There is a lot going on in the autism blogging world at the moment in response to the new Autism Speaks advertisement. It is a bit more difficult for me to post what I think on it because I am in Australia, there is nothing like that here. So I can’t see for myself the effect it is having on people – autistic and non-autistic.
My mum liked the second half of it, where all the families were were standing with the autistic person. But she didn’t know what to make of the first half. The parts with all those statements about what autism will do…how does anyone know what autism will do?
So here it is:
Apparently Autism Speaks has now withdrawn it from their site due to the amount of protests against it.
Just a general post I guess, because I wanted to post my result from the Spacefem Colour Quiz. Here it is:
| you are darkolivegreen #556B2F |
Your dominant hues are green and yellow. There’s no doubt about the fact that you think with your head, but you don’t want to be seen as boring and want people to know about your adventurous streak now and again. Your saturation level is medium – You’re not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it’s required of you. You probably don’t think the world can change for you and don’t want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is slightly darker than most people’s. You try to see things for what they are and face situations honestly. You’d rather get to the point than look for what’s good. |
| the spacefem.com html color quiz |
To all those Russian Spambots: Bugger off! I will not go to your party, you cannot drive my car and I don’t want your medication!
I am slowly getting used to being at university again after a month’s break. Even though this is my second semester, I still feel like the “new person”. But I like it there, I like having something to do and I like to hand in my work when it is completed. Otherwise, I have a general feeling of mild panic about the work I have to hand in and the social vibe that is a constant there.
I have one friend that was in my Foundation Unit last semester – she shares one lecture with me for our Psychological Health & Wellbeing unit. Art/Creative Writing is her major whereas Psychology is mine. So the Psychology unit she is doing this semester is an elective. I don’t have electives as there are so many psychology units. My path is mapped out except for the type of psychology I want to do which I haven’t decided on yet.
I have one huge assignment for Psychological Health & Wellbeing that is due at the end of semester and it is a Self-Management Project. We have to improve something in our lives and I have chosen study skills as mine are pretty rotten. They are all over the place and I don’t get things finished until the day they are due in which does nothing for my anxiety. I was rotten at studying at high school (which explains the Fail grades) and I don’t want to repeat it here because I actually care about what I am studying. I want to please myself as to how I do at university. So this experiment on myself should help me gain better studying habits. I have already chosen two interventions to use.
I have handed in one assignment for Psychological Research Methods (a.k.a The Psychological Horror of Statistics) and have another to hand in next week. We have covered measures of central tendency and are now up to z-scores and statistics and t-scores. I am slow at understanding it but I do get there in the end, I just have to be quick enough to get there before assignments are due in. I have a feeling my last assignment didn’t go so well and am dreading getting it back.
For Applications of Psychology, I have to give a 10 minute presentation next week about registering to be a psychologist. I am thinking that I find it difficult to speak for one minute let alone 10 minutes. So I have found the pile of forms on the internet that have to be filled out if a person wants to be a psychologist (there are pages and pages). As we are not able to use Powerpoint (I still don’t understand why) I have to convert photocopies to overhead projector pages. I think it will cost a lot. But it will be worth it if I show these to the class instead of talking for 10 minutes straight. I will say a few things. Maybe, “If you don’t like filling out forms then Psychology is not for you.” I am really not looking forward to the presentation and will probably feel sick, dizzy and light-headed but I have to go through with it.
This is all I have to say today – I have to go to a lecture in about ten minutes.
This past week has been awful. I had a really bad cold (it might have been the flu – I had fever and body aches and pains) and spent three days in bed which is a lot for me. I missed three days of uni and have to get a doctor’s note tomorrow to give to one of my tutors. I felt too rotten to do any homework or listen to any lectures online. I still have a cough left over (viruses always seem to go to my chest). I have wondered whether it was H1N1 but it could have been just a random virus. I think I caught it at the local Sunday Markets.
Then, the day before yesterday I fell over (I blame GA, heh) and hit my face on the edge of a table in the computer room. I chipped a front tooth almost in half, cut my bottom lip, bruised my shoulder and ribs, and scratched my glasses (it is on the left lens so my weak left eye doesn’t notice it). It was Sunday afternoon so GA waited until yesterday to call the dentist. He had to ring around to find one and he did – one just down the street a bit. I really appreciate that he rang so many people and got the appointment for me, I was too upset to be good for much.
So I had my tooth repaired. It required anaesthetic (it hurt, but it was a tolerable kind of hurt) which numbed my nose as well. It felt really odd. The dentist was really kind and I hope to see her again when I get a check-up. But I am kind of sad because I spent a load of money a few years ago having my teeth straightened. I was proud that my teeth were undamaged with only a few fillings. Seeing the damage after the fall was like a nightmare. I almost passed out when I saw it. I am thankful the damage is fixed now. I still have a lot of bruising on my bottom lip and a few of my top and bottom teeth are sensitive. It is a bit hard to bite my teeth properly together as it hurts. I am being careful when I eat.
One good thing as a result – I have been booked in to the dentist for a scale and clean which I have been meaning to do for ages but have just procrastinated about. I am pretty confident that it won’t hurt!
I am back to uni now (even as I type this 
) and have a fair bit of work to catch up with. I am just glad the last week is over. It almost rivals May as being a bad event time!
You may have noticed that I have myself a Gravatar. It is an avatar like the sort you see when you make comments/posts in a forum, except that you can see it all over the internet when you make comments on someone’s blog and things like that. So instead of seeing a grey face shadowor random pattern made for unidentifiable people, you get to see a specific picture you chose to appear instead. Mine is of a red cog on a white background with white cogs. I like cogs and gears, it is sort of my personal theme.
I have wondered what my learning style is and thanks to a member on Gestalt, found this online test to do. It seems that I am mostly a solitary and aural learner.
In other news…
I got two Credits and a Distinction for my units last semester. 
I have had over a month of free time and it has been really busy. I have been helping a friend with her market stall, catching up with family and generally doing what I didn’t have time to do while I was at uni and studying. Which involved watching a fair bit of tv.
I hope to be less busy for a while so I can make more posts here.
I want to see this movie when it comes out. It won’t open in Australia until the middle of August sometime, though.
“Adam” – link to site about the movie.
And here is the trailer:
From: Yale University – Health & Medicine
New Haven, Conn. — Superior intelligence is no defense against the effects of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, Yale researchers have found.
About three of four ADHD individuals with an IQ of more than 120 – a score that ranks them in the top nine percent of the U.S. population – showed significant impairments in memory and cognitive tests when compared to people with similar IQ’s who do not suffer from the disorder, according to the researchers.
The report, to be published in the September print edition of the Journal of Attention Disorders, is now available online: http://jad.sagepub.com/pap.dtl
Sometimes I heard (especially at work), “You can’t do this? But I thought you were smart.” It was awful in school to get bad grades because I just couldn’t focus long enough to be productive. The world was a fog partly due to defending myself from too much input. Occasionally I would experience moments of clarity. I remember them clearly.
So a mix of inattention and a lack of willingness to ask for help lead to general slowness at learning. So when I was called a slow learner by someone, I tended to agree with it. The ADHD and autism are meshed together tightly, as well.
Here is a picture of kittens:
I Stumbled Upon this YouTube video and wondered if it could be accurate. I was sceptical that’s for sure. So I watched it. The sound sensitivity part was very much like it can be for me. The people all up right in front of the man’s face. I know what that is like. They left out smell, though! A smelly bus can ruin everything.
But despite the potential for an overwhelming time, I really like public transport.
What I would like to see is a video of an autistic person going grocery shopping. If anyone wants some footage of this, I can provide lots of it.
The look on the face of the man left sitting on the bus made me laugh!
“A4 LOCKS OUT AUTISTIC MEMBERS
STATEMENT CONCERNING A4 – AUTISM ASPERGER ADVOCACY AUSTRALIA
ASAN AUSTRALIA understands from its members that as of today all Autistic members have been exclude from the Steering Committee of A4 (Autism Asperger Advocacy Australia) which has now been renamed the A4 Advisory Group. Convener of the A4 Advisory Group Bob Buckley states in an email to all A4 members:
“A majority group decided to separate itself from a minority dissenting group (formerly in A4 SC) who do not accept and object to long-standing polices and practices of the A4 SC.”
This minority dissenting group just happens to contain all of the people with a diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder that sat on the A4 Steering Committee up until 18/5/09. This minority group has long been battling to be part of the national voice that is A4 and now finds themselves excluded from the very group that once claimed to represent them.
ASAN AUSTRALIA finds this situation unacceptable, reprehensible in fact. We suggest that in light of this move A4 not be seen as a legitimate voice for those on the autism spectrum. Nothing about us without us.”
Australian Autism Group block autistics
Isn’t that weird. To have a group for and about autistic people, but with no autistic people in it. Makes no sense!
