Lori 
Way too many things. Last month was the first month I haven’t posted here since July 2005. Probably wouldn’t have even noticed except for the missing link on the Archives page. Very busy with work. I am enjoying my projects, but wish I was working on them when there wasn’t so much else going on. …
I have been different from other people for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I have had many different diagnoses, opinions, and treatments that were not quite right. My parents have tried to get me help since I was a little kid, but no one really knew what to do with me. …
I have been very distracted lately! Too many things going on and I can not focus on any of them. Luckily, I have had no problem focusing on distractions. I would like to give recognition to the distractions that have proven to be most entertaining in the ‘First (and possibly last) Annual Distraction Awards’.
More info and lyrics @ Molly.
Temple Grandin will be on the AWN Radio show tomorrow morning to give the Autism Women’s Network her first exclusive interview following the Premiere of HBO’s Original Movie which premiered a few hours ago. Radio show link is: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autism-womens-network/2010/02/07/temple-grandin-gives-awn-first-interview-re-premie Interview time: Feb 7th, 2010 at 9am PST – 10am MST – 11am CST– 12pm EST (USA) Use …
I have been at the She’s Geeky conference this weekend at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Got to go on a tour of the museum today. There are lots of old computers, some restorations, handheld video games, abaci, calculators, adding machines, and software.
The conference has been very fun. It is well named. Definitely have never been around that many girl geeks before! Tomorrow is the last day. There is a session about asperger’s which I would never have expected, but it was subtitled “the geek syndrome”, so guessing that is the connection. I am very curious. There is also one about Drupal called ‘Show me your back end’. Hopefully they are not both at the same time. Drupal will win. Some pix from the museum:
Today I am 43 and having an awesome birthday. Last night K took me to see Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein at the Golden Gate Theater in SF. It was awesome! I think it is possible that he was born to play Tevye. Perfect. I was really wishing my family was there too. …
After 3 months of complete immersion, the Autism Women’s Network site is live and open to the public. I am still adding features and fixing the occasional bug here and there, but for the most part, it is done. Building this site has been an amazing experience for me. I am happy to get to …
Autism Reality is a 10 minute documentary film about autism by Alex Plank. The film features interviews with Dr. Temple Grandin, Alex himself, and a handful of others including Alex’s parents.
This film shows a perspective not often seen in autism media by portraying autism as a reality which is neither good nor bad, just a different way that some people are wired.
Alex is the founder of WrongPlanet.net, one of the earliest and largest online communities for people on the autistic spectrum.
Sometimes it is hard to be an aspie. I am very lucky because no matter how hard things get sometimes, I have people who can, and do, help me out. If it weren’t for those people, especially my family and Karen, I really don’t what my life would be like now. It is likely that …
Writing on the iPhone. Hard to breathe. Shaky. Strangely okay besides that. Sometimes writing helps. Been very busy lately. All Drupal all the time. Besides from the insane learning curve and non-intuitive UI, I am in awe of its power and flexibility. After more than 15 hours of video tutorials and reading tons of docs, …
To the Sponsors, Donors and Supporters of Autism Speaks:
Responses to the the Autism Speaks’ “I Am Autism” video have been growing quickly. Here is another awesome video response to the tune of “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy.
More Responses:
Check out this awesome response to the exceptionally horrible “I Am Autism” video by Autism Speaks. Link leads to Mike Stanton’s Action For Autism blog with video and commentary.
This video is just one part of Autism Speaks’ crusade to educate the world about how horrible autistic people are and how they will destroy the happiness of anyone who crosses their path.
If you haven’t seen the Autism Speaks video, it is exactly the same as this one except for the audio, which is almost the complete opposite. Lyrics are below.
A list of responses to the Autism Speaks video
is being compiled at I Speak of Dreams.
I… Am… Autism… Speaks…
I am Autism Speaks…
I am invisible to your children. And I will be invisible to you until it’s too late.
I know where you live. And guess what? It’s no use hiding.
I have my eyes on all of you… I am watching you all.
I am Autism Speaks.
I have no color… no religion… no morals… no love….
I speak the language of despair and disease. And with every voice I steal. I grow stronger.
I work quickly to make people believe your children are suffering worse than cancer or AIDS victims.
I am Autism Speaks.
And if you’re happily married… I’ll distroy your marriage with unattainable dreams and broken promises.
Your money will fall into my hands… And I will bankrupt you… And pay myself hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
I don’t sleep… And I’ll make sure you don’t either.
I will make it virtually impossible for you to leave your home without feeling the shame of diseased children.
I am Autism Speaks.
You have no defense against me…
Your advocates don’t have the money to fight me. And I relish your poverty.
I will make everyone think you and your children are diseased and disordered. And then… Turn on them.
I am Autism Speaks.
I have no interest in right or wrong.
I derive great pleasure out of your loneliness.
I will take away your hope.
I will rob you of your children and of your dreams.
I will make sure you will cry everyday.
You will wonder who will look after your children when you die.
And the Truth is… I… Do… Not… Care…
I am Autism Speaks.
And you are scared…
And you should be.
I am Autism Speaks.
You ignored me… And that was a Big mistake.
I am Autism Speaks…
And I speak in voices stolen from your children.
I am Autism Speaks.
Join the Protesting Autism Speaks “I am Autism” Video group on Facebook:
From Bev @ Asperger Square 8:
Thanks to Turner & Kowalski for stirring things up.
Tech Support Secrets (click to enlarge) [singlepic id=28 w=450 h=505 float=none] From xkcd. Thanks to Joni Mueller for the link 🙂
Through My Eyes, sung by Thanh Bui is an attempt to help people get a handle on what it’s like to live with an autism spectrum disorder.
Ordinarily, a song this sweet would make me gag. I admit that in order to listen to it all the way through, my brain started translating it into a thrashier version of itself (in classic rock power ballad style). Personal musical tastes aside, I really liked this song and Thanh Bui’s beautiful voice brought me out of the thrash from time to time.
Thanks to Sharon for the link 🙂
It will be available for download on iTunes soon.
This post was inspired by an article written by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg and published on The Commons. More of Rachel’s writing can be found on her blog, Asperger Journeys. Rachel’s website includes a list of 100 Myths about Autism, and her article focuses on ten of those. After finishing the article, I found my thoughts lingering …
Update (8/3/09): Added SuperDuper! to list and changed title. Just got my aluminum imac replaced by Apple. The old one was kind of possessed by gremlins or some such thing. After several failed repair attempts, part replacements, and countless hours of phone support, Apple agreed to give me a shiny new computer. Loving it 🙂 …
This video, Nate Koechley: “Professional Frontend Engineering” from Yahoo! Video, is a great presentation about the current state of frontend web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript). I was completely captivated for the full hour and a half that the presentation lasted.
Nate started out with a history of website development starting with a 1994 version of the Yahoo! website and continuing until the present. He also spoke about the evolution of technologies and trends over the years. It was interesting to hear about how table based design became popular and why it was necessary at the time.
Next up was an overview of current beliefs and principles of front end engineering, which covered progressive enhancement, unobtrusive javascript, and the importance of making the website available to the largest possible audience.
The next section, Knowledge Areas and Best Practices, covered rendering modes, doctypes, and using each technology appropriately, i.e. html for semantic markup, css for presentation, and unobtrusive javascript for behavior. One thing I found interesting was that he considered it more important to keep the css code for each area in the same place by using hacks for IE6 and IE7, even though it would prevent the css from validating. I usually use conditional comments and separate stylesheets for different versions or combinations of versions of IE and can definitely see the benefit of Nate’s approach, as well as how it could be a big timesaver.
The presentation wrapped up with the ‘Why It All Matters’ segment which brought everything together and included a call to action for developers to stay vigilant, keep up with modern technologies and the bugs that arise from them, and to continue making the internet a better experience for everyone.
Ok, not really a million things, but it sure feels like it lately. Luckily, my new combination of meds seems to be working and it a lot easier to do things than it was not long ago. There are a few bad effects too, but so far, I think more good than bad. It is …
Welcome to my world…
