During the last movie night one of the guests refused to take off her tennis shoes. I did my personal best of not letting that bother me, but it did!

I felt she did not understood or respect one of the most basic agreements of Religare Culture call, *Genkan!

Genkan represent the physical, mental and spiritual practice of letting go of the outside world as you take a moment to physically remove your shoes 👟👠👞 with the desire to connect with the people inside.

Is a mental awareness that you are in the neuro-divergents land.

Is very common for an Autistic person regardless of being a child or adult, to have over and hypo sensibility.

This hyper-sensibility is like high volume of information.
Let me see if I have the ability to describe it,

The dirt on the floor feels to me like a ‘wedgie’!

Let’s imagine that your love one, ask you to go to work with a G-string… what in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 is called ‘gistro’, because is his or her birthday 🎂 and you agree to the idea.

But! As the desire to please is challenged 🤷🏼‍♀️ by the wedgie of the gistro between the left and the right, a silence 🤐 but constant inner pressure start to build up…

In the background, there is your Mother In Law ‘la suegra’, calling and asking why you have not answered her call…

In short words is annoying, the dirt on the floor is like the annoying alarm ⏰ sound at 06:00, at the next door 🚪 apartment on a Sunday morning… is like Sheldon Cooper in Big Bang Theory.

In general this is hard for most of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder, even harder for the non-verbal autistic.

One of my new friends at M.E.R.I., carries a pack back with everything she could need to deal with an emergency, to keep her ID 🪪 private I will call her HANNAH.

Well! Hannah is ready to whatever the world can through at me. Backpack includes auditory and tactile aid, in other words ear 👂 or sound shield and wet disposable towels for hand 🤚 cleaning.

This is not what I used to call ‘manias’, this is the result of having a brain 🧠 and a body that feel every detail of the environment! No wonder ASD adults and children are protected by the ADA Law!

Can you imagine how disabled must be the life of a ASD?, at work? at home?; 🏡 in summer, with the heat… with the smells of who knows what 😮 !?


The Gistro effect builds up!

Surely and shortly the effects of the hyper sensibility will translate to emotional burst 💥, people may not see the chain ⛓️‍💥 of events, but the body feels the need to scream or scape.

With this in mind…!

I invite you to pay attention to small details around life…this will add value to you and the ones you love. Remember that the good habits like ‘Genkan’ add to all of us regardless of where we are!

Btw!, and in case you want to know what movie we saw!

Temple Grandin, a 2010 Drama/History of the true story of an author, animal advocate and autistic hero. Directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes.

* Genkan (玄関)

Represent a state of mind or awareness that is ideal to be used in our ‘movie night’ or any other event at religare.blog.

Genkan comes from two understandings:

Gen(玄) that can be translated as ‘profound’ or ‘mysterious’.
Kan (関) represents or translate as ‘barrier, gateway or connection’. They together means the entrance or entryway to a house or area.

This tradition of removing your shoes originates from ancient Japanese customs influenced in part by Shinto (the native of the Islands) and Buddhist practices. This is not just a custom but is more like a moment of realization or a moment of awareness!

It looks like a value for a cleaned home but is much more...