Category Archives: writing on the Spectrum

Jun 04 2012
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writing on the Spectrum

Stephen Shore–Bridging the Gap

The great aspect of being an adult within the autism syndrome?  We get to talk about it, to write about it, to explain a bit about what we feel, and why we act as we do.

And I’ve just discovered a video by author and teacher Stephen Shore.  You can view it here:  http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/news/video-interview-stephen-shore-autism-aspergers-220123452

Stephen Shore lives on the autism spectrum.  Like many others, he developed normally until 18 months of age when, as he put it, he got hit by the “Autism Bomb”.  Today he has a PhD and is an assistant professor of special education at Adelphi University.

Stephen’s books include:  Living Along the Autism Spectrum–What Does It Mean to Have Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome;  Understanding Autism for Dummies, and Beyond the Wall–Personal Experiences with Autism and Aspergers Syndrome.  His newest book is :  Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum.

 

May 31 2012
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writing on the Spectrum

Roy Miki’s Last Class–A Case of Continuing Ed.

At The Writers’ Union Conference this weekend, I ran into many people from my past.  I was delighted to see B.C. writer and poet, Roy Miki.  Roy was a long-time professor at Simon Fraser University and I had the great privilege of being in the last class he taught before his retirement–a fourth level English course on bio-writing projects.

“It was my last class, so I had nothing to lose,” he said.  Academic perfection was no longer his aim.  Rather, his desire was to help his students discover the deepest levels of their creativity.

He said it was a great class, and that many of the students had gone on to do wonderful things:  publish books, or pursue their PhD’s or work in other artistic mediums.

I showed him a copy of my book, Unforgiving, The Memoir of an Asperger Teen  and we talked about how it began as a 3500 word bio-excerpt in his Creative Writing Class.  He remembered it well, even the photo I had used on the project cover, which is now on the back of the book.

Later, in a chance encounter, he asked me what I would do next.  I told him a bit about my next project, a study of a BC unsolved crime involving the axe murder of two children.  In the brief time that we talked, he led to me some key insights into the project, how to approach it, where my strengths lie, and insisted I must begin at once.  “Don’t put it off,” he advised me, “You’ve done the research, so just start writing.”

When we are students sitting in a classroom, we can never know where that moment will take us.  How fortunate I was to find myself in Roy Miki’s Last Class.  And how marvellous that it’s turned into a sort of continuing ed program just by virtue of his generous advice.

You can find Roy Miki’s books at: Roy Miki at Amazon and look up his illustrious career on The Writers’ Union of Canada member pages.

Yours truly,

Margaret Jean.

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Feb 13 2012
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writing on the Spectrum

Asperger Traits? Really?

I love this video about Asperger’s traits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7lQa3q_OAk&feature=related .  It seems to me to be thoughtfully put together.  But I am tired of hearing that Aspie’s have no empathy, and imaginary worlds are beyond us. 

In my book, Unforgiving, Memoir of An Asperger Teen, soon to be out on Amazon, I talk about the part imagination played in helping me through my childhood.

And why, if imagination is not our strong suit, are so many inventors, film makers, and landmark thinkers such as Isaac Newton, included (often posthumously) in the syndrome?  These are obviously people with foresight and the ability to envision possibilities that are beyond others’ comprehension.  

Difficulty with writing imaginatively?  Thinking?  I highly doubt it.  It is precisely the ability to see beyond their current limitations that made these people famous!

So what? you may say.  These people were not diagnosed, they are just presumed by some people to have Aspergers’ or Autistic tendencies.  

Well then let me give you the example of my grandson, who was diagnosed at an early age as being in the autism spectrum, and who, before he had graduated highschool, had written an entire book length story based in a science fiction fantasy world that he created.

As for empathy–It isn’t that we don’t experience empathy–it’s that our voices, faces and body language don’t show it.  We have what is called “flat affect”.  This makes us seem to have no response to events.  We also have little or no tonal expression (unless we’re in panic mode and often, even then!). 

Thus, it’s very difficult for people to grasp when we’re feeling anything.  Sometimes we might be totally panicking inside, or absolutely happy about a suggestion someone has made, but we don’t express this well.

I remember watching a woman exclaim expressively and happily about a suggestion her husband had made.  Asperger me, I thought her very melodramatic.   Seriously, I thought that sort of facial and tonal response belonged only on the stage!  

Undoubtedly some people who do not feel empathy and/or have trouble with imaginative thinking are in the Autism Spectrum.  Just as others who lack empathy and imagination, are not in the spectrum. 

Yours truly,

Margaret Jean.

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Feb 07 2012
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writing on the Spectrum

Rap Tune About Bullying Comes To Surprising Conclusion.

Hi!  This blog site is to talk about current issues associated with my book, UNFORGIVING, the Memoir of an Asperger Teen.  The book is set in the 1960’s and relives the summer I won a part in a National Film Board short. 
 
How does it feel to go from every day rural life to the glamour of being chauffered to and from work every day?   How does one differentiate between past abusive and present normal relationships?  Where do I turn for help?
 
Since bullying is always an issue with Asperger kids, a good way to start this blog is with this video about bullying.
Don’t be put off by the initial verses.  The rapper comes around to an excellent solution for kids who are being bullied.
I hope you enjoy this work…Where do kids like me go? http://youtu.be/CCjQCpN48b4
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Oct 10 2011
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writing on the Spectrum

Shining The Light In Dark Places: “Unforgiving” Is A Powerful Coming Of Age Book…

In almost any circumstances, no matter how challenging, there can be growth.  That’s the theme of my book, UNFORGIVING, The Memoir of An Asperger Teen,  now available on Amazon.

Putting it all down on paper was a tremendous challenge.    How would I write about the events of my early life?  I wanted to speak out, to make it a no-holds-barred kind of book, to stand up and speak out for every woman who lives with the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse.

I felt it necessary to ignore and counter the notion that victims of child abuse should be silent.  Keeping silent enables the families to feel that everything is alright all the while the child is suffering.  And it is precisely this silence that enables the predator to tell himself he is normal, that what he is doing is okay, and to continue preying on children.

In writing the book, it was my goal to present Margaret Jean not as primarily a victim, but as a child/woman struggling with the aftermath of abuse, working from the stance of a socially challenged child, and still finding solutions.  Whether they were perfect or not became irrelevant.  It was the doing that counted.

I hope that readers of UNFORGIVING will find powerful reassurance in its pages.

Yours truly,

Margaret Jean.

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