I love this… and with autism its similar… we are diverse, we are people with personhood and autism is part of that but whilst some feel it DEFINES them in their entirety, others do not, not because they are in denial or ashamed of their autism, but because their autism is not the sole source of everything they think, feel, do or achieve. Read the rest of this entry »
Mental health issues effecting 70% on the spectrum… a far cry from the old days where if you had any mood, anxiety, compulsive, dissociative, attachment, adjustment, emotional or behavioural, personality or identity disorders or psychosis you were trolled with you ‘couldn’t possibly ALSO be autistic’. Alternatively people without functional communication who also have mental health issues traditionally have had their mental health issues almost as standard fobbed off as ‘part of their autism’. Read the rest of this entry »
I had an email from an optometrist wanting to find out what tints I’ve found work best for autistic children. I replied: Read the rest of this entry »
Such a sweet child, a dancing doll….
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“Hemiparesis is weakness of the entire left or right side of the body. Hemiplegia is its most severe form, complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medical conditions, including congenital causes, trauma, tumors, or most commonly by stroke.” from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1282223/ Read the rest of this entry »
When I think about Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) I tend to think about adults who survived severe abuse at the hands of severely mentally ill carers as this is the most usual (but not the only) cause of severe early trauma. I don’t think about whether someone with undiagnosed DID may have had children and if they did, what would it be like for their children. I don’t think about that because I’m among the 70% of people who grew up abused who did not repeat that abuse on their children – but I also didn’t have children. Read the rest of this entry »
Looking for Autism Friendly Dinner Clubs in Melbourne? These groups are Diversity Friendly which means those attending will be diverse. Read the rest of this entry »
Land’s End by Donna Williams
sometimes we pamper and pander and fail to teach children that each of these questions are relevant at different times and that it is a skill to recognise each and to know when one applies more than another. Read the rest of this entry »
My husband Chris and I are one of those couples people look at and get all ‘awww’ and ‘schucks’ and ‘you guys are just so cute’ about. And we are ‘old marrieds’, best pals, lovers, comrades, people who have shared a long 15 year journey together and just damned compatible and different enough to both glue us together and keep us being each our own person. So why didn’t we have kids? We were both childfree by choice – Dinks in urban slang today. But what were the nuts and bolts of that choice? Were his reasons for this choice the same as mine? And how did us being a childfree couple start out? Were we always this way, before we met, even since our teens, since our childhoods? Read the rest of this entry »
“30 per cent of children with an autism diagnosis at age two no longer fit the criteria at age four.”
“early identification of autism results in a more favourable outcome, the problem is children in their toddler years, especially boys, can exhibit behaviours that can mimic those of an autistic child.”
““This isn’t a case of over-diagnosis,†she says, ignoring Gnaulati’s argument that health professionals aren’t properly trained to differentiate real autistic behaviour from normal toddler behaviour.”
““Many children, when they’re being assessed by a professional, especially in the younger years, shut down and behave strangely. ”
http://ottawacitizen.com/…/rises-in-autism-and-adhd… 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 .