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Starting Something

26 Aug

Sometimes, you start something and it captures part of a mood/vogue and whilst zeitgeist might be too strong a word, there is an obvious and immediate resonance with people. I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of two such things. One was the Autism Hub. The other was a simple video of Meg I shot on a chilly spring day in 2006 and posted a few weeks later with a song by Christina Aguilera as its sound track.

The song ‘Beautiful’ was specifically chosen because I believe that my daughter is beautiful. I also believe that that fact that she is autistic helps contribute to that beauty. It was also meant as an ‘answer’ to those who wish to destroy any positive feeling my daughter might have about herself as an autistic child. She is beautiful in every single way.

Since I posted it, it has brought me into contact with a large number of parents and siblings as well as autistic people who believe, as I do, that its actually OK that our kids are autistic. Its not great and its not bad. Its just OK. Not in the sense of ‘rating’ a persons properties but in the sense that autism is part of who she is, like dark hair, blue eyes, big smile, chubby cheeks and a penchant for terrible boy bands. None of these things are great either. They just are. I wouldn’t love her less or more if she were blonde, brown eyed, sallow cheeked and have a penchant for Machine Head. Autism is part of the mix that makes Megan Megan.

I want to post some of the (over three hundred) comments that are on the YouTube page for the video. I want to do that to show to you that there are plenty of glass-half-full people out there. But first, the video itself.

1) This one made me cry, too, out of total joy. These videos make me so emotional because there is nothing else out there like this. All we see, every day, is things like Autism Every Day. So to finally see the joy, the love, the affirmation…it’s very overwhelming. Thanks.

2) love everywhere!

3) My son has Autism and I agree with your statement…beautiful! I am tired of the doom and gloom out look so many people have.

4) just beautiful. my sister loves to jump as well and she is 7

5) i just wanted to say that i love your video…my son loves to bounce/jump and this touches my heart…

6) This video image stayed with me for days.. I had to come back to it. Thanks! I havea 4 year old with autism. Sometimes it helps just to see the beauty in things

7) This is a great video, my son is 14 and he has autism and I show him the video and He will love to have one to jump. Thanks for sharing this moment of joy.

8) She is such a cutie! We have a 14 year old son with autism. He struggles so much to fit into our world. Our trampoline is his sancuary … he can jump for hours … the joy in his face like your little girl … I can look at him for hours. Thanks for posting this picture of autism.

9) Love is a beautiful thing and I know your daughter must feel filled with love especially when she see’s this beautiful tribute to her!
Stacey (a daddy’s girl too!)

10) She is so stunning 🙂 My daughter is 3 with mod-sev classic autism her name is Sharlet and we adore her. Megan is just so pretty!

11) Beautiful job, Mom. Megan is beautiful! Her eyes are stunning! The truth is..she knows the “truth” more than most us. She is helping out the universe. Thank you! Your video opened up my Heart! Keep em coming!

12) Beautiful video! I’ve noticed that the most successful people are the ones whose parents instilled confidence in them from the earliest age. It’s obvious that Megan is very loved and appreciated.

13) What a beautiful daughter you have. How wonderful it must be to get completely lost in simple things, like bouncing on a trampoline. People with autism don’t live in a world of their own, they just experience and interpret the world in a different way to us.

14) She’s beautiful and precious. Enjoy every minute.

15) I am a high functioning autistic and have a little brother who is also autistic.
You have a gift in her, What most see as a disorder can one day be a blessing.

16) Truly beautiful. I absolutely love when parents accept Autism not as a tragic disorder, but as a simple difference in thought processes that makes a beautiful creation. The only loss remorseful parents face is what COULD have been a “flawless” child, but we all need to realize children like yours aren’t flawed. There splendidly and wonderfully perfect.

17) Beautiful-Christina Aguilera-From the “Stripped” album. I love this video, the song is perfect, she really is. My cousin and another cousins son both have autism. They are amazing kids.

18) She is precious. And I’m so happy that you see her as the beautifuk, positive, amazing child that she absolutely must be. Thank you for posting this video.

19) Autism is beautiful,they notice things we take for granted everyday.

20) I dont see a girl with autism. All I see is a beautiful little girl doing what kids do best, and thats having fun.

21) I am a teacher who works with children with autism. I love what I do and I love my students. Your video made me cry. Thank you for sharing this special video!

22) PRICELESS! BEAUTIFUL video on a lifelong condition, true angels amongst us. Blessings.

23) she has the most BEAUTIFUL eyes
you are really lucky to have such a wonderful and charming daughter *my favourite comment, we are lucky for ALL our kids*

24) you guys have a beautiful little girl. she is a blessing

25) that gave me goosebumps that was beautiful i can really feel the love xx congratulations on your blessing

26) I love this 🙂 My sons autistic, and its a very interesting world when you lookat it through the eyes of an autistic child

27) This brought me to tears.
What a wonder this world is.

28) *Meg’s celeb signing*:
To live is to bubble
Meg, you’ve clinched it.
Bounce on you fab little star.

Donna Williams

29) This is beautiful, she has the most precious face. Thanks for pointing out the beauty of these children.

30) Either you get it or you don’t…as for me, tears of joy to you KevLeitch. Getting chills from watching this vid….

31) I loved the video. The look in her eyes in the end of the video reminded me of our son Cooper who also has autism.

32) She is very beautiful, and with lovely blue eyes. I bet she will develop an special ability. Good luck!

33) Your daughter is beautiful…her eyes are breath taking.
I loved your message, No tragedy, no train wrecks, no loss…

34) Thank you for sharing it was great. I hope videos like this can help people see how special this kids are.

35) amazin video very powerfull. i work with autistic children they are amazin people.

36) What a beautiful clip, a rarity on Youtube, and very moving. You must be so proud to have her as your daughter.

37) my little brother is autistic, and he is beautiful too. A lovely video, thanks for sharing it

38) these children are the reason why i get up and go to work every single day for the last 4 years…they are all a truly a gift from god …no matter what part of the spectrum they are on…i love them all

39) hi i can relate to the video my grandson is 9 and so beautiful as well,oliver is in his own world most of the time,does not have much speech but my heart swells with pride at the smallest achievment,you see to oliver he has amountain to climb every step of the way,he is loved and cherished by us all.He has taught us so much.god bless the wonderful children your video spoke volumes thankyou

40) How old is she? Like 9? And she loves to jump on the trampoline and has autism? You do have a beautiful daughter. I’m 21 years old and I have autism as well.

41) Awesome, this is exactly how I feel about my two Autistic sons. They are awesome boys and I am very proud of their achievements.

42) this was beautiful. there’s nothing wring with autism it’s bueatiful. and u voiced that in this video really well.

43) thnx for being allowed to watch. that was beautiful. i’ll show it to my little boy. he’s diagnosed AS and loves the trampoline too

44) god bless you, those of us given a child with autism, my son is 13, are given a wonderful gift its an honour to have them

45) I have 2 sons with autism. I challenge ANYONE to watch this fantastic video and not get a tear in their eye- or lump in their throat. This is fantastic. Your daughter is BEAUTIFUL; and so are my boys.

46) That brought me to tears. Great song choice. My daughter is so sweet & funny (ASD) and going to Kindergarten this year

47) You have a wonderful daughter. My son is autistic and cannot speak. Enjoy every moment you have with her.

48) I am an autistic adult. It’s a truly beautiful thing to see a video that does not portray autism as an apocalyptic thing. I applaud you. I cried while watching this video. All the best for you and your daughter.

49) thank you so much for sharing this with us. this is probably one of the few videos I have seen that reflects autism in a more positive light. to many people in this world treat it as an awful epidemic but if there is one thing I have learned from growing up with not one but three autistic brothers it is that autism can be more of a blessing than a curse.

50) Thanks for the video. I have an autistic son … and treasuring the positive things about autism is what makes our lives enjoyable. It’s nice to just slow things down and just be … in stead of always trying to “do”.

Lots of people ‘get it’. Nice to know eh?

About Megan

7 Aug

An article I was interviewed for a long time ago, made it into The Guardian today. There are some things about it I don’t like. The headline for example ‘its a way of life’. Really? No its not. There is no choice involved. I also don’t agree with Gareth and Amy’s direction very much. Which is why I don’t post on AFF any more. I agree with Simon Baron-Cohen – difference *and* disability.

However, there was plenty to be glad about in this article. It was predominantly written from the point of view of autistic people themselves with cameo’s from myself, Mike Stanton and Simon Baron-Cohen. This is as it should be.

I talked about how, despite the challenges we face with Meg – and we do – we would not want to cure her should a cure ever be developed. What we wish to do is help her to grow to a point where she can make such a choice herself. And make no mistake, if a cure was ever developed and if Meg wanted it, I would ensure she got it. She is first and foremost my daughter and in the same way I do not want to assume she wants a cure I do not want to ever assume that she might _not_ at some point. My own personal beliefs are entirely secondary to what my kids want. Kids first, advocacy second.

And so, I think its appropriate, should you be interested, to talk a little about Megan. Something I used to do all the time on this blog and something I hardly ever do any more. Its not because I don’t want to, believe me.

Meg has started to blossom in a way we had sort of stopped hoping for: last week, Meg came over to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘drink’. Wow. A word not used in a parrot-fashion ecolalic way but in a directive way. Heart-thumping, outwardly cool (heh) I went to the kitchen and asked casually (voice travelling several octaves) ‘what do you fancy Meg?’ (possibilities: milk, water, Ribena, fresh orange). She wandered over to the Ribena and pointed to it: ‘that’. I nearly fell over.

As most of you know, talking is not always the done thing amongst our autistic ankle-biters. However, _pointing to something_ is considered gauche in the extreme. In the space of five minutes, Meg had said two words and pointed. This was more than in the previous 12 months.

Since then, her new found interest in words and pointing to objects of desire has not abated. It has in fact extended itself to reading and revealing the true sponge-like nature of her intelligence and learning ability. We went outside on Sunday so the girls could stare at the rare appearance of the strange yellow ball in the sky (like the rest of the country, they’ve come to associate ‘summer’ with ‘rain’). Meg looked nonchalantly over my head, pointed upwards and said’ moon’. Ready to say ‘no chuck, that’s the sun/a squirrel/some morris dancers’ I turned around and sure enough, there was a day-moon. Translucent, barely there and certainly looking nothing like a child’s typical view of the moon.

Since then, Meg brings books over to us, points out things in them and says the words, the letters, the numbers, the colours, the shapes. We reckon she’s got a hitherto totally unsuspected vocabulary of about 60 words.

So what does it mean? Who knows. We are well aware based on past experience that this sudden desire to speak could recede as quickly as it appeared but its enough to know its there. What happened to trigger it? Who knows. Not me. Meg triggered it. She wanted to speak and point so she spoke and pointed.

Pretty cool though.

Karen McCarron’s Confessions Allowed

5 Aug

Over a month ago I posted an entry that detailed how the Mccarron family were being subjected to more court time as Katie’s killer, her mother Karen McCarron, decided to instruct her solicitor to try and block her admissions to Katie’s murder from the court record – that they would not be available as evidence during the trial proper.

On Friday, the court eventually decided that *all eleven* confessions will be allowed to be heard. These confessions are on video tape, in police records, in doctors records and in the memories of Katie’s family members such as Mike and Paul.

There are two aspects to this whole thing that bother me a great deal:

1) The local support group, ANSWERS, continue to openly support Karen McCarron and also testify in her defence at court. I would wager that not one member of this ‘support group’ has been around to see the McCarron family since Katie’s murder to offer ‘support’ to Paul McCarron. They are too busy defending the actions of child killers.

2) What sort of Judge takes over a month to make a simple decision? It is utterly cruel and heartless to the McCarron family to keep them hanging on in the manner they have been whilst this person dithered around making what should quite obviously be – given the fact there are eleven separate confessions – an easy call. Lets hope he pulls his finger out when it comes to the proper trial.

Most people who are regulars on this blog will know that I have a good relationship with the Mccarron’s. We are very close. They were asked by their solicitor not to discuss the case and so they have not but even though they have not, the pain they are suffering through is tangible. This ruling will not take away that pain but I hope it may finally offer them a little chink of light in the battle for Katie’s memory.

Happy Birthday Katie

22 Jul

Today, Katie McCarron should be five years old. Instead, her family have to try and get through this weekend as best they can whilst coping with the unbelievably heavy burden of their loss and the unbelievably heavy burden of the trial they are being forced to go through as Katie’s killer is too cowardly to simply stick to her eleven confessions and do her time.

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

~Algernon Charles Swinburne

New Site Launch

20 Jul

So, I’m launching a new site today and this site has nothing to do with autism.

Since I outed myself as manic depressive I’ve had a lot of emails expressing curiosity about manic depression and as I have now been blogging for about four years now it seemed a natural fit to start a blog about manic depression. I don’t expect it will affect output on this blog particularly and I have no intention of ceasing writing about the quackery associated with autism or the rights of autistic people to have respect for who they are.

Anyway, I’d love to see you over there if its your thing.

Meme time again

15 Jul

Anyone ever notice that ‘meme’ is spelt (well, constructed) ‘me-me’. I merely mention it in passing ;o)

Steve tagged me. The rules are:

1. Let others know who tagged you.
2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

I’m not going to tag anyone. Consider this an open invitation to participate should the mood take you.

OK. Bloody hell. Eight.

1. I lived in France for nearly a year. It was great apart from one time I got an abscess in one of my wisdom teeth and had to have it pulled. The first dentist I went to answered the door wearing a bloody apron and stinking of nasty table wine. We parted company immediately. The second one only used a local anaesthetic during the procedure (a root canal). When I got out I drank the best part of a whole bottle of Eau de vie.

2. I once met Lars Ulrich, the drummer from Metallica. He was speeding very badly at the time and he talked even more than usual. I went from awed star-struckness to thinking ‘what a twat’ in the space of 20 mins.

3. Whilst I’m name dropping, last year I literally bumped into Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the concourse at Birmingham New Street station. It was a Monday a.m. and I was in my usual pre-work, pre-coffee grump and I was just about to snarl something typically Kevy at them when I noticed who they were. They were very pleasant guys (doing the promo tour for the release of Hot Fuzz I assume) and I totally forgot to take a picture of them on my phone. Gah!!

4. My favourite horrible indulgence is dunking bourbon biscuits into tap water and then slurping the whole mess back. Not a pretty picture.

5. I believe book burning is a crime against humanity except in the case of Jeffrey Archer where it would be criminal not to.

6. I proposed to my wife outside a Halfords. We were both sitting on a bench at the time. Its my opinion that the romantic possibilities of car-parts sellers are often overlooked by potential grooms. But even so, the mundanity of the surroundings didn’t distract from her beauty in one single way. And they never have since.

7. My first teacher (I was five) was called Mrs McCabe. She was unbelievably hot.

8. When Anthony (my now 15yo son) was 2 I forgot to tighten up a stairgate properly and he managed to push the whole thing – himself included – down the stairs, riding it like a toboggan all the way down whilst screaming. I ran down after him, heart pounding in horror and guilt and picked him up expecting to be confronted with a mentally scarred, terrified toddler. Turns out he’d been laughing, not screaming. ‘AGAIN, AGAIN’ he yelled as my blood pressure reached Chernobyl velocity.

New Design

3 Jul

No you haven’t gone mad or landed somewhere else ;o)

I’m taking a new design approach – a bit more minimalist accessible.

This is not the final thing. This is a ‘standard’ template designed by someone else. I#ll be building on this design to make it more mine but it won’t all happen at once. What design bloggers call a ‘live redesign’ in that it is redesigned right before your very eyes!!!!

Justice for Katie

28 Jun

Remember Katie

When Mike and Paul McCarron came to visit us recently, one of the most sombre and important parts of the day was them giving us some of the ribbon that they had selected to remember Katie. They had fashioned the ribbon into remembrance bows and as well as some of the loose ribbon, gave me one of the bows.

The bows are worn when the McCarrons go to court to do justice for Katie. I am proud and honoured beyond the capacity of words to express that I too, can wear my bow on the days the McCarrons go to court.

Today is one such day. A very important day. Today the judge who will hear the trial will decide if the confessions that Karen McCarron made (including the confessions made to the Police) will be admissible as evidence in the trial.

It may well sound strange to you that a confession – or in this case, a series of them – could possibly _not_ be admissible as evidence. It certainly did to me. It may well also sound strange to you that not only could a mother kill her child, she could also callously attempt to wriggle out of what she has done by trying to halt the admission of confessions she freely made into the evidence the court can hear. It certainly did to me.

Tomorrow is not the trial. It is not even the start of the trial. However, tomorrow could be the first day that Katie finally has just the twinkling possibility of some justice in her name.

On other subjects

Someone else who would benefit from some justice is Patrick Holford. Read where at NHS Blog Doctor, Holford Watch and Mike’s blog.

Bitter Sweet

17 Jun

One of the frustrating things that often strikes me about the direction blogging has taken me in is the fact that the vast majority of the people I consider friends I have never actually spoken to, or met and who I actually live in a different continent from.

Of course I often receive pictures, podcasts or video of events that my online friends have participated in. Camille, Kassiane, Sue Senator, Estee, Amanda, Kathleen, Kristina and more. But this isn’t the same.

However, earlier this year, my family was blessed with a visit from two people who I both very much wanted to meet and yet at the same time was pained at the ultimate reason we finally met.

I first blogged about Katie not long after she was killed. It was then, and still remains, the hardest post I have ever written. Autistic children have been murdered before and since Katie died and I wrote about them too but although they horrified and saddened me, Katie’s death remains most memorable to me. Possibly because I have two little girls who bracket Katie’s age and the thought of them dying fills me with a terror that I cannot describe.

Katie’s grandad read that post and the video of Meg on her trampoline that accompanied it. The posting of that was intended to be our family’s tribute to Katie’s life. A little girl having fun.

But something happened I did not expect. Katie’s paternal grandad, Mike, read that post and saw that video and we started to communicate. Not about the trial but about our shared experiences with autistic little girls. I also swapped emails with Katie’s paternal uncle.

Over the course of the last year, Mike and I have developed a warm friendship and have swapped addresses, pictures of the family, birthday cards for family members. We talk often about Katie and the wonderful life her Dad and her paternal Grandma gave her. Our ability to converse across internal boundaries take a step up when we started to use Skype to actually talk directly. And believe me, if you think the world has exhausted its sense of wonder then you should experience listening to mid-afternoon bird song in the background of a conversation you are having with someone over 4000 miles away whilst the darkness of evening descends at your house.

I have also talked with Katie’s dad, grandma and uncle and listened to the sounds of Katie’s younger sister playing happily.

These people are family now. There’s no other way to think of them.

Earlier this year, Mike told me that he and Paul were coming over to the UK to visit. Brilliant news. I was so looking forward to meeting them finally.

We had a fantastic time. Not that we did very much, we just hung out, talked and played with the girls. I’ll admit that I had been nervous – how could we all be expected to get on when we’d never really met? – and yet those worries were banished. Within 10 minutes we were all chatting and laughing away with each other as though we’d known each other all our lives. Tabitha was absolutely smitten with Paul and followed him around begging to be picked up most of the day, which Paul – a natural gentleman in every sense of the word – was happy to do. Mike got some grandpa kisses from Meg which I believe made his day. Meg is naturally reticent around new people but she knew Mike and Paul were good people immediately.

And there was sadness too. Nobody could forget why we were all together that day and I feel I speak for all of us when I say that if I could make a promise never to have met Mike that Katie could be returned to them, that promise would be made in a heartbeat. Mike and Paul brought over some of the ribbon Kassiane had selected for Katie and which Paul and Mike wore with honour every time they went to court to battle for Katie. That was a humbling experience for me.

Mike and Paul stayed long after the girls had gone to bed. Naomi and I treasured every minute we had with them. They are Megan and Tabitha’s uncle and grandpa in every sense that matters. Gail and Em are their grandma and cousin in every sense that matters.

Terrible, awful things happen to the best people. What was done to Katie has not yet even been tried in court. I want to make sure that people remember that Katie lived. This little girl I’ve never met and heart breakingly, never will. Whilst the vaccine trial goes on, remember that this is going on too. Although, that day, we never talked about the trial it was in their eyes and gestures. How could it not be? For the two families that have come together into one, I wish there was some way – any other way – we could’ve become as close as we are now.

At the end of this month, the motions that are being heard now – those motions to suppress the confessions of Katie’s murderer – will be concluded. We must hope that justice prevails. Katie, my niece I never met, deserves no less.

Non, je ne regrette rien

13 Jun

Right. This is it. Absolutely the last time this subject gets raised on this blog. Comments will not be enabled on this post.

It’s the last time because I’m sick to death of hearing about it, thinking about it and discussing it. If anybody else wants to carry on discussing it – be my guest. But you won’t do it here.

First and foremost is that you understand that I regret absolutely nothing. I retract absolutely nothing. I apologise for none of my words and actions. I meant every single one of them and stand by them.

It was made clear to me by Larry that I wasn’t welcome in what he thinks of as neurodiversity. That’s fine, I can live with that. What he failed to specify, other than insults and vague allegations was _why_ I, and a loose group of people referred to as ‘the parents’ weren’t welcome. We sought no leadership. We sought no setting of the agenda. We just wanted to do our bit.

I asked calmly and politely – at first – what it was we – I – had done specifically. No answer, but more snideness. Eventually I realised that nothing of any substance would come from Larry. I retreated after speaking my mind about what I thought about Larry. It wasn’t good but it was accurate. It was my opinion.

After a week, I came back to my blog and explained my thoughts on the whole matter. Things were calming down. I avoided Larry. I didn’t seek out his comments, thoughts or opinions. Then yesterday I come back to my blog on a thread that is indeed heated but respectful and what do I find? Three long comments from – you guessed it – Larry. More of the same insults, murky accusations and pompous posturing. I let him have both barrels. He deserved it.

So – bullying. One ‘Donna’ who’d been on this blog many times and doesn’t like me or what I have to say accuses me of bullying poor poor Larry. Let me remind people who was ‘chasing’ who. I want to have no interaction with Larry if I can possibly avoid it. He sought it out and left three long, whiny, disrespectful comments. I’m not easily provoked but that did it. If anyone wants to avoid bullying I’d suggest to them that chasing after the ‘bully’ bleating ‘please notice me’ is not a great idea. I’d also like to offer a tip to would-be bullies: it seems that you don’t have to do any chasing these days. Apparently people coming in to your turf and running their mouths off, making empty accusations and calling you names is OK but if you respond in kind, they can cry about what a nasty bully you are.

As I said in my previous post – I’ve been used as Larry’s punch bag already. Not any more. If Larry – or anyone else – comes to my blog looking for a fight then they _will_ get one.

Humour. Its a personal thing. Some people don’t like other peoples humour. That I can understand. But suggesting that someone elses sense of what’s funny is inherently wrong because they don’t share it? Forget it.

First I’m told what I can and can’t blog about. Now I’m told what I can and can’t laugh about. What’s next? Anyone want to let me know where my black shirt is? Double plus ungood.

I really am beginning to wonder if the whole idea of _some_ autistic people wanting allies is true. We had a chance to start something great here. As far as I’m personally concerned, that’s dead in the water. Do you want perfect parents? We might not be perfect but we’re better than CAN parents. You had a chance to work with us. Make us better. Instead you’ve driven this one away for no better reason than one suspicious man couldn’t reign in his ego.

At least 20 people have emailed me to tell me that Larry has been like this since forever. They think he is jealous of the fact that I and other parents have been interviewed. He confirms this by stating that autistic people should be interviewed, not parents. He’s right, they should.

In early April this year I was contacted by a journalist from The Observer in the UK. She wanted to speak to someone connected with the autism advocacy movement. I told her she’s be best speaking to autistic people in the UK. I told her I would mail her details to a few UK autistic people I knew so they could speak their piece. True advocacy, right from the horses mouth. One of those I contacted was Larry.

He never replied to me and he never contacted the journalist. I know this as she contacted me increasingly desperately as no one had contacted her. She didn’t want to hear my voice, she wanted to hear from autistic people about autism advocacy. Nobody, including Larry, could be bothered.

Remember this next time you hear Larry banging on about rights and agendas. He’s full of hot air.

And that is that.

From now on I blog about what I want to blog about. That will mostly be about autism related quackery. Larry is banned from commenting on this blog. Any comment that touches on Larry in any way or on any of these discussions will be deleted.

I don’t consider myself part of neurodiversity, although I am clearly neurodiverse. I will gladly stand with autistic allies – both autistic people, their parents and professionals – who want nothing to do with a cure and who want rights for autistic people to come first in autism advocacy. I will not stand with anyone at all who wants to accuse me of wrong doing without any substance to their claims or who wants to dictate what I should and shouldn’t talk about.

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