The Joy of Autism Has Moved

Please go to my new website where The Joy of Autism will continue and old posts will be archived at www.esteeklar.com.

Naked

David Sedaris is coming to Toronto. I thought it was a good time to pick up Naked and read his wry take on humanity. Particularly entertaining was his story Chipped Beef:

“We give unspeakable amounts to charity, but you’ll never hear us talk about it. We give anonymously because the sackfuls of thank-you letters break our hearts with their clumsy handwriting and hopeless phonetic spelling. Word gets out that we’re generous and good-looking, and before you know it our front gate will become a campsite for fashion editors and crippled children, who tend to ruin the grass with the pointy shanks of their crutches…They’re hungry for something they know nothing about, but we, we know all too well that the price of fame is the loss of privacy. Public displays of happiness only encourage the may kidnappers who prowl the leafy estates of our better neighbourhoods.”

Now I should have put that quote into my essay The Economy of Pity I wrote a few years ago on the nature of philanthropy and it’s arms-length safety of giving in autism – the “if we give to it we don’t really have to face it,” type of giving.

Quote of the Month

Hi folks. We are still building the new site, and it's coming along nicely and you will be able to re-access old blog posts.

In the meantime, I thought you'd enjoy this quote -- applicable to women, to autistic people -- to all of us who possess our own set of unique differences to the proverbial "white man" or "normal" person.

"You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she will still hurry back."

---- Horace.

First Project of the Inclusion Initiative in Toronto

As part of our goal to give the tools for inclusion, Patrick Schwarz will be coming to Toronto this weekend. Please see the dates and locations below.

Also, we're still improving this site. Stay tuned for archived posts from The Joy of Autism and things that are new!


1. Date: Sunday Nov. 9 at 7pm
Location: Zareinu Educational Centre:
7026 Bathurst Street, Thornhill
Ph: 905 738-5542
Topic: COLLABORATION: TEAM BUILDING, ACTIVE LISTENING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING
Collaborative schools utilize processes to promote successful
instructional teams with all members actively involved. Tools for
success include team building, active listening and problem-solving. In
this dynamic workshop, participants will learn about each of these
processes and interactive application exercises will illustrate how
they can be applied to participants' own schools and individual learning
situations.


2. Date: Monday Nov. 10
Time: 9:15- 12:30

Location: Paradise Convention Centre
7601 Jane Street (Jane & Hwy 7)
905-669-4680

Topic:
UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCOMMODATIONS AND DIFFERENTIATION
Universal design is having curriculum planning, strategy and materials
in place in advance to meet the needs of all learners. Accommodations
are technology, materials, sequences and procedures to help a learner be
successful in the classroom. Differentiation is when all of these
strategies are applied to the instruction for all learners in the
classroom. In this session, planning processes and examples will be
provided and applied to participants' classroom, teaching and learning
situations.
Suitable for grades 3-6


3. Date: Monday Nov. 10, 2008

Time: 1:30- 3Pm

Location:Paradise Convention Centre
7601 Jane Street (Jane & Hwy 7)
905-669-4680

Topic: FROM DISABILITY TO POSSIBILITY KEYNOTE
Using real life stories - from womb to tomb - of individuals with
possibilities, Dr. Patrick Schwarz will illustrate what supports are
successful and what else is needed for effectiveness in education and
human services for all people. These compelling examples will motivate
participants to re-imagine and support individuals in new and inventive
ways. Be prepared for something fun and different!
Suitable for: Special Ed teachers Grades 3-7

Positively Autistic

Tonight on CBC or visit website by clicking here to view.

This website should be up and running (with all old blog posts) in 4 weeks. Sorry it wasn't ready in time for viewers to CBC.

"Positively Autistic" on CBC This Monday

Adam and I were interviewed after my surgeries earlier this year for this program. You can catch it on CBC The National this Monday evening:

s things stand now, "Postively Autistic" will air on the "The National" this coming Monday October 27 after the newscast portion of the program. "The National" broadcasts twice, first on Newsworld (cable channel 26) beginning at 9:00 pm; and then across the CBC network main channel (the precise channel number varies across the country according to whether people receive on cable or satellite and whether or not they watch on HD) beginning at 10:00 pm. (The newscast portion of "The National" usually lasts approximately 25 minutes; the documentary will run immediately following the newscast).
People who live in the United States are sometimes able to receive CBC television in their area depending on their cable/satellite provider.

If you are unable to catch the broadcast when it airs on television, you can watch it afterwards on our website http://www.cbc.ca/national/. Our website will also offer a significant amount of supplementary information, including full transcripts of the interviews I conducted (including interviews with people who did not make it into the documentary itself), links to people's websites, etc.

Thanks for the Love

Thanks to ABFH for this new blog award. I've received the Thoughtful Blog Award, The Thinking Blog award. I tell ya, I can use the love right now!