Which of these Donna’s would you relate to or befriend?

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I was approached by a French psychologist, Dr Luc-Laurent Salvador, who asked me about bonding, coloured spots and reflection.  Here’s our discussion: Read the rest of this entry »

Once upon a time a 9 year old girl had been stimming in the garden.  Thirty feet away, an excited black curly haired retriever/kelpie cross bounded about happily, looking like a cheery harmless grizzly bear.  The dog had no name for it was only visiting.  It belonged a man who’d gone on holiday and was being looked after in respite care.  But the 9 year old didn’t care, for anything friendly was a friend.  Read the rest of this entry »

As the author of 10 published books, an international public speaker and professional autism consultant I’m best known in the autism world. But I have a wide following in the D.I.D (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and MPD populations too. Read the rest of this entry »

Do we all have multiple selves?  Is this the same as Multiple Personality Disorder or can we suddenly find we have outgrown a self or find an unknown one has finally broken through to consciousness, ready to turn our present life on its head?  To know what selves are we must define what they are not.  Read the rest of this entry »

Kate Boundy is a graduate student from Florida Atlantic University doing a dissertation on women and the neurodiversity movement.  I was one of her interviewees.  Here’s our interview:   Read the rest of this entry »

Today I went to the Rime Institute in Tecoma.  It’s a marvelous house in suburbia transformed into a Buddhist centre practicing Tibetan Buddhism.  If you’ve ever wanted to try out various forms of meditation or learn more about Buddhist spirituality of philosophy this is such a gentle, low key place with a lovely vibe.

Wondering how to stop thinking, doing, judging and learn how to be, or how to strengthen the ability to be to the point it doesn’t cause boredom, agitation or withdrawal symptoms from Facebook or Nintendo?  Then I recommend this place.

It’s donation basis is highly affordable.  You can attend sessions on an ad-hoc basis and see if its for you.  The Buddhists at the centre are real people, earthy, warm, approachable with none of that floating on clouds false ‘new agey’ thing.  Tibetan Buddhism is steeped in rich history thousands of years old.  This is real, tangible spirituality at your own pace (note, I said spirituality, not religion) and, no, you don’t have to be a vegetarian nor religious to try it out.  Even if you just go along for a new cultural experience, it’s a great atmosphere and as close as you’ll get to the feel of a Buddhist temple in the foothills of Dandenong Ranges (it’s also walking distance from Tecoma station if you want to leave the car at home).

When I was a homeless girl

I had yellow teeth with holes,

Big enough to fall through.

Twenty six years of antibiotics

written on my enamel. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2008 The Aspinauts and I were gathered in a living room improvising with me doing beat poetry as the guys jammed on guitars, drums, keyboards.  It became an anti war protest song, Ladies and Gentlemen.  Luckily, someone hit the record button so when Paul joined us as drummer in 2009 we began to rehearse the song.  It became a powerful, almost Floydian stand out piece of sound art and made it onto the debut album, Broken Biscuit in 2010.

Here’s the video clip made by Oz Thomas, a colorful human and a wonderful poet in his own right.

I received this comment

Severe autism is NOT being discussed and it’s getting real old…this is such bs….everyones ignoring this side to the detriment of their own souls

If Temple Grandin was 2 trying to say ‘ball’ but only able to say ‘bah’ and couldn’t communicate until she was 3, is that ‘severe autism’?  If we add to that that she smeared feces at age 2 and 3 and hated scratchy petitcoats so much she tantrumed does that make her autism more ‘severe’?  An obsessive compulsive personality (see OCPD) geared for achievement and capable of high levels of fixation.  Does that make Temple more autistic than other personalities?   If we add that she was a highly intelligent with enough dyspraxia to have been unable to pronounce speech clearly without speech therapy, sensorily disorganised (commonly occurs in dyspraxia) and was unco-ordinated enough to be misjudged as ‘brain damaged’ how does that shape our view of her discussion of having been ‘severely autistic’?  Read the rest of this entry »