Humanity
http://www.myspace.com/nobodynowherethefilm
http://www.donnawilliams.net
http://www.aspinauts.com
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 .
“We can replace core self with DSMs”
I don’t get what you mean there. Replace my core self with a diagnostic manual? That doesn’t make sense. Or does DSM mean something else besides Diagnostic and Statistical Manual here?
Ellen, of course it doesn’t make sense… but humans do some crazy shit. There are those so enamored with a diagnosis they would commit violence against someone who suggested their selfhood was more than their diagnosed (or self diagnosed) condition… in other words they are more invested in that as ‘self’ than any Core Self… although they would say this IS their Core Self. But the core self is not defined by any condition, the core self works with and from within whatever conditions a person has but is not itself those conditions… so if one has brain injury, MS, CP, Downs… one’s Core Self is not wholly defined by those neurological or physical conditions… even if these became the sexiest diagnoses on the planet, creating insatiable lust for ego identification with them, it would only overlay the Core Self which developed between 6mths-2yrs of age and is one’s personhood, not amounting to any one condition or disability. In fact the Core Self (as can one’s ego) can drive us to try things our disabilities or conditions cause limitations to and that information must then be accommodated… often the Core Self will continue to strive as though unaffected by conditions, driven to find strategies and adaptations in order to continue fully embracing all experiences it can. The Core Self is a life force.
My question was simply, what do you mean there by DSM. I’m disappointed that you’ve chosen not to answer it.
By DSM, do you mean a diagnosis from the DSM? I think now from your answer that’s what you meant. It would have been nice for you to say so directly. And it would have been nice for you to have said what you meant in the first place in your original post, instead of saying something non-sensical. A person can’t replace a core self with a physical object! Nor with an electronic object, for that matter. Which is what the DSM is.
Hi Ellen, it’s satire… satire is hard for many Aspies to understand though others on the spectrum use it with ease. Perhaps I’ll add a header saying this is satire so people won’t get confused. You see, even the term ‘I am AN Autistic’ doesn’t make sense… an autistic what? Or I am AutisM… so one IS a medical diagnosis? Yet people in the pride movement use these phrases all the time. So it makes just as much linguistic (non)sense to say ‘I am a DSM’. Satire is a way of being silly through words to highlight a way of thinking.