Thinking Bloggers 2

Thank you Asperger Square 8 and Whitterer on Autism for tagging me for the Thinking Bloggers Award.

These are the official rules for participation:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to "this" post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the "Thinking Blogger Award" with a link to the post that you wrote.


Since Kyra of This Mom mentioned me last, I've been thinking about which bloggers have made a difference in our lives. Be it thinking or FEELING, autism blogging for me, is about instigating a change of attitude -- a change in the way we view and treat autistic people so that our children can lead full lives in society.

My thinking most definitely comes from the way I feel about Adam and the way we have experienced autism through clinicians, doctors, therapists. I have gone through self-doubt and confusion and then a growing acceptance of how we WANT to live the rest of our lives, despite the disennt and chatter in the autism world. In the end, I also come to see that, many of us simply want the same things: we want every opportunity for our autistic children and we want to be happy. The difference lies in how we go about that change: in changing the person or the environment. And, is there a compromise? Do we all try to mold ourselves to some degree and when do we feel ready to say that fitting in just doesn't matter as much as we think it does? We have a social issues that we need to keep talking about which is: is changing a person to "fit in," right? Is it just?

I got this the other day when Dawn Prince Hughes just said "f-ck it" on stage during her conference speech. She had to say it in regards to how others have viewed her or wanted her "to behave" in order to live HER life. When we let others pressure us too much, we give pieces of ourselves away until there is nothing left. I don't believe that any of us want our children to feel this way.

So, with this "meme" you make me think about thinking. While I would like to be a better thinker, I think it shows when you think over experience. A marriage of the two is what I hope to achieve one day -- an unmasking of my Self in order to connect with others to achieve a more empathetic society -- in this case regarding disability. I like what Stephen Covey had to say about thinking:

I'm convinced that we can write and live our own scripts more than most people will acknowledge. I also know the price that must be paid. It's a real struggle to do it. It requires visualization and affirmation. It involves living a life of integrity, starting with making and keeping promises, until the whole human personality -- the senses, the thinking, the feeling, and the intuition -- are ultimately integrated and harmonized.

Wow. I don't think I've managed to get that far yet, but I'm committed to trying.

Now it's my turn to meme." Here goes, but like this video I just made, I don't think I could EVER make a thorough enough list of all you people and bloggers I have come to admire so much:

Autism Diva -- She may not remember, but before I ever became a blogger, I emailed her. Autism Diva is the most informative, entertaining and thorough blog about autism out there. She is thinking, feeling and unabashedly wry.

Autism Vox Can anyone keep up with Kristina Chew? I enjoy her essays and her daily thoughts on the latest autism news. I feel an affinity with Kristina (also one of the first autism blogs I ever encountered back in 2005), with her love of literature. I always need to check in with Kristina to read her take on autism lit or art as we often end up writing reviews on top of one another!!


Kathleen Seidel of Neurodiversity.com. There is never a shortage of information on Kathleen's site. She is a woman with the incredible brain. I still don't think I've gotten through all of her material on that site. She is a pillar of the autism acceptance/rights movement, in my opinion.


Kevin Leitch I don't know if most people know about this other pillar of the autism acceptance movement. Kevin, savvy in many areas, blows me away with his research, knowledge, love and generousity. He is, as we say in the Jewish community, a real Mensch. He has helped The Autism Acceptance Project in so many ways and I just can't proclaim my gratitude often enough.


This Mom I've never met Kyra (yet), but there are days when I just wanna hug her. There is never a moment when I don't belly laugh at her butt jokes, or am in awe of her ability to unmask herself. Unmasking is what makes writing great, and I expect we will see a book written by Kyra (I hope) one day. She is not only funny, but a poetic writer right along with her son "Fluffy."

But it's not fair that I have to stop there. I love all of the Autism Hub bloggers and I would give the award if I could to everyone on there. Thank you all for inspiring me so much. What a great community we are growing!!


“A man is but the product of his thoughts -- what he thinks, he becomes.” --Mahatma Gandi