the infamous puzzle piece? Yeah I know, it’s very cliche
Here’s what I’ve been up to: (Keep in mind there are several links on this blog. Don’t forget to come back and read the rest…Or click them when you finish reading…)
http://barkingsycamores.wordpress.com/current-issue/
The above link is from a “neurodivergent” sister site on wordpress who recently published a poem of mine. If you’ve read my memoir Under The Banana Moon then you’re familiar with my childhood friend Starr. But you probably haven’t read it, so I’ll enlighten you: The poem is about a pile of boulders we used to “play house” on; near a sandbank, a billboard, and a busy highway (Route 8) where we grew up. But no, I worded that wrong. It isn’t really about a pile of boulders. It’s an homage to childhood, childhood that finds fun in the sparsest of environments and also above all else it is an ode to Starr herself who is having a flare of Multiple Sclerosis right now.
Everyone else was holding up pictures of the book so I figured I would too. This book came about (by Jessica Kingsley) as a way for those “with” Aspergers to mentor each other. I do wish I had been more than a contributor, yes. I sometimes ‘feel’ I don’t do enough in the autism community to advocate for my peers (is writing a memoir enough? It isn’t.) That said, I have a few paragraphs as a contributor and they’ve printed one of my paintings in the book, which is nice. This is what the amazon site says about this book:
” If you only buy one book to improve your life this year, make it this one. Temple Grandin, Liane Holliday Willey, Anita Lesko, Stephen M. Shore, and many other Aspie mentors, offer their personal guidance on coping with the daily stressors that Aspies have identified as being the most significant, in order of urgency – anxiety, self-esteem, change, meltdowns…”
The book is here:
I’ve been working on a children’s book with speech pathologist Judith Rosenfield M.A., CCC-SLP, of King’s Speech and Learning Center (Simsbury, CT). Rarely…you meet someone and there’s a CLICK.
You know that you share the same passions.
That happened with Judy and I early on.
The relationship started as mentor/student,
quickly progressed to business partners and
Then on to friends.
Today we exist as all three. The following website is a bit raw, and Judy and I are new to the children’s book genre but I can tell you this:
If I had had a professional person (human being) like Judy helping me when I was a child, I would’ve been lucky indeed.
She’s intuitive and gifted with the skills of just knowing
(whether she’s helping adults or children)
exactly what will help each person as an individual. I hope when the book is finished you will check it out. Here:
http://filterkilter14.wix.com/filteroffkilter
There’s one other project I’d be amiss not to mention, and that’s one that is perhaps most dearest to my heart. It’s also the one that I will not see come to fruition for a year or so.
Does anyone have any selective mutism stories they’d like to see in print? I’ve been asked to be a part of Carl Sutton’s anthology of true selective mutism essays.
Please email me with any submissions/questions. I will forward them on to Carl. Also, I love hearing selective mutism connections/stories/braveries.
This book is along the same format as the one above about Aspie Mentors.
Thank you for listening.
I think it’s autism awareness month or something or other.
K
Raven Ambition's Aspergers BLOG 