Polly's pages (aka 'Donna Williams')

Ever the arty Autie

Footsteps of a Nobody by ‘Donna Williams’

February13

Footsteps of a Nobody by Donna Williams was a one woman stage show performed by Donna & The Aspinauts at 12 Melbourne theatres in 2009. It can be performed as a one woman show or adapted into a musical and is available to perform at no cost under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License as long as “Donna Williams” is credited as its writer and I would ask that my husband, Chris Samuel, to be informed of any recordings or performances so he has a chance to experience the use of my work.

Creative Commons License Read the rest of this entry »

Lets Stop Calling it ‘the autism’: Autism and Trauma – what’s the connection?

January10

donna williams Recent studies in reputable medical journals have linked Autism to seemingly farfetched things like being born to mothers with pre eclampsia, being born prematurely, being born to older fathers, being born to smokers, being born by cesarean, being circumcised under the age of 5. Read the rest of this entry »

The Power of Music

July15

Hi folks, here’s today’s Webinar on The Power of Music and Autism. Me, Stephen Shore and Rudy Simone all featured in it… enjoy

Donna Williams, BA Hons, Dip Ed.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.myspace.com/nobodynowherethefilm
http://www.donnawilliams.net
http://www.aspinauts.com

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Ladies and Gentlemen , welcome to the war

February26

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.

posted under arts and ARTism, Australia, Donna Williams, global, human rights, music, psychology, sociology, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Ladies and Gentlemen , welcome to the war

Good Burger

January26

In childhood I was called Dolly Burger by my mother’s side, Miss Polly by my father.  I’d rather have been Miss Polly even if I was sick, sick, sick too often than be anyone’s doll.  I didn’t like doll’s, those staring, plastic almost demonic representations of a one-size-fits all normality or perfection.  I never identified with being Doll-y or anyone’s doll.  When my mother told me I was hers, her doll, I felt the foundations of my feminist rejection of conformist expectations of ‘what a girl should be’.  I liked the ballet dress with its fluttering leafy skirt, its sheeny pink sating and mother of pearl beading catching rainbows in the lights.  But the doll thing… Read the rest of this entry »

A disability friendly band; Donna and The Aspinauts

January26

We’ve always considered Donna and The Aspinauts to be diversity friendly but what does it mean to be a disability friendly band?  Is it about having people with disabilities in the band?  Is it about making it easy for those with disabilities to attend your gigs and shows?  Is it about having a natural sense of equality with and respect for those with disabilities?  Is it about having a strong presence in the wider disability community?  Read the rest of this entry »

posted under arts and ARTism, Australia, Autism, autism politics, Donna Williams, human rights, music, sociology, theatre, Uncategorized | Comments Off on A disability friendly band; Donna and The Aspinauts

$1 per album will go to Haiti

January22

CD Baby are donating $1 to for every album sold.


Dear Donna,

The earthquake and its aftermath in Haiti have touched all of our lives. Many in the CD Baby family have already contributed as individuals, but we wanted to do more to help the victims of the horrible earthquake tragedy. By selling your music on CD Baby, you can help raise funds towards those affected by the disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

posted under arts and ARTism, Autism, Donna Williams, global, music, Uncategorized | Comments Off on $1 per album will go to Haiti

An Autie Merry Christmas from Donna Williams

December15

jack frost sml Some of you may remember the Autie Christmas Poem I did on YouTube a few years ago

Well, it got turned into a song called “Merry Christmas” over on

http://www.aspinauts.com

Read the rest of this entry »

posted under arts and ARTism, Autism, autism politics, Donna Williams, music, Poetry, Uncategorized | Comments Off on An Autie Merry Christmas from Donna Williams

Win Win

November4

the red balloon sml Win Win by Donna Williams 09

Compete, compete, I watch my feet, I watch my back, I watch the cracks.

Delete, delete, me from your Facebook, behind the curtain, steal my jacks. Read the rest of this entry »

Photos of Donna Williams and The Aspinauts from Footsteps of a Nobody

September22

band wodonga best 6 sml I’ve made a slideshow from the photos from the shows of Footsteps of a Nobody.  Hope you enjoy it.

Donna Williams, Dip Ed, BA Hons.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.

http://www.myspace.com/nobodynowherethefilm
http://www.donnawilliams.net
http://www.aspinauts.com

posted under arts and ARTism, Australia, Autism, autism politics, Donna Williams, music, psychology, sociology, theatre, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Photos of Donna Williams and The Aspinauts from Footsteps of a Nobody
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