It’s been a long day and my spoons are nearly depleted, but I want to write this, even if I do a poor job of conveying my intended message due to fatigue, because I fear if I postpone it there’s a possibility that I might not get back to it. So I’m asking for your …
Accountability, bridge-building, & seeking a “middle” path Read More »
So…I was recently appointed to the IACC, which is the federal advisory board that handles important autism-related matters at the national level. There were ~40-ish? people appointed in total, including 23 public members…and a full EIGHT of us public members are autistic! I am beyond grateful to have an opportunity to serve my community in …
Let’s hope they don’t kick me off: these IACC public comments though… Read More »
(Image is an autism acceptance word cloud of multiple colors. Source: unknown) Today I wrote a letter to the editor and the president of “Mad in America” about an ableist and disturbing article that they published on their site. Here is what I wrote: “Dear editor, I am writing to express major concerns over your …
“Neurodiversity Is Dead?” Ion think so. Letter to the Mad In America Editor. Read More »
My mother told me that when I was a baby/toddler, I had a fascination with the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” I used to script it constantly, singing it at socially inappropriate volumes (i.e. extremely loudly) in public places as well as at home – even when it was nowhere near Christmastime/winter. Another mother …
Cue the lights, cue the music. The video starts. A young lady with Down Syndrome stands on a grassy football field, her eyes glistening with tears that threaten to roll down her carefully made-up face as she is crowned Homecoming Queen to a chorus of thunderous applause. The next few minutes of the video are …
“Don’t tell me that this isn’t real. Don’t tell me this ain’t how I feel. This is all I have. All I have…” –NF “All I Have”(video) This is my first blog post of 2017. And I’m writing it out of…I’m not sure which emotion, truthfully. I guess a mix of them. Frustration. Sadness. Anger. …
(Image is of a map of the 2016 US Presidential Election results displaying D. Trump winning more Electoral College votes and H. Clinton winning more of the popular vote. Photo credit: CNN) A month ago on Election Day, my country, the United States of America, broke my heart. Actually, that’s not true. It more than …
Pantsuit Nation & White Feminism: This WOC Shoulda Known Better Read More »
Churches can be hell for autistic people – unwelcoming, uncomfortable, unpleasant places to be. This may not be happy news, but it many cases it is true. It has certainly been true for me at different times throughout my life – both during the period of life when I wasn’t a Christian and since I …
Why Churches Can Be Hell for Autistic People, Part 1 of 2 Read More »
(This has absolutely nothing to do with the post…but I just happened to glance at the date/time on the corner of my computer screen, and since it’s after midnight it is now 03/15. And because I am a total nerd on top of being a teacher, I can’t move on to the rest of the …
#JusticeForKayleb is reality. Good things DO still happen in the world… Read More »
I am autistic. I am also rearing children who are autistic – along with non-autistic children who have various disabilities. Our home is swimming in acronyms that stand for all of the different diagnoses in our home. We are quite the “motley crew,” my loud, flapping, spinning, scripting, disabled family and I. And though it’s …
