theabsenceofnormal - Tumblr blog

[theabsenceofnormal]

Explanation for absence

Earlier this year I lost one of my best friends who featured expansively in this project. He was just 25. 7 months on, my heart still swells with grief at the loss. I am determined to still continue this project, but it will take some time for me as this was so intricately linked to him in my mind. A few weeks ago I took some photos for the first time since he died. I am hopeful (I have to be) that this is not all that will be.

I apologise if you have sent enquiries and I have not answered; this is the reason why. It has just been too hard and I am trying to practice self-care.

I firmly believe that I have more stories to tell - on average, an Autistic person dies 18 years younger than their non-autistic peers. If you are interested in being part of this project, please STILL SEND IN MESSAGES and I will respond when I return to continue this series. 

Take care of yourselves.

Shauna.

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Link to a write up on this project on themighty.com

Once again, if you are autistic or know of someone on the spectrum who can physically be in Melbourne (AU) who would interested in being part of the project, please contact me! 

I want this project to be as diverse as possible - all ages, races, shapes, sizes, gender identities, orientations etc. I will travel as far as I possibly can if mobility is an issue. Self-dx auties welcome!

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Kelly pt. 2

Name: Kelly Nicholas Age: 32 Interests: Reading, Video games, Costuming, Performance Arts (Acrobatics and Dance) 3 words to describe yourself: Honest, Earnest, Loyal   Kelly is non-binary/genderqueer.

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Karl pt. 3

Karl showing off his home-made tattoos. 

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Name: Kelly Nicholas Age: 32 Interests: Reading, Video games, Costuming, Performance Arts (Acrobatics and Dance) 3 words to describe yourself: Honest, Earnest, Loyal    Kelly is non-binary/genderqueer. 

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Here’s an old self-portrait. I’m going to use it as a self-submission.

Name: Shauna Age: 26 Interests: Rocks (lapidary), Making / Building / Fixing, Organizing things, Eating all the food 3 words to describe yourself: Contradictory, Flicker, Odd

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Karl pt. 2

Karl is one of the most colourful people I know. A few summers back he crowdsourced his car’s paint job by handing out spray paint cans and paint markers to friends (and strangers) to decorate. He will speak to just about anyone in the hope of making friends.

In the second last image, he is proudly showing a local sugarcane drink seller his rainbow car after she complimented his shirt.

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These photos of my grandfather are taken more than a year apart. 

Grandfather has one ‘good’ outfit that he wears to dinners, haircuts, general outings, and ancestral veneration. My grandmother purchased a duplicate of the shirt he is wearing (so it can be cleaned) as it was all he would wear. 

He is extremely superstitious and consults the almanac for the best days to pay respects to our ancestors. He believes that they have blessed our family with good fortune and often conducts rituals of burning spirit money and offerings on food once to twice a month.

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A recent photo of my grandfather, who is definitely on the spectrum. I like to think of him as the river from which my autism flows.

He doesn’t speak very much, has a collection of alarm clocks (just in case one breaks), and is generally described as being ‘in his own world’. 

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Name: Falan Sol-Avaro Age: 32 Interests: Writing, designing, deconstructing complex systems (to "fix" them), experimenting, living forever, creating utopia (and getting kicked out). 3 words to describe yourself: Borg. Resistance. Mastermind.

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Name: Nathaniel Age: 9 or 10 Interests: Blood magic. Necromancy. Lego and video games 3 words to describe yourself: Evil. king. bear.

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Name: Karl Glaser Age: 25 Interests: Programming stuff, hitting on people, experimenting with stuff, surfing and skating 3 words to describe yourself: Beady weasel gremlin

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About this project

The idea for this project came about some new research on autism.

The team at the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging (Carnegie Mellon University) found that during fMri brain scans on subjects with and without autism, the subjects without autism had consistent activation patterns between different brain regions.

The subjects with autism, however, had more communication between some regions of the brain and less communication between other regions. Each autistic brain pattern studied had a unique pattern of communication strengths.

There is a commonly used phrase in discourse about autism: ‘If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person.’

We are all intrinsically different. What unites us is our exception from the norm.

There are many stereotypes about autism and autistic people that are outdated and often rather offensive. As an autistic person and a photographer, I hope to be able to show as many shades on the spectrum as possible through captured images.