Category Archives: Creativity

Female Autistic Traits

So, in my last post I talked about mimicking, and how it’s one of the common traits of female autistics that helps mask the fact that we’re autistic. A couple of days ago, my sister (the SLP one, not the teacher) found a post on Facebook that contained a wonderful poster/infographic (see below; designed by Karen Baker, a graphic designer in the UK) about the traits of autism in females, and shared it. Read on, please!

#AutisticArt Wanted: Pacific Autism Family Centre #Art4PAFC

All right, my fellow Canadian creative autistics, it’s time to get your artistry flowing!

The Pacific Autism Family Centre located in Richmond, BC are looking to celebrate the diversity and creativity of those with ASD by proudly displaying their artwork in their new building, the Goodlife Fitness Family Autism Hub.

Submissions are open to artists of all ages and abilities and the subject matter and medium are entirely up to the artist. To submit your art, you will need to complete the attached form, include an image of the artwork and email to:  jenna@pacificautismfamily.com.

The submission deadline is August 31, 2016.

— From Autism Canada

PAFC Art Submission Form

[Edit re clarification] One of the main reasons for the “restriction” to Canadians is the (I quote the email) “cross border taxes and shipping costs”, which would be the responsibility of any American/International artists. It’s also a foreign donations issue. So it’s easier all around if it’s only Canadians who participate.

[2nd Edit] However, I have also just been told that if I know of an exceptional artist from outside Canada, they are willing to consider them as well. So take that and the caution regarding the responsibility of paying for shipping and customs, and if you feel you’re good, go ahead! 🙂

🙂 tagÂûght

Let’s Talk About: Storybooks! Post #1

So, here’s the thing. When I was at Social Club this afternoon, our facilitator mentioned that she’d been looking in the ASNL Library for resources – storybooks – to help some parents explain certain things to their children. Unfortunately, she wasn’t too happy with what she found – some she liked the wording but not the illustrations, some she liked the illustrations but not the wording, and some were “yuck”.

Because we’re a pretty creative group, she came up with the idea that maybe we could go ahead and write (and illustrate) some of these missing resources. We all loved the idea. So, one of the first things we have to do is research – and I’m turning to you. Autistic adults – what (of the subjects listed below) would you have wanted to read to help you as a kid? Autistic teens, what about you? Parents, can you ask your kids? Do you have any suggestions for wording? Are there any other subjects you think would be helpful? And if we’re satisfied with what we produce… would you like us to publish them?

Read on for details!

Update on tag’s Haven

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, and as a result, I just published a huge post giving a general update on life, the universe, and everything (or at least my life over the last month and a bit!) on tag’s Haven.

The post is titled Update: Apt, Exercise, Camp NaNo July 2015, and also has stuff about my puddy tat there as well. Feel free to wander over if you want to know what I’ve been up to lately! (Though please note that there are a lot of photos, and it’s – as I mentioned above – a fairly long post. The photos are just thumbnails in the post itself, however, so that shouldn’t be a problem.)

‘Later!

🙂 tagÂûght

StimTastic: First Look

So, another April post. This one also about things near and dear to our hearts – stimming. (No, it’s not the post I’ve been promising for two years now. Sorry. That one’s still going to take some time to do.) No, this one is a first look at Musings of an Aspie’s company, StimTastic.

Note that I say “first look” because I haven’t yet received any of their products. However, hopefully next month after my birthday I’ll be able to provide some specific product reviews…. 😉 (Yes, some stuff from StimTastic is first on my birthday list.)

Read on!

Stats and #NaNoWriMo 2014

I know, it’s been a while. Sorry, guys. I’ve been… a bit preoccupied with stuff, I’m afraid. Life, the Universe, and Everything. But… two things have happened today. First of all, I’m doing NaNoWriMo again this year (of course), and I’ve ended up way ahead of the curve on my word count. 🙂 Check out the details on my Other Blog, at the NaNoWriMo14 tag!

The second thing was that my stats for this site spiked hugely! As in, I’ve got over 1,200 views today!

It seems someone posted a link to one of my posts on Facebook, and I got a ton of visitors. So, whoever you are, thank you very much for that! The more people visit this blog, the more they will hopefully understand and accept about autism, autistics, and people in general. 🙂

Anyway, just wanted to let people know that I’m not dead, that if you want to know what I’m doing this month just pop over to my Other Blog, and to publically thank whoever posted the link on Facebook.

I will likely have a few recommendation posts later this month, because there have been a series of posts on a couple of blogs that I want to bring attention to. But other than that, it’s November, meaning that most of my concentration is given over to NaNoWriMo. *wry smile*

‘Later, all!

🙂 tagAught

Recommendation: Splines Theory by Luna Lindsey

So, I was taking a look at my stats (yay, people are interested in my analysis of the problems with the SD article!), and I noticed a referring link from www.lunalindsey.com. I went, okay, I haven’t seen this before… so I clicked on the link.

The post is titled: Splines Theory: A Spoons Metaphor for Autism. In it, Ms. Lindsey looks at the spoons metaphor for dealing with energy resources with invisible disabilities, and some issues she has with it, and provides a new metaphor for exploring what’s going on that causes us to have energy drains and difficulty changing routines and such. (And a commenter adds another metaphor, for those who aren’t a comfortable with computer-oriented ones.)

It’s a rather interesting look at things, and resonates with me. Quite a bit. It makes sense – even more sense than the spoons metaphor (which is incorporated into the Splines Theory as a whole). I like it.

So I’m recommending this post. 😉

🙂 tagAught

For Emma: Words and Voices

Most of you reading this blog probably know Ariane and her daughter Emma, if only in reference to their blog, Emma’s Hope Book. (If you don’t, click on the link. Really. Ariane is a great resource for parents who are having difficulties dealing with their autistic children, and is a great proponent of presuming competence because of her own experiences.) Recently (as in the last half year, maybe somewhat more), Emma’s been contributing directly to the posts on the blog. One of the most recent posts was about the body-mind disconnect that Emma experiences; her brain knows what she wants to communicate or do, and her mouth (and/or body) will do something completely different.

Poetry, yay!

Camp NaNoWriMo: April 9th, 2014

NaNoWriMo (and over the last couple of years, Camp NaNoWriMo) is a big thing for me. But this year, things got off to a slowish start, mostly because my conscious awareness of the whole “Camp NaNoWriMo’s First Session = April” was entirely absent until this morning.

*shrugs* Happens sometimes.

So, there I am, forgetting completely about it, and reading blogs about Autism Awareness Month and all that… and what should pop into my inbox but a note about Saturday’s Marathon Writing Session.

*tagAught blinks at email, and goes, “Huh. It’s Camp NaNo already?” pauses “Gah! April’s already one week gone! Write! Need to write! What to write?!”*

Going on….

Communication #2: Stories & Music

Okay, this wasn’t originally planned for the next post. In fact, this wasn’t originally planned to be a post at all. But my dad listens to CBC classics, and something that was said on the program early this afternoon caught my attention. Combined with the whole idea of AAC, not just speech, as valid means of communication, I started thinking about this post.

Stories are a very ancient means of communication. They have been used for the three great ‘E’s – to explain, to educate, and to entertain.

Read on, read on….