#society is already not made for us. a lot of autistic children are told they are simultaneously smart and dumb and that they will | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fedorahead · 7 months

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I put CWs, but I'll add a foreward; this post deals with drugs (magic mushrooms), sexual trauma, childhood abuse, and some religion. It's also maybe the most candid thing I've written in a long time.

This past weekend was my husband's birthday. We had date night Friday, and we decided to lemon tek some APEs that we've had sitting around for a while. I was worried they'd lose their potency because we put zero serious effort into storing them correctly and it has been months. These ones had been fantastic the past few times we partook, and we'd only been doing small amounts (small for us is 1-3g typically, and I usually eat rather than lemon tek which is a mellower, longer experience).

It's been a while as I mentioned, so my tolerance was back to zero, so when I finished my cup of lemon earl grey and asked how much I'd just had, I got a little anxious when he said it was 3.5g. But I had already set my mind to enjoying the evening for his benefit, so I calmed myself and got ready for the ride.

We've got a year and a half of eating mushrooms together now, we started just before my 30th birthday. I'd had them once before and it was not a good experience (yay music festivals and mixing substances) and he had done a lot of exploring in his teen and early adult years, but it had been a while. I delved headlong into the studies of psychonautica and mycology, and discovered I have better retention for mycological facts in my adulthood than I did for spelling or debunked urban legends in childhood (absolute mastery of those subjects, as a kid anyway).

We went into the bedroom, because the most important discovery I've made about enjoying the ride is that oxytocin is the miracle chem that turns a mushroom high into a full sensory vacation; though in the ounces upon ounces I've consumed, even pushing 7g in an evening and timing my medications for maximum effect, I'd never reached that state that neurotypicals (and even other autists/ptsd cases) tell tales of. Cohesion has never been the name of my game.

Our sex life, I won't go into, but it involves a lot of discussion of concepts reserved for the privacy of just us- this is relevant, I'm not just bragging or baiting. We started to do our thing, intimacy, closeness, playing roles that weren't really divorced from reality, and I came into full swing.

The intrusive thoughts that plague me always, and especially during sexy funtimes, became more tangible and less repetitive or fleeting. I started crying, (which was perfectly appropriate and enjoyable for both parties).

Sooner than expected, the sun was rising, and I was living renewed. Two major understandings came to me: one, much subtler and less applicable to daily life; the other, a complete audit of my entire identity.

The first realization was a spiritual one. I've always been an atheist. I tried to believe in something, anything, but none of the proffered options gave me any sort of inspiration.

I've also always had inclinations towards believing in the essence, soul, maybe even consciousness of things around me. Toy Story spoke to me as a tiny kid, and when Pocahontas sang "every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name", that resonated with me. Maybe it's cliché, or maybe there's an inherent respect for the world around us children understand that our society teaches us to ignore. Those movies were hits for a reason. Either way, especially since starting mushrooms but even before, I've felt tapped into something. My Buddhist studies have felt the closest to, well, not understanding it, but definitely vibing with it, whatever it is. And this weekend I connected the thing I do feel in some ways and some times with the stories other people have told of spiritual experiences. My brain is more inclined to see it as some sort of magic, and I've worried I've got schizophrenia many times for having some supernatural... not beliefs, but openness I suppose. It's always felt like a flaw, but I see now that it's just the thing all those other people have been going on about my whole life. They just layer all their tangible bullshit on top of it and make it so hard to see. And seeking whatever this is feels very very different to the assertion of seeking "answers" or some form of "explanation" regarding the nature of existence. Fictional media concepts like the warp, or the multiverse, or parallel dimensions (yes I know that's covered by the multiverse), higher and lower planes of existence, the threads that connect all things, even enlightenment; they're all referring to this place I've been going for a long time and I finally understand that now.

The second revelation, I've called it an epiphany, I've posted about incessantly since having it both here and on facebook.

Everything I use to define myself, every aspect of my personality I recognize and feel I know, is a result of, either by adherence to or rebellion from, a set of expectations that were forced upon me from birth. On one side of my family, there were the best of intentions, trying to encourage an educated, compassionate, caring, sensitive person. One with confidence and self-esteem, even though those were struggles for everyone guiding me. On the other, one person had control, and his expectations were not rules set out but reality presented in the form of facts and logical rants and arguments that begged their own questions. It was also a childhood of warnings, explanations, exposure to concepts far beyond a child's years. I was to be smart, quick-witted, fit, rational, completely sexually repressed, modest in clothing but not in academia, and entirely dependent. Mental illness wasn't an option, disability a choice I was to opt out of. I was taught cultural knowledge that was out of date by my birth let alone my tween years. The world around me had a lens of his perception. When I decided I would not be torn down for making my own life choices any more, I walked out of his house and stopped seeing him for years. While his mother and sister held control of me financially, they pressured me to "just go see him" and I refused. During that time, I worked very hard at unlearning the twisted life lessons he'd given me, the fundamental "truths" that were no such thing. When I was in my early 20s, I thought I had shaken his programming and rejoiced that I was no longer spewing ignorant bile at the expense of the people around me, that I had deprogrammed myself.

This weekend, I realized how much deeper it went. I don't share his views anymore, but I was still bound by a deeper programming. Realization after realization hit me in waves. Every formative memory holds a trauma that has defined me for 30+ years. Every deviance from the norm I have, I can track to his behaviours, his words, his intentions. Including the source of most difficult shame, my sexuality.

I'm still not comfortable talking about the specifics of things in my head. But I had not realized until this weekend that they weren't facets of my inherent self; he put them there. His warnings and admonitions, so early in my life, meant I knew what incest was before I knew what sex was. Meant I knew what repressed memories were before I understood trauma. I remember not believing him when he told me women didn't enjoy sex, because how could it be objectionable when I already wanted it so bad, so young? I considered myself precocious until recently; the warning signs had been there the whole time, but I assumed I'd become who I am naturally and wasn't like others who only developed early sexuality from relevant abuse.

I've known for years the things he had been accused of, and also been told by anyone that would answer that the situation was complicated, that he probably hadn't done anything, that it was a misunderstanding, that maybe the witness lied and that's why she didn't come back to court to testify. Nobody wanted me to understand how terrifying it would be to go up against him in court, a small woman tied to our families, part of the social circle, whose house I'm sure he had been to. A teenage girl trying to protect a toddler without protection for herself.

From my late teens onward, I considered the signs that I'd been molested to be signs that our mental healthcare system was so terrible I'd been traumatized by that. A false allegation can still land the kid in probing meetings with adults who want to get something out of them. I do think spending my entire childhood in therapy traumatized me. I also wish they'd told me the truth. That they weren't sending me "just in case, because he yells so much", that they saw that I was suffering symptoms of complex trauma even at age 2 and they wanted to intervene. Even if I hadn't understood it, what I was told gave me room to believe his side. I kept believing his side for so long, it become the lore I told myself and others.

I realized, I've been running my whole life, and I don't have a self to find. He made sure of that.

Wave after wave of connection and realization made our evening of drugs and sex complex and amazing and ultimately, freeing.

I don't have to hate my body. I don't have to struggle to find clothes that cover perfectly normal parts. I don't have to compensate with gender confusion, sexuality confusion, hating labels and trying to find one and feeling like it's incomplete anyway. I don't have to have a cool name.

I get to build a person, and that person doesn't have to be perfect or better than anyone else. I don't have to look down on people for circumstances beyond their control. I don't have to be a judgmental dick just because I was traumatized into being one.

And I can have sex whenever I want, with whomever I want, and it doesn't have to be the sole purpose of my life to find the emotional fulfillment and validation sex provides. That can just be a fun side quest I do with my husband regularly. You know, to grind those skill points up or whatever.

I have energy. I have accomplished so much this week. I even cleaned the fridge and pantry. I danced. I played with the dog. For the first time in my life, I am Hannah, I am present, and I am free.

#twdrugs #tw abuse #tw grooming #tw gaslighting #tw molestation #trip report #tw religion #magic mushrooms #complex ptsd #dissociation #ptsd #cptsd #shrooms #psilocybin #albino penis envy #APE #i love you goodnight

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thedaltonsanctuary · 4 years

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Welcome GABRIEL CHANG to the Dalton Sanctuary as a DOMINANT RESIDENT. Please send in your blog within the next 48 hours or we will have to reopen your role. You may begin dash activity immediately, no need to wait for anything else once your blog is made.

✎ OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

ALIAS/PRONOUNS: Chris AGE: 29 TIMEZONE: EST TRIGGERS: ANYTHING ELSE: Gabriel falls on the autistic spectrum.

✎ IN CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: Gabriel Chang AGE/BIRTHDAY: 30 GENDER/PRONOUNS: non binary he/him SUB/DOMINANT/SWITCH?: Dom STAFF/RESIDENT/VISITOR?: Resident SEXUAL ORIENTATION: pansexual KINKS: role reversal, TPE, lingerie, toys, marking, choking (on cock or otherwise), pushing limits, body worship, group sex, a lot of things just fuck me up– Gabriel switches so he’ll dom and sub ANTI-KINKS: scat, if you’re unsure ask

✎ BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Being Asian-American with family roots in the US that dated back long enough for them to be involved in internment camps meant being raised by elders that had been through literal hell in order to make and keep their place in society meant that Gabriel grew up with high expectations on their shoulders. There was a sense of duty that came to taking every challenge thrown at them, even as a child. Gabriel always excelled academically, and he found that as soon as he finished accomplishing one feat, their parents were focused on what he would do next. They’d talk with their grandparents, and sometimes they’d call out to consult others in their family to see what everyone else’s children were doing. They wanted the best for their children, and Gabriel enjoyed the challenge and he enjoyed the regimental schedule of always having another lesson to run to, so he was probably the most accepting out of the Chang siblings when it came to being told what to do. Socially, he was awkward, but their parents were more focused on his academics and he did far better than some children twice his age so they never worried about him. Through all of this, he had his brothers. He shared the same face and he felt an unexplained sense of comfort around them because of it. He never minded when they touched him, even when he couldn’t see it coming he usually knew it was them. He felt it. He loved them, and they could reach him when nobody else could.

Keeping up with the demand meant that they always had a calendar and a daily list of things to do, which kept them on track and allowed them to continue to excel. He didn’t like to be touched by strangers, loud sounds startled him, he had trouble connecting with children his age, and he dealt with a list of other problems in his daily life (including a feeling that he wasn’t a boy or a girl), but he was otherwise incredibly high functioning. His biggest problem was that he felt different than his brother(s), and more than that different than their peers too, and he didn’t know how to express that or express himself. New things were too much and he was honestly just not interested in pushing himself, so he stuck to the same with everything.

After high school, he went to an Ivy League school, just like their parents had planned for them. Harvard accepted him with open arms. He had everything going for him. Then he got in a car accident and when he woke up, he had forgotten everything. Now that the physical injuries have healed while he spent time in a hospital, he has been checked into the Dalton Sanctuary while he recovers mentally and finds his footing. Already, he has decided to become his own person and have rebelled against everything he’s been given as far as personal information. He also finds no reason to continue to answer to the wrong gender, so he lives right by himself too.

#glee ds rp #glee smut rp #glee twin rp #smut rp #mature rp #sanctuary:admin #accepted

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n1ghtm3ds · 5 years

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Classrooms Should Not Be A “Safe Space”

There should be no classroom where a student feels unwelcome for trying to learn and better themselves. Especially in areas like racial/cultural/gender studies, these should be places of LEARNING not just regurgitating what you all already agree with. Let people ask questions. Let people get it wrong and correct them.

Sophomore year, I joined a sociology class that required no prerequisites or major (aka a beginner class open to everybody) and was really excited and open to the fact that it was run by the Black Studies department because I thought “wow, something other than the white upper class sociology professor, cool.” When I got there, I was the only white person, and one of three non-black people. All the students appeared to know the professor already from other classes, who gave off that “cool guy” vibe by opening his classes with music videos and saying ‘fuck’ a lot. I mentioned him to a friend who had taken a class with him before and knew him as a person (she was black) and she advised I drop the class right away. I thought she was saying this because the class itself was hard, but when I asked her, shed taken a different class and still advised me to drop it. We were reading “All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave” which is an amazing book and I was really into the class so I didn’t.

I sensed some hostility from the professor building until one day I got up to go to the bathroom and he started yelling “You have no respect, you think you can just come and go you don’t respect the class or me” and I profusely apologized and explained that the Disability Resource Center should have sent him a letter that I was on medication and would likely need to use the restroom once or more per class. I went to the restroom and took all my stuff and left crying (Im REALLY bad about being yelled at by authority figures) and one of the boys followed me out and was another person who told me, concerned, “Drop the class”. I had to keep the class to have a full-time schedule or I couldnt live on campus so I had no other option by that point in the semester.

A few weeks later, I was reading along on my laptop (which id brought to every previous class, as my disability accommodations allowed it) and he thought i wasnt paying attention so he came by me and slammed a textbook to the ground next to me as hard as he could. Im autistic, and the loud noise startled me and I started sniffling and he grabbed my laptop really roughly by the screen so the bottom part was hanging, saw that i was reading along, and then dropped it back on my desk with no apology. I had a panic attack and left the class and, according to somebody who stayed, changed the topic of the day to my “white fragility” and that I was a “crying white woman” (which like technically yea but i wasnt crying because white guilt or being called racist I was crying because I was autistic and startled with a sudden loud noise which is a major trigger).

There were other smaller incidents (he had a major problem with my absences and took them personally even though i have a chronic illness and was absent from every class just the same, I even went out of my way to try to get to his because I was so afraid of him by then). There was a time where we were talking about drugs and he asked a question about “what drug can get you a life sentence in jail” and I answered “LSD” because there had recently been a case in the news of exactly that happening and so of course I thought he was referring to that and was looking forward to finally getting something right. How he corrected me: “This girl, again. Black people don’t DO acid”. Then he went on to talk about the crack epidemic and i was like oh that makes sense but what I said wasnt wrong?

He was yelling at me “Do you ever pay any attention? You barely even show up. You probably expect me to hand you an A just for taking this class”. This was at the end of class, and I said to him (crying, again, because i cant talk to ‘real adults’ without melting down) that I had autism and ADHD, that they were both on file with the DRC, and he said my learning disorder and disability were excuses that white people used “to give a head start to their lazy children” and that it was “entitled” of me to ask that my accommodations be respected because my disability was really just white laziness and he made a really good point about how black kids are less likely to be diagnosed with learning disabilities and are treated as behavioral cases which yeah 100% correct but he used it as a way to say “these disabilities dont really exist” not “these disabilities are under-diagnosed in certain communities”.

The final straw was my midterm paper. I wrote on the book I mentioned above, a really good paper that I worked really hard on that met all the requirements of the rubric. It came back to me marked C- without any notes or corrections on it, while everybody else had red writing all over their pages. I mentioned it to my friend who had taken his class before and she said “Oh, he wont give the white kids higher than a C-, its the lowest grade he can give without having to cite a reason. Hes bragged about it” (she knew him on a personal level, like been-to-his-house-for-dinner personal). So I ripped the paper up and never went back to his class and just let him fail me for attendance. It was the first class I ever failed.

The entire time I was trying to learn, I was treated like an outsider. This was not the BSU or the African Heritage Society or any place where I should have been treated any different than any other student (those places would have been well right to reject me as those are not my spaces). This was an entry-level classroom, but to the professor I did not belong there even though I paid the same tuition as my classmates. Every question was treated as hostile. Every mistake was a personal insult. Ive seen the same thing happen in my women’s lit classes or feminist-related sociology classes done to male students, although I can only speak to my own experiences, its distressing for EVERYBODY in the room, not just the person the professor targets.

If you are in a classroom in good faith willing to learn, you belong in that classroom. Professors who act otherwise do nothing but scare people who want to learn away from knowledge (I was afraid to take any classes that overlapped with the Black Studies department after that until my senior year when I took a literature class that overlapped, which was lovely and I learned a lot because the professor was interested in teaching). There are clubs, student unions, etc that are wonderful to serve as a safe space and a space that excludes those outside of the community but the classroom, where we all pay the same to be, can NOT be a “safe space”. Classrooms, if anything, should be a DANGEROUS space full of ideas and feedback that threaten the world view you walked in with.

IDK mostly this is just venting about a shitty professor because Im tweaking but yeah him and this lady I took a “women in drama” class with were two of the worst professors in existence and you shouldn’t take pride in making somebody afraid to learn. IDK. I feel like these kind of classes can really bring out abusive personality types because it is somehow implicit that there are some students you are allowed to abuse and take the high road if you get called on it (a MAN complaining about his FEMALE teacher in a class on WOMEN automatically looks bad). IDK. Abusive teachers are real and do real damage.

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fbwzoo · 6 years

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I know this is probably a real controversial topic, but I'm not familiar with ABA therapy. What is it, and what's wrong with it?

ABA is Applied Behavior Analysis. As a very basic explanation, it trains the subject away from unwanted behaviors & replaces them with desired behaviors. This can be achieved by something as nice-looking as “if you say this word when I ask, I’ll give you a piece of candy” or as blatantly abusive as “if you flap your hands, I’ll hit them”. In the past, and in the present, electric shocks and similar abuse have been used as reinforcers. Whether it looks abusive or looks nice, it’s still problematic, particularly when applied to disabled children as a routine “treatment”. The goal of ABA treatments for autistic children are to eliminate behaviors seen as problematic (which are often integral to autistic health - fixating on special interests, stimming, needing to communicate in non-verbal ways or with noises that aren’t words) and to train autistic kids to look and act more neurotypical.

There’s a LOT of reasons all of this is such an issue, but there’s already been a lot of people who have discussed that, including those who have been personally harmed by ABA. So I shall link to this & you can read their words - http://neurowonderful.tumblr.com/post/135286731936/2015-autism-aba-resource-masterpost

If you’re limited on time and/or spoons and mostly want one or two posts to read through, I highly advise reading at least this one - http://smallbutkindamighty.com/2015/06/16/aba-and-autism-the-thorny-problem-of-control-and-consent/

To complicate matters, it’s currently the only “scientifically proven” therapy for autistic children & as such, it’s the only therapy (as far as I know) covered by most insurances. This means that while a lot of places ARE trying to move away from actual ABA and related problems, they will sometimes label other therapies as ABA in order to keep them included under the insurance umbrella. Otherwise, they’re too expensive for families to afford. This can include things like floortime, which is basically play therapy where the adults just...play with the kids. And use the play interactions to work on strengthening various developmental areas (physical & mental).

So that means people, especially parents of autistic kids, get very confused & defensive around the subject of ABA. Parents (generally) want to do the right thing for their kid. From the second their kid gets diagnosed, they’re told by doctors & other professionals that ABA is it. Or else they go for other therapies that...are still called ABA even though they’re not. Then someone (usually an autistic adult) tries to tell them that ABA is bad & the parent gets upset either because a) they were told it was the Right Thing by doctors & other professionals or b) they’ve seen their kid being worked with in an appropriate manner that was called the wrong thing & are (rightfully) convinced it’s not abusive & they’re being wrongfully accused. In the meantime, if the kid IS going through ABA, they’re being harmed.

And unfortunately, it all ties into the attitude about autism in our society. I’m speaking in the US, primarily, since that’s where I live, but it’s very much the same in most other countries that I know of, if not worse. Basically, autistic people are viewed as tragedies that need to be fixed in order to live a happy life - they need to be made to fit in, they need to go by neurotypical rules in order to make friends and be accepted. ABA primarily focuses on those goals, not on actually helping the autistic kid. ABA is considered a “successful treatment” because you get kids who have been manipulated into acting/passing as neurotypical (or close to it) & people like to say that they’ve been “cured” of or “outgrown” their autism. When in reality, they’re likely headed for a massive burnout once they start crashing from the strain.

#long post #not animal related #asks #aquadraco20 #autism #aba #ableism #abuse #let me know if more tags needed

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jerriisspeakingnow · 3 years

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1. the term "on the autistic spectrum" is ableist and this should b common sense. 2. autistic people are allowed to be sexual. your Whole Adult Ass is lame as hell for saying yr gonna ""smite"" other autistic people for jokes they made about it. we're already desexualized enough by allistics--we don't need you forcing the same ableism on us

…really…..😓

1. My twin sister is autistic, diagnosed as “Autistic Spectrum Disorder Level 2 - Formerly Known as ‘Aspergers’” according to the papers given to us by the Psychologist. Me saying “on the autistic spectrum” has never been corrected even by a close friend of mine who works as an Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapist (ABA Therapist) and works with autistic children. If it needs to be corrected now SO BE IT, I’ll correct my speech starting now - even though I hold a Bachelors Degree in Psychology (from a program that is both one of the Top 10 colleges in my state and in the Top 10% in the United States), and I’m currently working on my Masters Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling - yet even through all of this when I’ve brought up my sister and asked questions to educate myself and clarify my coursework, no one has corrected me until right now. So, I will correct my speech because apparently it must be that every single one of my classmates and college professors around me must just not know the correct terminology despite their education, and it’s totally possible my friend - who, again, works as an ABA Therapist and directly works with children and their parents - just doesn’t know how to address children, even though she worked on her education/her master’s degree for YEARS. (ABA Therapy seemed like something I would think a lot of people who are diagnosed early on in their life would know about, but maybe that’s my assumption and I shouldn’t assume.)

2. From both my perspective and those around me who saw the post - the post I’m assuming you came from that I removed my comment on because people thought it was fun/funny to screenshot and mock me for being frustrated and disgusted and ready to “smite” those who I was upset with, the one I purposely choose to quietly disengage from the situation entirely (like an adult), the one that had screenshots with fetishizing language like “pumping autistic cum” and stating the “disability” is attractive (I’m now using that word since you accused me of being “ableist”) - I have every right to be upset if I feel like someone would fetishize a community that’s already held at a disadvantage in general society, or tried to fetishize someone I loved - especially if that’s my twin sister.

3. What part of my comment was aimed at “other autistic people” for “being sexual”…? I’d really like to know what you thought was aimed at “other autistic people” because I’m confused. For me, it’s a general statement to people fetishizing and mocking the “disability” (again, using your word, as I have never told my sister she had a disability in her life) The general people from where I live still believe the most absolute ignorant things about how autism is caused and how it is developed, so if you took it wrong I will sincerely apologize. However, I have every right to defend my family and friends, especially when I know someone I love is uncomfortable and upset. You don’t have the right to tell me I’m wrong in that regard when I never said people with autism can’t be sexual or stated “it’s a disability”. I NEVER ONCE SAID THAT, and you are putting words into my mouth.

You didn’t need to come at me like this. For you to call me ableist, when you don’t know mine and my sister’s story, and how I - the so called “ableist” - got pulled into this community and am now tied to it for life, is truly ignorant and really distasteful when you don’t even know the full story, and discrediting and tearing down the chance for anyone to be educated in the first place by being hateful.

All I’ll tell you is this: My sister will have barely known about her diagnosis for 5 years by the end of August. We were barely 22 years old when we found out. Do you know what that’s like? To find out you’re “clearly different” and suddenly be told the reason you’ve always felt so different than the rest of your siblings is because of something you never knew about? (< Those are my sisters words) - No, you probably don’t, it’s highly uncommon to be diagnosed so late in life.

Other than that? All I’m going to say now is I hope you have a good and well life. Because again, you don’t know our story and what we’ve been through.

(Oh, and I’m not looking for answers. I stand confidently knowing I am a good person who cares for my sister and feels comfortable knowing I am her BIGGEST supporter.)

EDIT:

Since I feel like it’s necessary to defend myself and I have to prove my point, let me show you why I do not think I’m wrong (See below for sources.)

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1362361315588200

- From the abstract of this 2015 study: “The most highly endorsed terms were ‘autism’ and ‘on the autism spectrum’, and to a lesser extent, ‘autism spectrum disorder’, for which there was consensus across community groups.”

https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/how-to-talk-about-autism

- This link has a list of things “to say” which includes: “is on the autism spectrum,” “person/child on the autism spectrum (note: this is informed by research, which indicates that there is a growing preference for positive identity first language, particularly among autistic adults),” and “has an autism diagnosis”

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2020.0014

- This has a list of “ableist language” to avoid and “better/preferred alternatives” and oh look!: from the ‘potentially patronizing first person language’ to “on the autism spectrum”; OR this quote here “Research on Australian samples has shown that autistic people rated the terms “autistic,” “person on the spectrum,” and “autistic person” significantly higher than “person with autism,” “person with ASD” (autism spectrum disorder), and “person with ASC” (autism spectrum condition).”

These are from the United Kingdom and Australia, with other resources to scholarly/credible references that are based in the United States.

…so please tell me how I’m being “ableist” if these articles are pieces of research showing the preferred terminology among large samples from the community that I am not apart of?

Please, I’d like to know how.

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mrknucklesmcchucklehead-blog · 7 years

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I was 35 when I discovered I'm on the autism spectrum. Here's how it changed my life. by Zack Smith on January 29, 2016

"Do you hate crowds, especially at supermarkets and restaurants?" I avoided eye contact, which I knew I wasn't supposed to do. "Yes." If Dr. P. noticed, she was too busy looking at the questionnaire to let on. "Do you tend to repeat heard words, parts of words, or TV commercials?" I immediately flashed back to middle school, randomly repeating such phrases from TV as, "I don't think so, Tim," from Home Improvement. I was tempted to respond that way this time. Instead, I just replied with another, "Yes." "Do you have trouble sustaining conversations?" "Yes." "Is your voice often louder than the situation requires?" "Yes." "Do you find yourself resistant to change?" "Yes." "Do you have restricted interests, like watching the same video over and over?" "Yes." "Did you start reading and/or memorizing books at an early age?" Eye contact suddenly became much, much easier. "Wait — isn't that a good thing?" "It is. But did you do that?" I went back to boring a hole in the carpet with my eyes. "Yes." "Have you ever picked up and smelled random objects, like toys when you were younger?" "That's a sign?" "Sometimes. Did you do that?" "...yes." I wanted to puke. After a few more questions, she did some totaling. "Well," she finally said, "it's likely you have ADHD and social anxiety disorder, and you're on the autism spectrum." I slumped back into the overstuffed chair. "Great," I said. "Triple threat." I was 35 years old. There are, according to the Autism Society of America, 3.5 million Americans with autism spectrum disorder, approximately one in every 68 births. Based on reports compiled by the Society, the prevalence of autism has increased 119.4 percent just from 2010 to 2014. Courtesy of Lydia Brown and the Autism Self-Advocacy Network We’ve called autism a disease for decades. We were wrong. The research linking autism to vaccines is even more bogus than you think The errors — and revelations — in two major new books about autism It's not that more autistic people were suddenly being born. It's that doctors knew what to look for. A Danish study published in January 2015 suggests that diagnoses of autism are more frequent because of a broadening of diagnostic criteria over the years, meaning there could be generations of people with autism spectrum disorder who were never diagnosed. I knew, on some level, that I was autistic by the time I was in fifth grade. It wasn't because of Oscar winner and box office sensation Rain Man, which I was too young for; it was, of all things, a Baby-Sitters Club book called Kristy and the Secret of Susan, where one of the babysitters tends to an autistic girl. I don't recall all the details, but I do remember reading the book and asking my mom if I was like this, if it was why I needed "curriculum assistance" classes or why I'd been pulled from preschool and sent to "Project Enlightenment," an ultra-structured children's program downtown. Mom assured me I was not like that. Susan never spoke, and that wasn't me, was it? I moved on. I was already neurotic about reading "girls' books." By the time I reached college in the late 1990s, a new term had become a buzzword: Asperger's syndrome. I wondered if that was what I had. It explained so much — the obsessive memorizing of TV show trivia, the absolute discomfort at bars, clubs, and parties, the way I'd tune out most classes or social situations. Again, I was assured by my parents and friends who knew people with autism — that wasn't me. I had empathy! And I was doing well in school, I just needed to relax a little. In retrospect, they seemed more worried about how worked up I was over this than the possibility of an actual diagnosis. There's a stigma attached to autism that leads many families to avoid a diagnosis. But in attempting to diagnose yourself, it can feel like the things that make you unique are aspects of some sort of affliction, one that is permanent and incurable. A few years later, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with Asperger's. Then he told me he thought I exhibited some symptoms as well. I freaked. I had finally started to feel "normal." I had a job, I was finally comfortable with things like driving and calling up strangers for interviews — I was just a "late bloomer!" I broke down and told him I still cared about him, that I didn't see him differently, but that I didn't have what he had! I was finally growing up, I said. I didn't have some incurable disorder that separated me from everyone else. But I worried. Friends didn't quite know what to say when I brought up the possibility, often in tears and just short of hysterics. "You're just you," they'd say. Mom and Dad were practical: "Well, what if you are? What good does it do you to put a label on yourself?" They weren't being mean. They reminded me, over and over, that I was "doing well." They'd already seen me fall into periods of depression and nonproductivity when I was out of school and out of work, and didn't want me to return to that place. I'd pulled myself out of those spirals before they became too serious. But if a doctor told me I'd never be "normal," that my strangeness was something pathological, would that be the excuse I needed to turn into a complete lump? I was just one of those people who did "better" when I was busy, when I had structure. I just needed motivation. That was all. Eight more years passed. Asperger's became a fear, a phantom, and most of all an excuse. The idea that I might have this "condition" lurked in my mind. It was why I messed up, the nuclear option. If someone got upset with me because I didn't understand something or missed some hints they were trying to give me, I had, "Uh, I might have Asperger's" ready. It broke up at least one relationship. It prevented several more from happening. I was in a strange place. By that time, I'd made good connections — even friendships — with a wide variety of creative people. But other parts of my life felt paralyzed. My creative work was stalling. Setting and keeping any kind of schedule for myself resulted in overstuffed calendars and quick burnout. There were all the times I'd walk away from an encounter with someone new with the overwhelming feeling I'd done something wrong and had no idea what it was. If someone did get mad at me, I'd obsess over it, frozen in a moment of shame and self-hatred long after the other person had let it go. If I could succeed without the pills, that was proof that I'd "won"I considered therapy. But good cognitive therapists were expensive, and it seemed wasteful to potentially drain what little money I'd saved trying to quell what I told myself were such minor neuroses. Surely I could just power through my own problems. In the past, times like these usually ended when I had enough work — school, employment, personal projects — to keep my mind busy, unable to obsess over small things and let myself get "nibbled to death by ducks," as one editor put it. Ultimately, I persuaded my doctor to prescribe me some generic Zoloft. My parents were terrified I was going to have the miscellaneous "suicidal thoughts" the prescription warned about. I didn't, but it was a mixed bag. On the one hand, I felt a bit calmer and had more luck with work and dating. On the other hand, I still faced problems with depression, falling asleep in the middle of the day, keeping an irregular schedule. I'd been dieting for the past year and change, but now I had trouble taking and keeping weight off. Worst of all was that I couldn't feel excited on almost any level — I'd sit through TV shows and movies like a stone. I rarely felt attracted to girls. When I kissed one, it was like kissing my own hand. There was no sensation, just motions. Zoloft, it seemed, could get me a second date but didn't make me a lot of fun on the third. I started skipping pills or going off my prescription for a while entirely, saving a month's refill so I could use it if I knew I had a stressful period coming up. Inside my brain, the relief at not having to face "judgment" was twisted up with self-hatred and fear, along with a perverse sense of defiance. If I could succeed without the pills, that was proof that I'd "won." When I went off the stuff, it felt like second puberty — I'd go from clean-shaven to Wolfman Jack in a week. I felt excited again. I also felt like I was on a toboggan, headed down a snowy hill, accelerating faster and faster toward a brick wall. And I couldn't get off, because I liked the feel of the rush. Cleaning out my email folder, or seeing old social media posts on Timehop, it's amazing how many times I made the same complaint over and over: I needed to get something finished, or I needed a new project. I needed to get out of the house more, to spend more time around people, to stop being so hard on myself. Something needed to change in my life, or I needed to change in some way. I said so over and over, but I didn't know how. 10 things I want to teach my autistic son before he goes to college In January 2015, I started what I knew was going to be a stressful period. I was teaching a volunteer course for retirees once a week, taking a graduate course twice a week, and taking shifts at a used toy shop other days of the week, on top of my freelance writing and creative work. It was a lot, but I knew I could handle it. It took exactly two weeks for it all to collapse. Exactly one year ago today, I showed up for a shift at the used toy shop and was promptly fired. I'd been there two years, I was told, and still had no sense of what to do when they didn't explicitly tell me. I had all these other gigs writing and teaching, they said, and this clearly wasn't a priority. Worst of all, customers had complained: They preferred not to come in when I was behind the counter, ready to chat their heads off. Fridays, when I worked, used to guarantee the company a few hundred dollars of retail at least, and now there were records of multiple Fridays with no sales at all. I was costing my boss money because people didn't want to be around me. I'd failed at what was a fairly easy job because I was me. Because I wasn't fit to be around other people. My parents were due to arrive for a visit in two hours. I went home and felt all the symptoms that had hit me in the past take over: crying jags, nausea, coughing fits. I knew I wasn't sick; these symptoms were all in my head. But I didn't know how to turn them off. When my mom and dad arrived, they were understanding. But I told them I couldn't go on like this. I needed to get therapy and get on medication again, this time prescribed by a mental health professional. Research was done. Dr. P. was recommended as a specialist in the area, good at diagnosing spectrum disorders and helping people organize their lives. A few weeks later, I was answering questions about whether I picked up and smelled toys as a child. Decades after I'd begun diagnosing myself, it was official. But somehow I didn't feel "labeled." That sense that I was "wrong," that I was somehow deficient, wasn't there anymore. Instead, I finally understood the areas where I had problems, and why I had those problems. Now I could work on them. The psychiatrist Dr. P. sent me to said that we could try Strattera, the ADD medication I'd attempted in college, in conjunction with Prozac. Tony Soprano and "Here comes the Pro-Zack" jokes flashed through my head. The insurance company rejected Strattera, but they told the psychiatrist I could do Adderall and see if it worked. "If you have a bad reaction, we can apply for Strattera again!" the psychiatrist said, cheerful. It was a lovely thing to know I was taking a medication with the expectation that I would have a bad reaction to it, but it turned out I didn't. I could listen without feeling an absolute, overwhelming need to blurt something outThe first month was rough. I'd wake up throughout the night, an odd change from wanting to sleep all day. Instead of eating whenever I got stressed or anxious, I wasn't hungry, something I wouldn't realize until early afternoon, when the dizzy spells kicked in. For the first time in who knows how long, I found myself doing things like getting up at the same time every day and eating breakfast. Weird. Other things stuck around. The nervous coughing fits I developed with my firing continued, but a friend noted that they seemed to vanish when something held my attention. When they happened again, I'd find something to focus on, like a song or a TV show or something to read. Eventually they vanished, and when I would cough nervously about something I found I could overcome it right away. Little things became easier, too. Arguments with other people didn't stay in my head months after the issue had been resolved, reminders that I could push other people away. I started dating more, and if it didn't work out, I was able to move on with some new understanding. Errands were done. Garbage got taken out. Annoying forms were filled out, instead of lingering on my desk for months. If I had a weekend with some downtime, I felt an actual compulsion to leave the house or call a friend, instead of simply sitting around. Within a few months, I realized that while I still didn't feel the excitement I could with no medication, I could still enjoy things. I could follow the plots of movies and TV more easily, and when other people spoke, I could listen without feeling an absolute, overwhelming need to blurt something out. I asked Dr. P. what this feeling was. She said I was "content." I kind of liked that. The strangest part of all this has been that being honest about my autism has left other people unfazed. It'd come up, probably because I found some excuse in the conversation to mention it ("Oh, I know what you mean about hating small talk. I'm a little on the spectrum, so..."), and there'd barely be a reaction. I'd watch people's faces. No surprise. No discomfort. And the conversation would go on. Admitting that there were things I didn't understand somehow created a new common ground. No one fully understands everyone else, or the world around them. Many people try to do what I did and "power through" this with false confidence and assertiveness. Sometimes it works. But to know you have a weakness, to acknowledge it, and to treat it as a "what the hell" thing —that's almost more powerful. For most of my life, I'd been afraid discovering I was on the spectrum meant I was cut off from being able to maintain friendships, professional contacts, a romantic connection. It was the wall I was always afraid I was headed toward. But the real wall was my fear, of facing not what I was but who I was. And my parents had been right — I was doing well before. I just needed to find a way to let myself enjoy my successes and build upon them, instead of feeling like defeat was inevitable. In the end, 2015 was perhaps the best year of my life. It wasn't the major stuff — the new job I got teaching, getting accepted full time into the graduate program — it was just that I was able to feel a sense of momentum, of moving forward. Part of me wishes I'd had this happen a decade before. But the experiences I had without therapy and medication helped prepare me for the setbacks I faced, and granted me the maturity to face them. My story isn't typical. The autism spectrum is a broad and constantly redefined place, a frontier of the mind that's still mostly wilderness. The revised definitions of it in the DSM-5just a few years ago are still controversial — it's both easier to diagnose aspects of the spectrum in people and more difficult to determine if a formal diagnosis is necessary, if it's even a "problem." In my experiences I had the benefit of privilege, and of personal choice. No one forced me to get diagnosed or to take medication. I simply reached a point in my life where I felt like I could become a better version of myself if I confronted the areas of my life that seemed to hold me back. I can't say that my life is perfect. I have a great deal I need to accomplish in terms of better dieting, regular exercise, and being more productive in my writing. Some anxieties still hijack my brain, and dating and relationships remain, as they do for most single people, confusing. But I feel like I've learned. And I'm still learning. Learning is all about realizing possibilities in the world around you, and right now those possibilities seem extraordinary. In August 2015, Dr. P explained, slowly and with caution, that she was moving out of state to join a new practice and to be closer to family, so I'd need to change therapists, and that she'd help with the transition. She was relieved when my main reaction was to tell her I understood and congratulate her on the new opportunity. She called me a "success story." "A few months ago, you might have felt ... destroyed by upheaval," she said. "Things change," I replied, and I meant it.

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nightcoremoon · 7 years

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now that I've driven home and had a few minutes to cool off and collect my thoughts, I feel I should explain myself to the people who have been following me and know who i am so I don't damage my relationship or reputation more than I probably already have. there was a post that an autistic person I follow made, where he vented about bigotry against autistic people, and ended with a passive aggressive "...janice". there was another post that a nonbinary person I follow made where they vented about bigotry against gender nonconforming people, and ended with a passive aggressive "...denise". I'm not 100% sure which was which but I DEFINITELY remember the posts, as well as the profile pictures of the people who posted them. I don't remember the urls though, and even if I did remember them I wouldn't list them in case the people who are now harassing and spamming me in my inbox and activity feeds decided to also hop on their [proverbial] dicks as well as mine because they apparently culturally appropriated those post templates, of ending extended rants about various bigots and ending them with names befitting of middle aged suburban soccermoms, karen. now, when listing people of this demographic, I used to include white among those adjectives. however, there are black middle aged suburban soccermoms, hispanic middle aged suburban soccermoms, and asian middle aged suburban soccermoms, and pretty much people of every race who have the potential to be this type of person the practice strawmans. obviously not every single middle aged suburban parent of children who participate heavily in after school activities is going to be the type of person to scream at retail workers or starbucks baristas or people who cut off their minivans when they're driving 15 under the speed limit in the left lane. not every single middle aged suburban person is an undeducated bible thumping bigot with their head shoved up their ass. not every one of them is a problematic piece of shit that stands by the #alllivesmatter crew or trump or whatever the republicans are rallying around this week. not even all of the white ones, and there are some people who fit the trope who are not white. I've dealt with many of them during my days at target, but I always stood by including white. until recently. when I learned it made black people uncomfortable when white people made white jokes, I was of course initially hesitant. "that's fucking stupid!" I though. "I'm not assuaging white guilt by doing this, I'm just finding it in me to laugh at myself". and then I read a bit more about the subject and figured it isn't worth the potential heartache if I fought it because in all honesty it kind of makes sense. my mom's boyfriend's son is black (and hispanic), and I had once made a white girl joke to my sister in front of him and mom told me later that both he and her boyfriend were uncomfortable with me saying that. after seeing the post that talked about it, and my... slight breakdown where I may have dramatically overreacted... I decided to try and stop with the white people jokes because I want to unlearn all of the racist shit that my dad, stepmom, aunts, uncles, grandparents, former friends, former acquaintances, and society in general that I possibly could, because racism as a concept digs into my skin and fucks me up. it used to make me absolutely seethe with rage, and I still get a little steamed by it. in fact I once got in a LOT of trouble with my high school sociology student teacher because I got really shitty with her when she- an anthropology student no less- kept calling one kid in our class by his initial because apparently kudsai is just Too Hard™ to pronounce. one day, an off day where I forgot to take my medicine, she called him that and I yelled at her "he has a name, so use it". granted I didn't like the kid. I thought he was annoying; loud, obnoxious, constantly making sex jokes while we were studying freud (and even the fucking holocaust), in the choir and the football team... basically like any other cishet teenage boy. but being annoying is no excuse for a teacher to not take five fucking seconds of her day to learn how to say his name right just because it wasn't franklin or gregory, two of the other black kids who I went to school with. anyone following me as far back as when annie got remade with quvenzhane wallis as the titular role might have read my thoughts on the matter of pronouncing people's names right. i'm not saying this to pat myself on the back for not being racist, because WOW was I a rough mess of things back then, but I was never like my dad's side of the family about race. back when michael brown's death and ferguson were still talked about, I found myself agreeing with rush limbaugh about some of the things he said, so clearly I haven't been a perfect angel my whole life. anyway, back to white people jokes making black people feel uncomfortable. I've been trying to make myself agree with that, which as anyone who has the syndrome formerly known as aspergers can probably attest to, is hard as shit to do. possible but hard. like, I'm even now still unlearning some acephobia, transphobia, queerphobia, islamophobia, and even though I know the occasional fleeting thoughts that I think are wrong and bad, they still happen very frequently. same goes with various forms of racism and xenophobia. my dad (and former stepdad's) influences are probably so deep because of various issues with abandonment and abuse that I'm not gonna discuss here, and they're both absolutely reeking with white supremacist microaggressions. so I'm definitely trying my hardest. part of that is why I reacted so negatively when people misinterpreted what I said, put words in my mouth, and straight up told me to kill myself in all of these messages that are still flooding in. another part is because I truly do stand by the things that I meant to say, rather than the things that it appears I've said. I really do think that it's unreasonable to say that it's racist for people who aren't black to make posts where we vent about various injustices we face from people who are misinformed and ignorant and straight up smarmy condescending assholes and then end it with a passive aggressive name of some baby boomer fuckwit, peggy. because these baby boomer fuckwits come in many colors (black people are still capable of being racist [against hispanic/asian/etc people, not whites, I need to make that abundantly clear], classist, misogynist, queerphobic, ableist, otherwise bigoted prejudiced assholes), and these names that are heralded as "typically white", like henry or franklin or gregory or harold or penelope or alice or etc, are not exclusively white names. I've seen or met black people with names like this and while it's definitely not the majority (not even close), and it's definitely partially due to cultural erasure perpetuated by gentrification, it still exists. so it doesn't make sense to me why the person who wrote the post that started me on this whole sequence of posts about this topic insisted that it was a 'white people names' thing. especially when white people names are more like khaeylieghhe or miakkaylia or annedeeye or some other ridiculous bastardisation of english language in order to make your child feel special and unique and end up growing to be a cookie cutter member of the conservative party that tries to take down affirmative action because they feel like it's reverse discriminatory or some shit. if it was something like that, making fun of those names that are actually like making jokes at the expense of white people [I think I should apologize in advance because technically this counts as a white people joke even if it's just an example] would make perfect sense. however I have not only seen posts in this template of ending with baby boomer names being used as tools to express their distaste in queerphobia, ableism, classism, xenophobia, and intolerance of other sorts, but I've made them before, and it has had not a god damn bit of racial connotation to it at all unless it's been specifically a black millennial on tumblr venting specifically about a white people-ism, and to make a post that shits on everybody who uses this template to cope if they're not black, and causes those kids who use it to cope to ask why not, and then get immediately shit on by assholes who treat them just like people are treating me, who tell them that it doesn't matter if they're neurodivergent or gay or trans or whatever because they're being Big Bad Evil Racists™ by ending their rant posts with names like becky, allison. I don't care if you're black. if you treat queer or disabled kids like shit and call them racist when they're not being racist, no matter what color your skin is, you're an asshole. and to act like fucking salem massachusetts when confronted with legitimate criticism of your ill-informed unbridled assault of an angry mama bear to queer and disabled kids, is just DISGUSTING. WEAK. and PATHETIC. and only serves to strengthen my points. so you know what, go ahead. keep sending me your hate anons. keep sending me the smarmy condescension. I can take it. just stop being fucking assholes to my family. your race isn't something I have any authority over but I won't let you use it as a weapon to beat people over the head with just because you get high off of the power you get from the veil of anonymity. false accusations of being a tier 6 skinhead is more palatable than telling us to kill ourselves.

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otdderamin · 8 years

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How the "Wednesday Club" Helped Normalize Autism

Geek & Sundry has a new show called the "Wednesday Club" where Amy Dallen, Taliesin Jaffe, and Matt Key discuss comics to make them accessible. Wednesday at noon PST on Twitch and Alpha (taking questions from Twitch chat). It's a fabulous show. They do a good job of talking about broad topics without getting too into the nitty gritty of a particular story. They're really good about checking themselves when they do get detailed and explaining the specific character, comic, or plot better. It's easy to follow even if you're not already familiar with the comics they're discussing.

This week's episode was talking about "Legion (TV show) and portrayals of mental health in comics." I was really psyched for it. As in--this is not hyperbole--I woke up in the same horrible pain my disability's inflicted for the last few weeks, dragged myself out of bed, forced myself to eat a peanut butter sandwich with an unhealthy amount of ibuprofen, and staggered into my chair to watch this episode. Use that to gage my expectations for how good I was expecting it be. It was mind-blowingly better.

This is just one example of what made this episode incredible: A viewer, who identified themselves as autistic, asked about comic book recommendations for people with autism. Everything about how they took the question, how they answered it, was so spectacular. I was too engrossed and shocked to really process what I'd just seen the first time. Partly because it was so bloody normalized. I went back a few hours later, rewatched this part, and started crying. Half from joy that this happened, and half from sadness that this isn't just normal. They took the time to answer a question to the best of their abilities that almost any other show would pass up as unimportant or inconvenient, especially if it challenged them.

That whole nine and a half minutes was a textbook example of how autistic people constantly ask to be treated, and almost never are. They gave him agency and authority over his life, and respected his perspective as valuable and interesting. They just generally acted like he was any other human being, and greeted him with warmth and enthusiasm. It should be obvious that that's how you treat anyone. I should not be talking about like I just stubbed my toe on the Maltese Falcon half-buried in a sandy beach. But I am because it's that rare in real life. I've never remotely seen it in front of a live camera. I'm writing this, transcribing this, and sharing this because good examples of how to be a decent person are how we educate ourselves out of ignorant bigotry and stigma.

I'm not autistic, but I am neurodivergent in a way that's given me a lot of similar experiences to my friends who are. One of those close friends, who I met through D&D, is a teacher and autism rights activist. I've run most of these thoughts by her to check myself through her perspective. I don't want to speak for her, but I do want to help amplify her voice.

Her research has put her into contact with good examples of the everyday abuses perpetrated against autistic people by mainstream medical professionals, ignorant people, and other bigoted people in power. They show how autistic identity is erased and despised, their personhood stripped. Not in a way that helps any autistic person manage better in the world, but in a way that seeks to hurt them. She frequently shares some of these examples and deconstructs why they're awful. If you're not autistic, it's important to understand the context of what autistic people frequently face because it will help you understand how truly spectacular this response was.

Neurodiversity

I have personally found the framework of the neurodiversity paradigm to be useful, if squishy. The bounds of 'neurotypical' to 'neurodivergent' are their own debated spectrum. Sadly, simplicity is useful, but untrue; whereas complexity is true, but useless. There's not a lot of debate that autism is neurodivergent. This episode is labeled as discussing "portrayals of mental health in comics." But it is perhaps more accurate to say that it discussed neurodivergence in comics. Autism is not a mental illness, it’s a consequence of how a person is neurologically wired from birth. But there's a reason we tend to talk about managing it and experiencing it similarly to a mental illness, and neurodivergence is that reason. To varying degrees, neurodivergent people mentally function differently than people their society deems 'normal' (neurotypical). I'm not wired like my autistic friends, but because all of us never did and never could pass for normal because of our wiring, we have a set of shared experiences. We understand elements of each other's personalities where our brain wiring creates the same pattern, which may not exist at all in neurotypical people. Same reason I can commiserate with another mentally ill friend about where we overlap, but we have to explain the rest.

How autistic people are frequently & abusively described

(Collecting these made me want to throw up and cry in disgust.)

"Autistics as Undomesticated Humans" https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-imprinted-brain/201608/autistics-undomesticated-humans

My friend's response: "I don't believe they ask this in the US, but when I was institutionalized in Germany, I was told that I was not worth treating because I would use up resources and kill myself in the end anyway. Eugenics is alive and well and applied to autistics daily." https://twitter.com/Alice__Kirby/status/835209015445553156

This "treatment" gave my friend PTSD. https://twitter.com/tbccautismABA/status/830511026730856449

Philosopher Peter Singer: "For me, the knowledge that my child would not be likely to develop into a person whom I could treat as an equal, in every sense of the word, who would never be able to have children of his or her own, who I could not expect to grow up to be a fully independent adult, and with whom I could expect to have conversations about only a limited range of topics would greatly reduce my joy in raising my child and watching him or her develop." http://www.thismess.net/2017/02/peter-singer-milo-of-philosophers.html

Unpack the very idea that if, very hypothetically, vaccines cause autism (they don't; dear gods how many times does this need to be proved), risking your child dying of a preventable disease is better than risking them developing, living with, autism.

How autistic people describe themselves

"autism is just the way our brains are wired. we still have unique personalities." http://autpunk.tumblr.com/post/157740045930/oops-i-think-im-autistic

"We are not made wrong, or wired wrong, or something to be fixed, or worse—eradicated. … We are different. Innately born to see the world through an alternate lens. … We understand the torment of living in a world, where you not only feel like you don’t belong, but are told from the authorities that be (parents included) that your condition, your being, your very existence has 'affected' everyone around you." https://everydayaspie.wordpress.com/2016/08/09/affected-by-autism/

Everything the "Wednesday Club" got right in their response

Saying that it's great that an autistic person is being open about it. That it's not something to hide. (Autistic people as so often punished for that. Even autistic rights activists that identify themselves as autistic can lose standing with professionals who claim to want to help autistic people.)

Showing that a question from an autistic person is worth answering. (This rarely happens.) It's worth answering thoughtfully, seriously, and honestly, equal to any other question. (This practically never happens.)

Casually saying that autistic people and non-autistic people are friends and understand each other. I cannot overstate how normalizing that one sentence was. (Not can be, not should me, not technically capable of being, but are. Far from can't, or doing the autistic person a favor.)

Differing to autistic people as the authority on their experiences, on who they are. Not pretending you know better because you're not autistic. Saying that autistic people are different from each other and don't necessarily have the same experiences. (This barely even happens at autism conferences after autistic people have fought tooth and nail to be heard there for years. A lot of medical professionals claim they know the experience of autism better than the person experiencing it. That the autistic person should have no agency in helping them manage their lives. The worst abuses are derived from that line of thinking.)

Acknowledging that autistic people are a marginalized group who are looking for their own strengths, and need and want their own community of similar people.

Says that getting depictions of autism wrong is harmful. "Because in getting it wrong, you can perpetuate a stereotype into a wrong direction, or you can normalize something that shouldn't be." Saying that depictions of autism, even tacit ones, can be problematic. (Legitimately the first time I've seen "problematic" used anywhere near a discussion of autism as if they were any other marginalized group facing discrimination.)

Saying that there aren't a lot of direct depictions of autism in comics, but there are not‑labeled‑as‑autistic characters who have facets of their personality that autistic people can identify with, and those are still useful. (Autistic people are often maligned by bigots as incapable of understanding other people.)

Saying that not being normal is interesting, that sometimes crazy can be a super power. (For any neurodivergent or mentally ill person that's up there with "bullet proof black man" as an empowering statement of power of character to a marginalized group.)

Saying that the opinions of autistic people are valuable and interesting. Saying that an autistic person's draw to special interests, "wonderful hobbies," is fascinating. Saying, repeatedly, that autism can make someone valuable in ways no one else can be. (Autistic people are often ignored and erased. Their hobbies are often treated as boringly narrow, and derided as a waste of time. The contributions of any neurodivergent person are often treated as inferior to neurotypical people. Or exploited while denying the person respect or accommodations that would help them thrive.)

Acknowledging the feeling many autistic people have of "not being human." Acknowledging that many autistic people feel like they're mimicking and scripting social interactions with neurotypical people. (Because neurotypical society refuses to acknowledge or accommodate how autistic people experience the world.)

Acknowledging, like it's obvious, that autistic people can and do fall in love. That they can and do enjoy conceptually challenging art. (Autistic people are described by bigots as incapable of feeling emotions and lacking 'theory of mind,' the ability to understand that other people have different thoughts. Imagine being told that to your face by people who claim they know you better than you ever could and are thus there to help you. Imagine being told that as a child. Do the math on the psychological abuse.)

Showing an actual desire to give a better, more through answer. Acknowledging that they don't know as much as they could, and should seek more knowledge. That this question is worth researching. Taliesin followed up on Twitter saying, "we're gonna revisit it at some point, once we've dug a bit deeper." (Autistic people are routinely dismissed as unimportant, and inconvenient, their identities erased. A non‑autistic person's life being 'affected' by an autistic person is almost always used with negative connotation. But the Wednesday Club tacitly said, "Thank you affecting us," and that is basically what moved me so strongly.) https://twitter.com/executivegoth/status/837213450778468352

To Amy Dallen, Taliesin Jaffe, and Matt Key, thank you. THANK YOU. You helped normalize autism. You helped keep someone's identity from getting erased. Your actions told someone they matter who, I suspect, has repeatedly been told and shown that they don't. You have garnered a tremendous amount of respect from me.

I have only one request for Geek & Sundry: make this episode available on YouTube. Help me share the best of what your network stands for with others. If you want people to tune in for this show, let them see this episode.

Transcript

Times from: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/125658409

01:10:23 Taliesin: "Somebody, actually, I want to say AutisticCosplay, which is a great handle, was asking, 'I'm not a Marvel or DC person, but people have told me I should look in the X-Men because I have autism.' And I don't know if-- You should read the X-Men because they're fun. But what would be a good comic book-- I'm trying to think of a good comic for someone-- I'm trying to think of my own friends who are on the spectrum and what they read."

1:10:46 Amy: "We'd love recommendations from anyone in the audience who is in this category."

1:10:49 Taliesin: "I'm really digging Shade the Changing Girl in that direction, actually. You read the first issue… So, this is a reboot of a new… It's a little psychedelic, if you're down. It's not a classic superhero, it's kind of a--"

[Amy puts out the comic.]

1:11:02 Taliesin: "This is the original."

1:11:03 Amy: "Got the classic here."

1:11:04 Taliesin: "Shade the Changing Man."

1:11:05 Amy: "Well, the semi-classic. Once again, like Doom Patrol, this was an older, '60s, character who got revamped under this wonderful Vertigo wave of DC reinvention."

1:11:14 Taliesin: "And crazy is his power."

1:11:16 Amy: "He wears something literally called a 'madness vest.'"

1:11:19 Taliesin: "And he's maybe from another dimension, but he makes people crazy-- So, again, problematic. But the new version is a popular girl, she's kind of a bitchy popular girl at a high school somewhere in the Midwest, who…"

1:11:36 Amy: "Previous to the events of the book, has fallen into a medical coma."

1:11:40 Taliesin: "Yeah, she was, not to give too much away, but she went skinny dipping with her kind of friends, with the kids who hung out with her because they needed to hang out with a popular person. And she hit her head, and they all just disliked her so much that they took a while dealing with it. So they're all [feeling] guilty. And then she woke up weird. And that's because there's a thing living inside of her that is shade."

1:12:04 Amy: "There is an alien creature using the power of the madness vest."

1:12:07 Taliesin: "So, it's not really even human anymore. So, it's this very off-kilter, not normal… thing. And they just think it's trauma, but maybe it's not, and I'm really liking it."

1:12:19 Amy: "I want more good recommendations. So, I'm wondering--"

1:12:22 Matt: "I don't know anything about what you-- I feel like an idiot."

1:12:24 Amy: "It's a really good, a really fun book."

1:12:26 Matt: "Whose is that!? I want to borrow that comic!"

1:12:28 Taliesin: "It's mine."

1:12:29 Matt: "Can I borrow...?"

1:12:29 Taliesin: "Of course you're going to borrow it."

1:12:30 Amy: "But the new one, Shade Changing Girl, which we might have a picture…"

1:12:32 Taliesin: "I have a copy here somewhere. Oh! Did I put a picture of Shade the Changing Girl in the…? I may have brought a digital copy of it, 'cause I don't own a physical copy of it. There should be a Shade in there."

[Comic is brought up on the screen.]

1:12:40 Amy: "The X-Men in general are turned to by people in all sorts of marginalized groups because they're almost always telling stories about people who don't fit in or don't feel normal, and the way that those people can find their own strengths, and find community, and come together. Which means they speak to tons of people in different groups. I'm curious about, specifically, heroes or things for people on the spectrum, and I'm not sure off the top of my head."

1:13:07 Taliesin: "I know; I'm feeling like a mild failure here."

1:13:10 Amy: "It's interesting, because one of those examples I eluded to in the intro was-- it's the dangers of applying labels to comic book characters. And there's a chance that I'm remembering this wrong, but I think it was James Tynion, who has been writing Cassandra Cain, who was talking about the fact that in some versions, Cassandra Cain, who, as a character became Batgirl, and was nonverbal for many years,"

1:13:38 Taliesin: "Completely."

1:13:38 Amy: "that she has been-- in some cases, people identify with her who are on the spectrum or who are borderline non-verbal. But there are other-- I think-- And please-- I'm worried to even say this because I need to fact check it, but I think it was James Tynion who was saying he was reluctant to but that label on it because the Cassandra Cain character has a history of specific traumatic abuse, that he wasn't sure-- that's not exactly fair to say-- that doesn't resemble the typical, if there is such a thing, experiences of a person who is on the spectrum. So, he'd rather treat her without that label then get it wrong. Or imply it where it doesn't belong."

1:12:16 Matt: "Yeah. Because in getting it wrong, you can perpetuate a stereotype into a wrong direction, or you can normalize something that shouldn't be."

1:14:25: Amy: "I should have checked on this before I said it. This is a memory of, probably, a Twitter conversation that I saw months ago. I should really nail down."

1:14:34 Taliesin: "I will saw, one of the great things-- I've been having this quote saved for the correct moment. 'One of the great things about comic books,' and this is paraphrasing Grant Morrison, who said, 'Sometimes superheroes exist to settle complex moral arguments by beating each other into the ground. Don't laugh, that's the way we deal with things in the real world, too.' But the nice thing about super heroes, though, is that they do break down these complex stories into more symbolic and metaphorical struggles. Which is why, sometimes even when they get it wrong, it's still useful. I had a weird thought for our AutisticCosplay friend, The Vision. The Vision book. It's very…"

1:15:10 Matt: "In fact, the Tom King... Oh! The reason why-- Oh my god, that's a good call."

1:15:14 Taliesin: "So, you all know The Vision from The Avengers. Now, it's kind of dark, and if you know The Vision from the Marvel movies, he's an android."

1:15:26 Amy: "A synthesoid."

1:15:27 Taliesin: "Synthesoid. And the book, he has built himself a wife and two children."

1:15:34 Matt: "And a dog."

[They discuss when in the story the dog was built.]

1:15:56 Taliesin: "And I would be curious-- Actually this is not a recommendation. AutisticCosplay, I actually would love for you to pick up a couple issues of this and tell us what you think. 'Cause I would be genuinely fascinated by your opinion of it, of how you feel. It's not a representation of autism, necessarily, but it's such a spectacularly interesting point of view, and it creates one of my new favorite characters. The Vision's daughter is now a character."

1:16:21 Matt: "Viv."

1:16:22 Taliesin: "Viv, in the Champions. And I cannot wait for the cosplay of this character. She's so cool! And so, I would be really curious to see what you think."

1:16:32 Matt: "I'm going to…"

1:16:34 Amy: "They're struggling with emotional issues and relating to people."

1:16:37 Taliesin: "Yeah, 'cause they're whole thing is they want to try and pretend to be-- they're like, we're going to try and be human, and we're going to be a human family, but they're not."

1:16:48 Matt: "Yeah. I want to tread carefully in saying this, because I myself am not autistic."

1:16:52 Taliesin: "We are in tread carefully territory."

1:16:53 Matt: "No, I know. But I also want to make sure that I'm respecting those of you who do deal with this. But it does feel like, even though they never label Viv, or Vision, or anyone in the family as having autism, or being on the spectrum in any way, their behavior, and their interaction with the world, does seem to 100% mimic…"

1:17:14 Taliesin: "Fall into that direction."

1:17:15 Matt: "or fall into that category in a way,"

1:17:18 Taliesin: "It's very analytical."

1:17:18 Matt: "that someone with autism might be able to actually really identify with that character, but still see the strengths of being who that person is."

1:17:26 Taliesin: "And then watching these analytical characters fall in love, and experience theater. One of the characters falls in love with Shakespeare and starts really identifying really heavily with Shakespeare. And there's this intense romantic relationship that one of the characters… It's fascinating."

1:17:44 Amy: "There is also-- You get really heartwarming stories like one that went around after Guardians of the Galaxy hit theaters,"

1:17:49 Taliesin: "Draxx."

1:17:50 Amy: "Where someone said, 'My brother,' I think it was they were talking about their brother, they watched the movie and their brother was just incredibly struck by watching Draxx."

1:18:00 Taliesin: "In the movie!"

1:18:00 Amy: "Literally for comedic effect, in the movie, their brother said, 'That's how I see the world!' And so, that's one of those, without intending to necessarily create a representation in an old hero, they did something that reached that viewer in a really special way."

1:18:18 Taliesin: "Please don't read Draxx in the comics, by the way. Nah."

1:18:20 Amy: "Quite different!"

1:18:20 Taliesin: "Not yet, not yet!"

1:18:21 Matt: "Very different. But I think there's something to be said for seeing-- I feel like so many times-- And I know this from my dealing with depression, you can feel-- I'm saying, me dealing with my depression and extrapolating that to someone who's dealing with autism, and that's the best that I can do. But it's good to see people who I know are depressed, who also kind of are able to manage it and see their own value, and continue to push through into the world and do their own thing. And I would imagine that someone with autism, on the spectrum in any capacity, would also enjoy that. And see that Draxx actually has an immense amount of value, and is invaluable to the team."

1:19:09 Amy: "Not related to his ability to pick up social cues."

1:19:09 Matt: "And despite his shortcomings or whatever else, despite all of that…"

1:19:12 Taliesin: "Which actually just makes him adored, and fabulous, and fun, and great. Without that he'd be less of a character."

1:19:18 Matt: "So, there's something to be said for, yes, this is something that you have to manage, and maybe something that you have to deal with, and maybe even something that you get made fun of, but that's also a wonderful part of who you are."

1:19:30 Taliesin: "And we have this-- Thanks to these cameras we have this wonderful community of people who can litmus test some stuff for us and tell us what they think."

1:19:38 Amy: "Are you checking us? Because that's important."

1:19:40 Taliesin: "Please! I'm so excited. I'm so excited to have people read some of these books, and I want to hear what you have to say."

1:19:47

#essay #wednesday club #autism #neurodiversity #comics #Geek & Sundry #Amy Dallen #Taliesin Jaffe #Matt Key #GSA

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brentrogers · 4 years

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Podcast: Using Nature and Animals to Manage Anxiety

When was the last time you simply enjoyed being in nature? Whether it’s a camping trip to the mountains, a walk in the park or just watching the squirrels from your backyard, being in nature is profoundly healing. In today’s Psych Central Podcast, our guest Richard Louv, a journalist, author and co-founder of the nonprofit Children & Nature Network, discusses the science behind nature’s healing powers.

What counts as “nature?” Are pets included? What are some modern barriers to accessing nature, and how can we overcome them? Join us for the answers to these questions and more.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

Guest information for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Podcast Episode

Richard Louv is a journalist and author of ten books. Louv is co-founder and chair emeritus of the nonprofit Children & Nature Network, which supports a new nature movement through partnerships with such organizations as the National League of Cities. In 2008, he was awarded the Audubon Medal, presented by the National Audubon Society. Prior recipients have included Rachel Carson, E. O. Wilson, Sir David Attenborough and President Jimmy Carter.

About The Psych Central Podcast Host

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. To learn more about Gabe, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Computer Generated Transcript for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Episode

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Announcer: You’re listening to the Psych Central Podcast, where guest experts in the field of psychology and mental health share thought-provoking information using plain, everyday language. Here’s your host, Gabe Howard.

Gabe Howard: Welcome to this week’s episode of the Psych Central Podcast. Calling into the show today, we have author Richard Louv. Richard is the co-founder and chair emeritus of the nonprofit Children & Nature Network, which supports a new nature movement through partnerships with such organizations as the National League of Cities. Back in 2008, he was awarded the Audubon Medal, presented by the National Audubon Society. Richard, welcome to the show.

Richard Louv: Thank you.

Gabe Howard: Richard, it’s great to have you. A lot has been talked about the connection between mental health and nature, mental health and animals, and I kind of want to start off in this place. I’m a big fan of social media. Love it or hate it, it’s probably here to stay. And one of the things that I often see on social media is this meme that says the best antidepressant is a walk in nature. And I know that you don’t feel that nature replaces medical science, but you do feel that a walk in nature has real, real support and real help for people who are suffering from depression. Can you talk about that for a moment?

Richard Louv: And that’s new, when I wrote Last Child in the Woods, it was published in 2005, this was ignored. The impact of the natural world on human well-being, on health, on cognitive functioning, all of that, it would have been basically ignored. And I could find maybe 60 studies. Many of them were about the growing disconnect between children and therefore adults, too, and nature and some of it. Some of those studies dealt with the benefits and some of those studies dealt with mental health and physical health. That is a drop in the bucket compared to how much money is spent researching just about everything else. And it struck me that something so large as the impact of the natural world experience on human health and well-being had been ignored. How could that be? And as I looked into it, I was working with some neuroscientists then. They were studying brain architecture development in young children. And they were looking at all kinds of things and how that affected brain architecture development. Everything from parent child attachment to bad day care to dangerous neighborhoods and all of that. And those things they were finding literally shapes the brain in early childhood. And I asked them once. Have you ever thought about how the natural world helped shape the brain in young children? Experiences? Actual contact with the natural world? And they looked at me with a blank face and they said, what’s nature?

Richard Louv: And I understand that science has a difficult time defining nature. But, you know, I said to the neuroscientists, this isn’t rocket science. And it isn’t brain surgery. You come up with a hypothesis and test it. One hundred and twenty trees per acre or whatever. They still had trouble with it. So I decided that was one of the reasons why this was so understudied. Is the blind spot in science about nature. The rest of nature of which we are apart. The second reason was, where does the research money come from? What pill can you manufacture? What thing can you commercialize out of that? Now there are some things, I mean parks and outdoor hiking organizations, things like that. There are some. But for the most part, people don’t think about it. Certainly funders don’t think about this as something they can get something out of by funding. That’s changing. Today, if you go to the Children & Nature Network, which you mentioned in your introduction, we have a research library there that we’ve built. And it is for anybody in the world. It Is free. And there are now probably, it’s just tipped over 1000 studies that we have abstracts for and links to the original studies when they’re available. So it’s gone from about 60 to over a thousand in about 14 years after not existing before.

Gabe Howard: I think that it’s interesting that one of the things you said, and this really plays to the pessimist in me is we don’t want to tell people to go for walks because there’s no funding for it and you can’t make money prescribing it. You know, we can’t prescribe one walk a day or, you know, hug your dog every day. That that’s not something that you can fill at the pharmacy. And this is kind of counterbalanced against the, you know, medication is important. Look at the advances that we’ve made with cancer by coming up with, you know, better treatments, etc. But I would even argue that taking somebody who is suffering from cancer and completely isolating them, you know, taking away their friends, their support systems, their animals, and even a window would put them in more of a bad way than they already are. And I think that’s what you’re saying. And you’ve talked about in your work how animal assisted therapy is becoming one of the biggest health care trends. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But you also talk about the controversy surrounding it and then you back it up with science. Can you talk about animal assisted therapy for a moment? Because I just find it absolutely fascinating that people wouldn’t respond to this favorably. But I also understand that this is our culture. Everything is good and everything is bad, seemingly at the same time.

Richard Louv: I think it’s more nuanced than that. I think that most people understand that their dog helps them. You know, most people get it at a visceral level. And in terms of organized animal assisted therapy, whether it’s dogs or equine therapy with horses or going outside and connecting with wild animals, no matter what that is. People viscerally understand that. It’s the science is coming now and the science is really interesting. Some of it is controversial, but nobody that has watched a kid with disabilities in an equine therapy or horse therapy, horse assisted therapy setting cannot be not moved. It’s very moving to watch this. One person who works in this field told me that a mother was bringing her child, who is autistic, to the animal assisted therapy sessions, which involved horses. And he would ride horses with a helmet and somebody would lead the horse. And he was, I think, about nine years old and he had not talked ever. And one day when they didn’t go when they were supposed to to the horse therapy, her son walked into the living room and said the word horse, first time she had heard him say a word. So there are moving stories like that. I talk about a woman, another woman who is on the autism spectrum, and she tells quite a moving story about not only how her service dog, whose name is Kobo, helped her, but how she has learned to help Kobo using some of the same techniques that Kobo uses to help her. So often what is occurring is a kind of mutualism is a you know, it’s not one way. I don’t want it to be seen as just what we get out of our relationship with other animals. I promote something in the book called The Reciprocity Principle, which basically holds that for every bit of healing that they give us, that animals, whether they’re domestic or wild animals, give us, we need to give back to them the same. We need to protect them as they protect us.

Gabe Howard: And do you feel that reciprocity is what gives people that boost in mental health? Because you’re not just getting, you know, whether it’s love, companionship from the animal, but you are now responsible for the animals. That gives you a sense of purpose. What the science behind that? Or the, well, what are your thoughts on that?

Richard Louv: Well, I think that’s a really interesting way to put it. I think you’re right. I think, again, it’s not one way. We know a lot. There’s quite a bit of science about animal assisted therapy when it involves domesticated animals where dogs and horses and even goats and other animals. There’s not much known, there’s very little research about what we gain and what we could give regarding wild animals. And I’m sitting here and looking out the window and there’s a deer path goes through my yard. And I can tell you my endorsement spike every time I see deer go by. And as I walk in this neighborhood, we just moved here about a year ago. The deer are responding to me differently. They don’t run away as they stand and watch. And during those moments, it is absolutely impossible to feel alone in the world. One of the issues I deal with in Our Wild Calling is the epidemic of human loneliness. Medical folks, as you know, have been talking about this for about two or three years. They’ve been saying that loneliness, human isolation is about to overtake obesity as a cause of early death, not just because of suicide and that affects that, but because of all the diseases that are associated with loneliness.

Richard Louv: I make the case that, yes, Facebook is part of the problem. Anti-social media is part of problem, that urban design is part of the problem and all of that. But I think that that epidemic of human loneliness is rooted in an even deeper loneliness, which is species loneliness. We are desperate to not feel alone in the world. One of the studies that I find most interesting is of urban parks. And they find that, the study found that, the urban parks that have the best benefit for human psychological health happened to be the urban parks with the highest biodiversity, the highest number of wild animals and plants. Again, I don’t think that’s an accident. We are desperate not to feel alone in the world. And the irony is we are not alone in the world. There is a conversation going on all around us. I call that the intimacy that exists all around us. All we have to do is pay attention.

Gabe Howard: I’m 43 years old, and when I was younger, there were parks and recreation centers all over the place. I could walk to one. And as somebody who suffers from bipolar disorder, I was a very depressed child. I was untreated and my family didn’t know. But I did have these parks. Now, I was an overweight child. And I don’t want to convince anybody that I went on a lot of nature walks. But I did go on some and I was aware that they were there and I did have a place to go. And, you know, this is my childhood in the 80s and now here we are and in 2020. And I don’t have a single recreation center within walking distance from my house. And I live in a neighborhood with children, which means the children in my neighborhood don’t have this. This is a trend that, of course, was created to save money. And because we decided that people didn’t want them. And also, I suppose because we wanted people to pay to join gyms or clubs or golf courses, I guess how do we pull this back? Because, again, even though I didn’t use the parks and recreation centers as much as I could of, I did use them a little bit. And now children don’t have this benefit. Many children don’t have this benefit. What say you to that?

Richard Louv: Well, I talk about cities. I talk about the idea that cities can become engines of biodiversity. They don’t have to be the enemy of nature. And in fact, more and more wild animals are moving into cities, whether we like it or not. And so there’s an opportunity there. This has a lot to do with urban design, with biophilic design. And there’s a lot going on that is of notice is of, is good. There are more and more cities that are creating wildlife corridors through the city so that animals can pass through. And we can have the connection with them. There are more and more urban gardens. There are more and more native plant gardens. People are turning in their backyards into native plants, which of course is what nurtures the food chain because of insects. And then they can bring back bird migration routes. They can bring back bees. They can bring butterfly migration routes. So there’s a lot going on out there people really aren’t aware of. Now, you’re right, the trend has been against. I mean, even in schools, the trend has been toward either dropping or reducing recess in elementary school or some elementary schools are now being built with no playgrounds, let alone a natural playground. On the other hand, there’s a real trend among many schools to create natural play spaces.

Gabe Howard: We’re going to step away and we’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.

Sponsor Message: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.com. Secure, convenient, and affordable online counseling. Our counselors are licensed, accredited professionals. Anything you share is confidential. Schedule secure video or phone sessions, plus chat and text with your therapist whenever you feel it’s needed. A month of online therapy often costs less than a single traditional face to face session. Go to BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral and experience seven days of free therapy to see if online counseling is right for you. BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral.

Gabe Howard: We’re back discussing the interplay between nature and mental health with author Richard Louv.

Richard Louv: You mentioned bipolar. I want to tell you, I’ll try to keep it short, a story about that. My father, my family and I tell this story in The Nature Principle. Our best times when I was growing up were in nature. They were spent fishing or in the backyard, in the garden or in the woods behind our house where I walked with my father and followed rabbit tracks and all that. That garden was particularly important. I remember following him as he would rototiller the back yard and then I would run around and I would pick up bones and other things and rocks out of the ground. He was happy there and over time we moved to a more affluent neighborhood. He got a better job. We didn’t need to garden anymore, supposedly. And he seldom went outdoors. He was a devoted fisherman. His dream was to retire early and move to Lake of the Ozarks or one of the lakes in the Ozarks. They finally did that, to Table Rock Lake in southern Missouri and got a little house and he finally got his dream. But by then, it was too late. He seldom left the kitchen table. He was probably bipolar and he was an alcoholic on top of that.

Richard Louv: Which produces some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. It was not a pleasant time, from the time I was about eleven on in terms of my dad, I tell that story in The Nature Principle to confess that I have a bias. I have a bias that nature experience is connected to health, to mental health, to physical health. Because of that early experience now, I don’t cherry pick the studies that I cite and almost all of them point the same direction. But I do admit that I have a bias. He did not have a happy ending. And I wonder sometimes what would have happened. And I asked this question, what would have happened if not only psychiatry in the late 50s, early 60s, had included children in the family, included the rest of the family? They did not. And what would have happened if nature therapy had been popularized by then? Could that have helped him? I asked some eco psychologists that question. They say, of course, they can’t tell. They don’t know. But what they, what one said is that we know for certain it would have made life better for you and your mother and your brother.

Gabe Howard: I really like that story and I like what you say there, because there are moments where people are happy and sometimes we don’t give those moments enough do. We don’t pay enough attention to those moments, whether it’s working in the guard and going for a walk, reading a book, making dinner, whether we find happiness in in a mundane task or not. And I know that

Richard Louv: Right.

Gabe Howard: Especially in America, we really look down on manual labor. As you said, he got a better job. So he didn’t need to have a garden. He didn’t need to work in a garden, even though it was something that made him happy. Do you think that there’s just a bias against gardening or working in nature where people feel that they’re too successful to do it, as you suggested in your story? Is this going on in in droves around America where people just don’t want to do it? Because after all, that’s beneath them or whatever words you want to use, because the average family does not have a garden anymore.

Richard Louv: Well, I don’t think that there’s a bias specifically toward gardening. There’s not a bias specifically toward hiking or anything else that people do outdoors. What has happened is these barriers to that experience have risen. And one of them is affluence. One of them, my father, got a better job. It demanded longer hours. It imbalanced his life and ours. So I don’t think it’s really a bias against that. You’re right about manual labor, but not about those experiences that connect us to the natural world. In fact, there’s quite a resurgence in gardening. And as I mentioned, in native plants in our yards and focusing on that more, that’s part of the good news. There is a lot of good news out there, even though the trends may not look like they’re going in the right way. There’s good news in terms of urban design, biophilic design. There’s good news in terms of an awareness now that nature has something to do with our health, our mental health and our physical health, those experiences. I can tell you that did not exist very much in 2005, not among the general population.

Richard Louv: There was a study done a few years ago called The Nature of Americans that reproduced research that was done about 20 years ago, and they compared how people felt about different aspects of nature. What they found was that families that people, particularly parents. That their awareness that nature experience is connected to health had skyrocketed since 2005. What has not happened is the barriers have not gone down. They’re still there. Now, there are people working very hard to reduce those barriers, particularly for kids, but for all of us. And they’re working on that all over the world. I think China and Brazil that have launched programs to connect kids to nature and therefore their whole families. You mentioned the National League of Cities. We’re working with that organization, which represents 18,000 mayors and other municipal officials to try to help cities become better places to connect families to nature. Schools. There are now nature preschools have taken off is a phenomenon. They’re sometimes called forest schools. There’s an increase of about 500 percent of those just in the last few years. So there’s a lot of good stuff happening.

Gabe Howard: Richard, thank you so much for being on the show. Do you have any last words for people who want to get out in nature more? But as you mentioned, the barriers are just too much. How can they overcome them?

Richard Louv: Well, one is to be careful how you define nature. It doesn’t have to be Yosemite. It can be in an urban neighborhood. You know, there was a program a few years ago that the Sierra Club had. What they do is go into urban neighborhoods. They put backpacks on kids and go for a five mile walk in their neighborhood and they would look for nature. They’d always find it. Sometimes in the cracks between the sidewalks, sometimes in the alleyways. If you change your perspective of what nature is, you’ll find it. The second thing is conservation is no longer enough. Now we have to have to create nature to maintain or bring back the kind of biodiversity we need. In the act of creating urban gardens, in the act of planting trees in cities, children and their parents reconnect to nature and they feel really a lot better about themselves, about where they live. All of that. But finally, I would say, you know, in addition to seeking out information on how to do that, because it doesn’t come naturally to the new generation of parents, or at least many of them, because many, most of them did not have much experience when they were kids in nature as I did. So, it doesn’t necessarily come that naturally. And they don’t even know where to start sometimes when they want that.

Richard Louv: But it’s possible, particularly if you band together with other families. People are starting Family Nature clubs. Family Nature Club in San Diego now has about, I believe about 3,000 families as members of it. And that’s a pool of families you can dip into and find out if somebody wants to go take a hike, multiple families next Saturday. That deals with the fear of strangers. That deals with the sense that we don’t know how to do this, but other parents do. So there’s all kinds of ways to do it. But it has to be a conscious act. We put sports on the calendar. We should put nature there, too. And finally, and this is the primary lesson, I think, of Our Wild Calling, is to recognize that there is intimacy all around us. There is connection all around us. But to find that, to hear that conversation, you have to pay attention. And that’s why, you know, as we’re talking, a row of wild turkeys just walked by my house. And I pay attention to that. I think about what they’re doing. I think about what they’re feeling. Empathy is the greatest way, I think, to take us out of ourselves.

Gabe Howard: Richard, I love that. Thank you so much for being here. Where can folks find you on the Internet?

Richard Louv: Well, I have a Web site, RichardLouv.com. And that’s L O U V is the last name, but also the Children & Nature Network, which is ChildrenAndNature.org. And of course, Amazon, you can find me there, obviously.

Gabe Howard: Thank you, Richard, for being here and thank you to our listeners for tuning in. Wherever you downloaded this podcast, please rate, rank and subscribe. We would really appreciate that. Share us on social media and use your words in the description and tell folks why you like the show and why you listen. Finally, remember, you can get one week of free, convenient, affordable, private online counseling anytime, anywhere, simply by visiting BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral. We will see everybody next week.

Announcer: You’ve been listening to The Psych Central Podcast. Want your audience to be wowed at your next event? Feature an appearance and LIVE RECORDING of the Psych Central Podcast right from your stage! For more details, or to book an event, please email us at [email protected]. Previous episodes can be found at PsychCentral.com/Show or on your favorite podcast player. Psych Central is the internet’s oldest and largest independent mental health website run by mental health professionals. Overseen by Dr. John Grohol, Psych Central offers trusted resources and quizzes to help answer your questions about mental health, personality, psychotherapy, and more. Please visit us today at PsychCentral.com. To learn more about our host, Gabe Howard, please visit his website at gabehoward.com. Thank you for listening and please share with your friends, family, and followers.

Podcast: Using Nature and Animals to Manage Anxiety syndicated from

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whorchataaa · 4 years

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Podcast: Using Nature and Animals to Manage Anxiety

What counts as “nature?” Are pets included? What are some modern barriers to accessing nature, and how can we overcome them? Join us for the answers to these questions and more.

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Guest information for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Podcast Episode

About The Psych Central Podcast Host

Computer Generated Transcript for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Episode

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Richard Louv: Thank you.

Gabe Howard: We’re going to step away and we’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.

Gabe Howard: We’re back discussing the interplay between nature and mental health with author Richard Louv.

Richard Louv: Right.

Gabe Howard: Richard, I love that. Thank you so much for being here. Where can folks find you on the Internet?

from https://ift.tt/3e5LJw5 Check out https://peterlegyel.wordpress.com/

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ashley-unicorn · 4 years

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Podcast: Using Nature and Animals to Manage Anxiety

What counts as “nature?” Are pets included? What are some modern barriers to accessing nature, and how can we overcome them? Join us for the answers to these questions and more.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

Guest information for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Podcast Episode

About The Psych Central Podcast Host

Computer Generated Transcript for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Episode

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Richard Louv: Thank you.

Gabe Howard: We’re going to step away and we’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.

Gabe Howard: We’re back discussing the interplay between nature and mental health with author Richard Louv.

Richard Louv: Right.

Gabe Howard: Richard, I love that. Thank you so much for being here. Where can folks find you on the Internet?

from https://ift.tt/3e5LJw5 Check out https://daniejadkins.wordpress.com/

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erraticfairy · 4 years

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Podcast: Using Nature and Animals to Manage Anxiety

What counts as “nature?” Are pets included? What are some modern barriers to accessing nature, and how can we overcome them? Join us for the answers to these questions and more.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

Guest information for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Podcast Episode

About The Psych Central Podcast Host

Computer Generated Transcript for ‘Richard Louv- Nature’ Episode

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Richard Louv: Thank you.

Gabe Howard: We’re going to step away and we’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.

Gabe Howard: We’re back discussing the interplay between nature and mental health with author Richard Louv.

Richard Louv: Right.

Gabe Howard: Richard, I love that. Thank you so much for being here. Where can folks find you on the Internet?

from World of Psychology https://ift.tt/3e5LJw5 via theshiningmind.com

#World of Psychology #child psychology

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adstellam · 5 years

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A love note to readers, customers, and friends

February 24, 2020

Dear friends of ADSTELLAM (formerly Limeadestand Works),

Spring is a time of renewal and new beginning. In the Pacific Northwest, it also means a literal return of sunlight and green earth. As someone who has long experienced seasonal affective disorder, this is no small matter.

Twenty-nine years ago, in the early spring of 1991, the teenager me was studying the Bible and fundamentals of theology with my then-pastor in preparation for baptism, which was to take place on March 24 of that year, the Sunday before Easter. I made a promise to God and to myself that I will be a proclaimer of the truth. Although I had a vaguest idea how that might be, and my theology had greatly evolved since then (I was a Fundamental Baptist then, I am not now), I have not forgotten that commitment -- despite three decades of trials, errors, sidetracking, backsliding, and doing just about everything else.

Of course, this explains why, in 1997 I abruptly abandoned my college journalism major, relocated to Oregon, and attended a Bible college for some time -- a decision that made no sense to most people and made no sense to me shortly thereafter (considering I had already lost my faith in Evangelical Christianity shortly after I started at that school, and spent much of the subsequent 20 years between paganism and agnosticism).

A series of events that took place over the past several years and rethinking my core values and mission, I have began a process of realigning my activities this past year to do the right thing in God's eyes.

I give lots of thoughts on ethics and moral integrity (or lack thereof) in contemporary society and culture. Not necessarily in the way how some hateful Bible-thumpers twist the ideas of "morality," but rather, in a way how so much of what goes on in current politics, media, entertainment, commerce, and culture are there to leverage and weaponize privilege and reinforcing oppressive constructs that do injustice to marginalized humans, who are just as much of expressions of God's image as those privileged people for which our culture is geared towards.

When I first discovered Internet in 1995, I saw its potential as a tool of liberation: liberating knowledge and learning, giving voice and power of self-expression to the voiceless, and spreading the Gospel around the world, around-the-clock. But now, a quarter-century later, Internet and social media are cesspool of hatred, deceit, trolls, gossips, propaganda, and polarization on the one hand, and an orgy of "lifestyle businesses" and consumerism on the other hand. I no longer think the world is now a better place because we have Facebook, nor is social media a panacea for every ill of society.

First, Since 2016, I ran a small digital marketing and brand management company called Limeadestand Works, which was renamed last year mostly to avoid getting sued by a similarly-named entity but also because I felt that I wasn't taken seriously.

The truth be told, I was the one who really couldn't take it seriously any more. During the course of three and a half years in this industry, I saw good, bad, and ugly. I witnessed a proliferation of self-appointed "gurus", unqualified "coaches" and other charlatans teaching others how to run unethical and morally questionable businesses with a dubious promise of a six-figure income (if you've heard such buzzwords as "launch," "pain island to pleasure island," you know what I am talking about -- Jeff Walker's formula has become foundations of countless charlatans who exploit people's insecurity while positioning themselves as a cult-like authority by leveraging privilege and by shaming and gaslighting victims.). I became increasingly critical of this type of marketing practices over time.

I am here to lift up all people, especially the ones on the margins of society, who are discarded and failed by society--in particular in this age of Trumpism. At its onset, Limeadestand Works began in line with that value. But it got lost somewhere and I became, unwittingly or not, part of that evil.

I cannot continue this with good conscience.

Second, the industry landscape in brand communication and digital marketing has changed quite a bit over the last three years.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal shed light on deceptive and manipulative business practices of social media giants, leading politicians and governments to institute new regulations such as European Union General Data Protection Rule and California Consumer Privacy Act. Compliance with these new and emerging rules complicate my work as I do not have satisfactory resources to safeguard personal data of consumers around-the-clock nor do I have means to compel my clients to comply with these regulations. This means potential legal liability exposures for me, a risk I cannot afford to take. In addition, other emerging legal and regulatory changes on the horizon, such as a stricter enforcement of Americans with Disabilities Act on digital platforms (e.g., web site accessibility requirements), possible changes to copyright and IP laws, and potential watering down of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, present me with further complications when working with businesses.

The regulatory changes aside, the world of digital marketing is changing fast. Blog-centric content marketing, once the "king of traffic," has already lost its strength as people spend more time on social media on their smartphones and their attention span get shorter and shorter. These days more people go to a social media site before a search engine site. Most traffic now begins and ends at major social media platforms as most users go mobile and their online experiences are becoming confined to the "walled gardens" of social media apps. On the social media marketing front, the situation is less comforting. It is now almost entirely pay-to-play. Organic reach no longer has much power in attracting customers, so I cannot offer my clients any false hope about that; social media is not a substitute for a strategically placed paid advertisements.

The only exceptions to this trend are podcasts (such as Anchor, Soundcloud, and Spotify) and videos (such as YouTube and Vimeo), as they are still powerful and growing as people like passive media consumption that is entertaining and informative.

And most importantly, and something not many people are talking about now, is the overall loss of credibility in digital media -- mainly social media but also blogs, web sites, and online advertising. People are bombarded with online contents, misleading information, and disguised-as-native-content advertisements to the point where they are seeing them but not paying attention to them. And people are rightfully skeptical of online ads. After all, anyone can buy ads on Facebook or Google rather inexpensively, and these ads are neither memorable nor look authoritative. Lately, I began advising people to invest in traditional media such as print advertising and radio advertising because of this reason. Since the number of junk mailers have decreased overall, even bulk-mailed postcards get more attention than your next Facebook ad buy (especially if your business is hyperlocal). Ads on monthly magazines and local alternative weeklies have a far longer lifespan than your Twitter ad exposure, too. Even more importantly, print ads and radio ads look just more authoritative and credible -- you can differentiate yourself by making your business look more established and legitimate than every yahoo with a computer. I think traditional media will be here to stay and because of their inherent social function as curators of news and contents they will make a strong comeback when we are all sick and tired of this 24/7 information overload. (And yes, please buy newspaper subscriptions to support your local newsroom!)

Third, since the spring of 2019, I have contemplated of returning to ministry. After all, I did not decide to move to Oregon if not for attending a Bible college (and I also felt, at the time, Portland was more of a center of Christianity in the Pacific Northwest as it was home of Evangelist Luis Palau, Multnomah University, Western Seminary, George Fox University, the University of Portland, Concordia University, Warner Pacific University, Marylhurst University, and the Pamplin conglomerate that used to own a big Christian bookstore chain, two Christian music labels, and a Christian music radio station). And I had a brief and short-lived experience back in the mid-2000s as a church-planter.

If I had not lost faith (a long story) while in school, most likely I would have been in some kind of Christian media ministries either in a media production capacity or in a teaching capacity.

Over the past 10 months I have discerned my vision and learned various ways in which it could manifest itself.

The Spirit of God has impressed upon me numerous times that, as an autistic person (I have not been open about this, and "masking" has taken a significant toll on my mental health), I ought to go find a community there.

As I looked at a search engine looking for "autism +church" "autistic +religion" and so on, I noted the lack of resources except for a few geared toward church leadership on how to tolerate autistic children in their churches. Then there are pervasive stereotypes that all autistics are atheists, overlooking the fact that there are many who are highly religious (though may not necessarily be "spiritual" in a sense neurotypicals may think) and find comfort in the structures offered by faith communities and traditions. I learned more about this community through more recent scientific papers as well as interactions with autistic community online, and I also learned how much of anti-autistic misconceptions and ableist hate I had internalized over time.

This has become a large undertaking, a vision for one-of-its-kind ministries with global impact and potentials for evolving into something far bigger (and overwhelming!) than I had originally imagined. And this will take front and center of what I do, as it requires a lot of work, time, and more learning, as well as supporters both within and outside the autistic community.

I will share more about this if you are interested in this kind of thing, but for the sake of others who aren't, I will not bore you with further details.

This means I am making, effective immediately, following changes to ADSTELLAM's products and services:

As I had announced on Dec. 31, 2019, I am no longer taking business/corporate clients. This is also because of the aforementioned liability concerns.

Furthermore, I am no longer directly managing client brands or work as a digital marketing contractor for any client. In any case, I can only do so much and even the best of my advice can be disregarded as irrelevant to some clients as they unconsciously sabotage and undermine their own brands (sadly, there is no cure for stupidity).

My roles and service level will be limited to that of consulting on brands, with an emphasis on visual designs and consistent brand presentations, subconscious and implicit messaging, as well as ethical values and social impact associated with brands. Over time, this will shift toward educating individuals on branding and related topics. It is my goal to empower individuals and offer my insights as to current best practice and industry trends, in addition to creating and running an ethical, value-driven brand that makes positive impacts in the world.

As time and workload permit, I will continue to take copywriting and editing projects.

In the near future I may repurpose the ADSTELLAM brand for other activities, or as an "umbrella" brand, while rebranding this aspect of my business.

I will be more likely to recommend and refer people to other resources, books, videos, etc., by other brand experts.

A plan in the making is a new free podcast and subscribers-only educational contents, which will be priced affordably.

I know this may cause some alarm and discomfort with many of the people that I came in contact with and befriended in recent years. To some it may come as a surprise. They had met me when I was not particularly religious or spiritual, and when I was better known as a community activist.

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battybat-boss · 6 years

Text

Vaccine Damaged Autistic Child Starts Healing After Ozone Treatment

by Dr. Robert J. Rowen

More Vaccine Autism Evidence now Released

My heart is aching today as we had to forcibly restrain a child with severe autism to provide a treatment (ozone therapy and the dad says he is significantly calmer since we started). His father, a certified medical doctor gastroenterologist is 100% knowing (not belief) that his son was vaccine injured, which event has altered the life and career of the doctor, who, most like any parent, would move heaven and earth to help his offspring.

I have a new report for you today, from Canada. A new survey has found that autism rates have exploded in Newfoundland, Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. Rates are up well over 200% in these three provinces. They stand at about 1 in 60 children. In the meantime, distant Yukon Territory has a rate less than half that – about 1 in 125.

Is there a connection? Yes. And again it is pointing to vaccination, and perhaps a particular subset of vaccination, which I'll address in a moment. I have posted here a chart of vaccine rates in the three high provinces with autism and you can see a significantly higher rate of vaccination than in Yukon. And, to drive home again a point I've repeatedly made here, the key vaccines are aluminum containing, which include DPT and hepatitis B (some data is missing for Hep B for two of the three provinces but the trend is sure there.

What about fluoride? I've posted on that before here, and even published a theory on synergism of the toxin fluoride with aluminum to cause brain damage. Charlottetown is home to half the residents on Prince Edward Island, and it has fluoridated for a half century. Labrador has large areas of high fluoride in well water. Yukon has no fluoridation at all. So we see that Yukon has the lowest incidence of autism, the lowest rate of vaccination (especially with aluminum intoxicated vaccines) and no fluoridation at all.

Folks, at the rate of autism increase, perhaps 250% in 12 years (2003 – 2015), we can expect at least that much rise over the next 12 years. I say “at least” because it appears the rise is escalating. That will translate to about 1 in 10 children in these provinces getting autism within about 12 years, and possibly a lot more if the escalation trend continues. I have seen projections that we will have at least 1 in 5 children autistic in Senator Pan's Marxist (vaccinate all for the greater good) California within 8 years.

A few days ago I penned my surprise that people are not marching on the street to end the destruction of one in 60 children in many states of America, as they would certainly do if there was a serial molester destroying the integrity of 1 in 60 children. But this molester is not human. It is corporate. On this page we had a naysayer continually mock others and me over vaccination because her brother allegedly died of a vaccine preventable disease. I feel for that. But who is feeling for the “living deaths” endured by patients and families alike with this most horrible of life destroyers? Other banned naysayers have taken to other formats to personally attack me rather than the message. That's how they most always do it.

The gastroenterologist I mentioned above has made no bones about the vaccine destroyed life of his precious son. I'd rather deal with some of the complications and morbidity (and even mortality) of these diseases than the destruction of a whole generation of children. I'm sure that most of you feel the same way. But then you and I are not the multinational Pharma and corporate Rulers who now own the country and Pharm us for profit.

Severely Autistic Child Responding

“FIRST TIME HE IS PLAYING HAPPILY. I WANT TO CRY” says father I just got a video of the child I mentioned in my last post. He has severe autism. He is the son of a respected board certified physician who has declared with 100% certainty that his beloved son was vaccine injured. He, like any parent, would move heaven and earth for his child. He has given permission to share.

Two days ago the child had his fourth ozone treatment in our office. As usual, we had to restrain him. But strange, the high pitched cries were absent. We had already been told that a few days before, in his sleep, he was actually talking sentences, though the parents could not make out the words. This was new. He has also been taking supplements to reduce his high levels of aluminum documented by lab in his system.

The video you see here is also showing quite new behavior. In the doctor's words,

“He was actually processing how to ride the scooter. It was the first time I've ever seen that in him. In the past he'd get frustrated. This time he moved the scooter backwards and time he accomplished riding it. He was smiling and was happy, also a first. He was playful. He was smiling. This has never happened before.

A few days ago he was talking in his sleep, he was engaging in a conversation while sleeping. This was also a first. I am just to impressed and thankful to God, and to you and Dr. Su and your staff. You care.”

I told the doctor that a case like this means more to us that most any other case. This child still has a life to live. I'd rather see 70+ years of real life from treating a human being, than that human being enduring a death of the enjoyment of life. I believe that is more important to society to see a success in restoring life to a child than success in an 85 year old.

I called him almost immediately upon seeing the video, as Terri and I both were about brought to tears. Here is what the doctor wrote to me in giving me permission:

“After 4 sessions of Hyperbaric Ozone/Oxygen therapy for the first time I saw my son happily processing, moving his bike back backwards playfully, FunFully and I purposefully coordination. I SEE HOPE. I will stay PRAYFULLY optimistic. I pray for Dr Rowen and Dr Su and other Healers like them. Humanity needs them. MAY God bless them. I love Dr Rowen and His Team. They are my Angels. A Dad… who wants his baby back.”

All credit goes to God as far as all of us involved are concerned. We are servants only. I have not posted the video I made of the child running aimlessly around the office his first day. I know that there are parents of severely autistic children on this page. Your comments on this case would be most appreciated.

Source: Dr. Robert J. Rowen Facebook Page

Comment at VaccineImpact.com

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