We went to the opening night of an art show, called ‘Letterheads’, at Coppin Gallery, 49 Coppin St Richmond. It was a wild place, a massive warehouse type of place with wild graffiti works on the walls on the way in. Read the rest of this entry »
This week I got this marvelous little gem through the email. It went like this….
Congratulations Donna Williams!
Listeners on American Idol Underground have rated your song among the top 50 tracks in the Jazz genre during the previous week.
I was a kid in the 60s, and I remember a big glossy red square with a love heart on it and a man in the middle of the heart which seemed to be looking at me.
Those eyes had a great honesty, no walls. He has a quiet feel to him, almost a shyness. When he looked at me off that glossy cover, he didn’t take from me, or give to me, he was just ‘being’ in his own space. it was a marvellous thing to have a friend like this, even if he was only ever a picture. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
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 .
