people's view of his ability to understand and learn. They wouldn't have let anyone else live like that, but they must have felt that there was no way that Buddy would ever understand that his fear was irrational or that water could help him.
Ironically, when C.C. did help Buddy overcome his fear of water, Buddy drowned. Perhaps he should have been allowed to stay fearful and dirty. I think not. He died just at the point when he was about to show the rest of the community that he could beat his fear. Unfortunately, instead of seeing the marvelous victory Buddy was winning, their own fears and ignorance lead them to expect a different kind of victory, a miraculous healing. It was a mistake that lead to Buddy's death.
Just as Buddy needed help, we all need help. I vow to look for the potential beneath the outer shell of all my friends. I vow to look for the real victories in people's lives.