What is autism

What is autism


In response to Autism Speaks' offensive call to action, a variety of autistic writers and parents of autistic children participated in a flash blog event called This is Autism. They showed the world the broad spectrum of autism through text, photographs, and art. We met everyone from nonspeaking toddlers to fluent adult college students, parents, and teachers. Given that there were hundreds of posts, a casual reader curious about autism might not know where to begin. So, here follows a summary of what I consider to be the most important and interesting ideas. If you're interested, you can read more on the This is Autism Blog.

1. First and most importantly, autism isn't some menacing entity out there, or something you can put in a bottle on your shelf. It's just a word for a group of people--one whose members share the same basic emotions and needs other people have.

Adkyriolexy writes:"I need to go to the post office to mail a package. This is autism.

I also need to pick up groceries to cook dinner tonight. This is autism.

I'll probably spend this chilly evening reading under a blanket. This is autism...

I spent much of this afternoon spending too much time on Facebook. This is autism.

I love my husband with all my heart and I adore my children with my every breath. This is autism.

I am drinking a glass of Diet Coke. This is autism.

But don't non-autistic people do these things too?

Yes, they do, but right now I'm talking about an autistic person (me) doing them.

But what about flapping and not-talking and sensory pain and social awkwardness?

Those things are autism, too.

..."Autism" is not a substance unto itself. You cannot have a jar of autism. "Autism" is an abstract noun used to describe a type of person. A type of person with a certain shape of brain, certain traits, yes, but who still has every human attribute of personhood...

The elimination of autistic people means the elimination of autistic children screaming, and the elimination of autistic teenagers building robots, and the elimination of autistic men playing piano, and the elimination of autistic children fingerpainting, and the elimination of autistic women folding laundry, and the elimination of autistic seniors golfing, and the elimination of autistic babies sucking pacifiers, and the elimination of autistic writers watching trashy television. Autism Speaks wants to eliminate us and everything about us: the good, the bad, and the utterly boring.

Autism is not a stereotype, or an image, or a set of pathologized 'symptoms.' It's not a moment in isolation, or a metaphor for modern alienation, or a term to embody all of a parent's worst fears about their child. It's not an illness or a virus or a demon that steals souls. It's simply a description of a type of people...living, breathing, conscious, autonomous, concrete, complex, multidimensional, non-hypothetical autistic people. This is autism."
2. So who are these non-hypothetical autistic people? They're incredibly diverse in personality, age, and abilities. Thus, so is autism.

Alyssa, author of Yes That Too, counted 3129 ways one could be diagnosed as on the autism spectrum according to the DSM-IV-TR (the previous edition of the DSM). On top of this variety comes diverse atypical traits not listed in the DSM (such as sensory processing differences), as well as gender and personality differences, all of which affect how autism manifests.

Nick Walker writes:

"Riki comes to town. She knows the species, traits, and potential uses of every plant in the neighborhood. She smells of patchouli and walks with a cane, and my daughter loves her.

Riki spends hours fixing my out-of-commission electric scooter, taking it apart and putting it back together. It seems to me that she's doing me a great favor working on my scooter, but from Riki's perspective, I'm doing her a favor because she's never had the opportunity to take this sort of scooter apart before. The whole time she works on the scooter, she talks to it like she's a friendly veterinarian talking to an animal. She refuses to take a break to eat...this is autism...

The youngest and most enthusiastic student in my aikido dojo, the girl is five years old and so small that even the smallest size of gi is adorably large on her.

She loves aikido. Like me, when I started my own aikido training at the age of twelve, she has a hard time learning the moves, but she keeps on working at it because she gets what the art is about, she appreciates its sublime beauty in a way that most people, so far as I can tell, don't arrive at until they've been training for ten or twenty or thirty years.

This little girl can see the beauty, too. And today, before class starts, she can barely wait to talk to me. But she still remembers to stop and bow when she enters the dojo. The Autistic kids always remember.

After her bow, she comes bounding across the mat to me.

"Hello, Sensei," she says.

"Good morning," I say.

"Today is a special class!" she informs me, looking somewhere past my left shoulder. "This is my fifty-third aikido class!"

"Ah," I say. I think for just a moment, then it comes to me. "That's a prime, isn't it?"

"Yes!" she laughs, and bounds away across the blue mat, hands flapping. This is autism...

I've been reading Kassiane's activist writings online for more than a dozen years. Her writing is fiery and powerful, the writing of someone who has learned well and truly that the consequences of standing up and pushing back hard against the forces of oppression are never as bad as the consequences of not pushing back. I know a lot of people who are scared of her. I regard her as a hero.

In person, Kassiane is smaller than I expected, and she has a white cat named Purkinje who sits on her shouulder. She looks ten years younger than her age, and her voice is soft and light, easy on the ears. She loves the color purple. I've seen photos of her with purple hair, but today it's brown. She might or might not be wearing purple. I can't tell. It doesn't matter. Because everything she does is a beautiful bright purple. My brain processes her voice as purple, her movements as purple. She's warm and friendly, and when she hugs me, she means it, and I feel like I've been enveloped by a purple glow. This is autism..."
Nightengale of Samarkand writes:
"I wake up in the morning and check my livejournal, a certain set of blogs that are updated daily, the CNN headlines and the MSN online crossword puzzle. Sometimes the order varies, and sometimes I don't have time, but by and large, this is my routine and I stick with my routine. I like routines. This is autism.

I get my things together for work. I have to keep my keys and ID lanyard in the same place, because I can never find anything. Sometimes I can't find my glasses because I put them down somewhere. I look with my fingers because I may not reliably see them, even though I see fine (even without my glasses). I have to double and triple check that I have my purse, my lunch, my cell phone. I am disorganized in time and space. This is autism too...

I don't recognize her in the hallway. Well, she's wearing scrubs and an ID badge, so I know she works here and I presumably know her. But I don't recognize her face and her badge is turned around so I can't see her name. She's talking to me about a meeting. I look away while listening and start running through names, trying to place her. I wonder if I can get her to email me. E-mails are nice because they have the sender's name on them. She puts her hand on my arm and I try not to flinch or pull away. Eventually she says something which clicks. Prosopagnosia is autism, too...

There's a phone message waiting for me when I get in, to call a parent back. One of my patients is banging her head again, hard, because yes, this is autism, sometimes as well...we talk about looking for physical causes, headache, stomachache, ear infection, permanent teeth coming in. We talk about continued efforts to establish communication, to provide increased visual supports, to offer choices. We talk about medications. Her father is worried...

I see a patient who is having trouble focusing at school. We're trying medication. He's able to tell me how it makes him feel when it works, how the side effects made him feel when the dose was too high. He needs help with organization and school is expecting him to manage his assignments and materials without support. He is being bullied at school, and he can tell me how that feels, too. I tell him I know all about it, and it stinks. He says he wants to be a teacher some day. His mother is proud of her son, frustrated with school. I give them some bullying resources and the number for a parent special education advocacy group and the link to "Autistifying My Habitat."...

I hear my next patient protesting the blood pressure cuff. The nurses offer bubbles and I hear giggles. I take the magazines and crayons out of the room so they don't get eaten and bring in some trucks and blocks. He loves trucks. He runs them off the end of the table to watch them fall. Then he lines up the blocks. He flaps happily. A casual observer in the waiting room would recognize this as autism. He is getting speech therapy now, and just started preschool. They are using a visual schedule and he has transitioned pretty well. He can tell me his name and age and he turns his head helpfully when I look in his ears. He's pretty facile on the iPAD, too. At his last visit, he screamed the entire time and hid under the table. His mother is tired but pleased...

He's had an autism diagnosis for about a year, but his family hasn't told him yet. They aren't sure how to go about it. They aren't sure they want to label him. I gently break the news to them that they are going to need to break the news to him, and that if they don't supply an accurate label, he is going to be supplied with plenty of harmful ones. School tends to favor "non-compliant" while classmates go for "weird." He's been doodling bridges the whole time we've been talking, says he wants to be an engineer someday when I ask. I can see engineering school going well, but first he has to survive 8th grade. I compile resources including a book of autism heroes and a book on middle school by an autistic teenager. I also point out that he should be offered the opportunity to be part of autistic community and to find other people like him. I try to explain that there is autistic community...

My last patient of the day is not yet diagnosed. Her family is looking for guidance to help her navigate the increasingly challenging world. She has lots of language and I chat with her along with her parents. She's quite social. I listen some more, hear some slightly unusual inflection and word use for her age, some subtle scripting...she's social, her parents say, and likes to join groups of kids, but she doesn't know what to do once she's joined them, wants to play the same way over and over. No one would ever look at her in the waiting room and think, autism, but I do. The more I chat with her, play with her, learn about her, the more she pings my ASDar. That's an undercelebrated aspect of autism, the ASDar, but a useful one. As she waves happily goodbye to me, I smile back and think, 'I bet you're autism, too!'"
3. Just as autism can't be reduced to one sort of person, so autism can't be reduced to one specific experience. Autism pervades a person's life, an autistic person's life can't be reduced to misery any more than any other person's can.
Sami writes:"I can't really think of a single, specific attribute or story that simply is autism...I can...just offer one perspective on what it's like to be on the spectrum. In essence, my story is my story alone. And I'll be darned if I sit back and let a group that wishes I didn't exist tell it for me."

4. A parent's life also can't be reduced to misery, any more than any other parent's can. Autism creates harder and different struggles--but no one's life can be reduced to their struggles.

Linda Mastroianni writes:
"Yes, autism is exhausting, worrying, heart-wrenching, but it is also
about triumphs and milestones and making huge accomplishments when
others (like Autism Speaks) have handed down a life sentence of despair,
pain, financial and marital ruin...

By no means do I want to diminish the struggles that many families
deal with on a daily basis with their autistic child. I know what it's
like having a nonverbal child with behavioral issues. I know what it
feels like having a child that is constantly screaming all day. I know
what it's like to have a child that wants to take off his clothes all
day and just stay in the bathtub. I know what it's like having daycare
call advising you that they can no longer care for your child because he
is just "too much to handle".

But I also know what it feels like to see this child develop; to have
been blessed with therapists that have helped him to ease down on the
screaming until it was a thing of the past. I also know what it feels
like to see this child go to school and play with friends. Yes, he is
in a special school for special needs kids but that doesn't make the
quality of his life any less than ours...I take great
offence that they label my son as a burden."

Zita writes:We avoid foods that upset him...
We worry about whether he will eat lunch...
We bulk buy the half dozen foods that he enjoys, only to wonder why he won't eat them...
We avoid restaurants, knowing there will be nothing there he will tolerate...
We rejoice in every new food he tries and reward him with praise and love...
We haven't had a full night's sleep since he was born.
We celebrate every time he sleeps through the night...

We dim the lights.
We monitor noise levels.
We plan every outing, carefully scanning the environment for triggers.
We cut off tags and cautiously select fabrics.
We wonder where his shoes and socks have gone.
We built a dark, sensory room.
We built a fun, gross motor room.
We bought a trampoline, a swing set, a slide, an indoor hammock...
We wonder when our house became a jungle gym.
We follow a sensory diet, and regret when we get off track.
We hold him when he breaks down because it's all become too much.
We agonize over his meltdowns, and are filled with guilt and regret.
We have gotten injured.
We have watched him injure himself.
We accommodate the needs of his body.

We laugh when we watch him spin in the kitchen.
We feel exposed when he does it in the mall.
We tell people that he speaks with his body.
We reinforce that behavior is communication.
We offer alternatives to busy his hands.
We know that we are judged.
We want him to express his joy.
We wish he could do it with words.
We seek out people who "get us."
We surround ourselves with people who get him...

We relish every look, every smile, every laugh.
We constantly try to keep him engaged.
We are overcome with guilt when we can't.
We are thrilled that he has friends who love him...
We worry that, soon, they woon't understand.
We are scared that they will abandon him.
We are terrified that he will be lonely.
We wonder what he is thinking.
We wonder what he is feeling.
We wonder what he would say, if only he could say it.
We manage our expectations.
We understand that the future is uncertain, for him and for us.

We research GPS location devices.
We have the police department programmed into our phones...
We want him to feel safe.
We wish he understood fear.
We know that water is his favorite friend.
We know that water is our enemy.
We know that he loves to explore.
We lock all the doors...

We feel his love in every hug and every kiss...
We believe that every word is a gift...
We seek out answers to mitigate his negative symptoms.
We encourage him to explore and expand on his strengths.
We see doctors, therapists, specialists, teachers.
We are overwhelmed with information.
We juggle the needs of both of our children.
We wonder if we are failing him.
We wonder if we are failing her.
We lovev our son for who he is.
We do not try to change him.
We try to understand him.
We try to help him.
We wonder if we are.
We cherish every day...

5. Sometimes, indeed, autism involves unique joys.
The Caffeinated Autistic writes: "Autism is the joy of flapping your hands when something makes your heart sing...Autism is reveling in the good textures--running your hand over every bump, curve, and rivet."

Kassiane, author of Neurodivergent K, writes:
"Autism is focus. This leap is called a double stag. My focus was right
on the sole of my foot, visually speaking. Internally speaking it was
only on what I was doing. There was no thought as traditionally
described. There was me, music, the mat, and movement. That's it. I can
do that. I cannot meditate in the usual sense, but I can become one with
movement. Everything else goes away.So it is when I am focusing on something that I love. ...Autism is deep love. People write it off as special interest
or obsession, but even if it's not something I can excel at, I can excel
at loving what I love, loving what I do, loving who I love. Autism is
being able to be consumed by love and interest, it is giving 100%
because it is an insult to the thing one loves to give any less. ...
Autism is finding myself and losing everything else while jumping, flipping, spinning. And this is the best thing ever."

You may recognize her description of intense focus as "flow," an unself-conscious bliss experienced by people of all walks of life around the world.

6. For some, autism is the place where impressive talents meet frustrating disabilities.
The Caffeinated Autistic writes: "Autism is holding a bachelor's degree but working in a drive thru...Autism is being able to recite pages and pages of text that you learned when you were sixteen but unable to remember something you read an hour ago."

Lydia, author of Autistic Hoya, writes:"I can remember 10-digit phone numbers, months after dialing them exactly twice. Just don't ask me to write a check, because no matter how many times I'm taught, I can't remember how...

I graduated from high school a year early at the top of my class, finished college in 7 semesters, and now maintain a 4.00 average in grad school.

I am also affected enough that I qualified for and received Adult Autism Waiver services through the state for two years. I stopped them not because I no longer needed them but because my health issues made me unable to participate...

I'm hyperverbal, if by 'verbal' you mean able to lecture on preferred topics and express myself in writing. If, however, you define 'verbal' as having the ability to tell the doctor what hurts or being able to say, 'Hey, that hurts my ears, could you please stop?' instead of growling and yelling, well, no, I can't do that...

This place, where incredible gifts meet surprising deficits, this is autism."

7. For some, autism is validation, belonging, community.

Likethedreamersdo wrote: "Autism is the lens through which I am finally beginning to see myself clearly...autism is knowing that all the ways I have felt different throughout my life were for a reason. Autism is validation."

8. Autism includes not only the effects of the disability itself (positive or negative), but also the way people are treated because of it. Often, therefore, autism is fear.

As autisticook writes:
"Fear of not being seen as fully human when I lose my words. Fear of losing my words because I have so much to say. Fear of not being listened to.

Afraid of getting my experiences discounted, of being told that I can't understand something because I'm autistic. Afraid of being told I have no empathy.

Fear of losing my job. Losing it again and again. Fear of losing my house. Fear of seeing my safety destroyed.

Afraid of big crowds. Bright lights. Afraid of loud noises. Afraid of tiny noises that are impossible to identify. Afraid of clothes that seem fine one moment and unbearably itchy the next.

Fear. Of you looking at me and seeing a loser. Fear of you telling me that I should stop feeling sorry for myself. That I should try harder. When I've been trying so hard all my damn life. Fear of becoming too tired to continue.

Afraid of getting judged for not being able to keep my house clean. Myself clean. Myself fed. Afraid of getting judged for not doing the things that normal people do.

Fear of being told I have no feelings.

Afraid that nobody will understand and I will end up alone. Forgotten. Discounted. Ignored.

Fear that people will only see my defects. Not my strengths."

Bridget Allen traces this fear back to the ideology spread by Autism Speaks:
"My fear is of people, fueled by the rhetoric of the Wrights and others of their ilk, who want me dead.

Ms. Wright, This is Autism, the Autism you helped create.

This is Autism: Autism is having to work too hard...being natural or relaxed in public is impossible...

This is Autism: Autism is having needs treated as preferences...

This is Autism: Autism is having to explain myself over and over when explaining is the hardest thing to do. When I use verbal speech to communicate, understand that I am meeting you considerably more than halfway. I am expending energy that takes away from my responsibilities and loved ones...

This is Autism: Autism is knowing no matter what, the majority of people I encounter will always view me as a little less than fully human."

THE DREADED MIDDLE!

THE DREADED MIDDLE!


The beginning has gone fine. Filled with enthusiasm, I am having
difficulty tapping the keys fast enough to keep up with my thoughts. This is
going great! All I have to do now is fill the pages between that wonderful
beginning and what I know is going to be a simply spectacular ending.
The first three chapters have hooked the reader: she is not going to be
able to put the book down.
The characters are beginning to take on a personality of their own, the
heroine is coping with everything I throw at her and the hero is strong and
manly enough to win her love in the end.
Then everything starts to disintegrate for no reason at all.
Although the first few chapters looked pretty good to start with, I know
they are really a load of rubbish. No one is going to want to read a book that
is so boring even the characters have given up and gone to sleep. Their names
are all wrong too, they keep telling me that, and the setting is dull and
uninteresting. The plot? I have no idea what possessed me to think an idea like
that would make a readable novel.
I have come to the middle.
I know I will get over it. At least I think I will get over it because,
somehow, I always do. I can leave the bit in the middle and write the end, then
try and fill in the middle bit. That might work. Or I can scrap everything Ive
written so far and start again. That is probably the best idea. But it wont
help, because the next story is going to have a middle as well, and Im going
to get stuck all over again.

Project Life Catch Up Week 31

Project Life Catch Up Week 31

I have a few light weeks coming up in my Project Life. Sometimes there are just not enough photos and stories to justify a double page spread. Week 31 was one of these weeks.




There were a few exciting things that happened but some we were not permitted to take any photographs which was a bit frustrating.

The Hi 5 bubble mix photo may appear a bit random but this was part of a goody bag that Miss Three received for working on the show. A few girls from her ballet class were selected to film some of the filler spots on the show. She and her friends, danced and jumped and shouted Hi 5 repeatedly over a 90 minute session. The new series of the show is due to be aired here shortly so we will be keeping our eyes peeled for her.

The crowd shot was a snapshot I took of the grocery line at the supermarket that week. They only had two counters open and it took over thirty minutes to pay for my groceries. If I hadn't had a full trolley I would have left the store! I emailed a complaint to the company while standing in line and attached the photo! Gotta love technology!

The final photo (see what I mean about it being a light week) was of Miss Three eating chicken rice at one of our local restaurants. We have been eating there since we first moved to Singapore and all the staff there spoil her rotten and tell her about when she was a baby whenever we visit. The food is delicious and cheap. Who knew steamed chicken and rice cooked in chicken stock could be so delicious?

Regular readers will be pleased to know I have two sketches that I really want to have a go at on screen so I may interrupt the deluge of PL with some normal scrapbooking.

Happy Tuesday.

minor theological tweaking

minor theological tweaking

"None of us wants to think that we are as bad off as the gospel says we
are! We prefer to think that we just need some minor theological
tweaking or more faithful church attendance to function as God intended.
Yet the gospel says that no system or activity can provide what we
need. Our sin is do great that only Christ's work on the cross can
rescue us."

Timothy Lane Paul Tripp, How People Change

Is Faith Harmless

Is Faith Harmless


Short answer: No.

If you'll allow me to steal fromPeter Boghossian, faith is a broken epistemology, it's a way of pretending you know something you don't really know.

Epistemology is the way you know things. Faith allows people to claimto know things they don't. Faith is the buttress for claims from the mild to the asinine, from the irritating to the debilitating, to deadly. It is the exact same process that Catholics use to believe a cracker becomes the actual, physical body of the risen saviorthat Jews use to justify mutilating infant genitalia, that Muslims use to bomb churches. There is no difference.

Many have argued that secularists, humanists, antitheists should spend their time on the latter two and ignore the former as harmless. They definitely have a point that shouldn't be ignored. We are a minority and we only have so much time, money, and energy. We're also nowhere near as united as the forces of irrationality that give credence to faith. We need to invest our efforts where they're most valuable.

However, I don't think we should ignorethe crackers. PZ Myers desecrated a communion wafer that he received from a student who smuggled it out of a service for him. Both Myers and the student received death threats, as well as Myers's university was flooded with letters demanding he be fired. Clearly, this isn't a small issue for the Catholic League.

With this example, I wish to demonstrate two things:

Clearly, this is the same faith. Myers's minor act of desecration against a minor tenet of faith received a response out of all proportion. His university was flooded with letters and even now, five years later, they're still receiving mail about the incident. Through the lens of faith, there is no difference between this and the more "serious" acts of faith.
I believe that there is a more practical connection between these. The "minor" acts of faith give legitimacy to the more ridiculous tenets. That no one really cares to question the small things that don't matter, but this means that, with faith allowed a leg to stand on, the more absurd beliefs can point to those and say, "See? These are fine!" And then they turn around with Matthew 23:24
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

The smaller faiths give legitimacy to the larger, which turn around and give legitimacy to the smaller. The edifice demands you dismantle the entirety all at once, bootstrapping itself on nothingness all the while.

In answer to the argument from practicality, that we have bigger fish to fry, I offer this: the smaller faith takes less time and energy to ridicule. Spend a few moments ridiculing their weekly ritual cannibalism, point out that they believe not simply absurdities, but foolish, childish absurdities:
Every week you go to a sing-song and promise yourself in slavery to a cosmic zombie because a rib-woman was convinced to eat a magic fruit by a talking snake, which broke the universe, and then God needed blood to fix the universe, but only his own blood had enough magic so he raped a virgin to give himself a body and killed it.

All faith is bad. All faith is equal. All faith is equally harmful. Some particular instances of faith just happen not to be harming people at this particular moment. 500 years ago those angry Catholics wouldn't have stopped at threatening to kill PZ Myers. He'd be rather horrifically dead.

Filipinos who say

Filipinos who say


November 23, 2013by Ilda


One of the stupidest things some Filipinos kept suggesting during the height of the disaster in Central Philippines brought about by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) is for people to stop criticizing the Philippine government. For some bizarre reason, some equate the criticism coming from those who were concerned for the welfare of the victims as “negativity”.

Relief slow to come: Yolanda victims in Tacloban
The belief that criticizing the government is “unproductive” is wrong. If not for the barrage of criticism the government received because of its slow response to the recent calamity, the assistance to the victims would not have come for weeks. If not for the Filipinos who “complain”, the suffering of the victims would not have been exposed and the death toll would have been much greater. If not for the well-meaning individuals who “questioned” the inaction of the government, the victims would have been walking around like zombies or sleeping near the bodies of their dead loved ones for much longer. As it is, there are already reports that a few of the people who sustained injuries have died because they did not receive immediate medical attention.There is no question that everyones priority should be on the search and rescue operation of survivors immediately after a disaster. But when those in charge of the search and rescue operation are not doing their jobs at all, the concerned members of the public have every right to call their attention to what has to be done as soon as possible.Some misguided Filipinos even dared ask personal questions like “have you donated money already”? And then there are those who were quick to say, “just stay quiet, be positive and support your government”. Its like for them, those who have not donated to the victims do not have the right to demand anything from their government. Likewise, there are some who get annoyed when they see others share articles that are critical of the government on social networking sites like Facebook. One can be forgiven for thinking that the reason why some want to remain “positive” is because they cannot wait to resume sharing their selfies. They probably want everyones attention on them again instead of the disaster.Members of the international media played a big role in highlighting the appalling conditions of the victims of the typhoon. If not for them, Filipinos both in the country and those living overseas would not have been aware of the suffering of their own countrymen. Most of the news and images being passed around on the Net covering the areas ravaged by the typhoon came from the international media. Local media did not even have reliable coverage of the plight of those who were suffering similar to what networks like CNN had. Its quite strange considering foreign correspondents had to travel thousands of miles to get to the disaster zone while members of the local media are already in the country.Concerned citizens found it odd how slow the local media were in providing updates about the status of the survivors. Local journalists were definitely outclassed by foreign journalists. The latter used their investigative skills in pointedly grilling Filipino public servants during live interviews. Its something that our local journalists would never think of doing perhaps for fear of getting shot in the head by a motorcycle-riding hit man later. Journalists being gunned down in broad daylight are a normal occurrence in the Philippines indeed, which is why a journalist will not ask the hard questions while conducting an interviewa-laAndrews Stevens with a Philippine politician.The lack of coverage from local media certainly made some Filipinos a bit anxious to know what happened to the people in the areas directly hit by the super typhoon. There was even speculation around whether or not there was some kind of news blackout about the real situation. They left a big yawning gap, which foreign media quickly filled.The information and in-depth analysis provided by foreign journalists covering typhoon Yolanda shocked the entire nation and the global community. Foreign journalists like CNNs Anderson Cooper and Andrews Steven not only helped expose the incompetence and arrogance of Filipino public servants; they also put pressure on the Philippine government to move a bit quicker. Theres still a lot to be said about the governments efforts but at least they know now that the people have put them on notice.While a lot of Filipinos laud the actions of some members of the international media, there were some Filipinos who did not appreciate their honesty. They became defensive and even wrote an open letter to CNN asking them not to compare the Philippines to first world countries like Japan for example. Their reason is that the Philippines is a poor country with poor infrastructure and a few resources. Never mind that the a big part of the reason the Philippines is poor is because its voters keep electing leaders who mismanage the country.Those who were offended by the straightforward assessment applied by the foreign correspondents seem to be more concerned with image. It has become apparent that they just want to project a “fun” Philippines to the international community. Its like they do not want anyone highlighting or broadcasting the real state of the poor people and the countrys decrepit infrastructure.

In bad need of a reality check: President BS Aquino
Hiding the real condition of the country never works. Natural calamities are guaranteed to reveal it one way or another. Disasters tend to expose not just peoples capacity to handle stressful situations, it also exposes the fact that the country does not have the capability to save its own people.There is no point in pretending that the country is doing great when it is not. This is something that President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino needs to understand. During his interview with CNNs Christiane Amanpour, he kept reassuring her that things are under control even when reports from other people more reliable than the President of the Philippines contradict what he was saying. He just looked pathetic.Filipinos who keep saying “stop being negative” every time a natural disaster strikes the country need to stop saying it already. People are not being negative when they state facts and describe the reality they see around them. We cannot continue pretending the country is a wonderful place to live in when more and more people are being born into poverty. These children often end up living in squatter areas that are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions like super typhoons.Calls for unity and peace every time a tragedy occurs are beginning to look quite suspect especially when the ones calling for these are public servants. In the aftermath of Sendong, a tropical storm that killed over a thousand Filipinos in Mindanao in 2011, Malacañang Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierdaasked for the same thingwhen President BS Aquino was accused of negligence in disaster preparedness:
In Malacañang, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda asked Palatino to avoid finger-pointing at this time of tragedy.Lacierda stressed that the government has enough funds for disaster preparedness.“Lets not politicize the issue. We have specific funds for disaster preparedness. We have always maintained that we need to clear the esteros and waterways of people there and thats the danger zone that we have always been emphasizing and thats the reason why were also providing for housing for people in those areas,” he said.“And, like I said, specific agencies have funds for that so we can address those situations. So I would like to ask Congressman Palatino, now is not the time to point fingers. Now is the time to help out in the tragic incident in Mindanao,” he added.
Obviously, some people like Lacierda just want people to stay “positive” because they do not want to highlight the fact that they failed in their duties to protect the Filipino people. So for the sake of the country, the Filipino people should start being “negative” and continue criticizing their government in times of crisis. Otherwise, public servants will always think they are doing a great job.There are countless tragedies that happen in the Philippines as a result of natural calamities. Since the foreign correspondents do not go to each one of those disaster areas when tragedy occurs, it can only mean that the victims suffered the same ordeal but did not get the same attention as the victims of super typhoon Yolanda.[Photo of Yolanda victims courtesyNYDailyNews.com.]

Clothes Closet Overhaul

Clothes Closet Overhaul





With the change in seasons comes a change in clothes. At least that is what I thought. With a new school year brings the time when we wear our new school clothes of corduroy pants, jeans and sweaters! But wait....it is suppose to be in the 90's next week. We still have plenty of summer clothes wearing days left! The temperature gauge says I can stillwear summerdresses and skirts. But I also have this feeling, almost a need to go through all of my clothes and purge to make room for the cute fall clothes that are on display in the mall and online. For many of us, we simply don't have room for two seasons at once in our closets. For me, I only have so many hangers and if I want to add something new, I have to take something away. So if you are like me, you may need some tough love when parting with some clothes.

When going through closets they are often the holder of secrets and obsessions and sometimes just odd items. Each item of clothing has its own story. In order to be effective in your closet overhaul you need to ask a series of questionswith each piece of clothing. So as part of my tough love, here are some questions that I ask my clients when going through their closets:

1. Have you worn this in the last 9 months? I usually like 6 months but with our four seasons we need more like 9 months to get an accurate assessment. Not sure? Turn all of your hangers backwards in the closet. When you wear something, put the clothes on the hanger the proper way. After 9 months you can quickly see what you are and are not wearing based on the position of the hangers.

2. Does it fit? We seem to hold on to clothes for that day when we suddenly can fit into those size 4 jeans. But every time we see those jeans we realize that we are not that size and then we go and eat a cookie. Release those clothes and know that when you are that size, you will be excited to buy the newest fashion and it is ok to say goodbye to your acid washed jeans. As an added point, don't assume something fits, try it on.

3. Do you look great in it? Seriously, do you look great in it? Have you received a compliment while wearing it? Have a friend come over and help you with this part. Try on the clothes and have a fashion show. You will be surprised what others think you look good in!

4. Is it comfortable? I always like to try the sit-down-in-it test. If it feels good when I sit down it is a keeper. For me, anything with wool makes me itchy. I kept a wool sweater in my closet for way too long. I should have gotten rid of it 10 years earlier!

5. Is it in your closet because it was a "good deal"? I am guilty of it. I bought something because it was such a "good deal", or I may have bought it in one color and decided to buy all the other colors because of the "good deal". Be okay with letting that "good deal" go.

6. Did you pay too much money for it? This is the opposite of the "good deal". We often feel guilty of paying the price and so we keep it, never wearing it an getting mad at ourselves each time we look at the item. Let go of it and free yourself of that feeling. Go the extra step of taking it to a clothes reseller or go on eBay or poshmark.com to see about selling it. Just get it out of your house and stop feeling guilty. Don't wait too long or the unicorn appliqued sweater with shoulder pads will go out of style and nobody will want it {confession...I paid too much for that unicorn sweater back in the day....gulp}

7. Does it need to be mended/patched/ironed/washed? And are you going to mend/patch/iron/wash it? If not, get it out of your closet. Make a plan to dothe mending/patching/ironing/washingwithin 7 days or it is gone!

8. Is it in good shape? Imagine those shirts with the frayed collars or that sweater with a snag. I have this thing with clothes with little pills on them {I think that is what those things arecalled}. The clothes with the pills just hang in my closet, not being worn. YesI know they make those little machines that will razor them off....I better buy one and get it done in the next 7 days or out of my closet those clothes go!

9. Does it have a sentimental hold on you? Most closets contain an outfit or two that we are holding on because....we wore it on our first date...we wore it on our honeymoon...we wore it when we got engaged...we wore it when we won an award....it isour lucky shirt....it is our lucky tie, etc. Really take a look at it and see yourself wearing it again. Can you take a picture of it? I will let you in on a secret....the clothes didn't make that special event happen....you did!

Giving yourself a closet overhaul is not an easy exercise. Take this list of9 questions to ask yourself as you tackle your closet. Break it up into smaller bite size chunks. As the saying goes, how do you eat an elephant....one bite at a time! Maybe you do 10 items a day. Or maybe you start with your spouses clothes! My husband's clothes are easy for me to purge!

To Joyful,
Simplified Living,
MS.
Simplicity
MS.
Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger operates her business as I Did
it with MS. Simplicity. She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND
and her website can be found at http://www.mssimplicity.com/
· Need to contact MS.
Simplicity privately; you can email her at melissa@mssimplicity.com.
· For daily organizing
tips find the MS. Simplicity Facebook business page here.
· Order featured Clever Container organizing supplies here, consultant ID #18.

Airport security

Airport security

You can suppress and bully the
citizens for only so long before they revolt. I sense a revolution in the air but this time its not
coming from angry communists, or those on the hard left, or the whining 1% who
keep complaining that lifes not fair.
This revolution is coming from
the frustrated traveling public who have for too long been subjected to
meaningless airport security checks by staff who are all too often surly and
overly authoritarian in their approach.
I have learned its best to
navigate this institutional stupidity by a steely resolve to say nothing, avoid
eye contact and walk straight ahead; do absolutely nothing to attract
attention.Sometimes it
works.Most recently I was following
this procedure to the letter when just prior to walking through the scanner a
uniformed voice across the isle asked, “what have you got in your pockets?”Looking up, I said, “nothing that
is going to set the scanner off”.“Show me.”Slowly reaching into my pocket I
retrieved a somewhat used and crumpled handkerchief, which I proceeded to show
my inquisitor in some detail until he tersely instructed me to “move on”.I moved on and through the
scanning device that remained blissfully silent. However I must have breached an unspoken protocol by walking
through with my hands in my pockets, probably stuffing the handkerchief back
into position.A large female guard on the other
side of the scanner made a motion like a duck at me, wordlessly flapping her
elbows. I have discovered from
past experience that it does not pay to question the actions of these people,
you simply behave as if this is perfectly normal, and just what you expected to
happen.So, by way of an empathetic
gesture, and as she was standing blocking my way, I reciprocated by flapping my
elbows to her, hoping that this was not a form of mating ritual unique to
airport security staff.She responded by wordlessly
flapping more vigorously than before and by the look on her face I intuited
that it was not intimacy she was seeking. But what should I do, apparently I was
supposed to know but never having been subject to this ritual before, and I
have traveled regularly, I decided that once again mirroring her actions would
be the best thing to do.It wasnt.“Get your hands out of your
pockets!” she bellowed.I did, still clutching my
decidedly used and now slightly sweaty hanky.This action seemed to partially
mollify her, and I was allowed to pass with all of my limbs intact, and thank
God, minus the rubber glove inspection.
This is a risk Im always conscious of, and an experience Im keen to
avoid. Only my doctor gets to
check my prostate, thank you.Not so fortunate was the mother
of Aaliyah Alty, a young girl who turns 2 next month, and who
suffers from severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Auckland Airport security
decided that the equipment she needed to breath was actually a bomb, and
created a fuss.Oh, there have been the usual apologies issued by fawning senior management, none of whom I suspect ever
use the services they have inflicted upon the rest of us. If they did, I'm confident they would have been revised a long time ago.But just in case you think I am
someone who just likes to opine or even whine about these things – I have a
solution. Just as we have police
checks for those who want to obtain a gun license, how about we provide the
opportunity to obtain a police checked
travel license. Ok, I know its
more bureaucracy, but for this ONE TIME inconvenience, you could flash your
card at a scanner, immediately pass through and never again be subjected to
the indignity of Airport security scanning again, at least for internal flights.I know, too easy.However, something has to change,
or before long travelers may start to take matters into their own hands, and
the very system that was set up to avoid trouble will become the cause of
it. Most of those who use it regularly already know that it has caused many more problems, humiliation, and
inconvenience to the traveling public than can be reasonably justified.Furthermore, as has been exampled
overseas many times, a determined terrorist can easily by pass the
security checks anyway. The underwear
bomber and the shoe bomber are just two examples.
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advocate violence or revolution of any kind for any reason. No doubt the staff at airport security
are individually all very nice people and I wish them well.