Tag Archives: autistic

Let’s Talk About: Not A Compliment

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First of all, I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything in the last year-plus. See Update & Devastating Last 6 Weeks on my Other Blog for some of the details.

Onto the topic of conversation: why “I would never have known you were autistic if you hadn’t told me” is most emphatically not a compliment.

So, some of you (any who have read the aforementioned post, definitely) will know that I broke my ankle in April. Yesterday was my last appointment at the Orthopedic Clinic (it’s well-healed). I was talking to doctor there and happened to mention that I was autistic, and the above paragraph mentions what she told me in response.

This is definitely not a compliment. This is, in fact, a summary of just how badly our culture/society regards autism/treats autistics.

Continue on….

April Publicity: Newspaper Article & AutismBC Interview

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It’s April again, which tends to be a difficult month for most autistics. Not sure if it’s worse or better this year, with the world working on staying under cover due to COVID-19. But so far, it’s actually been a fairly good month for me, in terms of advocacy. (And Twitter giving the neurodiverse ribbon to the #AutismAcceptance hashtag!)

So far, I’ve had two pieces of excellent publicity this month. The first was part of a series of articles about autistics in the Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) by freelance journalist Colin Hodd, which was published on April 2nd (World Autism Day). Here’s the link from the local newpaper (The Telegram) to the article focusing on me: ‘It’s just the way my brain works’: Adult autism spectrum diagnosis offers insight, relief to Newfoundland woman. (It’s a full page spread in the paper version!)

The article was restricted to 1,000 words, which isn’t very much… but Colin managed to really get across what I was hoping he would. Thanks again, Colin!

Of the other two articles, I’m familiar with Hugh and Ally Garber, who appear in the article about autistic children (though I haven’t yet met Hugh): ‘Autism makes me good’: Looking at autism through the eyes of a child in Atlantic Canada. I don’t know anyone in the teen/young adult article, but that’s also quite a good one: Autism through the eyes of East Coast teens and young adults.

The second one just aired last night at 19:30 Pacific Time; I had an interview with Corey Walker of AutismBC (whom I’ve worked with before on the CAPP) about being autistic and what my advocacy journey has been like. It’s up on AutismBC’s Facebook at: Trudy Goold Interview with AutismBC. AutismBC has devoted this month to amplifying autistic voices, for which we thank them a lot. 🙂 I had an excellent time chatting with the people involved (Julia Boyle, the CEO; Selina Lim, the social media guru; Brock Sheppard, the tech guy and program director; and of course Corey).

I had a great time chatting throughout the interview, and even got a link from Brock while Corey was busy with something: a website that’s working to compile and promote sensory friendly locations and programs – Sensory Friendly Solutions. It’s run by someone in New Brunswick who has sensory issues herself. Pop by and check it out, and provide feedback!

So, that’s been my month so far. What about yours?

🙂 tagÂûght

#SensoryAssault at the Avalon Mall

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…And we’re not talking about the holiday shopping crowd or even the people smoking in places that are specifically marked as non-smoking (though I consider that a sensory assault and a health hazard as well).

As with all malls, there are a large number of stores in the Avalon Mall, and three (or four) have been problematic, sensory-wise, until about a few months ago (when some were added, see below). Bath and Body Works – in the section between CIBC and Scotiabank, and the escalators; Saje – second floor between the cinema and Lawtons; and The Body Shop – across from Saje, all have very distinct and strong smells coming from them, that can be rather aggravating for anyone with hypersensitive smell, or a sensitivity to particular types of fragrances. As you probably know from other posts on my blog, I’m both. Sephora, as a makeup store, can also have problematic smells at times.

There have also been complaints about the new restaurant/entertainment section, The Rec Room, in terms of the light and noise, but I haven’t yet gone into that section, so can’t say anything from my own experience yet.

But now there’s a (sort of) new store, set right in the open area where the Santa Claus is, next to Laura Secord (of all things!), called Lush.

Lush has a wonderful reputation in their home country of Great Britain for being environmentally aware and focused on products that are healthy as well as beautiful – I made a new friend through doing NaNoWriMo this year who just immigrated from England, and she uses their products exclusively. There were a number of articles about their opening the store in the Avalon Mall.

Unfortunately, walking anywhere near the Lush store is a nightmare – I used the term sensory assault for good reason.

Click for Details

Female Autistic Traits

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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!

To Mimic Is Human

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Have you ever found yourself listening to the way you speak, or paying attention to the way you move, and suddenly realize that you’re imitating someone else?

I certainly have, the most recent of which was about five minutes before I started writing this post!

Read on, do! 🙂

Link

So. Here is the preliminary video of the autistic advocates’ panel at the CASDA 2018 Summit. This is not the official video, which CASDA is working on getting professionally edited; this is basically the raw footage with a few edits (title and removing the final remarks of the day) by me. Once the official video goes up, I will remove mine and put a link on this post to the new one.

CONTENT WARNING: The video is just over an hour long, and as I state up front, there are some very difficult and painful things to hear (including mentions of suicide and filicide).

Comments are welcome.

😐 tagÂûght

CBC Interview: Web Version

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The online web version of the interview I had with the CBC St. John’s Morning Show is now up. 🙂

They used two of the pictures I sent them: the selfie I took on Monday (which shows some of my artwork on the wall behind me), and a picture of Imber and I from the year I was diagnosed. So happy they used that pic!

Diagnosed with autism at 35, woman calls it ‘a relief’.

‘Later, all!
🙂 tagÂûght

CBC Interview: Diagnosis

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So, last week I got an email from Tess Hemeon (the Public Relations/Communications person for the ASNL) asking if I was willing to be interviewed about being diagnosed as autistic as an adult. I said sure – I’m looking for new routes to go to help expand my advocacy. So Monday afternoon, I had an informal (aka not recorded) phone interview with an intern working at CBC Newfoundland and Labrador (here in St. John’s). One of the things I mentioned was that I wouldn’t mind doing a formal interview about the matter.

So, she contacted me Tuesday and asked if I was available to come in this morning for a recorded interview. My reaction was: “Yes!” ( 😉 )

Got up early this morning, and drove out to the CBC building for the taped interview.

The interview was with Krissy Holmes of the St. John’s Morning Show (which airs from 5:30 to 9:00 am, Newfoundland Time, on CBC Radio One), and it went really well. Read on for details!

#CAPP Films: #AutisticAdvocates Speak

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So, I didn’t actually post anything about the CAPP meeting in Montreal at the end of October, mostly because it was a quick two days and I got unpleasantly flustered over issues with getting to the airport for my flight home. (I made it, but it wasn’t fun.)

One thing we did in Montreal during out meeting, however, is now public – each of us who were present were filmed doing a quick interview by Spectrum Productions, in order to create a short film about CAPP that could go public.

As of today, those films – the short film put together of all of us, and the individual interviews – are live, and available to the public.

The short film Hear From the Experts contains a selection of the interviews that each of us gave; the individual interviews contain more details and answers. Below is the short film and my interview.

Click here to see the video links and read more about the subject.