Posts by Virginia Brooks
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Huge congrats to all involved, that's awesome
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Hard News: The People's Poet is dead!, in reply to Alan Perrott,
'community viewing'
Absolutely. Genius.
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I relish the one night of the week its just me at home & I don't have to cook a proper meal for anyone else. Sometimes I just have toast. Yes! Sometimes with banana squashed on it and lots of butter. Or vegemite. Or sometimes its soup instead (not on the toast, beside the toast). Unless its French onion soup homemade and then cheese on toast floats in it. Seriously yum. Or I go to the fish shop and buy a wedge of smoked salmon and eat it whole out of the paper wrapping. Seating with my feet up watching trash TV of course. With a big mug of tea on the side. Now that's how to do a solo-no-fuss-meal-for- one.
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Access: Autism, ABA and being a bad mother, in reply to Michelle Isaac,
re: 'Most of us are doing our best but parents tend to feel guilty about whether we’re doing enough for our kids – autism or not.'
Amen to that.
Great post Michelle.
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Access: Autism, ABA and being a bad mother, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I enjoyed reading your post Hilary. It raises important issues.
And I say yay for 'the bad mother' (not bad parenting).
My son was thought to be somewhere on the borderline of the high functioning end of the spectrum. He had his own opinions re parenting - he liked to visit parenting websites and blogs and flame unsuspecting parents.
Its kind of funny... his comments would have been insightful but merciless.And I did not know Temple had visited NZ.
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ok, so Amanda Bags (the woman in the above video) is controversial, ie, is she autistic or not.
I guess what I like about the video is its defence of non verbal communication and the way it introduces a different way to think about how we think.
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For anyone interested in an insider view of autism, I recommend Temple Grandin's book 'Thinking in pictures'. She is proudly autistic and its an illuminating read.
Another insider view is provided in the clip 'In my language'. An autistic woman describes her world view and what language and communication means for her. Its an astonishing watch which flips what you thought you knew on its head:
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Viva la difference.
I worked at the IHC many years ago and we were taught to use ABA. It could be handy - ie, scaffolding behaviour and rewarding - but also outlandish - as when I was advised to put alum (a burning chemical) on a patients tongue to deter an 'incorrect response'. ie, the pain would stop the repetition.
I was horrified / didn't do it. Plus I liked my teenage clients spirited response - her refusal to 'play the game'. She was what we would call severely handicapped but a beautiful person with a sense of humour. ABA was just cruel, like treating humans like circus animals. It stripped clients of their dignity, their ability to chose.
I have no idea what the current version of ABA therapy is like, but parents, follow your gut instinct. If it doesn't feel right for your own child, you do not have to obey.
Sometimes the emperor simply isn't wearing any clothes. -
Both great clips Shulgin, thanks.
re: 'you can ban drugs but you cant ban chemistry'... Mike Power describes the cultural shift accompanying the synthetics industry well.
Ok, he is from the UK and does not live in NZ, but can we vote him in at the next election?! What he is saying makes sense. -
Up Front: Just Like Unicorns, in reply to Lilith __,
re: the sudden horniness just before menstruation, when conception is impossible?
Maybe a self medicinal mechanism which is more about biological fitness than reproduction - orgasm / sex being a way to both stimulate and soothe cramps - to release hormones to bring the necessary cramps on (to expel uterus contents), but at the same time releasing endorphins to ease the pain.
Orgasm is also pretty handy towards the end of a period - it encourages the final bit of uterus emptying (muscle contractions).