This post contains spoilers for the CBS show Elementary, you have been duly warned. When an autistic character shows up in film or television, they are far to often carbon copies of the same tired stereotypes. Monotone, savant level intelligence at math or math related field and of course the complete lack of social skills. … Continue reading The Sky is Green: On Autism Misrepresentation in the Media
Month: January 2016
Why Don’t You Just Drive?: The Difficulty of Publicly Legitimizing the Needs of an Invisible Disability
When I was in my early and mid teens, I was really excited about learning to drive. When I finally got old enough to start drivers ed at 15, I anxiously waited for my mother to sign the permission form. These were the days before my autism diagnosis. They were hard years for me because … Continue reading Why Don’t You Just Drive?: The Difficulty of Publicly Legitimizing the Needs of an Invisible Disability
Choosing Not to Disclose a Diagnosis is Not Giving in to Shame
So in my last post, I talked about my friend Navi who successfully challenged the documentation requirements to acquire academic accommodations for Mental Health at York University. She won that fight and has been receiving some media interest as a result. In my last post I did two things. I clarified some of the common … Continue reading Choosing Not to Disclose a Diagnosis is Not Giving in to Shame
So You’ve Made Progress in Expanding Rights to Academic Accommodation…But Do You Really Deserve It?
It is the day of my final exam, I have figured out the location for my alternate exam space. I show up early and wait for my invigilator. It is 15 minutes before the exam. 45 minutes later, they have yet to arrive. 5 minutes after that, the invigilator finally shows up, they've forgotten to … Continue reading So You’ve Made Progress in Expanding Rights to Academic Accommodation…But Do You Really Deserve It?
Disability, Gender, Sexuality and Hair
When I moved from my home in Saskatchewan to Toronto to study for my Masters degree, I didn't cut my hair. This was an act of defiance. That may seem like an odd thing to say as a straight cisgender woman and yet it's true. The gendered world in which we live often says that … Continue reading Disability, Gender, Sexuality and Hair
2015 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many … Continue reading 2015 in review
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