Author Archives: Tyler McNamer

About Tyler McNamer

Hi! My name is Tyler Allan McNamer. I became one of the few kids that wrote a book during my school days, and I'm still proud of that. Most of my information comes from my book Population: ONE. Other information that's not in the book has been spoken by me as a motivational speaker. In this blog, I'll give out information about the book, and my ways of thinking about the world we live in.

Thoughts about the title “Population: ONE”

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There are a lot of thoughts about anything really. But there is one reason why things happen. People like them, or they don’t. I personally like to spread out on why I chose the title Population: One.

  • Abandoned place that only lives on one person, it keeps the place alive.
  • His/her world, no one else can change it.
  • Forever stands in his/her home with a dramatic feeling of isolation and depression.
  • There is only ONE planet in the universe that has life.

There are probably more possibilities of why it’s called Population One.

As a matter of fact, to me a few people would think of Population: One as a lonely thing, and I totally get that. I think it’s cool that people can catch that as a lonely thing. But then again when there is a population of one, it could be as surprising and more powerful then people can imagine.

In the book, you will soon see a theory of people all around having their own worlds, and how they are always a population of one for themselves. Until that person is invited over to another person’s house for a party, then it would be known as population 57. Wow! Big party. Sounds like my kinda gig. Haha! (Just kidding) But when it comes to worlds, everyone is the same knowing that they all have populations of one.

Even though the number one comes after zero, it is never a lonely number. It can become a great deal to individuals who know how to use it. That is why above all, our capacity for greatness, we live in one universe with a population of one living planet. Earth.

The Marvelous Masterpiece of Music

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I am proud to say that I’m one of the many many people who adores music. It really sets the mood if ya think about it. For example, if I listen to happy music, it makes me happy. Sad music makes me sad, and mad music makes me mad. Music I think really truly sets the mood for a lot of things, and even some music that has music videos have more flavor to their songs sometimes.

When I look at people and hearing what they play, sometimes they play the same genre. It’s cool to have a favorite genre, but for me, I love almost every genre. Hip-hop, Punk, Rock, Pop, Dance, Techno, Jazz, and many other genres of the world. I feel that for me, it’s good to spread out and have other favorite genres besides Hip-hop/Rap. Because I believe that if it’s just one genre, it get’s a little boring, so I decide to have other genres of music on my favorites.

I’ve noticed also that music kinda changes the person’s looks and attitudes. I can not say because that would be criticizing the genres of bands. But for example, Rock is loud, Jazz is quiet. Rap and Hip-hop kinda involves in the streets, and have their attitudes.

When I see the characteristics of these bands from their genres, I sometimes would think what it would look like to be a Rock n Roll superstar or a Rap/Hip-hop gang member. Be myself having the goodness in me, but have the superstar band member in me as well. Even in an orchestra where it’s more classy, it looks really cool.

Another thing that’s amazing about music, is that they have their own language in writing form. Pretty cool I think, because learning music is like learning another language. Then they mix it with other languages like Spanish, English, Japanese, and other languages that represents the lyrics of the songs.

Sometimes I wonder if I could ever be a songwriter or a singer. I know a little bit about music like melody, harmony, bass, chord, and percussion having their parts on music, but I don’t know if I could do that, although it looks so darn cool to be apart of the music industry after listening to different kinds of music.

If your reading this Dad, you still have that awesome golden singing voice.

What is Autism? Is it a problem?

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“Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. They include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome. With the May 2013 publication of the new DSM-5 diagnostic manual, these autism subtypes will be merged into one umbrella diagnosis of ASD.

ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances. Some persons with ASD excel in visual skills, music, math and art.”

Source – autismspeaks.com

These are the exact words for what Autism Speaks said about autism and what are the signs of it. The dictionary defines ASD as a mental condition, that starts from early childhood. It is characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming friendships with other kids.

I tell ya, that’s one of the reasons why I titled the book Population: One because at childhood, I was different, and thought that I could befriend with everyone at school. But it turns out that on my mind ASD is not part of the “acceptance list.”

Autism is even defined as a mental condition in which fantasy itself dominates over reality. To be honest, I have seen kids with autism, even teenagers that think about the make believe  like art, writing, and other theories they make up. When I was little, I thought there was little tiny people under my car seat that does the heating when I push the butt warmer. Turns out that theory was silly, and I had a different thought about the butt warmer. When I learned more about fantasy dominating reality, I was thinking “What? Say what?” because that sounds like all the people think about is the fantasy. With me, it’s not entirely true, I mean I do think of Donkey Kong being on top of the Burj Khalifa throwing barrels but that’s just for fun. I do think of the reality, but I dream of the impossible just for fun and for a couple of laughs.

Did you know that according to a recent WebMD study, 1 in 88 kids today has autism? For the boys, the numbers is 1 in 54.

Since 2002, you might be pretty surprised that autism or ASD has increased by 78 percent! Can you believe it? 78 is not a small number.

Alright, lets do the numbers here. A high school with 1,000 students enrolled is going to have 11-12 students with autism. A bigger high school with 2,500 students is going to have 28-29 students with autism!

Is this a bad thing? What do you think? You have to decide if this is good, or if it’s bad. Think about it for a moment…

…

…

If this counts as an answer, I’d say that it’s a very different and unique experience don’t you think? A lot of people are not used to change or different, but take it from me, I focus on the reality, and for fun the fantasy makes me creative. Like that Crazy Taxi blog post I posted. I played it, I thought about it, I dreamed it, and I shared it with the world in hopes of a movie. It’s possible, it just needs lots of thinking when it comes to a good plot.

There are high functioning ASD, and then there’s low functioning ASD. Both of these equally have hard times having relationships with other peers. Low functioning ASD means that those who have it can’t talk or walk, or need assistance every minute of the day. High functioning ASD people is when they are very focused in one thing at a time like art, math, science, and other activities that they are masters of. I’ve heard of students that can solve math problems like a calculator. Those are called autistic savants. Bad at socializing  but extremely smart. Math is big my friends, that’s why people who are great at math can do a lot of things like house construction, plane building, car manufacturing, and many more ingenious designs that change the world.

I have high functioning autism. So I can still take care of myself but would worry on how to fit in with others. But I can’t spoil my autism on this blog, with this upcoming book, it will show a lot of information of high functioning autism.

If I were to change the ASD acronym just for fun, I call it the “Astounding Superb Dreamer.”

Sure, why not? Most dreams become realities. 😉

Left first, Right last

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Ever since I was a little dude, I’ve always had a thing for the left and to the right. It seems so interesting to me because when I discovered left or right, I thought there was this balance.

When I was an elementary school student, I would spin to the left 3 times, and to the right 3 times. I would do a barrel roll to the left, and then barrel roll to the right. Everything was suppose to be in balance for the left and to the right.

Even at High School, since I’m right handed on sports and writing, I would train more on my left arm just to make it equally strong like my right arm.

I would even step up the stairs starting with my left foot and end the final step with my right foot.

Now it doesn’t really matter as much which side comes first now that I’m older, but it all had to be in balance back then, but when I broke my right ring finger at age 9, it drove me crazy! Not that it hurts, but that it’s not the same as my left ring finger. Kinda still hurts now and hurts to talk about it.

I’m not really sure if it’s a trait for those who have autism, but for a while, it was left first, right last.

National (World) Autism Awareness Day

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It’s been about 10 minutes since I learned about this National Autism Awareness Day, and all I can say is “Wow! This is interesting.” I had no idea there was such a thing as NAAD or WAAD for World Autism Awareness Day. Not really sure if it’s suppose to have an acronym or not.

I was looking this WAAD or NAAD online and learned that this day has been scheduled in other days like on the 9th of September and on the 18th of December. I got a little confused because when I think of something that ends with “Day” like Father’s Day or Mothers Day or Independence Day, I think of one scheduled date. But with this Autism Awareness Day, it’s now officially the 2nd of April.

I was looking at other things that end with “awareness day” and I was very surprised by the other things they did ending with “awareness day”. They have blind AD, deaf AD, down syndrome AD, HIV/AIDS AD, cancer AD, and many more. The list goes on and on.

When I learned that Autism Awareness Day was just another day like the others, it made me think “Do people really not know about these things in this world?” It also made me think about the holidays that go around every year. I guess with these “Awareness Days” it’s just a reminder on what goes on daily in the world. It made me think about that thought for a while.

Otherwise, if it was really possible for people who have autism to show their true power, then they could all shine up the world in one day. But it’s not possible for everyone to do it on one day. To me, I feel that once I unleash this book, it would bring a lot of curiosity to the word autism itself. I didn’t know about this NAAD or WAAD thing being dated on the 2nd of April. Otherwise I would sell the book on that day, but that will be determined soon enough.

I always believed that someone who has autism is like being everyone else except with unique abilities. It just takes time to become a friendly citizen in this world, and that’s what the book is going to be about.

Book Update March 30th

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Book Update March 30th

Everyday, I am always excited about this book finally being done. It’s sad to say it is not been done yet. Although most of it is finished.

Everything that’s on the inside is nearly finished, only a couple edits here and there, and the cover is close to being done. Me and my team are doing the best we can.

The subtitle will be called…

Autism, Adversity, and the Will to Succeed

Pressure Among Peers

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Peer pressure! That’s right. It’s a common two worded saying. The definition of peer pressure is when a kid or a group of kids get another kid or a group of kids to do something. Usually that something isn’t good like steeling doughnuts. Stupid idea, yet funny. Personally I like funny things, but that kind of funny is something that is to be done in movies. Even funnier when steeling a doughnut truck. But seriously, when peer pressure goes to something serious like drugs or drinking, that’s when it’s more than peer pressure, it’s a sign of bullying.

Take it from me, I was an open target for peer pressure. People thought I was pretty dumb because they don’t like my looks, and they don’t like the fact I forget words sometimes. I am an active dude, and back in school, people thought that I can do anything. One time in high school, some kid dared me to streak on the football field during the marching band. Streaking means that you take all of your clothes off and run all over while a lot of people see you. Sick isn’t it? Luckily I didn’t forget my words on this one, I knew what to say. I looked at the field, and looked back at him with as smug on my face saying “I’d rather have you get the glory from these people. Come back to me when your ready to speak for real.” and then I walked away getting myself a Snickers bar.

When it comes to that kind of peer pressure, it’s another way of saying “I want someone to do my bidding.” Then when the deed is done, they are proud that they made someone did that bidding. People support that kind of embarrassing thing by cheering them on. I don’t want to be cheered on by something like that. Because it’s too small of a crowd. If I want to be cheered on, my audience would not be immature adolescence  I want to be cheered on by something good… like writing a book. Ha ha! It’s something not a lot of people do in high school, and I think that’s pretty cool.

There was another time when a group of kids wanted me to fight. This was back in the day when I shadow fought myself for fun in public. I wasn’t suppose to do that, but I didn’t know better back then in the Freshman year. So these kids, told me “Hey Tyler! This guy called you names! Can you believe that? They called you a jerk, and that you suck. You should teach him a lesson.” After hearing that, I got a little surprised and offended. So what I did was give a stern look at the boys saying “May I see this kid?” The kids were excited and couldn’t wait to see a fight. They brought the kid to me real fast, and I told him “Please don’t say mean things to me.” And then I walked away.

The group of boys were like “what?” They were all confused and shocked that I walked away from a soon to be fight like that. I didn’t really think that the kid didn’t really call me names, but the group who went up to me said it. I would of said “please don’t say mean things to me” to them, but I address it to the boy instead. After all, I did walk away from a soon to be fight.

This is one of the things I’ve included in the book. It’s all about self control when it comes to social situations and the pressure among peers. The kids that go to my high school who have autism doesn’t have that kind of self control. They get defensive in a non-positive way, and I never support that kind of defensive strategy. It’s the reason why there’s more bullies to people with autism that way. But with my way on being peaceable with others and staying true to myself makes things a lot calmer and better on my opinion. It’s like I say sometimes, don’t be afraid with the enemies, be friends with them, there’s always good in them.

Sometimes I wonder why there’s peer pressure in the world. I always wonder why kids can’t be like their parents or family member… oh yeah, even on that part there aren’t very good influences when it comes to family members on some cases. But what I mean to say is why join a group when the kids want others to do bad things like jumping off roofs or something. I’ve heard the “fact” that it makes kids “cool” when they do those daring activities. I tell ya, being cool doesn’t mean doing the daring like jumping off of roofs. It would be cool to jump off a roof and land on a bouncy house or a pool or anything that’s going to catch you for safety. Safety isn’t all that bad really. I hit my head while snowboarding and I have to wear a helmet. At first I was all “Aw man, I look silly.” But snowboard helmets are pretty cool on my mind when continuing doing spins and flips. I’m a Snowboard Average man, it’s one of my strengths. But if I was told to go down the danger zone of the mountain, I wouldn’t do it. Although it looks cool and fun, I can do the same tricks outside the danger zone.

On my mind, I think peer pressure is a way to kill boredom, because kids allow the pressure to flow. I like to follow my own advice and my family’s advice. I used to think that I have the perfect family, but then I learned not so long ago that nobody’s perfect.

Another thing that makes peer pressure possible is because a lot of people want to fit in. Even if it means sometimes to do the daring. Sad I should say, but if people of all kinds want to fit in for being who they are, they can join me, in a population of ONE! 😉

Why I don’t reply to comments on this blog

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I just wanted to say thank you for the kind comments you gave to me. I also wanted to say that there have been some questions on the blog, and I just wanted to say that I will reply to them, just not on this website. I personally don’t reply on this website because I think it’s more appropriate to respond to people via email.

So if your wanting to ask me something, anything just email me at my starting email address at tamcnamer@hotmail.com

I say starting address because it’s not as fancy as saying that I have my own email address at populationone.com. I don’t have anything like that, because hey, I’m just a kid… sort of.

Attitude Change

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I’ve always said to myself that it’s never too late to change the attitude.

When I was little, I didn’t really know how to have fun. I was always the serious one sometimes that thought that having fun has strict limits like not playing soccer when it’s raining. Today, playing soccer in the rain is really cool and helps cool down when running and kicking the ball.

As I grow up, I learned that laughter truly is the best medicine, and having fun is the way to go. I do get my serious side, but that’s only when needed like school work or something.

Then, I had another attitude which is being rude and immature to other people, especially peers. To tell you the truth, I was not peaceable with other people when they were mean to me. Today when people are mean to me, I handle things in different ways that are good to others and to myself.

Unfortunately, as I go on throughout my high school days, I saw kids with autism that never learned that lesson on changing the attitude for the good. I have said many times that autism is never an excuse, and I also said many more times that it’s never too late to change the attitude.

We are all born good, it just takes time to get that part when it comes to life. Autism on my opinion starts with not getting used to what’s going on in the world, and they get grumpy about it or confused or defensive  But as time goes on, maturity hits harder than a rocket launcher. Meaning, that they including me would understand more on the world, and would adapt in that way when it comes to having the right attitude. If the world is used to bad attitude, then it’s a sad world to live in. A good attitude is the way to go, and even when bad attitude comes up, it probably means that we’re hungry. When I get a bad attitude, I get hungry…

…did I say that right?

In the Skies with Superman

Quote

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Superman is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time. Super strength, super hearing, heat vision, X-ray vision, freeze breath, and all those powers he uses to protect the people in his adopted planet Earth.

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. The infant of Krypton is now the Man of Steel: Superman! To best be in a position to use his amazing powers in a never-ending battle for truth and justice, Superman has assumed the disguise of Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper.

 

Superman is above everyone in his adoptive planet, and yet he poses as a newspaper reporter when disguising himself as Clark Kent. No one knows who Superman really is. He’s in one place, and he’s somewhere else saving the world.

When I was really young, I’d say 5, Superman gave me a special drink that made me have his super powers for 24 hours. I decided to follow Superman up in the skies like a bird or a plane. I asked him what it’s like to be Superman, and he said that being himself is not perfect. I got confused and told him that he saves people and has everything people don’t have. He replied to me saying “I may be from planet Krypton, but I am nothing different from these people. I was hurt when my planet was destroyed with my family in it.” Then, once we went to his Fortress of Solitude, he showed me a giant book he wrote using heat vision. It was his journal, and in it is full of memories. Memories of his adventures, and what he learned while growing up. He showed me:

Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you… my only son.

 

“Kal-El? Who’s that Superman?”

“I’ve known him for a long long time. He is me.”

“I thought your name is Clark Kent.”

“In my adopted planet Earth, people call me Clark Kent. But my real Kryptonian name is Kal-El. In order for me to fit in with the world, I must blend in with these people as a newspaper reporter for Metropolis.”

After hearing that, Superman dashed out of his base saving Metropolis from a bank robbery faster than a speeding bullet. I looked all over his fortress wondering why he’s the only one of his kind. It seemed kind of sad being by himself and yet he’s loved by millions. As I looked around more in his fortress, I saw a picture of Lois Lane.

“Beautiful woman isn’t she?” said Superman as he floats down.

“Yes. She is.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“I have. I wish I could be with her… but-”

“What’s wrong my boy?”

“I… I have autism, and she doesn’t. Autistic people can’t be with others.”

Superman then takes me up to space and let’s me see the stars while above earth.

“I have said the same thing over and over again when I was your age. I do not have autism like you do, but I myself am different from the world. I come from another planet. I was a stranger. Know this Tyler and you will never be alone in the universe.”

As we go down back to earth, I saw danger! An airplane was going down in flames. With my X-Ray vision, I saw people scared, and it made me think “This looks like a job for Superman.” With Superman by my side, we stopped the flames with our superhuman breath and landed the plane safely on a field. Saving that plane made me feel more powerful than a locomotive. The people were cheering for joy that Superman came in and saved the day but then asked “Who are you little guy?” “I’m just a friend” said I, and we brought everyone to their homes safely.

Later on, I began to loose my power. The 24 hours were running out on that special power drink. Before I went home, Superman showed me one more thing in his journal.

You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you… even in the face of our death. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I’ve learned, everything I feel… all this, and more, I… I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I… all I can send you, Kal-El.

 

“If I could see my real father and my mother from Krypton once again, my life would be different. I would be like everyone else in my world. But even though I’m a stranger here on Earth I am never alone. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. In my Fortress of Solitude, I am in contact with my father Jor-El. Are you alone in your world?”

“…No, I’m… not.”

“Very good, and you don’t need my powers to prove your abilities to the universe. Before you run out of power, what would you like to do?”

I thought about it for a moment and came up with a brilliant idea. I went to Sweden using my super speed and picked strawberries. Then I used my super human breath to blow a dark rain cloud over the Fortress of Solitude. Then, using my freeze breath, I froze all of the rain drops into snow, gathered them all up, and made 2 snowballs. Then, with the strawberries, I juiced them on the snowballs. I made snow cones! One for me, and one for Superman. Then after finishing off my snow cone, I began to feel cold again and dropped out of the sky. I lost my super powers. It’s a good thing Superman grabbed me before landing on the hard crystals, otherwise I’d get hurt.

In the skies, I thanked Superman for teaching me amazing stories of his past and a big part of his life on what it means to be him. He took me home, and I waved goodbye.

He has all that power, and all the troubles he faced, yet he learned one of the greatest powers of them all; his self control. That’s one of the reasons why he is known to have super strength. Not on lifting heavy things, but the pure strength of his heart.

Friends, I wish I could say that this was all true, but it turned out to be a dream.