Watch it, Watch it! January 2022

“WATCH IT, WATCH IT!”

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER FOR AUTISTIC INTERPRETATIONS®

Welcome! I am Val, co-founder of Autistic Interpretations® , a social media community that spans a blog, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. In our daily posts we share and celebrate a joyful life of the everyday experiences with my autistic blind adult daughter and the strong loving village that surrounds us.

Poodles and Disney adventures and 30-day challenges oh my! So long 2021 and Happy New Year! We hope this first newsletter of 2022 reminds you of some smiles and learnings from 2021 as we look back and then turn the page on another year.

January

If you’ve never seen a video of Jess putting away her Christmas tree, then you need to watch this edition from January 2021. She’s careful with breakables and “ornaments” but loves to toss the balls into the plastic storage tote.  Another fun memory from January 2021 is Jessica’s “Driving Lesson” with her brother (my son), Madison.

February

We celebrated February progress with an impromptu trip to DisneyWorld. After a long 2020, that definitely perked my Bessie up. Check out our Walt Disney World Fun -2021 on YouTube. In two separate Q&A bideos, I addressed two hot topics: “Is Jess Really Blind? Why I Say She’s Blind When She Can Actually See?” and “Do I Ever Take A Vacation With My Husband?”

March

March brought a lots of firsts: vaccines, Zoom pizza party with Club Crispy, first YouTube Live, first Facebook Live, Zoe’s first major haircut, and we hit 10,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Listening to Disney resort tv, browsing real estate, and of course loving on Zoe were some of our favorite pastimes in March.

April

Looking back on April, I don’t know which was harder: 30 days of pollen or the #30DaysOf10 challenge!  April also had our #goodones get to know Hannah better through her Q&A. Granddad charmed us all with his dirty garbage rap CD reading. And who can forget Jess making her own bideo with this post!

May

We jokingly said May was brought to us by the letter D. D was for our Disney trip that included this “Oh gosh I’m driving” classic. D was for our brand-new Deck. D was for Hannah’s new poodle puppy Daryl. And D was for my @DoStuffGoPlaces Instagram account which I use to store scenic memories.

June

June brought a trip, a nursing report, an episode of “What’s the Deal”, and a new catchphrase. 

BadDaddy and I took a trip to Colorado to spend time with our son Madison and his wife, Sarah.  After a long wait, Jess was finally able to return as ‘nurse’ her for beloved Aunt Sue.  Sadly, her nursing report, became the last one as Aunt Sue passed away in September. In June, we reviewed Drake’s in Chattanooga.

As for that catchphrase, it all started in this Jessica Vlog Takeover, in which Jess “helps this mother out”.

July

Pooldays, poodles, zucchini, birthdays, anxiety, camping, family, laughter, “stredding”, and Q&A summed up July.  For those craving highlights, I recommend: Jessica’s reaction to a new zucchini recipe (from “I liked it” to “it was horrible”).

Our family camping trip was a success and Jess discovered a new pastime of ‘keep that fire going’.  And of course, tubing is always a hit.

August

In August we kept score, and the numbers included two Q&A entries (fired from vocational training and what happened when we tried to tap into Jessica’s caregiving inclinations), a third poodle (welcome Benny!), four surprise nights at Disney (including these instant classics “stay where you are at!” and “Dad, stay seated!”, and we jumped into Instagram Reels with nine of them including this classic: Jess’ infectious laughter.

September

In September, Jessica’s beloved Aunt Sue passed away.  What a good reminder to celebrate the ones we love: Nonnie and Granddad (my parents), #BadDaddy (my ex-husband and father of our children), Madison (our son), Hannah (our youngest daughter), and Marlow (Hannah’s best friend and also Jessica’s paid caregiver).  We love them dearly.

October

We declared that October actually had seven days.  You can read the full explanation in the newsletter, but here is the short version: Grieving, Anxious, Disney, Foody, Alive, Bragitude, and Ordinary.

Check out Jess watching “Impressions of France” at Disney’s Epcot, I think you’ll agree, it’s mesmerizing. Leading up to Thanksgiving, many of you joined a 30-day Bragitude challenge.  And finally, after all that excitement, we were reminded that there is nothing better than ordinary days.

November

For 2021, we spelled November as T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U. The big highlight in November was the publication of Nonnie’s cookbook.  The cookbook is now sold out, but we may look at offering an electronic version.

December

For the third year, we participated in YouTube’s Vlogmas challenge.  Our version of daily YouTube posts leading up to Christmas, included crafts (Was it a Christmas tree or an ode to cabbage?), decorating by a dictator, heckler, and two elves, shopping, and silliness like ‘not your arms challenge’ and treats like this chocolate disaster.

HERE’S THE PLAN FOR 2022

As you may have picked up in our December bideos, Hannah has started working from home. Our 2022 goal is to enhance our content through the lens of accessibility.  We’ll also be shifting our Thank You Thursday livestreams into interactive premieres on YouTube. And, watch for a new feature “22 in ‘22” where we’ll put the spotlight on some of our favorite #goodones with 22 fun questions.

I’m looking forward to getting back to some writing.  Also in 2022, watch for ‘cooking with Nonnie’s cookbook’ ‘alives’ (AKA YouTube livestreams).  We’ll keep some old favorites also like our version of restaurant reviews with ‘What’s the Deal?’.

We’ve got lots of ideas for experiences and Q&As.  If you have ideas or requests, please let us know!

For your Calendars

• JAN   2 – World Introvert Day
• JAN   3 – National Thank God It’s Monday Day
• JAN 12 – Baddaddy’s Birthday
• JAN 14 – Organize Your Home Day
• JAN 16 – National Nothing Day
• JAN 27 – National Chocolate Cake Day
• JAN 28 – Nonnie’s Birthday

THANKS & FAQ

Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for following along in our journey! We enjoy sharing our joyful life with you all, and love knowing all of the various ways our story and videos help others.

If you like what we are doing at Autistic Interpretations and would like to help us continue to make videos, please check out https://autisticinterpretations.com/join-club-crispy/.

FAQ

• What does Jess see?
• When did Jess’ interest in cards start?
• Why good one, bad one?
• Has Jess always talked?
• Why did we start Club Crispy?