There are a lot of people who think I was a cute baby, and sure, I was. But there were things amiss. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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! Read the rest of this entry »

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? Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

The media has portrayed Autism as a disease, the DSM has defined it as a disorder, many in the ‘Autistic Pride’ movement call it a condition. But is there really so much difference between these terms? I thought I’d explore some of these definitions: Read the rest of this entry »

There’s vast online gatherings of enthused, sometimes fervent, even openly militant, self identified ‘Autistics’ who feel that Autism is a new ‘race’. Read the rest of this entry »

ADAM FEINSTEIN:
Hi Donna, sorry to trouble you, but I am currently reading a 2005 article by Brigitte Chamak about the autobiographical writings of people with autism and she contrasts your position and that of Temple Grandin and Jim Sinclair. Chamak says that Temple sees her particular gifts as inextricably linked to her autism and quotes Sinclair as saying that his autism is a “way of being … It is not possible to separate the autism from the person.” Read the rest of this entry »

Having had my fair share of stalkers, trolls, conspiracy lovers, I loved this. Of course just posting it likely to bring the infestation out of the woodwork where haters fester but it was a great clip. Here’s another one too. Read the rest of this entry »