April7
Back to Normality by Donna Williams
A. A strong and persistent identification with the condition of autism (not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being someone with the condition). Manifested by four (or more) of the following:
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April6
Absent Friends by Donna Williams
I believe identity matters. As such I support the right of humans to identify with any culture, belief or condition. If one believes one has a condition one can accept that belief without harming those who are formally diagnosed with the same condition they identify with. There’s room in this world for both AUTismS the condition and ‘Sexy Autism’ for those who identify with it as a way of thinking/being. And there will be those who live in one or the other and those who have lived elements of both.
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April6
Breakthrough by Donna Williams
Anna Kennedy wanted to interview me about bullying. I invited her to send me 6 questions. Here’s our interview.
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April3
temple grandin aged 9 with her mother and younger siblings
When Nobody Nowhere was about to be published in 1991, I was terrified. So I wrote to Temple Grandin as the only published autistic author before me. It was written by a ghost writer, Margaret Scariano in liason with her and titled
Emergence: Labeled Autistic. It was with a therapy book publisher and not yet in mainstream
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April2
Donna Williams aged 4 months old
There are a lot of people who think I was a cute baby, and sure, I was. But there were things amiss.
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April1
Temple Grandin aged 4 reaching for a toy from her father
Temple Grandin’s first book, Emergence: Labeled Autistic (by Temple Grandin in liason with her ghost writerMargaret Scariano), was published in 1986 by Arena Press which was a publisher of Academic and Therapy publications. Read the rest of this entry »
April1
Temple Grandin months old in her mother's arms
Temple Grandin was born in 1947 and diagnosed as brain damaged at age two around 1949. I was diagnosed as psychotic at age two and a half in 1965. I wondered how two people later both diagnosed as autistic (which was deemed childhood psychosis until the mid 70s) had quite different early diagnoses. The first picture here is of Temple Grandin at probably two months old in her mother’s arms taken around 1947.
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March31
Autism Diagnosis
Temple Grandin was born in 1947. I was born in 1963. The diagnosis of Temple as brain damaged around 1949 (aged 2) and me as psychotic in 1965 (aged 2) was BEFORE the use of Lorna Wing’s triad of impairments which we’ve only used since 1976!
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March29
Back to Normality by Donna Williams
Most people have heard of people with autism being annoyed by the tag on their underpants or T shirt, their distress at the discomfort of their shoes, their distress at wearing anything but the softest of fabrics, even wearing their clothing with the seams on the outside to avoid the distraction/irritation of ‘imperfect’ feeling clothing. And then there’s those who reduce their foods to only those of a certain brand or packaging, or begin to manifest vomiting upon expectation to try foods outside of their comfort zone. But is this specifically autistic?
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March29
Humanity
Show me a lust for pride and I will show you a
narcissist. We can strive to create identities out of militancy, become entranced with self aggrandizement and the icons that embrace it and it’s ultimate philosophical seeds of ‘master race’ mentality. We can take temporary but ultimately insatiable solace in boosting fragile egos through over identifying with those in high places as if their status and power will be ours by proxy. We can replace core self with a DSM entry or self diagnoses with sexy labels by virtue of their imagined association with ‘the greats’. But
here is presented another choice, a simple choice… you can follow insatiable narcissistic glorifiers or simply become one of the egalitarian humanitarians who strive for humility, hope, empathy.
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