With a history of Primary Immune Deficiency and after 4 months with a lung infection (and on atibiotic number 4 at that point), the doc was waiting for me to get better to give me the pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines.   These are both conditions are commonly caused by Haemophilus Influenzae, one of which is known as Hib.  Then on top of the ear, nose, lung infections I was fighting, I developed a severe throat infection.  It was hard to speak and painful to swallow and I felt like something was stuck in my throat.  I was so looking forward to going back to the doc the next day and with luck the latest results had come back and had finally isolated which bug it was.  I had pneumonia and the bug was Haemophilus Influenzae Read the rest of this entry »

After 4 months of lung infection, nose infection, ear infection, throat infection, four antibiotics and every nutritional and lifestyle intervention for Primary Immune Deficiency, finally, fairly good news today from the doc today.  They now know exactly which bug I have (they knew it was bacterial but had a lot of tests to work out which one it was) which means we can now fight it better.  It’s a kind of pneumonia called Haemophilus Influenzae (one of which is Hib) and 3 of the 4 antibiotics we’d tried are not known to touch it so I may not be immune to antibiotics yet which is great news for me, thanks Santa.  Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Immune Deficiency,

I know you decided to share my life, invited by forces beyond my control – a mother’s alcoholism and family history of cancers and gut disorders, a father’s lineage of first cousin marriages and the challenged genetics that go with that, measles and mumps at age 3, a history of abuse, neglect, homelessness, and then EBV in my 20s almost took us to the end of the line.   But like it or lump it, there you were since I was 6 months old, like a hated siamese twin, right there in my shadow.  With every infection, injection, antibiotic and test you were there and now, I’m 46 and we’re traveling together again. Read the rest of this entry »

BEYOND IRLEN LENSES

As a qualified teacher and autism consultant since 1996  I have worked with hundreds of children and adults experiencing Scotopic Sensitivity (Irlen Syndrome), visual perceptual disorders or dyslexia.

Tinted lenses will not work for all visual perceptual or reading problems and Irlen tinted lenses and tested at psychologist rates makes Irlen too expensive for many people.

BPI tinted lenses are an alternative to Irlen lenses at a fraction of the price and rather as a consultant I facilitate highly affordable self testing with the BPI autism test range (used by those in the autism spectrum population who have Scotopic Sensitivity, Dyslexia and visual perceptual disorders).  Unlike the cosmetic tints in the Irlen range which were developed by psychologists, the BPI range has been developed by Opthamologists, specialists in the treatment of visual perceptual disorders. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Over on the 2009 online AWARES International Autism Conference the host there, Adam Feinstein, wrote:

What do you think of the latest study (from the University of Cambridge) showing that the brains of people with autism are less active when engaged in self-reflective thought. Read the rest of this entry »

Up there with the SUV, is bottled water the new symbol of selfishness?   Something to think about

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

Melanie Hadley is in her final year at Birmingham City University studying Textile Design.  She is  researching for her dissertation and is focusing on the benefits of art with children with disabilities, people on the autistic spectrum and adults.  She asked me some questions about how art has affected my life and about my ARTism.  Here’s our interview: Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Autism 2009, the fifth online world conference to be held within the AWARES conference centre.

This conference opens on Monday, November 30, 2009, and runs for a week until December 7, 2009. Paper abstracts will be accessible from early November.

Speaker list includes*:

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen
Donna Williams
Dr Susan Folstein
Dr Gary Mesibov
Professor Susan Leekam
Dr Wendy Lawson
Dr Manuel Casanova
Stephen Shore….
Read the rest of this entry »

I knew these things, but somehow ‘the advertising’ got in the way
but I’m awake now and I know, I’ve always known,

that being ‘needed’ is not being ‘loved’

and being ‘controlled’ is not being ‘cared for’

BUTTERFLIES by Donna Williams

if someone takes your disabilities and makes them your gilded cage
then you take charge of your disabilities like never before
for they are your fallibility, the keys to your cage

a key you allowed someone else to call theirs
because they taught you this was love and caring
and in the light of day you realise it had nothing to do with you

so you look in the mirror and say, wow, there’s a fool
and brush off the dust and say, ok, so the world is full of fools so I’m in good company

and you look at your life and say, wow, there’s an island
but islands can build bridges

and you look at your smile and say
wow, I’d forgotten I could wake up with this

and you look at your time and say
you ain’t Florence Nightingale, so follow that smile
because a heart shouldn’t be heavy
it should be light
because a heavy heart will never fly
and butterflies can.

Donna Wiliams

http://www.donnawilliams.net

http://www.aspinauts.com