Every year when April – otherwise known as Autism Awareness Month – rolls around, I ask myself, “Awareness? Awareness of what exactly?” Most times I forget my own advice and try to find a “one-size-fits-all” answer to the question. (My advice: there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all for anything.) Some times I just bail [...]
Also tagged Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awareness, Life, parentingSeveral years ago, I wrote a two part article on my thoughts about whether autism should remain in the DSM. Here’s what I came up with: For now, we need to keep autism in the DSM, because it serves as the way for autism parents to help their children get the services they need to [...]
Also tagged Asperger's Syndrome, autism, awareness, DSM, LifeAnother of my posts from the past, on a similar theme as my re-post last night of Knowledge in translation. This time, the translation in question is that between the language of autism and the language of the non-autistic. = = == === ===== WHAT IS YOUR LANGUAGE Everyone has their own path to follow [...]
Also tagged autism, awareness, Education, learning, Life, parentingIn a tweet earlier today, @Think_Better makes the following suggestion: Next time someone says, “That’s just the way it is,” try asking, “What would be an alternative?” It is all too easy to get stuck in the rut of doing things the way they’ve always been done just because that is the way it has [...]
Also tagged autism, learning, question, thinking, TwitterIn November 2007, security consultant Bruce Schneier wrote an article for Wired.com entitled The War on the Unexpected, which he opened with the following paragraph: We’ve opened up a new front on the war on terror. It’s an attack on the unique, the unorthodox, the unexpected; it’s a war on different. If you act different, [...]
Also tagged autism, awareness, disability rights, law enforcement, Security, terrorismI wrote recently about the Dream Theater song “Solitary Shell” and how it brought to mind the impressions many people have of autistic individuals. Tonight I popped in Dream Theater – Live at Budokan to help get the creative juices flowing. The first song in their set list for this show is a song called [...]
Also tagged Asperger's Syndrome, autism, Dream Theater, individuality, lyrics, MusicWhen people with autism or other disabilities try to engage in face-to-face communications, it is often made difficult because of a bias, intentional or not, on the part of the other person in the conversation. Another aspect of the value of social media to autistic people and others with various disabilities is the fact that [...]
Also tagged ableism, Asperger's Syndrome, autism, disabilities, Social MediaIf you watch the news or read the papers/magazines, you have undoubtedly heard about autism. Unfortunately, much of what you have heard is likely of the “doom-and-gloom” variety, telling you what a “terrible” and “devastating” thing it is to live with autism, how parents and educators have to “deal with” autistic children. As the parent [...]
Also tagged autism, parenting
