Chris is in Athens, TN. I took him back to Athens , TN on Monday morning because he wanted to unwine from travelling in the truck, and although he asked me before to take him to some place other than Athens, TN, I explained to him in a way that he could best understand given his Autism and cognitive deficiencies, that, Athens is the safest place for him to be while being homeless, because he knows the place, the people, and although it remains a fact that he is being neglected by the government and State agencies, "which is illegal" since he has a proven mental disability (regardless of what his "legal" background is), the town itself remains safer for him than being left in a homeless condition in a place that he is not familiar with, or that has more prevalent crime. He (Chris) did call me on Tuesday evening to see if I could take him to take a shower in Pilot, or Loves, etc., and I took him to Pilot for him to shower, bought him food (although when I took him to Athens on Monday I gave him another $100 aside from the $300 he already had from me teaching him to save money every week from what I give him), and took him back to Athens, TN. At this point, although I will continue to be a friend and financial support for him indefinitely, I may not take him travelling with me too often long distance, which for me means to New Jersey, California, lFlorida, Texas, anywhere in the USA, because once he gets impatient to want to stop travelling, if I do not have enough money to put him in a hotel long term he gets upset, irrational, because he does not understand finances well like someone without a cognitive disability can. Thus, he changes from being talkative, friendly, respectful and thankful towards me, to be irrational, defensive, and offensive towards me. Of course, I am a highly patient individual, full of empathy and compassion, and gifted with a high degree of intelligence, thus, I cannot be upset or get irrationally mad at him, because he is autistic and his cognitive communication abilities, emotions, and understanding of his life, environments, and circumstances can be even less rational than that of an older child. It is cruel that in the United States of America not only the general ignorant public (which public is ignorant also worldwide, it is a humanity issue), but more critically and sad, the US Government itself permits State & Federal officials or employees to neglect assisting with the proper government assistance people with mental disabilities like Christopher Meade.
He is a very nice man, always trying to be honorable, respectful, loves to dress nice and stay clean, which I assure you is not easy to do for someone homeless, unable to work to make money, yet he despite his autism and other issues does amazing. One of the things that may upset not only people around him in general, but also family and friends, is the fact that when he gets upset, it does not matter how good you have been to him, or how much you have helped him, he can curse you, create untrue stories about you, which people may notice are irrational thoughts on his part, but, sometimes he comes across as credible in his made up stories or assessments of others. The text messages that I posted on this page, of comments that I texted him on to his phone this past Monday reflect that. Angela (there was a "typo" on the messages, is a "she" not a "he", not a transgender) was briefly communicating with me and planning on how to find assistance in Athens, TN from official offices for Chris, because although she knows him, she did not even know that he is homeless. So when I got him the hotel weeks back, it was in part because he wanted to talk to Angela in person, and for her to come to visit him in his hotel room, and he even had bevent a little gift for her at Home Goods to giver her, but Angela had texted me that it was not appropriate for her to meet him in a hotel, so they had a meal in a nearby restaurant, but, that is when Angela told Chris that "Jesi (me) is not whom he says he is", which Chris told me, and what Chris says about other sometimes may not be properly understood or assesed, however, he called me from the table where he was eating with Angela, and told me what she was saying about me, he said it in front of her, and seconds after, Angela texted me saying: "This is not Jesi that was talking to Chris!" I do not know why she would be so ignorant, but that is how she acted that day. The following few days Chris was talking with friends, and his grandfather on the phone, and he told them that he went to meet with a woman (he didn't say her name), and that he was interested in her romantically, but that he left because she had venereal diseases. So, although Angela had offended me by telling Chris that "I am not whom I say I am", I acted rationally and forgiving as I generally do, and told Chris not to say such things about Angela, that he cannot make up things about people without having proof or facts. Unfortunately even people without mental disabilities engage in such irrational and ignorant behaviors, thus, but in the case of Chris, he may do it for being upset, or for not understanding a context or situation, perhaps also as a "psychological defense mechanism" to protect himself from rejection, sadness, etcetera. Hence, it is evident that Chris has adaptability and coping mechanism not very dissimilar to those of the average mentally competent individual, however, in his case one cannot try to explain to him in detail what is going on with him psychologically, emotionally, or in terms of behavior. He actually does not hate, nor stays upset with those people, not with Angela, or me, etcetera, it is just a temporary emotional shutdown that he does. That is wht simple friendly communication and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are the best ways to deal with his personality and help him to adapt better to his environments and his interactions with people.
Jesimiel Millar
(11/21/2024)
Florida
