"How Will You Be Suspended From LJ" Meme
I normally don't post these, but the answers I got entertained me too much.
Amanda Baggs on CNN's "Anderson Cooper" show tonight (10pm East / 7pm Pacific)
I just saw this when I checked my newsfeeds...wanted to spread the word in case others want to see this that weren't already aware. (If this hasn't already been posted to any disability/autism-related comm, go ahead and let them know -- I never have the spine to post there anyway.)
The Gimp Parade: On CNN's Anderson Cooper show tonight: Amanda Baggs of Ballastexistenz
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a medical corresondent at CNN will interview Amanda Baggs on the Anderson Cooper show tonight, 10 P.M. Eastern time. From Gupta's blog:
She taught me a lot over the day that I spent with her. She told me that looking into someone's eyes felt threatening, which is why she looked at me through the corner of her eye. Amanda also told me that, like many people with autism, she wanted to interact with the entire world around her. While she could read Homer, she also wanted to rub the papers across her face and smell the ink. Is she saw a flag blowing in the wind, she might start to wave her hand like a flag. She rides in a wheelchair, she says, because balancing herself while walking takes up too much energy for her to also type and communicate. To an outside observer, the behaviors would seem eccentric, even bizarre. Because Amanda was able to explain them, they all of a sudden made sense. In case you were curious, there is no possible way that I was being fooled. Amanda, herself, was communicating with me through this voice-synthesis technology.
It really started me wondering about autism. Amanda is obviously a smart woman who is fully aware of her diagnosis of low-functioning autism, and quite frankly mocks it. She told me that because she doesn't communicate with conventional spoken word, she is written off, discarded and thought of as mentally retarded. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I sat with her in her apartment, I couldn't help but wonder how many more people like Amanda are out there, hidden, but reachable, if we just tried harder.
CNN: Living with autism in a world made for others
CNN: Why we should listen to unusual voices (by Amanda, to the 'Anderson Cooper 360" blog)
The Gimp Parade: On CNN's Anderson Cooper show tonight: Amanda Baggs of Ballastexistenz
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a medical corresondent at CNN will interview Amanda Baggs on the Anderson Cooper show tonight, 10 P.M. Eastern time. From Gupta's blog:
She taught me a lot over the day that I spent with her. She told me that looking into someone's eyes felt threatening, which is why she looked at me through the corner of her eye. Amanda also told me that, like many people with autism, she wanted to interact with the entire world around her. While she could read Homer, she also wanted to rub the papers across her face and smell the ink. Is she saw a flag blowing in the wind, she might start to wave her hand like a flag. She rides in a wheelchair, she says, because balancing herself while walking takes up too much energy for her to also type and communicate. To an outside observer, the behaviors would seem eccentric, even bizarre. Because Amanda was able to explain them, they all of a sudden made sense. In case you were curious, there is no possible way that I was being fooled. Amanda, herself, was communicating with me through this voice-synthesis technology.
It really started me wondering about autism. Amanda is obviously a smart woman who is fully aware of her diagnosis of low-functioning autism, and quite frankly mocks it. She told me that because she doesn't communicate with conventional spoken word, she is written off, discarded and thought of as mentally retarded. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I sat with her in her apartment, I couldn't help but wonder how many more people like Amanda are out there, hidden, but reachable, if we just tried harder.
CNN: Living with autism in a world made for others
CNN: Why we should listen to unusual voices (by Amanda, to the 'Anderson Cooper 360" blog)
They want to ban the only light source I can use?
I don't entirely have time for this, but I needed to put up the alert so folks can write our representatives... If you're in California, Autistic in another state, or friends with an Autistic (er, well, you know me at least :) please write in to our assembly people, governor, etc. about this! Going public to reach the widest audience possible. :-p
A Democratic Assemblyman from Los Angeles wants California to become the first state to ban incandescent light bulbs
For those unaware, fluorescent light bulbs (the kind he wants to force on us) are a total nightmare for people with visual sensitivity. (Anyone know who that is, other than Auties and maybe migraine-prone people?) They can cause difficulty seeing, difficulty reading, migraine headaches, absence seizures, a kind of catatonic state, literal eye pain, and a lot more I'm not recalling right now. In my case, they also make it hard to navigate a room or think at all (as well as causing all of the other crap I mentioned), because everything is being lit by an extremely fast strobe light and kind of vibrates.
Not only would this cause even our own homes to become a sensory hell, it would totally decimate the ability of employees or students to get incandescent light bulbs as an accommodation, and also the additional sensory stress at home would have a seriously negative impact on functionality the rest of the time.
Meaning that fewer people would work (more would end up in poverty on disability), fewer could do the projects (at home or volunteering) that enhance our society, more students that could do brilliant work would have poor grades, more students would develop "behavioral issues" and be forced into small student-teacher ratio classrooms (which in turn tend to ruin the chances of a good college).
Even worse than all of that, the added stress would push more kids/adults onto psych meds/therapy they shouldn't need, and some into suicide that might have been happy. It would also force more of them into the kind of places (in schools, mental hospitals, group homes, etc.) that we tend to be abused/killed in, raising the rates for those problems as well.
This doesn't just apply to people that are formally recognized or even have a clue why they are different. It would affect the many that currently pass as "normal" unaware that they don't have unusual brains at all, likely pushing many to the point that they no longer can blend in. So it's not just that odd kid down the street, or the strange woman at the grocery store; it could be kids/adults that seemed totally "normal" to everyone. Except they might not get an accurate diagnosis leading them to our community; they might just end up in the isolated-and-unhappy-and-I-don't-know-wh
Of course, it'd be totally ironic to have California -- the state with the greatest percentage of Autistics and other disabled people in the union -- be the first to do it.
If the bureaucrats are THAT intent on saving money for the state, they should cut their incomes -- if they are THAT intent on saving energy, they should outlaw or subsidize replacement of things with a greater negative impact to start with (huge vehicles, ancient televisions, etc.) and set up funds to encourage employers to let people work from home rather than making a long commute. There's a *lot* they could change instead, but have made very little move to...and they likely never will, because that would affect the upper-middle-to-affluent citizens that fund their damn campaigns.
I'll add links to who to write to later... I spent too much time on this as it is. :-/
A Democratic Assemblyman from Los Angeles wants California to become the first state to ban incandescent light bulbs
For those unaware, fluorescent light bulbs (the kind he wants to force on us) are a total nightmare for people with visual sensitivity. (Anyone know who that is, other than Auties and maybe migraine-prone people?) They can cause difficulty seeing, difficulty reading, migraine headaches, absence seizures, a kind of catatonic state, literal eye pain, and a lot more I'm not recalling right now. In my case, they also make it hard to navigate a room or think at all (as well as causing all of the other crap I mentioned), because everything is being lit by an extremely fast strobe light and kind of vibrates.
Not only would this cause even our own homes to become a sensory hell, it would totally decimate the ability of employees or students to get incandescent light bulbs as an accommodation, and also the additional sensory stress at home would have a seriously negative impact on functionality the rest of the time.
Meaning that fewer people would work (more would end up in poverty on disability), fewer could do the projects (at home or volunteering) that enhance our society, more students that could do brilliant work would have poor grades, more students would develop "behavioral issues" and be forced into small student-teacher ratio classrooms (which in turn tend to ruin the chances of a good college).
Even worse than all of that, the added stress would push more kids/adults onto psych meds/therapy they shouldn't need, and some into suicide that might have been happy. It would also force more of them into the kind of places (in schools, mental hospitals, group homes, etc.) that we tend to be abused/killed in, raising the rates for those problems as well.
This doesn't just apply to people that are formally recognized or even have a clue why they are different. It would affect the many that currently pass as "normal" unaware that they don't have unusual brains at all, likely pushing many to the point that they no longer can blend in. So it's not just that odd kid down the street, or the strange woman at the grocery store; it could be kids/adults that seemed totally "normal" to everyone. Except they might not get an accurate diagnosis leading them to our community; they might just end up in the isolated-and-unhappy-and-I-don't-know-wh
Of course, it'd be totally ironic to have California -- the state with the greatest percentage of Autistics and other disabled people in the union -- be the first to do it.
If the bureaucrats are THAT intent on saving money for the state, they should cut their incomes -- if they are THAT intent on saving energy, they should outlaw or subsidize replacement of things with a greater negative impact to start with (huge vehicles, ancient televisions, etc.) and set up funds to encourage employers to let people work from home rather than making a long commute. There's a *lot* they could change instead, but have made very little move to...and they likely never will, because that would affect the upper-middle-to-affluent citizens that fund their damn campaigns.
I'll add links to who to write to later... I spent too much time on this as it is. :-/
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pissed off
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A very stressed-out Whoo "woohoo"
Doing this "public" on purpose, since I wanted to make the announcement but don't have time to separately write my ex...
My father agreed to short-term fund (we need to raise money to pay him back ASAP) Whoosey's surgery for anything we can't raise up to the $5k mark. We're going to see cardiology (Dr. M) next Tuesday morning, then the surgeon directly after her -- and we'll decide on OR scheduling then.
Of course, now I'm so anxious that I can't find that as pleasant as I'd like. :-p Cardiology said her chances are good yet totally unpredictable, since each individual problem is easily handled in surgery, but all problems simultaneously make it very complicated. (Hence the 30+ non-specialist vets that we called that refused to touch her for any sum!) We're hoping to have OR very early in the week expressly so she'll have the specialty staff on-hand for any issues during recovery all the way until Friday night.
I got to see her chest films yesterday, and it's hair-raising to look at... About 85% of her liver is jammed inside her pericardium, making it about ten times as large as it should be, displacing/restricting both her lungs and her trachea up towards her spine, *and* that majority part has an abnormal appearance. I keep having flashbacks to leaving Fluffy at the vet that last time (even though I know nothing like that could happen at ACC)...blargh, anxiety pill time!
The good news is that Whoo is used to being at ACC and is back to being a charming flirt... ;) The cardiology staff appears to have fallen in love with her -- after we told the nurse, she left for a bit, then came back to say: "did you hear that? Dr. M-- started bouncing all over the hallway with joy when I told her, we're so excited!!"
Back to forms. Forms forms forms. I hate forms. Oh, forms and the zen of cutting miniscule pills. (I'm VERY grateful to
albinowolf pointing out that the cardiac meds are available for a few dollars at Target/Walmart.)
My father agreed to short-term fund (we need to raise money to pay him back ASAP) Whoosey's surgery for anything we can't raise up to the $5k mark. We're going to see cardiology (Dr. M) next Tuesday morning, then the surgeon directly after her -- and we'll decide on OR scheduling then.
Of course, now I'm so anxious that I can't find that as pleasant as I'd like. :-p Cardiology said her chances are good yet totally unpredictable, since each individual problem is easily handled in surgery, but all problems simultaneously make it very complicated. (Hence the 30+ non-specialist vets that we called that refused to touch her for any sum!) We're hoping to have OR very early in the week expressly so she'll have the specialty staff on-hand for any issues during recovery all the way until Friday night.
I got to see her chest films yesterday, and it's hair-raising to look at... About 85% of her liver is jammed inside her pericardium, making it about ten times as large as it should be, displacing/restricting both her lungs and her trachea up towards her spine, *and* that majority part has an abnormal appearance. I keep having flashbacks to leaving Fluffy at the vet that last time (even though I know nothing like that could happen at ACC)...blargh, anxiety pill time!
The good news is that Whoo is used to being at ACC and is back to being a charming flirt... ;) The cardiology staff appears to have fallen in love with her -- after we told the nurse, she left for a bit, then came back to say: "did you hear that? Dr. M-- started bouncing all over the hallway with joy when I told her, we're so excited!!"
Back to forms. Forms forms forms. I hate forms. Oh, forms and the zen of cutting miniscule pills. (I'm VERY grateful to
albinowolf pointing out that the cardiac meds are available for a few dollars at Target/Walmart.)..and now, enhanced with Friends Only!
I'm not too happy about having to do this, but I've decided to set my LJ to Friends Only (aside from posts that are more restricted than that). Hopefully my life will change in the future and I'll be able to change that, but until then, you can get a general idea about what I'm like from my userinfo -- which is really the whole point of that anyway!
If you're reading this as a non-friended visitor to my LJ, the answer to "can I friend you" is yes... I'll look every few days to see whether anybody new has friended me, and then add you back. (Change to the "let me know you've friended me" approach in response tocodeman38's point that having people comment at me about it in communities would lead to a big confusing mess. So just friend me, and once I notice, I'll hopefully friend you.)
(Apologies to those on my flist that are seeing this twice. I decided that since people were commenting on the other one, and I'm likely to reply to said comments, it made more sense to put up a different, commentless post. Kind of defeats the point of "friends only" if I then go on yakking in comments, doesn't it?)
If you're reading this as a non-friended visitor to my LJ, the answer to "can I friend you" is yes... I'll look every few days to see whether anybody new has friended me, and then add you back. (Change to the "let me know you've friended me" approach in response to
codeman38's point that having people comment at me about it in communities would lead to a big confusing mess. So just friend me, and once I notice, I'll hopefully friend you.)(Apologies to those on my flist that are seeing this twice. I decided that since people were commenting on the other one, and I'm likely to reply to said comments, it made more sense to put up a different, commentless post. Kind of defeats the point of "friends only" if I then go on yakking in comments, doesn't it?)
Pet Food Ingredients
...and some other links for those that are worried about the reliability of the pet food article I linked to earlier:
Google search results full of articles from all over on the topic
Cat Food Uncovered -- in-depth research project performed by a university student
About.com Cats Forum article
Amazon.com page for book "Food Pets Die For" along with reviews, including some by vets
Polluted Pet Food (the article seems outlandish and scary until you've looked at the other sources and verified that, oh shit, it's true)
Yes, it IS a problem, not something reported on one source by a paranoid whackjob. It is acknowledged openly by major vetrinary associations, rendering plants, shelters that participate in the practice, and has been investigated repeatedly by a number of reputable news sources.
Yes, I have seen *huge* improvements in my cats after getting them off the grocery store brands. No vomiting, shiny coats, senior citizens that continue acting like kittens, incredibly good health (the few things we've run into weren't food-related)...nothing like the sleep-all-day-by-age-two cranky dull-coated stereotype that they used to be like.
Natura (one of the *good* companies) has this cool ingredient comparison wizard, which not only lets you compare ingredients between different brands, but also will give you information on what each of the ingredients are, including whether they're good/bad and why:
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz
Google search results full of articles from all over on the topic
Cat Food Uncovered -- in-depth research project performed by a university student
About.com Cats Forum article
Amazon.com page for book "Food Pets Die For" along with reviews, including some by vets
Polluted Pet Food (the article seems outlandish and scary until you've looked at the other sources and verified that, oh shit, it's true)
Yes, it IS a problem, not something reported on one source by a paranoid whackjob. It is acknowledged openly by major vetrinary associations, rendering plants, shelters that participate in the practice, and has been investigated repeatedly by a number of reputable news sources.
Yes, I have seen *huge* improvements in my cats after getting them off the grocery store brands. No vomiting, shiny coats, senior citizens that continue acting like kittens, incredibly good health (the few things we've run into weren't food-related)...nothing like the sleep-all-day-by-age-two cranky dull-coated stereotype that they used to be like.
Natura (one of the *good* companies) has this cool ingredient comparison wizard, which not only lets you compare ingredients between different brands, but also will give you information on what each of the ingredients are, including whether they're good/bad and why:
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz
(no subject)
People sometimes ask me why I use natural litters instead of clumping clay.
This little description is precisely why.
(Gratefully snagged from
kittiejournals.)
This little description is precisely why.
(Gratefully snagged from
kittiejournals.)-
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stressed
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