Star Trek & Star Wars: From an Autistic Point of View

Nearly twenty years ago, I was the same age as my son is now, 13, when I was introduced to the new installment of Star Trek, in the form of the Next Generation series. I had never much cared for the original series, but I found myself fascinated by this newest incarnation. I became addicted to it, I am unashamed to say, and even when I was pregnant with my son, I did not let that stop me from finding a way to watch the series.

I am pleased to say that my son has inherited my love of Star Trek. I had hesitated for a long time in allowing him to watch it, but he has shown amazing maturity and an understanding for many things in Science Fiction, so I have allowed him to watch some of the Star Trek Voyager episodes that are in syndication locally. He always has tons of questions about the characters, their situations, etc.

His interest is not limited to just Voyager, of course. He has developed an interest in the newest series, although cancelled, Enterprise. Just recently, we had a very interesting discussion about the various "aliens" that have been on Star Trek. We discussed the Dr. Flox (Danoblian), Neelix (Talaxian), Spock (Vulcan), along with Seven of Nine (of course!). That was just the tip of the iceberg. His understanding of this universe is only one portion of his love for this topic, and is surpassed only by my own.

Years ago, I ordered a binder that was filled with sheets of information all about Star Trek. It covered the Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine. I no longer have that binder. My son now possesses it. It has a proud place of honor in his room, along with his books about his other interests. He still enjoys looking through the information, as he did when he was a much younger child.