Over the past few months, I’ve reached out to people in the neurodiverse community whose perspectives I enjoy reading or hearing and asked them to ‘partner’ with me – i.e., let me share their perspectives through Rocketaround.com. Rocketaround.com is pleased to introduce you to one of these individuals, Michael John Carley – an amazing man who wears many hats – Editor-in-Chief, author, blogger, school and business consultant, program director, neurodiverse advocate, adventurer, father, and the list goes on. Below is an email about ‘Summuh Reading’ he sent to his followers/listserve this week and I thought you might enjoy it.
The topics it covers are as diverse as the world in which we live – everything from a surfing instructor who works with our kids in Chile to words of wisdom from Kurt Vonnegut, with whom I loved to visit other worlds. And the picture Michael John’s email verbally paints is a full and informed one.
Here’s to all Michael John Carley does for the neurodiverse community. Enjoy your “Summuh Reading” over this long weekend.
From Michael John Carley:
Dear All,
Hoping this finds everyone…chill. It won’t. But I can realistically beg the Gods to serve the majority of y’all. 🙂
Two new pieces in the Neurodiversity Press blog…One, John Summers (in a reprint by permission from the Boston Globe) the father of a significantly-challenged autistic kiddo encounters “the system” and writes from great comic/tragic experience. “What My Autistic Son’s Cold Cheeseburgers Taught Me About Bureaucracy.” And two, a short piece I wrote about a cool surfing instructor who works with our kids in Chile, and who trains to be an MMA fighter at night. Autism Around the World: Chile. The Joys of Teaching Spectrum Children to Surf, Remoteness, and a Very Special Instructor.
Elsewhere…
• Donald Triplett, the first person diagnosed with autism, has passed at 89.
• CARD, the ABA giant that (like many other larger ABA providers) was bought out by venture capitalists? Bankrupt. Now the original founders are trying to buy it back.
• Colorado spectrum high school grads have an option other than college: automotive engineering through “TACT”. Average starting salary for grads is over $19.
• DeSantis on the Spectrum? Should we make it an issue?
• My good bud, Lauren Kivowitz, put together this lovely short film, The Mirror Decides, with her students with disabilities. The script, plot, and concept all came from the “kids.” Got 11 minutes?
• Modern Love: “Seeking a Lover, Not a Nurse. Disability shouldn’t make someone undesirable or impractical as a romantic partner.”
• How Police Interrogation Techniques Fail People with Autism.
• AND we’re now professional poker players too!…
And a final word from the late Kurt Vonnegut (with thanks to Kathryn).
Yours, y’all,
Michael John Carley
Author, Consultant, Founder of GRASP
Facilitator, the Connections Program for Global Autistic Students at
New York University
he/him/his
Twitter: @mjcarley