May 2013
6 posts
6 tags
Sunday Thoughts
Autism Speaks walked today. I decided not to protest. I had other things to do. I also felt that there were better uses of my time and energy. Something about the pitiful ratio of people who talk big online to those who come out weighed down my spirits. I sat this one out knowing that there were at least flyers. Those light posts were private property, so I will not say who put them up. ...
19 tags
Please Help with my Disability-Related Research
I have eight credit hours and a grant to study Georgia’s Central State Hospital, once the largest such institution in the world. I plan to seek IRB approval, so it is likely that I will be able to talk to vulnerable people. I am willing to be discrete. This story remains untold to an amazing degree given the number of people involved. I would love to hear from anyone who knows anything. ...
2 tags
Tomorrow is the School Visit
The only thing better than getting to show kids that tuba is awesome is getting to show autistic kids that tuba is awesome and that they can do cool things when they grow up.
loveablegeek:
My Asperger’s diagnosis amounts to programming to look rationally at an irrational world. My brain’s suffering right now, spending cycles to work through things that are inherently irrational and trying to find something logical in the mess.
I hope things get easier. Laughing at the outlandish parts helps me. It might be different for you.
8 tags
Thinking Person's Guide to Autism: Rethinking... →
Click the link. It is happy, a textbook example of a parent getting it right. If you are a parent and cannot come to terms with the child you have, you are in the wrong. If you are on the fence, imagine your child as an adult. If they are not currently communicative in words of some form, imagine that changing. It may well. What will you feel if your child asks why you loved the imaginary,...
6 tags
April Reflections: the I-20 Lights
I got my first good look at Atlanta taking the long way into Decatur, 75/85 to I-20, Moreland, and Dekalb through interesting parts of town. That was one of my worst days, but those roads are where my life happens, now. Downtown, as seen on a spring night from the window of a car around the cultural speed limit, looks like home. I see it at least once a week. I hate the way they light it up...
April 2013
7 posts
3 tags
Autistic Drift: how to make friends if you are an... →
autisticdrift:
Making friends can be hard. The only way I’ve ever made friends as an adult was via a common interest.
I’ve tried making friends with neighbors or moms of my child’s friends (the way other women seem to do) but have never been successful because I have no idea what women talk about or how to…
You have something with common interests. Those are important. There is...
9 tags
I am. I am. I am.: nothingaboutus-withoutus:... →
nothingaboutus-withoutus:
toriilovexoxo:
Hello everyone! This is my little sister, Emily. Emily looks like a normal girl, doesn’t she? Sadly, my sister was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. For those of you who do not know what autism is, I will explain. Autism is a mental…
Actually, we can form relationships. That is the most offensive thing you said. Where did you look it...
2 tags
Anyone Harassing Autism Speaks on Facebook:
Another option is finding the casual donors. Give them a couple of links showing why Autism Speaks is not what they think. You can divert thousands of dollars to real charities that way.
4 tags
The Day I Taught How Not To Rape →
oatsandyoga:
dancinginthesetrees:
““Ms. Norman” another kid called, “Have you heard about that rape case in Ohio? Those guys got convicted. They have to go to jail. They are going to lose their scholarships. They were going to D-1 schools!”
“Well…”I responded, feeling the heat crawl up my neck, “maybe they are going to jail for rape because THEY ARE RAPISTS!” I yelled those last three words...
I just checked my messages for the first time in six weeks. Nice anons are nice.
7 tags
April is Autism Awareness Month. Autistics are trying to reclaim it because making it go away seems impossible at this point. If you care about why April is contentious and we get angry with you sometimes, this is a great month to learn about ableism and good vs. bad awareness. Ableism is real. Ignoring it makes you part of the problem, the inert mass of apathetic people who slow down...
March 2013
5 posts
opheliachondriac asked: I am autistic, and have sensory integration issues, am tactile defensive, have auditory processing disorder, and a few other issues. But thanks for your post that enlightened me to a world that "know nothing about" and directed me to a tag that is actually for me. That was super sweet of you! <333333
A sinner seeking manic martyrdom.: "Autism is not... →
rhapsody-in-neon-aubergine:
I saw this quote on a blog I read, and felt the need to comment on it, but couldn’t in that venue, so you, my dear followers, are being treated to a text post.
As some of you know, I am a part-time nanny for a family with three children, the eldest, who will here be called S, has severe autism….
Are you autistic? #actuallyautistic is for autistics, not you. ...
12 tags
Visiting Children
This week, I got an invitation to play at a school and meet students. They want their kids on the spectrum exposed to autistic adults. Meeting such children is great but slightly fraught. Do they have expectations? If so, what are they? Do I measure up? Did well-meaning adults drag them into an encounter they may not want yet? Do they have it better than I did at the same age? Are they...
3 tags
Apparently, Georgia’s new bill to make insurers pay for autism-related things is an Autism Speaks sponsored effort to get ABA everywhere.
1 tag
virginityincluded:
I feel like this damaged I’ve sustained over the years is irreversible. I don’t know who I am, I don’t know what I am. I experience such intense negative emotions. My mental health is just so fucked. I have no skin. I fuckin’ hate being autistic. If I was neurotypical with these issues, I might be better off. Bleh.
I am not given to discussing personal matters online. I use...
February 2013
6 posts
1 tag
Autistic People Should Continued
While it is true and important that we should exist, be respected, be heard, etc., I would rather hear about what we should do for ourselves and each other. We may not always be able to get others to do what we want but can control our own behavior. We should always be valued as others are, but we all know that. Not everyone does. Not everyone will. What can we do to improve life for...
queerability asked: Could you promote Queerability? It's a brand new blog for LGBTQ+ disabled people!
Anonymous asked: Hey there! Good to see you back :)
4 tags
The Boy (Autistic People Should...)
I dragged myself out of bed, got presentable this morning. In the student center, I remembered that this day merited good clothes. Before I got coffee, I walked back to my room to exchange a venerable t-shirt for something I would wear to class or church. The boy was coming. Ibuprofen had no effect on my headache. I had hit a level of exhaustion irreparable by caffeine.* I did my best to...
2 tags
Back
I told someone I would do well in school, keep my nose clean, two months ago. I have never been more bored. When I found a link to my blog at the end of a minidoc short that will premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival, I realizedthat Traveling Show had to live again. This blog is about to get perfectly good publicity. Why let it go to waste?
Generally, I like the portrayal. My voice records...
Today marks the first day a customer has made me...
iamelectrogirl:
Read More
People who abuse waiters are bad people. I am sorry you ran into one and hope the shower helps.
January 2013
4 posts
1 tag
You know who I think are the most hurtful people?
tee-m-kris:
It’s not the Talk About Curing Autism, Jenny McCarthy or Autism Speaks supporters, it’s the people who don’t do anything - the apathetic people. It’s the people like my Facebook friend, Kyle.
I had this exchange with him on Facebook when I called him out on his use of the R-Word. I find the “I din’t mean it!” attitude much more hurtful than someone actually telling me “I don’t...
1 tag
Looking for advice.
atreeformybed:
I need help.
This is something I hate saying. I hate asking for help and I very rarely do. My whole life, I’ve felt weird, different, and out of place. I’ve never met anyone like me, and my friends (even acquaintances) always tell me they’ve never met anyone like me either. I have a bunch of traits that I’ve always brushed off as “oh, another quirk/thing that makes me me and...
1 tag
feminaspie:
ugh I’m trying to sketch out ideas for an autistic Disney princess
and I didn’t want her to have the usual open-mouthed bright smiley face most Disney girls have because that was the only physical marker I could think of to show she was autistic
but otherwise she was going to be posed like a regular Disney princess, yknow, skipping around and shit
and as I’m drawing it I’m...
7 tags
New Ground
I decided things had to change. I still have to figure out how. Less, not no, neurodiversity seems to be in the cards. There are too many wild edges, too few rules about acceptable behavior. I compromised for a while but saw more than I could accept. I took a few days to grieve and clear my head. The sense of missed possibilities due to one small barrier of conscience is hard, but I need a...
December 2012
14 posts
1 tag
Grad School/Life Anxiety
themiddlechild:
Anyone have any tips on how to stop being exhausted long enough to figure your life out? I decided to take a year off before I apply to Master’s degree programs because I am barely able to get out of bed everyday - not from depression (though I’m sure that plays a part), but from exhaustion. I am tired from giving 100% for so long with no breaks. I can barely function some days....
9 tags
After Christmas
As soon as the holiday passes and offices reopen, an epic struggle with the University of Chicago phone relay will resume. I want to know more about how I was diagnosed. I want to see the notes my parents never did. Finding who to call and getting through is cumbersome as always, but something is worse than the standard difficulties of dealing with large institutions this time. They want a...
3 tags
1 tag
My obsession is rubbing off on my kids
goldenheartedrose:
So I was standing at the bus stop with my five year old son this morning. He and the neighbor girl (who is a year older than him) are play fighting (Kung Fu Panda style) and I ask him if he’s going to fight the bad guys like Kung Fu Panda. He turns to me and says, “No, Mommy. I’m going to beat the monsters like DOCTOR WHO!” Yep, that’s my son.
That sounds so cute. Dad...
6 tags
If You Use Facebook, Please Take a Moment to...
http://www.facebook.com/CureAspergersSaveChildrenFromPsychokillers
1 tag
draggle-ella:
I’ve been told by a friend I know in person that the reason no one has been nasty to me during this past week is because I’m significantly older than Lanza was and that everyone figures if I were going to do something horrendous, I’d have done it by now.
Is there a way I should react to this statement?
It probably helps to be a woman, too. No one thinks women are threatening.
1 tag
My Relations With the Autistic Community: What to...
Newton turned personal. This morning, an uncle became belligerent on my Facebook wall. I talked about how people like me are concerned for our safety. If I lived in a less progressive community, I would be. He sent me a lecture about how that was paranoia, classroom inclusion was bad, and people with disabilities belong in institutions. I told him not to contact me again if he thought autism...
6 tags
Some food for thought on the "mommyblogger"...
moosegeese:
Another post which may be seen as a dickish move on my part, but IDGAF…
For all these parents of special needs children who claim they have absolutely no time for themselves or anything personal, other than taking care of their children… when the hell do they find the time to blog endlessly about their struggles? And why is blogging about those struggles their top priority when/if...
11 tags
“I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.
A...”
– This is my brother. This article hits so close to home its scary. (via wingiswrittenonmyfeet)
If so, I am sorry for your suffering. However, she does not know this child is autistic. She did disclose his problems to the entire world under her full name. There is a picture of him. Even if his...
8 tags
Liza Long is WRONG...
moosegeese:
Right… I do believe I’m going to start using this thing more. I’ve had a few people poke at me to do so lately, so here I am… again. I have a lot to say about some things and I have not been able to blog or share myself in any real capacity in quite a long time, due to a certain situation. That situation is no longer one I am allowing to have power over me (thanks therapy!) so I’m...
partytilfajr:
If praying isn’t making you kinder to others, you’re doing it wrong.
1 tag
why nobody trusts white feminists
white girl: in 1939, 19 years after women gained the right to vote
native girl: that's 19 years after white women gained the right to vote, why do people ALWAYS just say "women" like it applies to every woman?
white girl: Oh wow. You should probably reconsider what makes something a "right". LEGALLY WoC could vote in 1920, it was just ridiculously hard to exercise that right because of the oppressive nature of the places in which they lived.
native girl: native americans weren't even US citizens in 1920
white girl: Why do people ALWAYS feel the need to separate women by race instead of presenting a united front?
native girl: because not ALL women gained their rights at that time, why do you feel the need to define when rights were gained by a specific race alone?
white girl: Didn't, actually. You just have what seems to be an insatiable desire to call everything racist and sexist.
native girl: ( ಠДಠ)
This is true, though, for the sake of accuracy, Native Americans got citizenship, willingly and otherwise, at a variety of times. WWI veterans and their families had it by 1920. Oppression, as well as the controversial nature of U.S. citizenship, kept turnout low. So did distance from polling places for people in remote areas.
1 tag
curmudge0n:
It disgusts me with the fact that they found out that the shooter from the Connecticut shootings has autism and that must mean all autistic people must be murderous sociopaths.
I have Aspergers and I’m not gonna fucking kill a child.
I’m so sick of my mental illnesses either being demonized or romanticized in society.
All I want is to be neurotypical. I hate this. Why can’t I...
2 tags
Open Letter to the World
[Mentions of Violence Below the Cut]
[[MORE]]
I will not use the killer’s name. He might have liked that. He deserves to sink into oblivion in our collective consciousness as negative space, empty, faceless. I will ask you to give what happened in Newton its full moral weight. If he was autistic, he still made a choice. Most of us decide to be decent. Do not give him an excuse...
November 2012
19 posts
4 tags
1 tag
duke-adam:
what is these “tuba christmas”s i have been hearing about, and where can i find one?
http://www.tubachristmas.com/selectloc.php
5 tags
I Faxed Congress Today. You Can, Too.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is having a hearing on autism this Thursday. Use this form to weigh in:
http://teamcoelacanth.com/contactform.htm
This is what I said:
To Whom it May Concern: I am an autistic adult near Atlanta. I was disturbed that it took such outcry to get people like me invited to the meeting. I appreciate the improvement but wish the Committee had...
4 tags
Thanksgiving (TW Ableist Violence)
Thanksgiving has always felt artificial, but I am grateful for the good in my life, especially friends, bandmates, and instruments, family, and caffeine. Internet that was not supposed to work generally has, which is important because the sources for my papers are mainly online. Most of all, thank God, I am thankful that the roster of autistic murder victims has barely grown this year. This...
TUBA IS A MELODIC INSTRUMENT
singoutstrong:
How many other tuba players or musicians know that this is true?
1 tag
Keys to Holiday Success →
abilities-of-the-art:
The trick to holiday success is setting wise expectations. Autistics are not characters in holiday specials specials. You will probably never have a Christmas like the ones that replace your favorite show for the middle two weeks of December. Would you like it if you had it? Prolonged exposure to scented candles, bright lights, disrupted routines, and smalltalk makes more...
2 tags
Espresso Bean Time
That late-semester milestone is here. I plan to buy my first bag today. I will probably have this year’s edition of Non Sequitur Notes to post this week.
