Month: December 2011

3120132759_c879ab6c14-6155206
Disability

Surviving the Holidays While Autistic

Posted on by

Photo © skywaykate | Flickr/Creative Commons [image: Photo of a table set up to serve a holiday buffet, lit by candles.] Corina Becker nostereotypeshere.blogspot.com Up here in Canada, we had our Thanksgiving back in October, so we’re all getting ready for Christmas/Hanukkah/other winter holidays.  I’m going to be very honest: I celebrate Christmas, so my default for the holiday season is Christmas.  This doesn’t mean that stuff I say cannot be used for other holidays, it’s just a religious difference, use as need. But I’m kinda using my own experiences for this, so I’m going to resort to my default of Christmas.  Also, I’m mainly addressing parents in this post, but I’m certain that some of these pointers can be used for Autistics of all ages. But yes, the winter holiday season is approaching, and it’s a very busy, hectic and overwhelming time of year, full of all the things…

Disability

An Autistic’s Advice: Ten Tips for Teachers

Posted on by

Lydia Wayman autisticspeaks.wordpress.com There is so much misinformation and so many misperceptions out there about people with disabilities, and that includes autism. I’ve read some things lately, comments by teachers or people who will teach, that have sent me reeling. In typical Lydia fashion, I will write a Ten Things in an attempt to dispel these myths about people like me. 1. People with disabilities are not always happy, joyful, eternally childlike, or “perfect angels.” People with disabilities are humans. This means that we experience the full range of human emotion, including the uncomfortable ones, such as anger and sadness. Some of us are generally happy, just like some people without disabilities are generally happy, but others of us are confused, angry, hateful, manipulative, and so on. Autistic children display inappropriate and unwanted behavior just like typical children do. 2. Always assume we understand everything you’re saying when we’re in…

Disability

Facing My Fears About Learning

Posted on by

Brenda Rothman mamabegood.blogspot.com I have this image in my head whenever anyone says “learning.” Learning means a teacher standing in front of students, who are sitting at desks, listening quietly to the teacher talk facts, figures, and concepts. Anytime I say “learning,” I think “academics,” by which I mean “readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmatic.” ‘Cause I’m a product of that kind of learning.  From elementary to college to law school, learning was sitting in a room with a large group of people and memorizing. Jeez, the number of things I’ve memorized, the number of meaningless mnemonics.   That’s why I think that the only way a child learns is from school, from an adult telling them facts.  But that means a child is incapable of discovering something on his own. That he can’t explore and figure things out without an adult telling him to do so or telling him what it means.…