A Busy Month

Today begins Poetry Month. Always a favorite of mine.


It is also, as most of us are aware, the month of Passover, and of Easter.


But it also begins National Autism Awareness Month. Autism is a much misunderstood and often feared thing, experienced by many thousands of people. This should be a good time for us to read and talk and learn more about something that effects so many wonderful people among us. - Our friend, Linda, has a post today in which she refers to it as "Autism Acceptance Month" I like that so much better.

A Time of Stress

My dear friend, Casdok, has posted today. She is the mother of a twenty year old autistic son who is about to move on to a specialist home. It is an extremely stressful time for both of them. Perhaps a word of support and encouragement would be in order.

Her post today includes a couple of videos which I found very interesting. They certainly give pause to those of us who have never experienced autism first hand in ourselves or a loved one.

NPR and a New Book

This morning I received an email from my youngest daughter. She knows of my interest in autism, and she sent me a link to an article in her American Public Media Newsletter. If you have even the remotest interest in the subject of autism, if you have a family member or friend who is autistic, if you have a young child yourself, I urge you to read this article. It offers a link to a conversation with Paul Collins, who has a young son who is autistic, and who has written a book called Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism. No, I have not yet read the book. I will, as soon as I can get my hands on a copy.

I'm sorry that I missed hearing this on National Public Radio, but fortunately my daughter, who has done interviews with authors on NPR, keeps up with their programming, and keeps Mom informed on such things.

Whether or not you want to read the book, whether or not you are seeking further information on the subject, the article is worth reading.


After one week's time, this article will not be the main feature shown when you go through the link. But you will be able to access it through their Archives.

Have you visited: casdok-facesofautism.blogspot.com - You might find it interesting.
Or what about: jerobison.blogspot.com - a blog written by an autistic man.

Every Day Kindness

On the 14th, Casdok posted a poem that I liked very much. It concerned her son, who is autistic, and some of the misconceptions held by so many in our society about autism.

My favorite verse in the poem said:

What matters is the here and now,
Not the why, not the how.




















The "r" word is "retard"

More about the Protest

I see that the networks did report on the protest against Michael Savage and his rant about autism and asthmatic children. I also learned that in Mississippi, one network (seven stations) dropped his show entirely. Just wish more would do that.

Already there is a cry about freedom of speech. I'm all for freedom of speech. What would I do if it weren't for freedom of speech? But there is such a thing as discretion, and a harangue against children, or against anyone who is suffering from a physical problem, just isn't done.

Here is a link my daughter, Ruth, from New York, sent me today. it includes a short video of the protest and a doctor speaking briefly about diagnosing autism.

Ignorance

I thought a while about what to call this post. I guess there's no other word for it.
Please take a look at Linda's blog, these are the days - her post called A Show of Ignorance.

Her post concerns Michael Savage, whose recent rant on air included statements like, "Now you want me to tell you my opinion on autism?...a fraud, a racket" also, "...the illness du jour is autism....it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out."

In the same broadcast, he addressed asthma and minority children, saying, they got "extra welfare if they were disabled..."

Apparently Mr. Savage knows more about physical and mental illness than our doctors know.

On Linda's post you can find a link leading to a list of stations carrying Mr. Savage's syndicated program. You can also see and hear a video of his remarks. You may feel you can call or write to the stations airing his brand of venom.

Thank heaven, there don't seem to be any of those stations in NJ - but MD and DE carry him, and that's too close for my comfort.

THIS AND THAT AND SOMETHING ELSE

I feel all at loose ends today. Can't seem to concentrate on anything.

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There was, allegedly, a meteor shower this morning before dawn. I woke up early, as usual, and remembering what I'd heard about the shower, pulled on my clothes and hurried out to the back deck. Didn't see a thing. Very disappointing.

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I read that Autism Awareness Month is being extended. (Exactly how do you extend a month?) Well, it's a good thing to extend a period of awareness. But then I read that it will give us an opportunity to raise more money. I guess I am incredibly naive. Somewhere in the back of my mind sits the awareness that money is a huge issue in any cause. But I honestly never once gave a thought to money when I was pushing for Autism Awareness. My concern is that people come to a better understanding of the problem and the people.

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I'm growing oh, so weary of the media's pretense at concern over what the antics and the clothing styles of young starlets must be doing to influence the thinking and behavior of our own teenage and pre-teen daughters, all the while exploiting the heck out of it.

Sorry. As I said, I'm just in a mood, and my mind keeps jumping from one thing to another.

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Yesterday I went to the pharmacy to pick up couple of prescriptions. The young woman behind the counter told me, in a completely disinterested tone, that my prescription card had expired, so it would cost around $400. Well, I know that my card does not "expire", I was all paid up on my plan, and my former employer, who is the source of this card, had not changed companies for coverage. She told me that this sort of thing happens when "someone pushes the wrong button" so, did I want the prescriptions or not? - Not - I drove to the former employer's office to find out if "someone pushed the wrong button". They had. It took a while, but eventually got straightened out. But all along the way, no one but me seemed very concerned about the whole deal. My prescriptions were not anything threatening life or death. But someone else's could have been! Why are people not concerned?


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Well, enough of This and That! The weather is beautiful and the flowers are in bloom. I have a pot of calibrachoa on my front step under the hummingbird feeder. The hummers like it very much.


The azaleas seem to be very beautiful this year, don't they?






And the wisteria is just gorgeous!

So maybe I should try to shake off this strange mood and get out there and see what this day may have to offer.

SUNDAY SUGGESTIONS

Two things today.

First - It is still April, and AUTISM AWARENESS month. In case you are not familiar with them yet, there are a couple of great blogs out there, waiting to be read. SnoopMurph has one of them, called these are the days. And Joey's mom has the other, called Life with joey. They both have great little kids and you might enjoy reading about them.




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The second thing is - sort of having to do with yesterday's mention of farms and farmers.

This is another blog I've read before, then seem to have forgotten for a while. Well, actually, there was a blog by that name, but she has changed jobs and started over again. Tana Butler
says, "Lettuce praise farmers". She writes a blog called i heart farms, with"stories and pictures of real people and real food". (There are lots of nice cow pictures, Shelly.) Farms - food - animals - nature - something for everyone. Just thought you might be interested.

AUTISM AWARENESS

Please don't forget - April is also AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH.



You might be interested in watching NIGHT OF TOO MANY STARS, on Comedy Central TV.


Sunday, April 13th at 8: PM,
Eastern Standard Time.
And it's JON STEWART,
so you know it's got to be good!


This beautiful new logo is courtesy of Amanda at Life With Joey. Do visit her blog and learn about her six year old, lovable son. She also has a wonderful line of products available. Please check them out.

WORLD AUTISM DAY

Today is World Autism Day


Autism: A brain development disorder which impacts social interaction, often evidenced by repetitive behavior.


A subject much misunderstood by those of us whose families have not been touched by it. I don't pretend to be very knowledgeable on the subject. I do have interest and feel compassion for those facing autism, and I understand that autistic individuals face a myriad of problems going far beyond their basic disorder, because the rest of us do not know how to interact with them. Quite often school officials, unaware of their needs, manage to create further problems.

I would like to suggest possible reading for bloggers. Michelle O'Neil's blog is called Full-Soul-Ahead. She is a marvelous writer, and the mother of an autistic daughter. Read her profile as well as her beautiful post of February 23rd.

Casdok, who lives in Surrey, England, is the mother of a nineteen year old, non-verbal son. Her blog, Mother of Shrek is quite different and interesting.

In your local library, you should find a copy of Send In the Idiots. The author, Nazeer Kamran, is autistic himself. I definitely recommend this book with its amazing stories.

To read the truth about autism, please investigate ASAF, the Autism Society of America.








P.S.

I have just been catching up, and have gone back through other posts by Michelle - each one better than the last, by the way, and found her post on March 26th in which she links us to an HBO website showing Autism: the Musical. Should you find difficulty with that website, marjie's comment to Michelle's blog gave another where you can view the entire movie plus two more.