I recently attended a reunion for my father’s mother’s side of the family (my paternal grandmother). Around a hundred people were present and as I circulated around the room, I was very struck by the warmth, realness and smiley nature of those present (and the distinctly self-owning more solitary nature of others).
I found in fact that many of the folks present were poets, writers, artists, musicians. Read the rest of this entry »
As a spiritual person, I found it quite shocking when my equally spiritual husband showed me an article titled ‘Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority’ which appeared in a website for a US university (University of Minnesota). The article refered to a study of 2,000 households across the US in which interviewees saw atheists as ‘self-interested individuals who are not concerned with the common good’ and ‘that diversity is fine, as long as every one shares a common core of values that make them trustworthy—and in America, that core has historically been religious’. Read the rest of this entry »
 I recently read an essay by a writer friend (and self confessed ‘ex sociopath’), Jeanette Purkis, who was talking about a cycle of poverty in which those born poor stay poor. Whilst this is often so, what intrigued me was that she was specifically referring to those born to families who disrespected education, authority and the law as though this was synonymous with ‘the poor’. Read the rest of this entry »
The public person is a strange beast. Who on earth would want to be out there for all and sundry to goggle and criticise? Is the public person always self confident? A narcissist? An exhibitionist? An opportunist seeking to sell something? Read the rest of this entry »
‘I lose time’, said the woman across the table from me.It was the follow-up sentence after having told me she lived with a mental health problem.’Do you tell this to all your customers?’ I asked, perplexed. She had just told me she was a ‘multiple’. Read the rest of this entry »
We went to visit an old friend on the weekend. He’d be diagnosed with coeliac 12 months ago in his 50s and had been through lots of health complications (including being told to increase bran!) before finding out. Read the rest of this entry »
Got back from Japan last week.
Somewhere in a mosaic of tepanyaki, a duck billed bullet train on Tokyo station, lecture theatres with black curtains and backstage bento boxes, I delivered two big seminars to around 800 people. Read the rest of this entry »
Donna Williams is an Australian born adult with autism who was assessed as psychotic at the age of 2 in 1965, labelled disturbed in the 1970s and diagnosed as autistic in her 20s in 1991.
She acquired functional speech in late childhood and went on to become a qualified teacher with an honors degree in Sociology and a degree in Linguistics. She is the author of two international bestselling autobiographies and has 10 published books including 4 text books widely used in autism education and two books of poetry and prose.
As a screenwriter, she wrote the screenplay to “Nobody Nowhere”, the first book in her 4 book autobiographical series. That screenplay is currently under option to become a Hollywood film. She is an professional artist, singer-songwriter and published poet as well as a world renowned public speaker on autism now living with her husband in Australia. In her presentations she draws not only on her own experiences but on international experience as a professional autism consultant since 1996.
Donna’s is a speaker in demand around the world due to her unique perspective and ability to share her feelings and experiences on a very personal level. More information about her and her life’s work can be found on her website at http://www.donnawilliams.net .
