G’s Place

Go see the new bumper sticker on Asperger Square 8.

Related stories here and here.

We saw the documentary Billy the Kid last night.  The director (Jennifer Venditti) and John Elder Robison (author of Look Me in the Eye…go get it and read it). We were late because we got lost…so I missed the first ten minutes or so.

It was good….although at some parts it was so hard to watch. I just covered my eyes with my coat. Mostly because I see Brianna do the same things that this kid was doing.

The director said they shot the footage in 8 days. That explained some of the things in the movie. There are times when Billy really seems to be playing to the camera. It’s the same feeling I get now when I watch my daughter in new social situations…I can tell she is “acting”, or  “playing to a script” to get through the social stuff. I wish I could pour some of me or her brother into her, so she wasn’t so uncomfortable and she could just relax and put herself out there (because she really is amazing). That’s what I mean by playing to the camera - the director said Billy is into films (it sounded to me like it’s one of his THINGS), so I think he had an idea of how he was supposed to be acting.

But his aspiness still came through. One thing he did that I recognized is repeated things to make sense of them (oh, you’re Heather’s dad…). Brianna doesn’t do that so much anymore…but she used to drive me a little nutty with it. She wouldn’t just repeat stuff, she would repeat it in the form of a question. Or questions. I don’t know why she doesn’t do that so much anymore. I’ll have to ask her.

One way he is different than my daughter is he is very outgoing. Brianna is very very shy. I think it has saved her one sort of troubles. He would start talking and just tell the person all those things you aren’t supposed to say to a person you just met. That is when I would cover my eyes.

During the Q&A, one dad in the audience asked how much was edited out because they didn’t show any rants. I took “rant” to mean what I call “getting stuck” - going on and on and on and on about a topic. It was funny, you could tell who in the audience knew an aspie by who laughed.

This poor kid had a wonderful mom, but not so great dad (drugs are bad mmkay). Again, I have to think I was blessed with the parents I have to be able to be the right kind of parent to Bri. Thanks mom and dad.

I asked John Elder Robison if he had met Billy, and if Billy knew about his connection to KISS. Billy LOVES KISS. He had a homemade Guitar Hero set up….he had a guitar and an amp set up in front of his TV playing a KISS video. And then he mimicked what they did. (I thought that was so cool). John invented all the exploding guitars, etc for KISS. Although Billy and John haven’t met, John said he thought any true KISS fan would know who invented the guitars. LOL. Supposedly KISS is thinking about showing up at the premier in L.A. THEY SHOULD….and they should send Billy out there for it. Can you imagine? That would be so awesome.

If you don’t know and love someone with Asperger’s Syndrome, you should see this movie. It will show you that those “weird” people hanging around are just different. Cut them some freaking slack. If you know someone with Asperger’s, the movie is really wonderfully done - the sounds and sights were edited to try and simulate what the world “feels” like to an aspie. I think they did a good job with that. I also think it’s good she shot it in 8 days - she didn’t have time to get to be exhausted by his strangeness (At least we can tell Bri now that we need a break from it, and she understands. And we understand when she needs a break from us).

The movie strengthened  my resolve to change how people on the spectrum are treated and seen by others.  Eventually, I’ll get there…I’d love to go home and just help people understand their kids may not be bratty, just autistic.

The movie will be on  HBO soon, then on DVD.  It’s in some theaters now. I recommend it.

Remember the story about the aspie girl who was bullied by autism speaks? Well, the story got farked. I submitted to BoingBoing, they ignored it. meh.

Digg the story here.

Check out ntspeaks.com

I guess it’s all good now…autism speaks told the girl to change her theme, but they kept the domain. Bastards.

no seriously…I didn’t like those people before. Now, I don’t like them at all.

Found it via a post on Asperger’s social skills therapy. Adding it to Newsgator….I hope he links to some academic articles I can use for my paper.

The blog belongs to Simon Bignell, who is a Psychology Professor at the University of Derby (in the UK).   Here’s the focus of his research:

I am currently running a funded project that is evaluating teaching and research in Second Life. The research element is investigating the effectiveness of the platform to enhance the real-life social/communication skills of people diagnosed with high-functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

HMMM maybe I can get my doctorate in the UK?

Sometimes my daughter will take something too literally. I tell her, I think you are being Aspie because you aren’t supposed to take that so literally.

Who would have thought that a charity who are all about helping people with autism would be so literal? An Aspie teenager built a parody website to the Autism Speaks site called “NTs Speak”.  Instead of understanding that the site was a parody, Autism Speaks overreacted and set the lawyers on the girl.

So, Autism Speaks freaks out when an autistic teen speaks. Right…

Good points made in this podcast about how kids don’t have the skills on how to mine for the internets for info, or how to actually USE technology.

They also talked about direct instruction vs constant stimulation using technology.

This article reports on a study that shows low-income schools have a lower incidence of autism than more affluent schools.

This doesn’t surprise me. The study puts the burden on the parents for not wanting services, and not wanting their kids to be labeled. I say BS. I say teachers look at these kids as “bad”, and can’t imagine there can be another reason for being disruptive besides they are poor and aren’t raised properly.

Been there. Done that. Still hate that lady with all my heart!

This person gets it. The person who wrote the Variety review doesn’t.

WrongPlanet had an article about Second Life being used for brain therapy for people with Asperger’s syndrome at the UT Dallas Center for Brain Health.

One of the things the BrainHealth team is investigating is if “virtual social computer-based learning programs repair the dysfunctional brain networks in autism and schizophrenia”. The team working with autism plans to “[e]stablish [an] innovative assessment battery for social cognition” by “[d]evis[ing] novel intervention for social deficits using virtual computer technology.” They help people with Asperger’s by having them practice small talk in the virtual world of Second Life.

hmmm maybe I have found a source for one of my papers this semester…..too bad the university doesn’t offer a doctorate program.

Temple Grandin is a woman with Asperger’s Syndrome. She is a famous for creating more humane slaughter houses, and for advocating for rights for autistic folks.

She wrote this paper to explain methods that help kids with Asperger’s learn better. The paper explains barriers that kids with Asperger’s have that are not easily seen by those of us who are “neuro-typical”.