Apr 23
A beautiful essay, written by my friend Amy Sequenzia, for Autism Acceptance Month. Autism Acceptance means more than love and understanding. It means belonging. Amy lived in Great Barrington for a time, and was very active in CATA. She has published a collection of poetry.
Apr 08
The latest (April 2016) issue of Scientific American contains an article that caught my eye. It is billed as “Cognitive Psychology” and subtitled “By honing ax-making skills while scanning their own brains, researchers are studying how cognition evolved.” This is clearly a very speculative venture, and the article (“Tales of a Stone Age Neuroscientist” available …
Nov 25
An article entitled “The Gene Hackers” appeared in the November 16, 2015 issue of The New Yorker. It attracted my attention because it touches on neuroscience and other topics that interest me. I always worry when I read an article like this that autism will be mentioned in an unfavorable light. I didn’t have to wait …
Apr 12
I guess you don’t have to be autistic to collect stamps (or coins, or bills, or anything else), but I’m sure it helps. For many years (and long before I figured out that I’m autistic), I collected stamps. More than collected, I accumulated. In the past few years, I’ve been gradually selling off my accumulation …
Jan 27
I just took a long hot whirlpool bath, enhanced with Kneipp rosemary essential oil, to delight the olfactory senses, with a side benefit of helping to clear the nasal passages. It is a frigid snowy day today, with temps in the low teens. I walked through the falling snow to feed the horses, and was amazed …
Oct 25
Here is a blog-friendly version of remarks I prepared for delivery to the AANE Conference in Boston. I have tried to reflect some of the (less stilted, I hope) actual delivery, but not including some of the shoutouts I did to individual people who were in attendance. I have also added links to resources concerning some …
Jul 15
My good friend John Robison has written an important and articulate piece on autism advocacy. He says … it’s time to recognize the primacy of autistic people in the formulation of policy relating to research, education, treatment, and services for our community and our people. We are able to express our own wishes and opinions, and …
Jul 09
Yesterday, the Massachusetts General Court took a huge step forward in the realm of disability rights. The Senate approved S2245, Relative to assisting individuals with autism and other intellectual or developmental disabilities. The bill isn’t perfect, but it is an enormous achievement on the part of the advocacy community. I like to say that advocacy …
Jun 24
Please join us for a Gubernatorial Candidates Forum on Disability Issues All seven candidates for Governor of Massachusetts will appear at this forum, and each will have half an hour to make their case and answer questions. Don Berwick will be speaking second, at 1:30. Here is a flyer we will pass out at the …
Jun 15
On this Fathers Day, I think back on my own father. Dad to me, Gray to his family, The Gray Fox to many. He would be 98 years old today if he had lived beyond his 81st birthday. I still miss him. He was a lifelong Socialist and Pacifist, and (I now know) an Aspergerian. …
