sketching roots: the grandfather situation (autism spectrum stories)
I was encouraged to make“people-sketches” as a way of connecting my thoughts and experiences together. This all came about when I was asked to consider whether any other members of my family are on the...
View ArticleBetween Cork and Pin: the strange case of autism stereotypes
I don’t think I need to list common autism stereotypes. Basically, if you’ve ever looked at the internet, watched the news or, you know, are human…you’ve heard them. What I’d rather focus on are their...
View ArticleScissors (stories from the autism spectrum)
(Please note: this post can be upsetting for some; depending on how emotional topics impact you, read or don’t-read accordingly. In short: take care of yourself.) I spent a few years in therapy,...
View ArticleAutism/Aspergers Q and A: social skills training and managing negativity
Two questions this time around. One from a parent…and one from a lady diagnosed with Aspergers who wants to know how anyone could feel good about life on the spectrum. Thoughtful questions. My...
View Article5 New Year’s Resolutions for Autism Speaks
I was already of the opinion that Autism Speaks is a pretty awful group. Their message is so dire, bleak, that it seemed pretty clear to me: they do more harm than good. But when the co-founder of AS...
View ArticleSketching Roots: the beekeeper (stories from the autism spectrum)
I. 2005 After I meet with a psychologist for a few sessions, she begins to mention the possibility of an autism spectrum diagnosis. I bristle, insist I’m just there to talk about depression. She asks...
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The Hidden Visible: a conversation with Serena McCarroll
Serena McCarroll first began to experience chronic pain during her training at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. She would later develop additional challenges with proprioception, the body’s ability to...
View Articlesketching roots: the improvers
“Sketching Roots” is an ongoing series featuring family memories and all of the fun awkwardness that that implies. I. I have an aunt who thinks appearance is everything. You should look nice, have nice...
View ArticleNoh World
I. As a little one, you didn’t understand facial expression. You didn’t even know it meant something…you just knew faces shifted and moved and you couldn’t make sense of that. You looked in the mirror...
View Articlesketching aether
I. Every now and then, when I was very young, I could sense this shape coalescing within my thoughts. I would find myself…not so much visualizing it, as feeling it. It was free of content, just a...
View Article10 Autism Interviews: a collection
I recently guest-posted two interviews at Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. I thought I would share links to those here, along with every interview/conversation I’ve been part of over the years. The...
View ArticleFrequently Asked Questions (that I made up)
I wanted to put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions. The problem is that no one really asks me anything. Mostly when people ask things, it’s the same question, usually from depressives who...
View Articleuncanny plateau
this is a collection of off-topic material. I. Last Wednesday: I’m escorted into a small, dark room. A medical sort of person presses a techno-wand around my body. She monitors a computer screen, where...
View ArticleAutism, Depression and Therapy
On Twitter, Anonymous asked, “How did you find a good therapist?” This was specifically in reference to the topics of autism and depression. So. How did I find a good therapist? I started by finding a...
View Articlethings passing by
3-25-11 focusing too much on the things passing by. birds going by, dead leaves sweeping past. people (anonymous to me) driving by in shapeless cars. me (anonymous to them) drifting in the distance...
View ArticleThe Banqueteers
fall semester, junior year, 1997 I sort of wake up. A professor chalks words across a board and explicates a system. I move a pen around to seem life-like and repeatedly stick a coffee-filled thermos...
View Articlelincolnshire poacher
Music. Music is fracturing. I didn’t realize that for a long time. I thought you were supposed to hear music and experience the memory version of lucid dreaming. It wasn’t until high school that I...
View ArticleIt was a weird adolescence.
I’ve mentioned this before, so I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself, but I never really developed much of an ability to use or understand body language. I thought words were the thing, and so I missed out...
View Articlehymnal
When I was 12 and going into junior high, dad talked me into playing trumpet. He was always pushing me to be more musical. Singing gospel was his greatest passion and it was inconceivable to him that I...
View ArticleTativille
I’m never able to get Jacques Tati’s 1967 film Playtime completely out of my head. There are phases where, for a few months, it’s on constant mental rotation…and then there are quieter times. And then...
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