Publisher's Synopsis
Travis shares how he fought to keep his special interest of autism against all of the bullies in middle school in high school. Travis got picked on and bullied because he played the trombone and was a band geek. At the same time Travis did not want to just give up the trombone because it was his special interest. It was a special interest that was like a best friend to Travis and it helped him. Travis shares what it was like to go to school every day knowing that you were going to be picked on and bullied because you were a good musician and liked to practice your instrument. Things got so bad in high school Travis shares he thought about quitting the band because he was being bullied and made fun of. Travis will never forget his freshman year when another trombone player told him that he was never going to get a girlfriend and that he was going to marry his trombone. To this day those comments are stuck in Travis' brain. After hearing the other kid say that Travis could never quite look at the trombone in the same way. He loved playing and it was a special interest that was like a friend to him but he knew that playing was causing him to be bullied so he wanted to give up on it but did not. He thought that with each passing year the other kids would become more mature and accepting of the fact that he was a good trombone player but each year only seemed to get worse as the kids got older and started forming clicks that make fun of other groups and other people. Travis shares his middle and high school experience in book I in the series "Fighting to Save My Special Interest." You will learn how Travis has to choose between not being bullied and playing the trombone. He explains how the special interest was a coping mechanism for all of the social rejection he had faced but at the same time it was not really able to do it's job as a coping mechanism when other kids were bullying him because he had a special interest in the trombone. The special interest is like a best friend so that fight was about so much more than just something he was interested in. Read this book to learn more about Travis' fight to keep his special interest the trombone. Will he keep it? Or will he get rid of it? Read on to find out. Here is an excerpt from the book. "I had many crushes in high school but I only acted on 2 of them. The first time it was with a girl that was in the show choir. I had a German class with her too and I tried to send her flowers to school and get her candy, and even got her a necklace for Valentine's Day. While she appreciated the gifts she informed me that she did not feel the same way about me as I felt about her. That is a feeling that I would have to get used to fast because as I got into college and really started to like women and want to date I would be told the same thing over and over again. They rejected me because I was creepy or creepy nice in their words. There was something I was doing terribly wrong that was causing girls to have negative thoughts and feelings towards me but I never could figure out what it was. To this day I still struggle with coming on too strong and showing my emotions towards a lady too quickly. I have to really work hard on bringing my approach level down to a more common level because I have always struggled with being too overwhelming for women. I no longer bring flowers on a first date. I was told that getting them a gift before you know anything about them comes off as creepy and desperate to women. That is why I do not send flowers anymore to random girls that come with a note telling them I like them when I have never talked to them in person."
