NEW 04/19/08: Hoke County ASNC talk
NEW 04/04/08: Autism Advocates' Banquet talk
Autism Society of Cumberland County (NC) talk
Notes on "Symbolic Interactionism and Autism"
Video clip from "Neurotypical, the movie"
Address at Autism Advocates' Brunch
Opening address at NCAECIC conference
My interview on NC Public Radio's "The Story With Dick Gordon"
An op-ed piece on autism and quality-of-life
Autism Society of North Carolina conference closing address
"Cautionary Tale" and "Self-Awareness" presentations from a 1998 conference in Sweden
Activities I've been involved with
04/19/08: On April 19, 2008 I spoke at a meeting of the Hoke County local unit of the Autism Society of North Carolina in Mebane. Using my own life as an example, this talk offers reassurance and hope that, even when circumstances and events are difficult to walk through, the results make the journey worthwhile. It is intended primarily for parents of newly-diagnosed children. I feel it's the single most useful thing I've written so far.
04/04/08: On April 4, 2008 I gave a talk at the 2008 Autism Advocates' Banquet in Cherokee, North Carolina. This year, my main topic was respecting each others' differing philosophies and priorities while working together on common goals.
09/11/07: On September 10, 2007 I gave a talk at the Autism Society of Cumberland County meeting in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Its title was "Walking the Path Together", and discussed the need to get beyond recrminiations about problems in order to find cooperative solutions. As one exampIe, I talked about the ongoing controversy over the Judge Rotenberg Center and its use of electric shock for behavior control.
06/16/07: I am making available my notes from an undergraduate research project on "Symbolic Interactionism and Autism". This refers to the sociological theory of what makes humans human, how society functions, and the like. (It would seem that, once again, we autistic folks don't exactly "fit the mold".) There are 78 pages of varying length, each addressing one quote or concept from the texts. While I hope they are of use, I wouldn't quite categorize them with these...
04/30/07: An autism documentary titled "Neurotypical, the movie" is currently in production. Video clips from it, including one of me, may be found here. My clip describes my "costume-vs.-disguise" metaphor for social interaction.
04/14/07: On April 13, 2007 I gave an address at the Autism Advocates' Brunch in Cherokee, North Carolina. This event was hosted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation. I spoke of the need for greater understanding between autistic and nonautistic people, and of the value of autistic culture to both groups.
03/22/07: On March 22, 2007 I gave the opening address at the 2007 conference of the North Carolina Association for the Education of Chronically Ill Children. It included some thoughts on the nature of understanding and being understood, socialization, and quality-of-life for those outside the societal - or neurological - mainstream.
09/25/2006: I was interviewed for a North Carolina Public Radio program called "The Story With Dick Gordon". The interview aired at 1PM on Monday, September 25, 2006. The program is available in streaming form here- scroll or page quite a long way down to the title "What's It Like To Be Autistic?" and look for the "Listen Here" link at the very bottom of the article, just above the "Mountain Heart" headline. It is also available as a Podcast - see the Podcasts section of the program's website. I have some additional comments and clarifications regarding the program on this page.
04/28/2006: An op-ed piece concerning autism and quality-of-life appeared in the April 28, 2006 issue of the Asheville, North Carolina (USA) Citizen-Times.
04/09/2005: On April 9, 2005 I gave the closing address at the Autism Society of North Carolina annual conference. In it I addressed the controversy over the "cure" of autism, and suggested a way that groups with differing opinions can work together.
03/98: In March 1998 I gave two presentations at an Asperger Syndrome conference in Västerås, Sweden.
"Autistic and Undiagnosed: My Cautionary Tale"
concerns my life up to my autism diagnosis (in April 1994), and
"Self-Awareness
in Living With Asperger Syndrome" concerns my post-autism-diagnosis life through early 1998. Later writings give more-current snapshots.
Other writings:
The OASIS Asperger site, which
contains a great deal of Asperger Syndrome information and resources, also has some poetry of mine on
it.
Some of my writings have appeared in at least three published works: A volume in TEACCH's "Current Issues in Autism" series contains an early version of one of the Sweden presentations; Catherine Faherty's children's workbook
Activities:
I was active for several years in social groups and training seminars given by the Asheville, North Carolina TEACCH Center. TEACCH is a division of the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill - please see
its website for more information. As the first autistic person to serve on the Board of the Autism Society of North Carolina, I was able to bring my perspective and insight to that organization, both by participating in Board meetings and by speaking at local unit gatherings and conferences. I was inaccurately portrayed in the 2002 book American Normal. This page describes what happened. Please keep in mind that each autistic person is an
individual, so my experiences and views may be different from others' and are not meant to
be "the definitive word" on any subject. Still, my writings here may help others further their understanding of what it is like to be autistic, at least for those willing/able to put up with all the metaphors. (That style is evidently a "splinter skill" of mine.)
What I do best is to help groups of people understand autism so that they can better analyze situations and solve problems. I don't do well giving individual, specific advice about specific situations. For permission to reprint my portions of my writings, email me by clicking here and (VERY IMPORTANT) then REMOVE the parts of the address beginning with "not" which appear in the "To:" box of your email program. This page last updated: April 18, 2008
"Asperger's - What Does it Mean to Me?" has various quotes and one subchapter from me; and I contributed to Martha Kate Downey's CD-ROM format children's book "Tap Dancing in the Night".