05-14-2006, 10:58 PM
William Dominguez, 36, left Detroit, Mich., 23 days and 2,600 miles ago on his bicycle. Since then he's run hard up against wind, rain and heavy heat with nothing but the air in his tires and his self-confidence to keep him going. It probably doesn't hurt, either, that he's autistic, since the riding is a solitary affair and, as Dominguez puts it pointedly, “People with autism like being alone.”
Although Dominguez's ride could be all about his autism, it isn't. It wasn't his autism that inspired him to see the country from the saddle of a bicycle. Nor was it his autism that pumped all those miles or caused him to suffer a near attack of heat exhaustion while riding from Desert Center to Twentynine Palms through Joshua Tree National Park.
That was his toughest day. He expected it to be hot, and knew the terrain would be hilly. Still, the combination took a toll, and by the time he got to Twentynine Palms, he was happy to call a friend in Joshua Tree to come and get him in her car.
Dominguez was a computer programmer for the city of Detroit before that municipality suffered a fiscal meltdown recently and downsized many of its departments. His was one of them, and he was one of the employees downsized out of a job. He'd been saving his vacation pay for a 2007 ride, and the city's housecleaning simply advanced his schedule.
In the same way Dominguez's full-time employment with the Detroit city staff clearly proves his ability despite the autism, so is his ride just another example of how autism isn't always a sure sentence of complete disability.
Not that the condition isn't a problem for Dominguez. By his account of it, he's faced a lifetime of social discrimination, and despite his bachelor's degree and nearly completed master's degree in computer science, and his years of employment with the city of Detroit, he faces serious obstacles in the job market.
Autism is a spectrum of disorders, typically diagnosed in infants by their third year, and it tends to affect males more than females. Those with serious involvement can be severely disabled, rendered almost incapable of caring for themselves. Others, though, are not so powerfully afflicted and manage to carry on with life like most anybody else, albeit with somewhat more difficulty than most anybody else.
Dominguez fits into the latter category. He's intelligent, educated and fit, but certain of his behaviors distinguish him as just a little bit different from most.
For instance, he might check-out unexpectedly in a conversation, or get lost in the minutiae of a tale he's telling. Yet, it takes no more than a simple prompt to refocus his attention and restore an interactive flow to whatever social current he's involved in.
An inclination toward repetition is one characteristic of autism and whereas this might serve a negative end in social settings, it's an excellent attribute for long-distance cycling. Turning the cranks and pedals round and round for thousands of miles requires a certain appreciation for the repetitive work of it.
Dominguez has about 4,000 miles of appreciable cranking ahead. It's a good place for him, he thinks. In the saddle, he's just another man working toward a goal, and the fact that he's autistic, just might be an advantage in achieving success.
By Mark Wheeler / Hi-Desert Star
Although Dominguez's ride could be all about his autism, it isn't. It wasn't his autism that inspired him to see the country from the saddle of a bicycle. Nor was it his autism that pumped all those miles or caused him to suffer a near attack of heat exhaustion while riding from Desert Center to Twentynine Palms through Joshua Tree National Park.
That was his toughest day. He expected it to be hot, and knew the terrain would be hilly. Still, the combination took a toll, and by the time he got to Twentynine Palms, he was happy to call a friend in Joshua Tree to come and get him in her car.
Dominguez was a computer programmer for the city of Detroit before that municipality suffered a fiscal meltdown recently and downsized many of its departments. His was one of them, and he was one of the employees downsized out of a job. He'd been saving his vacation pay for a 2007 ride, and the city's housecleaning simply advanced his schedule.
In the same way Dominguez's full-time employment with the Detroit city staff clearly proves his ability despite the autism, so is his ride just another example of how autism isn't always a sure sentence of complete disability.
Not that the condition isn't a problem for Dominguez. By his account of it, he's faced a lifetime of social discrimination, and despite his bachelor's degree and nearly completed master's degree in computer science, and his years of employment with the city of Detroit, he faces serious obstacles in the job market.
Autism is a spectrum of disorders, typically diagnosed in infants by their third year, and it tends to affect males more than females. Those with serious involvement can be severely disabled, rendered almost incapable of caring for themselves. Others, though, are not so powerfully afflicted and manage to carry on with life like most anybody else, albeit with somewhat more difficulty than most anybody else.
Dominguez fits into the latter category. He's intelligent, educated and fit, but certain of his behaviors distinguish him as just a little bit different from most.
For instance, he might check-out unexpectedly in a conversation, or get lost in the minutiae of a tale he's telling. Yet, it takes no more than a simple prompt to refocus his attention and restore an interactive flow to whatever social current he's involved in.
An inclination toward repetition is one characteristic of autism and whereas this might serve a negative end in social settings, it's an excellent attribute for long-distance cycling. Turning the cranks and pedals round and round for thousands of miles requires a certain appreciation for the repetitive work of it.
Dominguez has about 4,000 miles of appreciable cranking ahead. It's a good place for him, he thinks. In the saddle, he's just another man working toward a goal, and the fact that he's autistic, just might be an advantage in achieving success.
By Mark Wheeler / Hi-Desert Star