Cynthia Kim's Blog, page 4
July 24, 2014
Prosody: Loud Voice, Fast Voice, Soft Voice, Flat Voice
Things people have said to me: Dog training instructor: “Get excited! Look happier! Make your voice happy! You have to sound HAPPEEEEE! If you don’t sound HAAPPPPEEEEE!!! your dog won’t know that she’s doing it right.” Random stranger, after a 5-minute phone conversation: “You don’t seem like a very nice person.” The Scientist, after sharing […]
July 22, 2014
Coping Strategies Survey
This week’s questions are all about coping strategies. Traveling, panic attacks, aging, job hunting, emotions, obsessions – it’s a great mix and I think we’re going to come up with a great big pool of potential strategies that we can all draw on when needed. You know the drill–if you’re on the spectrum, either formally […]
July 17, 2014
Backstopping: Supporting the Autistic Person in Your Life
The Scientist and I moved cross-country a few years ago. We made the drive In four days and by the middle of the fourth day I was on the verge of shutdown. It was way past lunch time, we were out of snacks and we were driving through Middle of Nowhere, West Virginia. When we […]
July 15, 2014
How We Experience the World Survey
I was stumped for a title on this one. The questions all center around various ways we experience the world around us,but they’re about as loosely related as you can get and still say there’s a theme. If you want to answer anonymously, you can do so at Survey Monkey. 1. Is the fascination […]
July 10, 2014
Asking for Accommodations
Accommodations make life easier, but as Otterknot pointed out in a recent comment, asking for accommodations often sounds simpler than it is. Why is that? Why are we so reluctant to ask for something that will improve our quality of life, our relationships or our ability to succeed at work or school? The biggest obstacle […]
July 8, 2014
Learning Differences/Disabilities Survey
We’re going to kick off a round of 4 (or maybe 5) Tuesday surveys (yay!) with a set of questionsaboutspecific learning differences (UK term) or learning disabilities (US term). All of these questions are by Quarries and Corridors and I have rather selfishly scheduled them first because I’ve been experiencing so many things mentioned here […]
June 29, 2014
Giveaway Winners and Call for Survey Questions
Congratulations to the 5 winners of Ultraviolet Voices – Stories of Women on the Autism Spectrum: Otterknot Lana Nicole G. Mama4science Tagaught I sent off emails to the winners, so be sure to check your inbox and get back to me with your mailing address if your name is on the list above. Survey! There […]
June 27, 2014
Book Giveaway: Ultraviolet Voices – Stories of Women on the Autism Spectrum
It’s time for another giveaway! The past few weeks have been really hectic, so no new posts this week but I do have some books to giveaway. Late last year, I was invited by Autism West Midlands to contribute to their anthologyUltraviolet Voices – Stories of Women on the Autism Spectrum (more details about the […]
June 18, 2014
The Logical Fallacy of Person First Language
The problems with person first language have been talked about extensively in the autistic community. Many autistic people have expressed a strong, explicit preference for identity first language. And yet, we’re still treated to comments like this one (paraphrased from a comment on another blog): I work with children with autism and I always say […]
June 9, 2014
_________ing an Uncooperative Body
I don’t know how to title this. I don’t know what verb to put in that gaping blank space. I don’t even know if body is the right word. Maybe brain is more correct, though my brain keeps reassuring me that it knows exactly what it’s doing. It points fingers at my uncooperative mouth and […]
