This morning, this study landed in my inbox. Masking is Life: Experiences of Masking in Autistic and Nonautistic Adults I don’t know how we learn this, but from a very early age, we are taught that what we choose to do as a career as adults forever defines who we are as people. People who…
Category: ADVOCACY
Strong people: we need you to fight for our world
Recently, I was asked if I would consider standing as a councillor on our local Council. I laughed out loud. I’m pretty vocal in my own little community. I belong to an Owner’s Corporation that is only three years old. The inaugural committee at the time was pretty punitive in its approach, egged on by…
The yin and yang of the week that was
So this is how my week has been: We withdrew Master J from school. Only a term before the end of VCE, only a term before the end of his entire 13 year career. We withdrew him because he could take it no longer. He could no longer endure the place that promised us that they…
How the media is swallowing Mrs Peregrine and democracy
When I was 32, I decided I wanted to do a Creative Writing degree at Chichester University in the UK. Since it had been some time since I had studied and I hadn’t already received a degree, I had to do an Access to Tertiary Studies course in the form of a Diploma of Liberal…
Thoughtfulness Cards – acknowledging depression and suicide
I’m depressed. There’s no coating it, there’s no glossing over it, and there is absolutely no point in pretending that I’m not having an episode of deep depression. There is an argument floating around that writing about dark stuff on a personal level reduces readers, that people don’t want to read about the horrors of…
Asylum seekers – the political ping pong of our time
I woke up this morning to find that Peter Dutton, our Minister for Immigration, had been on the campaign trail informing the good people of Australia that asylum seekers are illiterate and innumerate and would languish on the dole and take Australian jobs, thus justifying, poorly, the incarceration of these disenfranchised and displaced people of…
Autism, the puzzle piece that refuses to fit, and thank goodness for that
“I’m dropping out of school!” The words ring in my ears. Desperation. Hurt. Anger. Anguish. I see all of these things when I look into his eyes. “Love…” “Don’t talk mum, I am DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL!” He has reached implosion point. “I’m 18, I don’t fucking well have to stay in school.” It’s true,…
Dear Mr President, Barack Obama
I have watched in amazement, and with incredulous disbelief, the rise of that odious human being that is Donald Trump. I have American friends who refer to him as “the one who shall not be named” for fear of giving him even more power than his narcissistic self demands or deserves. I have watched YouTube…
Intellectual property is mad
I tiptoe across the internet trying to find some voice of reason. Noise. Just lots and lots of noise. “That blog copied my blog post!” “They used my photo without my permission!” “They want me to write and not even pay me for it!” “They want my advice for free – how dare they?” “My…
ON THE INSTINCT OF MEN AND WOMEN BARING THEIR BREASTS
Recently I saw a question being posed asking how the women in the forum felt about women having the right to go topless. That if, as a woman, you wanted to walk down your street with no clothes on top, like a man enjoys now, you would have the right to do so. A plethora of…