Life with Aspergers

Like many bloggers I have a stash of topics that I keep for later because they're too raw, too "popular" or too difficult to think about at the time. I often look back at these to see if they gel with my experiences of the week. In this case, I looked back over an article about the bullying and savage attack of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome in Melbourne, Australia. This struck a chord with me because this week, I responded to a post from a mother who was talking about moving to a different city because her son was being bullied.  I've talked about bullying quite a bit on this blog before but this time I want to talk about why running from the problem is counter-productive and go over some options for dealing with bullies in their own environment. Why Running is Futile Short term running is fine. If your life actually is in danger, or if you're about to be physically assaulted, then by all means, run away from that current situation. The best pla...

Over the years, April has been associated with the "Light it up Blue" campaign launched by the group "Autism Speaks". The campaign originally advocated awareness and then acceptance.   It's something that I've posted about more than once before on this blog.   Autism Politics: Puzzle Pieces and Rainbows  - March 2012 How to do More for Families with Autism than just being "Aware" of it - April 2014 Doing Better than Light it up Blue - April 2017 In recent years, the campaign has changed from something that people with autism were wary of to a cause that is actually opposed by the majority of them. Autism Doesn't "Speak" There are many reasons for this shift but in my opinion, the fact that "autism speaks" is entirely controlled by people without autism is probably the major factor. It's not that they've never had people with autism on their board; they've had some famous people including John El...

I'm finally ready to talk about the Sandy Hook thing but it's not really a thing I'd normally discuss on this blog. You see, I like to stay on topic and keep all of my posts about Autism and Asperger's Syndrome - and Sandy Hook is about neither. Still, I guess there are some things which need to be said. In case you don't know, Sandy Hook is the latest in a number of school shootings in the US. In many ways, it's being considered the "worst" because of the number of victims involved and their young ages.  In truth, whichever shooting affects your own family is always the "worst". There no ranking. All of these "crazy gunmen" incidents are bad. Over here in Australia, where among other things, we have some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world, we're constantly shaking our heads at our US cousins who are ruled by powerful gun lobbies under a constitution which was written more or less to close to a period of war. Get...

This is bound to be a controversial post and I'll probably offend at least a few people out there. It's not my intention but it's probably inevitable so before I begin, I want to apologize - it's nothing personal okay. At the same time, I'll admit that I'm not entirely qualified to say what I'll be saying here. My kids can use the toilet though I often say that my boys are stormtroopers - amazing shooters who seem to hit everything except the target. I understand that there are other people out there with far less fortunate circumstances and I'm aware that I haven't walked in their shoes. Like most of you, I'm still learning about autism politics and I make mistakes too. I'm sure I'll be picked up on these in the comments. It's not my intention to sensationalise things or to "close the book on the subject" - simply to tell you what I've learned so far.  I'm sure that it will be as much a learning experience for ...

It wasn't an Aspergers Spectrum Disorder which prompted this post today but it was an equally unusual incident which made me think about the wider implications of intolerance. We're all familiar with the concept of intolerance. Generally it's applied to people of different races, religions or sexual persuasions. Sometimes, as is sometimes the case with religion, the quality which is "intolerable" is chosen rather than unavoidable. Usually however, the victim has no control over their status. Sometimes, even the qualities which appear chosen are unavoidable. Young children, for example, cannot choose their religion separately from their parents. In this sense, although a religious difference is usually a choice, it's clearly unavoidable for many people. Intolerance deals with the way our own behavior towards others makes them feel unhappy. There are so many levels to intolerance which range from simple dislike through to full blown genocide. All are examp...