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What Ritalin Means to Me.
I’d like to illuminate, here, a series of seemingly mundane events that communicate what the addition of Ritalin; after having lived 46 years not knowing I had ADHD, suspecting giftedness but frustratingly unsure because nobody would ever appropriately assess me, and living with toxic stress and traumas that span all the way back to year…
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TISE Resources for Children
I’m unclear how to begin doing a thing I want to do, so I’m taking this tiny little first step out into the social media void. The short? I’d like to consolidate a directory of trauma-informed, social and emotional (TISE, as I’ve started acronymming it) learning oriented, inclusive, antiracist, queer-affirming, and representationally-diverse professionals and resources…
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My Stable Bow In Heaven
Hi. You may be wondering how I’m doing, and the answer is complex, but the overall valence is extremely positive…buoyant, warm, joy-filled, and at peace. It’s Christmas Day, December 25th, 2020. I suppose if I were to start this as I started the last communication with you, I would begin… Day 10. The tenth day…
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My Covid Experience
Day 1. 9:40 a.m. All is calm. All is bright. Have coffee. Brian Eno’s, “Ambient 1/Music for Airports” in my head. Lots of love and support from folks. It’s all been and is being received. Please know that. Just, a lot of numbness. I should explain myself. … Day 0. 6:18 p.m. All was tenuous. …
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Black English Vernacular is a Robust, Legitimate English Dialect.
Recently, I re-listened to an interview with writer/director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther) and writer Aaron Covington (Creed) on the Podcast, “Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period,” which is hosted by W. Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery. Across these four professional, creative, confident, compelling Black men, I heard a…
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Service…not help. Support…not abuse.
Please note: I am choosing to use “identity first language” in the following post and not “person first language.” Over the past several years, I’ve served, worked with, and listened to hundreds of Autistic self advocates and have come to this decision. For further reading, I’ll direct you to an illuminating article, “Identity-First Language,” by…
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It’s All About Relationship
My working title for this post was, “Embracing Inclusion, Culture, and Relationship: Relinquishing the Medical Model While Serving Neurodiverse Populations.” Which is just like me. Extra. (And notice, I still had to share it.) On a related note: American Sign Language (ASL) contains a sign pair describing the general communication styles of Deaf people…
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What is inclusion if it’s not inclusive?
Recently, I was invited to lead an inclusion discussion with young people through the Pittsburgh Chapter of The Friendship Circle. (www.fcpgh.org) “The Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh was established in 2006 with the intention of creating a more inclusive community. Our programs engage youth and adults with diverse abilities in a full range of social activities;…
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Hey Yinz Guys
I’m from Pittsburgh. Some say, “Picksburgh.” Western Pennsylvania is cursed…nay, blessed with a unique dialect known here as, “Pittsburghese” but in academic circles as Western Pennsylvania English (WPE). Many university-educated natives, implanted academics, and the burgeoning nouveau hipster class look down upon it, and those who use WPE unabashedly are largely derided as jagoffs and yinzers. The…
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You Cannot Fix What Is Not Broken
I’m a Speech and Language Therapist. Once, when I was still an undergraduate student and in Japan with Semester at Sea, a gentleman on a train asked me what I intended to do for a profession. “Speech and Language Pathologist.” He puzzled over that final word. “Pah…thaw…loh…gist,” and he pulled out a dictionary. (This story…