Musings and What-not

Black Friday is also known as Over-Consumption Friday. We have become a world where the Christmas lists are endless, and no one is ever satisfied. What happened? Where did we go wrong? How can we stop this vicious cycle before it's too late? Wall-E is an excellent example of what will happen to us if we keep over-consuming the way we are. Here's an excerpt from the Rolling Stones review: First image: the Earth as a garbage dump, a future reduced to ruins. For the past 700 years, what's left of humanity has been cruising the skies in a spaceship. Only a tiny robot, WALL-E (for Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth class), scoots around on urban terra firma compacting trash into piles that grow into skyscrapers. BNL which stands for BUY n LARGE reminded me of Wal-Mart aka Wallie World 'cause it's reminiscent of an amusement park where practically everything you want is at your disposal. BNL is a conglomerate that sells everything at low prices...

Fellow blogger, Kari , wrote a post at Silicon Valley Moms Blog about the hit ABC show, Grey's Anatomy and their extremely insulting portrayal of Aspergers Syndrome. Kari very eloquently expressed her feelings about this new, and, thankfully, temporary character. Something I am unable to do at this moment in time.  The reason I am unable to eloquently express my feelings is because I am so incredibly ticked off right now, I can't even think straight. Here's an excerpt from her post. I had high hopes for Mary McDonnell's three-episode-arc character Dr. Virginia Dixon on Grey's Anatomy . I thought, "It will be great to see someone a little quirky take on the already strange social scene at Seattle Grace." Unfortunately, when the episode aired, I was disappointed . Instead of a brilliant cardiac surgeon who happens to have Aspergers , Dr. Dixon is a very impaired Rainman -like stereotype of autism. While the words I write about autism are read by a couple ...

[et_pb_section fb_built="1" admin_label="section" _builder_version="3.22" custom_padding="7px|||||"][et_pb_row admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" _builder_version="3.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"] Something's amiss down under. One news report spoke of over-diagnosis, now another speaks of misdiagnosis. What is going on? According to ABC Local Radio , Experts say diagnosis of the condition in Australia is patchy, because doctors here don't apply the internationally accepted diagnostic criteria. Some patients are diagnosed as au...

My son is one of the fortunate ones. The Oklahoma Health Authority (aka SoonerCare ) covers his twice weekly speech and occupational therapy sessions.  Who knows, they may even cover a third speech session.  We'll see because it doesn't hurt to ask. Like I said, he's one of the fortunate ones. But things aren't going so well for other Oklahoman children who are also on the spectrum. The Developmental Disabilities Division of our state's Department of Human Services is about to let a pilot program expire "sooner than expected" due to the lack of behavioral specialists. What does this mean exactly? The program had offered a budget of $12,360 to spend on services.  As for the 30 families who were selected to participate?  They will be left, once again, to fend for themselves. Michael McNutt of The Oklahoman reports , Oklahoma lacks enough therapists and behavioral specialists to take care of the state’s autistic children, according to the preliminary finding...

The circus is in town this weekend, and my husband really wanted to take our son. While fetchin' dinner, he told me he saw a group of circus protestors, hanging out across the street of the BOK Center . He told me they were holding signs that spoke of animal abuse... If I hadn't have transitioned to a holistic lifestyle, I wouldn't be sitting in front of my PC right now, blogging about animal abuse and circuses. But I did. And here I am. Fired up. How do I explain this to my son? He doesn't always grasp the other things I try to explain to him.  But abuse, in all its forms, is something I am ill-prepared for. How do I look into those amazingly big, brown eyes, and tell him that I'll never take him to the circus? That it will be a cold day in hotsville before I pay to see abused animals perform for my or his delight? That the elephant isn't trumpeting because she's happy... she's trumpeting because she's been wounded by a bullhook meant to make her ...

Come on, everyone. Won't cha sing along with me???  I'm sure John Paul Young won't mind if we change a word of the 70s hit, Love is in the air , will he? Imagine this if you will... You're autistic. You've been placed on a bus... heading off to school. Your parents, who love you dearly, leave you in the loving care of your bus driver and bus monitor. They, in turn, take that trust... and reject it. They abandon you on a bus... for several hours. Ladies and gentlemen, it has been confirmed.  The world has truly gone mad, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this isn't not an isolated case! Seems like October is the month where we'll have to stop thinking about Halloween and start thinking about keeping our children out of school for fear that they'll be tagged for what seems to be an annual event for abusing our children. 2007 2008 Is this going to be the norm when we leave our children in their care? Is this what's become of all t...

DES MOINES, Iowa – After failing to finish a reading assignment, 8-year-old Isabel Loeffler was sent to the school's time-out room — a converted storage area under a staircase — where she was left alone for three hours. The autistic Iowa girl wet herself before she was finally allowed to leave. Appalled, her parents removed her from the school district and filed a lawsuit. This is very disturbing. Is this the direction our school's are going?  Is this the treatment our children can expect to receive? I'm not always going to be homeschooling my son.  One of these years, he's going to have to return to "typical" school life. However, this article leads me to wonder what that life will be like for him. I don't know if Isabel is considered high-functioning or not, but I do want to know how someone justified leaving her, alone, under a stairwell, for 3 hours because she failed to complete a reading assignment? I also want to know if she hadn't wet herself,...

The people who are criticizing the "Autism Schmautism" chapter in my new book "Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid" clearly have not read it. Or if they have, they missed the sections I thought made my feelings about autism very clear: that I not only support the current rational approaches to the diagnoses and treatment of real autism but have witnessed it firsthand while watching very dear old friends raise a functioning autistic child. Okay, Denis.  You got me.  I didn't read your book.  I saw the comment, put on my armor, and was prepared to battle... major battle! Do I owe you an apology?  I'll concede.  I do.  I should have done what I normally do, and that's to get the facts BEFORE I react. But you see, I wasn't only reacting for myself.  I was reacting for my son who does not and would not understand that those few lines were "teasers" to something "meaningful". Does this mean that I will g...

You are probably wondering about the meaning of the title. I am an autism warrior. I am a mother to a handsome, smart, funny, charming, affectionate young man... who has autism. I am part of an amazing community who sees as part of its mission the promotion of tolerance, compassion, empathy, and understanding for a generation of people who are oftentimes, misunderstood and persecuted by ignorant, misinformed, ill-educated folks like Michael Savage , Amanda Peet , and Denis Leary . (click their names to read their remarks against the autism community) I am an author who hopes that my work will inspire readers to learn more about the autism spectrum disorder. I am an author who hopes that my work will encourage readers to be more compassionate, empathetic, and tolerant of others who seem "different" than themselves. I am a blogger . I blog for peace (because I know now that my son's autism was not my fault). I blog for answers (to questions I have on regarding how I can b...

There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks . . . to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't give a [bleep] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you - yer kid is NOT autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both." - Denis Leary The Autism Society of America responded: "For Mr. Leary to suggest that families or doctors conspire to falsely diagnose autism is ridiculous . . . [His] remarks reflect the same misconceptions of autism being caused by bad or unemotional parenting that were held over 50 years ago. I don't even know where to start. Prior to reading his remarks, I actually liked Denis.  Yes, I know he's crass and a bit hard on the ears, but his style was one I used to laugh at.  I think it was his New England accent and hard appr...