Another ankle update, and an experience with projection

The ankle is healing up nicely. I had a follow-up appointment today, and Dr. Sauer graduated me from the temporary splint to a boot. I’m still not supposed to walk on it, but I can put a little weight on it to avoid losing my balance when necessary.

Meanwhile, in “The Fun Never Stops” category, I bit my tongue Tuesday — rather badly. I had just had a bowl of my favorite no-sugar-added ice cream, my tongue was slightly numb from the cold, and I foolishly started chewing on a sugar-free pecan caramel candy. My tongue got mixed up with the caramel, and ouch. Deep enough to bleed for a while, and started bleeding again Wednesday morning when I tried to eat breakfast. I’ve been babying it and, fortunately, tongue injuries tend to heal very quickly. (Lots of vascularization.) I feel almost human again today.

I had an odd experience watching some movies to relieve the tedium of not having the stamina to work at my computer all day. I was watching Patton, the classic movie with George C. Scott, and I was surprised to find that I winced every time the character jumped to his feet. … As if he had a broken ankle, and really shouldn’t be doing that.

This seems like a classic case of projection, in which you project your own mental or (in this case) physical state onto someone else, and are surprised or disbelieving when they don’t act like you would act. It’s convinced me projection is a real phenomenon, at least in this limited example.

It’s a curious fact that autistics have a real problem with projection. (I have three autistic nephews, an autistic son, and have occasionally been told I must have a touch myself.) If a normal child is shown a film in which a child puts a toy in one of two boxes in a room; leaves the room; another child enters and moves the toy to the other box; and the first child comes back into the room, the normal child expects the child in the film to look in the box where she left the toy. Autistic children, by contrast, often expect the child in the film to look in the box where the other child in the film moved it. Because the autistic child saw the toy moved, and projects this incorrectly onto the child in the film

Just some random musings. Golly, I hate being tied down with a broken ankle ….

And four weeks to go before I can start walking on it.