parasortium

[parasortium]

Everyone is Good at Something

A simple illustrative paragraph I had to write for school.

Every person is skilled at something. It is part of our human nature and how societies were able to flourish. In the dawn of human history we lived in packs and each person had to do a specific task to ensure survival; one person had to hunt for food while the other had to gather roots and berries. When people began to live in bigger packs, otherwise known as societies, each person had to take on a specific task to ensure the success of that society. One person became the potter providing vessels to put food in, one person became a soldier providing security, while another became a farmer providing food that would last the winter. The success of societies allowed for people to  develop skills that were even more specialized.  A mechanic might be specialized in transmissions, a painter might be specialized in oil paints, and a physical therapist might be specialized in kinesiology. This allowed people to come together with complementing skills and create specialized institutions, such as hospitals. A person entering into the care of a large hospital may have several specialized doctors overseeing them; one doctor may oversee their heart health, one doctor may oversee their immune system, while another may oversee their reproductive health. As people venture beyond Earth they will have to evolve again to be skilled at more than one task. Spaceships can only accommodate a small crew and communication with Earth can take as long as a week to be fully received. One crew member will have to be skilled at medicine and biology, one will have to be skilled at mechanics and engineering, while another will have to be skilled at cosmology and navigation. Everyone is good at something, it is the result of human evolution.

[parasortium]

My ADHD Diagnosis

This is a personal essay I had to write and I chose to talk about my ADHD diagnosis and the struggle I went through.

The experience that has shaped who I am the most is my ADHD diagnosis. I received my diagnosis in the 1990’s when I was a child. In these early days we didn’t fully understand the condition or how to deal with it. Education facilities scrambled to assess how best to deal with this growing trend while already being grossly underfunded. I had to learn how to navigate in a world not built for me. I was able to adapt to the world around me and find healing through the strength of community.

My struggles started early in my grade school years. Classrooms were not built to accommodate neurodivergent children. There has been a long misconception that ADHD is attention-deficit. In fact, we are attention-hyperfocused. We pay attention to every detail. A window in the classroom becomes distracting as a butterfly dances and swirls by; the second hand on the clock ticks away, making it hard to focus on what the teacher is saying; the smell of the food being cooked for lunch time wafts into the room and our stomachs growl in anticipation; all we can think of is that it's pizza day, our favorite day of the week. Even though we may be hearing everything our teacher is saying, our brains cannot process everything at once and it's as if we never heard what the teacher said to us.

There was also a growing push towards standardized testing. The focus moved away from helping students improve every year to test scores. It was a misguided attempt to help children who were struggling. We now know that the very students this was meant to help were the ones who struggled the most. It only served to create another roadblock for us.

To add to the stressors of the school system, there was also discrimination against ADHD. Some believed it was a fake diagnosis to over-medicate children, others claimed it was an excuse for bad behavior. I often felt pressure to fit in and be normal, to hide my ADHD quirks.

I trained myself to conform to a neurotypical world. I learned to stim in subtle ways, running my hands over written notes that became a tactile surface, rocking my feet quietly while sitting, or chewing on the end of my pencil. I learned to mimic those around me, smiling when expected. I told everyone I was fine even though a chaotic storm swirled inside me.

I managed to keep my grades up by exploring the world beyond the concrete walls of the classroom. I had the fortune of living near world renowned museums. I walked through human organs the size of a bus; I looked at original Monet paintings and saw the subtle color differences that got lost in textbooks; I stood in the lobby of the Field Museum and admired Sue, a t-rex skeleton that taught us even dinosaurs get arthritis. I was able to connect and learn in ways not possible in the classroom and began to understand I learn differently.

It wasn’t until after highschool I began to discover the strength in community. The neurodivergent community had become a shattered vase, a thousand broken and scattered pieces. With the advances of social media, neurodivergent people began sharing their stories. Many people, myself included, realized our experience was not unique. We began to pick up the broken pieces of our shattered lives and joined together stronger than before.

This has led to incredible healing for many of us. No longer isolated by our neurodivergence, we have learned to accept ourselves for who we are. Many of us have stopped masking for the first time in decades. After burying my emotions and struggles for decades, I finally allowed myself to bring them up and make peace with my past. I found a courage I never knew I had and gained compassion and empathy for those around me. This experience has taught me I can overcome any obstacle, but that it is far easier with help. Whatever I can achieve on my own is dwarfed by the massive impact a community can have.

#adhd #neurodivergence #add #growingup

[parasortium]

Compare and Contrast of "Border" by Thomas King and "Pretty Like a White Boy" by Drew Hayden Taylor

This is an essay I had to write that compared and contrasted two pieces of Indigenous Literature, Borders by Thomas King, and Pretty Like a White Boy by Drew Hayden Taylor. Both texts are really well done and I encourage you to read them. The intro and conclusion were written with the aid of my Professor, Christine Bell. I have provided a link where you can get Borders, but cannot find an open source to Pretty Like a White Boy, if anyone can find one please share.

"The short stories “Borders” by Thomas King and “Pretty Like a White Boy” by Drew Hayden Taylor are both written by Indigenous Canadian authors. Each of these stories contain a message to the reader based on the unique experiences of the author. The author shares their experience of “being Canadian. The stories share similarities and differences on the topics" (Bell) of stereotypes, nationality, and challenges of harmonizing traditional practices with modern day. 

In both stories the authors encounter stereotypes about Indigenous people when they leave their reservations, but Taylor experiences stereotypes of appearance while King experiences stereotypes of place. In Taylor’s account he conveys to us his unsuccessful attempts to be cast for Indigenous parts because he does not look like the stereotypical Indigenous person. While performing in an Indigenous play the director receives feedback on his performance by one of the actor’s fathers, a white man, who states, “He’s got an amazing grasp of the Native situation for a white person” (Taylor 505). Even though the father meant to compliment Taylor he unknowingly reinforced stereotypes about the way Indigenous People look. In King’s account he encounters stereotypes when King’s mother and him attempt to cross the Canadian border the first time. After his mother claims Blackfoot as her citizenship the border officer asks, “...I have a friend I went to school with who is Blackfoot. Do you know Mike Harley?” (King 138). The border police officer is attempting to be friendly and make conversation, but she unknowingly reinforces a stereotype by assuming they know her friend just because he is Blackfoot as well. Though they differ in the personal experience of the stereotype, both stories show how we can unknowingly reinforce stereotypes even with the best of intentions.

Both Taylor and King touch on the challenge of identity; they show how Indigenous identity can clash with colonizing categorization of Indigenous. Taylor experiences this difficulty because of his looks; some assume he is Métis because of his appearance even though he identifies as Ojibwe. He responds to this idea by saying, “...I failed French in grade 11. And the Métis as everyone knows have their own separate and honorable culture…” (Taylor 506). Rather than being recognized for the culture he was born into, people attempt to categorize by his appearance. King’s story is different because he experiences the challenge of identity when his mother and him try to cross the border. The Canadian border officer responds to his mother's refusal to acknowledge American or Canadian citizenship by saying, “...I’d be proud of being Blackfoot if I were Blackfoot. But you have to be American or Canadian.” (King 139). The Indigenous were not given the choice of citizenship but are expected to acknowledge their citizenship. While the stories differ in how they relay it to us they both show how Indigenous identity and colonization identity clash and sometimes the Indigenous identity is not even recognized. 

Lastly, both stories show us the struggle Indigenous People have in harmonizing their traditional practices with modern day. Taylor and King share with us the conflict they face but each one faces a slightly different conflict. Taylor admits that he struggles with balancing his two worlds, the traditional Indigenous and the modern white. He quips to us, “I’ve spent too many years explaining myself who and what I am, so as of this moment, I officially secede from both races. I plan to start my own separate nation.” (Taylor 507). Taylor comedically tells us he is going to forge his own path rather than try to fit in box A, Indigenous, or box b, white. In King’s account we see a moment of reflection in his mother as they try to reconcile their ability to cross the border, and she chooses a moment of quiet to share the traditional stories with her son. He remembers, “We sat out under the stars that night, and my mother told me all sorts of stories…She’d tell them slow, repeating parts as she went, as if she expected me to remember each one” (King 142). Stuck in a holding pattern she makes the best of it by teaching her son who Blackfoot are. King and Taylor experience different challenges with their traditional practice, but the struggle is similar at the core, practicing tradition while being forced to participate in modern society. 

"In “Borders” by Thomas King and “Pretty like a White Boy” by Drew Hayden Taylor, two prominent Indigenous writers, the authors explore themes of stereotypes, nationality, harmonizing their traditional practices with modern day. While both stories touch upon similar themes, they are also different in the author’s perspective and experiences." (Bell). Both Taylor and King show us the struggle to live in a country not of their choosing and trying to harmonize their Indigenous life with the strange world of colonialism as well as conflicts with stereotypes and identity.

[parasortium]

Welcome to the ParaSortium Tumblr!

I thought this would be a fun way to engage with everyone and also give a place to what is going on behind the scenes. Often you see only social media posts with a short message. This way allows me to discuss in detail things we are working on. Please feel free to share any suggestions, it has been quite a while since I ran a Tumblr.