Big News!

This past Friday, the University of Michigan Council for Disability Concerns awarded me with their Certificate of Appreciation at the annual Neubacher Ceremony. It was truly a beautiful experience. Not only was it a phenomenal feeling to have my work in disability advocacy recognized, but for once I felt like I was surrounded by "my people." I was in a room full of people who "get it" and who are as passionate about equality for disabled people as I am. People who aren't apathetic. People who know. People who feel the same fire that I do for service. Words can't describe the awe that I felt having been granted the opportunity to be a part of that amazing group of people for a day.

And now back to reality.

The all-female residence hall that I live in here on campus houses a program called the Adelia Cheever program. The Cheever Program holds meetings twice a month, and their focus is on global women's issues and social justice. I approached some people from the organization a couple weeks ago to ask if a presentation about autism might be interesting to the group, given its relevance to our community (as in, the fact that there are autistic girls in the group), and given the unique issues that women on the spectrum face. They thought it was a great idea, so I am getting to work on planning something. So far I am thinking along the lines of a presentation, but I think I am going to open with a true/false poll with some not-well-known autism factoids and some myths to get their brains moving and establish what sort of stuff they already know. I also know I want to include some movie clips, and the administrator of the group suggested going over a list of famous people with autism, so I will do that. And I am also working on developing a simulation which will make neurotypicals *FEEL* what it is like to be an autistic girl in a group social situation. So far I have come up with a way to simulate the lack of proficiency with non-verbal language and the delay that is sometimes caused in conversation due to auditory processing deficiencies + other relevant issues. So I am just working on polishing that idea up and including as much as I can without bogging them down too much for them to get the point. After we do that, I am thinking we'll have sort of an instructional discussion about how, as an NT in that sort of a situation, you can be kind and inclusive to the autistic person without being rude or totally derailing your conversation. It should be good.

I'll post more developments as they occur.