From Around the Web - Autism

• Autism and a gift for art - Deseret News

• Cory Norton, who works with children with mental disabilities at West High, says people with autism have their own varying and unique abilities, and he considers one of his students an art prodigy.

• Allism Shouts - Facebook

• A humorous facebook page that parodies Autism Speaks, by making neurotypicals the ones with a disorder in need of a cure, to point out how it works both ways.

• Temple Grandin - Mansfield News Journal

• Temple Grandin works to find ‘can’ in autism

Observation of people - part 1

Recently, I saw a man, and his face looked like it was made of bronze with the flexibility of normal skin. I don't mean it was a bronze-like colour or anything, it literally looked like bronze. It even seemed reflective to an extent. It really was fascinating. Another feature that only added to the peculiarity of the head, was the complete lack of visible hair, anywhere on the head. I did not notice eyebrows either. I have seen my fair share of tanned people, people with various skin colours from all around the world, but this was something quite different. Somewhere in between normal and Talos. There was nothing to indicate that this man was anything other than European, so I cannot really say what the origin of this unusual skin tone is (though being Dutch, there's a chance that his parents/grandparents/etc... were from Suriname).

I generally find it interesting to observe people (and things, also), and I always have. More recently, this has become important for my story-writing, since correct and detailed descriptions of various things and people are very important in most cases. This does not mean that every little details should be described for every single object or person (since some stuff should be left to the imagination), but doing so should be possible if necessary. And that kind of stuff is best put in the "accompanying notes" for the story, in case further work is made on the story. Consistency is important.

The observation is something I do well, and without really thinking about it. What I need to work on, is putting my observations down on paper (or the screen) and wording them properly (in a way that other people might have a chance of understanding). Therefore, with this goal in mind, I am planning on writing several descriptions of people (or parts thereof) as I encounter (or create) them. Description of activities and objects seems to be easier for me, so I will, for the moment at least, focus on people.

Excerpts from Running

“Do not lose your head over all those books. There is a high chance that we won’t be able to stay here for more than a week, maybe not even a few days.” Said Samuel. “You probably won’t be able to look at many of the books so you are going to have to choose carefully.”

“Don’t be such a spoil sport” said Maya, pulling away from him.

“You do know I’m right, don’t you?”

“Maybe it would have been better if I had stayed with my parents.” She said hotly

“You really think that?” said Samuel, raising an eyebrow, trying not to show how much those words hurt him.

Maya shook her head, sensing he was upset. She smiled before hugging him and kissing him on his forehead.

“I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry. I’d rather be with you than any where else in the world” she told him, and it was true. “It’s just I would love to stay with the books.”

They remained together for quite a while, wrapped tightly together.

[...]

They left the airport and got in a waiting cab that was driven by member of a South American gang. Halfway to the rendezvous while they were driving through a patch of jungle, three Jeeps caught up with them. One pulled in front while the other two were at the side and back. Ten men with machine guns jumped out of the Jeeps and started shooting at the taxi. Just in time, Samuel pulled Maya to the floor of the taxi; Jules and Clemence both pulled out guns but they were too late: they were both shot, along with the driver. The gunshots stopped and Samuel could hear boots approaching the car. A man shouted something in German, mentioning the police and 8 of the men as well as two of the Jeeps drove off. The remaining two men came to the taxi and started pouring gasoline over it. Seeing that they were about to set the car alight, Samuel took Jules’ gun and shot the closest man before turning his gun on the remaining one. The man lifted his gun but Samuel was too quick. As the man crumpled, Samuel pulled Maya out of the car with him. Before leaving he took Jules’ phone and gun as well as all their gear and luggage. After making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything he lit a match, retreated a few steps and then threw it on the car. The fire quickly spread and as Samuel and Maya turned a corner further up the street they heard the car explode.

“What did you just do, Samuel?” asked Maya, shocked.

You can buy the full book here: At Lulu.com

Update of 1/10/13

I realise that it has been a while since my last post. I also realise that no one has missed my posts during that time. But that's their loss. I write mainly for my own betterment, and if anyone is entertained or amused by what I write, then good for them.

Anyways, much has happened since the last time I posted on this blog, most of which is of no interest to anyone who might read this blog. However, I will say that I'm studying computer sciences and thus learning to program in Java and create webpages with HTML and CSS, so if anyone has questions, feel free to ask. This also means I may write some computer related posts at some point.

In other news, I have started a new blog (yes, yet another blog), focusing on reviews of pretty much everything, from books to films to museums. In case anyone is interested in my perspective on stuff I encounter/experience, check this out: http://pharaoh-joz.blogspot.be/

Finally, someone (presumably NT) with whom I was talking maintains that physical disabilities are different from mental disabilities in more than the part of the body they effect. Thus, autistic person is correct, whereas blind person should be person with blindness (or something like that). Basically, they say that most mental disabilities should be disability-first, whereas physical disabilities should be people-first. One of their reasons for this was that in schools, for example, the facilities for accommodating for autistic people goes beyond the implementation of a set group of resources (such as audio books and text-to-voice software for a blind person). They also argued that a person's blindness does not change their personality, nor the way they should be treated. I will go into further detail in my next post, as well as including my stance on the discussion. Any opinions and additional perspectives would be welcome

Until then and "the case is closed", bye!

Autism and Intelligence... a start

I'm writing this in reaction to a recent video title I saw on facebook: "Autistic girl expresses unimaginable intelligence!"

Though I must say that I sort of understand the title, as long as the girl in question showed unquestionable signs of a lack of intelligence. But since the subtitle is "This amazing girl proves autism is not what most doctors think!", I must conclude that there is at least a hint of an insinuation that autism is commonly linked to lesser intelligence: hence the surprise in the tone of the title. I may be reading a bit too much into the whole 'unimaginable' aspect, but in view of other remarks and discussions and serious reports, there seems to be a general consensus (mainly in the NT community, obviously, since they seem to think they know so much about us, more than we do in some cases, they say...) that autism is more often linked with mental deficiency that the rest of the population. I disagree. In the case of high-functioning autistic people and aspies, it's obvious that many are gifted or highly gifted, but even more 'severely' autistic people can be gifted to profoundly gifted, it's just less noticeable, since their ability to communicate with the outside world is limited or non-existent. But someone's intelligence is not (or should not be) defined by one's ability to show off that intelligence. Stephen Hawking needs a computer to communicate, but he's still considered one of the world's greatest minds, is he not? So why can a non-verbal autistic individual not be as much a genius as Hawking? We just have not found out if it is possible for that individual to find a way to express whatever intelligence is locked away from the rest of the world. And maybe that's how they want it. Maybe some are intelligent enough to know that they don't want to communicate with the rest of the world. I know there are sometimes I wish I too was locked away inside my mind, utterly oblivious of the world around me.

What I believe, is that autistic people as a whole are no less intelligent than NTs. I even lean to the opinion that they are, in general, more intelligent than NTs. Possibly because their brains are not cluttered with all that built-in social nonsense of the NTs. Only time will tell what the reality of the story is. All I do know, is that we cannot assume to know what's happening inside the heads of our silent brothers and sisters of the spectrum.

Darth Kreew & Frozen Pizza - Fanfiction part 2

At the edge of Central Park, at the junction of Lansherr Boulevard and Holm Avenue, the two Sith warriors stopped at the intersection and glanced around surreptitiously, before entering an appartment building, a few metres along Holm Avenue, that ran alongside the north edge of Central Park. They took the lift to the top floor and found themselves in a dark hallway, with doors leading to two different appartments (though the Rebels owned both). Stepping out of the lift to the door on the right, Darth Kreew placed his hand on the centre of the reinforced steel door and spoke a phrase in the Sith language. With a scraping noise, the door split into two parts and slid sideways to allow them access to the appartment (the door would not open by any other means and breaking it down would take considerable effort or sizeable explosives that would probably damage the lift shaft, also the only way to access the floor). Hanging their robes in the gloomy entryway, to reveal the black tunics underneath, the two visitors casually walked into the living room of the roomy and well-equipped appartment. Xena walked over to look out at the excellent view over the park and beyond it, the Lake. She knew that it was not in fact a window, but rather that it was a large screen, programmed to show what the view would be, if there was a real window instead of the reinforced steel-adamant alloy wall that the Rebels had installed, for extra protection. From the outside, the appartment looked about as normal as from the inside and no one was any the wiser.

Xena turned as she sensed movement to her right. Ramose walked out of the kitchen, dressed in a crimson and black jumpsuit, in keeping with his cover: his job as a private security pilot employed by the Weyland-Stark Corporation. Darth Kreew bowed curtly and Xena put her fist over the centre of her chest in greeting.

“Greetings, Dark Ones.” Said Ramose. He was a large man, especially for a human, roughly as wide and as tall as the Klingon he now faced, though he was slightly less hairy: the mutant was bald with a goatee, while Kreew had long hair and a big moustache. In contrast, Xena was several heads shorter than both and a third the width of her fellow Sith. She wore her black hair in a waist-long ponytail and had several healed burn marks in a pattern on her face.

“Master.”

“What news of Akhenaten's army?”

“They are stuck in skirmishes with the Federation forces between Tatooine and Romulus. The Romulans are providing them a good challenge.” Said Kreew, pulling out a plastic sheet with diagrams and handing it over to Ramose.

“Also, Darth Markand says he has located a base occupied by the X-Knights on a moon in the Bajor system, and seven Rebel ships are being equipped for an assault.” Added Xena.

“No, contact him and tell him to call off the attack.” The other Sith exchanged confused glances.

“But...?” Asked Kreew, uncertainly

“Kreew, we cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves, amongst the free peoples of the galaxy. We can deal with the Jedi riff-raff once there is a victor. And do we not agree that regaining power for the Sith will be easier if the weak Federation remains in control and the Empire is defeated?”

“If you put it that way...” Agreed Xena, nodding.

Ramose turned around, his arms crossed, and thought a moment.

“Send an agent to both the X-Knights and the UJO. See if they are willing to cooperate with us to protect the Galaxy.”

“Very well,” said Kreew.

“Furthermore, I want you two to personally investigate the rumours of attacks against outlying Imperial bases in the Kazon region of the Delta Quadrant. A smuggler reports that Imperial supply ships were ambushed by two strange sphere-shaped vessels.” Said Ramose turning back towards them. “Oh, and Darth Khamûl is en-route to Nausicaa, with a dozen warships.”

“Interesting, it sounds unlike any ship I know of. We shall discover all we can.” Darth Kreew bowed.

*All rights to their respective owners/creators for the usage of copyrighted material.

*Use is solely intended for non-commercial purposes and with all due recognition of the work of the original authors. No plagiarism intended.

Second half of Camp NaNoWriMo begins...

... and I've not really reached the place I wanted to reach in my story (they're still in lunar orbit). But I think I made a good attempt at it. At least I have a good start to a story, that I will definitely want to work on in the future. Not that I've given up just yet on it now, but I have my doubts whether I will reach the goal by the end of the month. I could blame a certain person for being too distracting, but that's just an excuse, I have had plenty of time to write. I only lacked inspiration and motivation for that particular story, not time or focus.

Aside from NaNo, I've been working on a sort of superhero story, based on autobiographical elements and in the setting of a small village and a 'special' family. I want to try to create a combination of my usual stories and the more conventional superhero stories. Writing about superpowers in a familiar setting, treating those abilities in a way that would be normal for me and others like me. I'll try to avoid the villain vs. hero aspect of the stories (mainly by having a more fluid good vs evil dichotomy: in other words, antagonists are not necessarily evil, just opposed to the goals of the protagonists), though I will keep some traditional superhero elements as suits my desires and needs: it is my story after all.

My third creative project, that of the crossover fanfiction, is also still a work in progress. It's my plan to, when it's finished, release it on as many online sites as possible and allow anyone to read it, for free (since I cannot sell it anyways). I hope that this will provide me with publicity necessary to sell my current and future published work. People can both find out about me and get an idea of my writing style and quality. At the very least, I'll get some feedback which will help me improve future stories.

Finally, I'm trying to keep my other projects alive and I keep hoping someone else will buy "Running" from Lulu. One copy already has been bought and many people have congratulated me on publishing, so I can only hope that it's only a matter of time before the next copy is bought (I've linked to it on this blog already).

Anyways, don't forget to comment if you want to read my stories and more updates will come soon.