Monthly Archives: April 2016

The right to not understand

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“We have to be allowed to not necessarily understand perfectly, not understand everything, not understand right away, or to try and not understand at all, without being declared forever incapable of understanding,… “

Chavisory's Notebook

As I’m finishing this post, it’s nearing the end of Autism Acceptance Month, and almost Blogging Against Disablism Day (which is officially May 1), and the more I thought about getting around to writing it, the more I thought that it kind of stands at the intersection of those two things… acceptance of autism and disability, and opposition to prejudice based on disability.

We talk a lot during Autism Acceptance Month about the rights of autistic and disabled people to education, to employment opportunities, to accommodation and acceptance in public spaces. We talk a lot about our capabilities, and about what we understand about our experiences.

But I think that there needs to be an understood right of people—particularly young people—to not understand. And to not have that impact their right to access and to information.

Here are some examples of how what I’m talking about plays out:

My most-shared…

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The “inspiration” continues!

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An autistic woman recently married her live-in platonic gal pal in a civil friendship ceremony indicating the two intend to be best buddies forever or at least until the right man shows them what they’ve been missing, according to courthouse records. But to make matters ever more inspiring, our Channel 7 Catch an Inspiring Person […]

via Autistic Woman Marries, Does Not Torment Partner — Autistic Academic

 

I think I sprained a rib!

The inspiration, it hurts! ;)

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The family of a local autistic woman have learned how to interpret her various movements and gestures in an incredible display of generosity that is without precedent in the great history of our nation. “She’s real easy to read once you get the hang of it,” said the autistic woman’s platonic live-in female roommate. “Like, […]

via Autistic Woman’s Family Learns Her Language — Autistic Academic

 

ho boy, my sides hurt!

acceptable/unacceptable

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Lots of happy here, as it should be.
And a piece of heavy that weighs on the heart.
We all need to keep reaching to help move the heavy.

that cynking feeling

Philip was on a roll. He lightly gripped my hand with his left while pushing his right against the wall to propel himself forward. He skated toward the far end of the rink that was lined with mirrors. I knew he would pause there to admire his own mug.

“I see you,” I said with a smile.

I had lost count of the number of laps we had made but they far outpaced his falls. We made several circuits before taking a break.

“He’s skated before,” the owner remarked as Philip headed to the flashing lights of the arcade games.

“This is our third time,” I confirmed.

“He’s doing great,” was the reply.

I had never considered taking my seven-year-old autistic son roller skating until his cub scout pack held its holiday party at a local rink. The den leader assured me that I could walk alongside Philip in street shoes…

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This is the Cost

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Not autism specific, but thought-provoking and related.

I see a lot of theater.

If you know me well, you know that this is a thing that too often makes me grumpy. There are a lot of reasons this is so, but in a conversation with a friend the other day I lamented that the biggest reason I needed a break from theater was because lately everything has started to blend together. I know that what I see are different productions and I know that the people making them have worked very had and I do not want to denigrate that effort. But at some point, good lord, they all start to feel like the same story told in the same way by the same people.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing An Octoroonat The Wilma and for once I didn’t have that feeling.

ocotoroon

There are lots of things I could say about the craft…

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Significantly Disabled: A Funny Story — Day Sixty-Seven

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Want to hear something funny?I’ve been doing a lot of advocacy work in my community around Inclusive Education. It’s a subject that deserves a post of it’s own. Or several, really. But this post is more of an interesting aside.You see, in order to advocate well, I’ve been reading a lot of documents, reports and…

via Significantly Disabled: A Funny Story — Day Sixty-Seven

WOW:

“And now I understood: in a classroom where he is consistently asked to overcome his challenges in order to succeed, without also pitching to his strengths. … well, he is indeed significantly disabled.”