This month’s artwork is titled ‘Picnic’.
It is 20cm x 20cm, acrylic on wood.
It reminds me of people who are so busy they never stop to smell the roses. Or like that advertisement Read the rest of this entry »
In the 1950s and 60s, children with autism were deemed to have ‘infantile psychosis’ Read the rest of this entry »
As a Taoist, I find the positives in otherwise negative experiences. Read the rest of this entry »
This month’s artwork is titled ‘Starman’. Read the rest of this entry »
I was the doorbell… wind, wind, wind, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, wind, wind, ring…. oh shit, they’ve replaced it with a battery one… Read the rest of this entry »
To the Gadoodleborgers;
translators, bridgekeepers between worlds.
He spied her in a magic wood,
a sensing creature in need of none
and dreamed of how he’d join her there,
his partner she would soon become.
He lured her back to the place he knew;
a world of hierarchy and of power.
And there she then began to die,
as surely as a wilting flower.
His heart began to break inside,
he knew only one thing to give.
Return her to her sensing world,
that she might find the will to live.
And there as she began to bloom,
she saw something he’d never seen.
That he was not of that world either,
a Gadoodleborger, he had been.
That he walked between two worlds,
he now had finally understood.
And so they made their home in neither world,
at the edges of the magic wood.
The End
NOTES:
The Gadoodlborger is a term that became familiar in my book Somebody Somewhere. It denoted a person who could translate different ‘normalities’, a ‘bridgekeeper’ between different worlds. It was the highest compliment I could pay to those who understood instinctually there was no one ‘normality’ and the inherent equality in difference – what it was to be naturally and truly diversity friendly. Read the rest of this entry »
This December marks two years in remission from breast cancer and my subsequent retirement… which was not due to the cancer but due to peripheral polyneuropathy making life progressively ‘interesting‘ ever since chemo. Life itself, however, is still well worth celebrating. And to celebrate (and to help me raise money to pay off my own Christmas/birthday present of a $4000 VPAP machine for my Central Apnea I’m having a 2013 Christmas Art Sale. Hoping some of you may seize the opportunity to snap up an art bargain. Read the rest of this entry »
Exposure Anxiety is an ‘Invisible Cage’ that challenges the person to either side with it and identify self with their own compulsive self protection responses. It results in compulsive and involuntary avoidance, diversion and retaliation responses. In its different modes it can be easily confused with Oppositional Defiance Disorder, prompt dependency, Dependent Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder or presenting like ADHD. Read the rest of this entry »
Baloombawop, is an illustrated 51 page off the wall hilarious adventure story by Donna Williams told in Dr Seuss/Roald Dahl/ Lewis Carrol like rhyme from start to finish. It was written and performed as a children’s rock musical by Donna and The Aspinauts throughout 2009 and captivated both special needs and mainstream alike including ‘kids at heart’.
The land of Baloombawop and its crazy characters – The Gadoodleborger, Dame Grumpty Do, The Brookenstein Fox, Boogerlooger, Charlie Warmton, Bluster Mc Fluster, The Whirly Twirl Girl, The Gimmety Gimme – almost spring off the page and each can easily lend themselves to individual drama activities.
Suitable for kids of all ages and kids at heart, Baloombawop can also be used as a springboard from which to discuss difference, individuality, diversity, and society’s fears of these…. and how our different ‘normalities’ make our world so much more colourful. Read the rest of this entry »
Have just released “Echoes“, a beautiful 58 page full color E-book filled with quotes and illustrated with photography. 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 .