Tired but Ph[inishe]D

Because sexism is fine as long as it's animated...

2010-06-09T21:38:00.001-06:00

Dreamworks, what the hell?!? Let me admit it first that I am not a fan of the Shrek series. I don't think they're that witty, I can't stand Mike Myers, and potty humor really doesn't do much for me.

But, now, I really, really dislike the Shrek franchise. Really.

It seems that racism and sexism is completely acceptable as long as it's wrapped up in a "cute" animated film?!? Before you click on "comment" and retort: "But, it's just a cartoon. You're being too sensitive. You just need to enjoy the film." Let me present my evidence:

Eddie "Paycheck" Murphy and Craig Robinson--the only two cast members of color in the film--provide the voice for the two of the most loud and obnoxious characters. Donkey and Cookie (the gay ogre, too) sing, dance, have no sense of "personal space" or boundaries.
The [French] Gingerbread Man is actually referred to as "Cracker." As in, Shrek says, "Hey, look, Cracker." I turned to Marc with my mouth agape as the audience roared. Referring to another character as "Cracker" is funny?!? So, can we refer to a fish in the film as a "wetback," too?!? Would that not be equally offensive?
The children of Donkey and Dragon (the supposed "interracial" couple in the film) are referred to as "mutants." What cute little biracial Donkey-Dragon mutant babies!?!
Puss in Boots is just one long extended fat joke. Oooh, look, he can't touch his toes. Ooooh, look, he's lazy and likes to lay around. Whatever.
But, Fiona's character. Fiona's character is the single most offensive character in the complete film or franchise that I've seen in a while--well, Michael King managed to f*ck up Sex and the City 2 pretty good, too. But, that's a different blog posting....

---------Out of consideration, let me issue a SPOILER ALERT right now. SPOILER ALERT. ----------

So, when we begin the film, Fiona--Shrek's wife--is a stay-at-home mom to 3 young ogres. She's been rescued by Shrek--her knight in shining armor--and is happy and content raising raise her babies, changing diapers, and cleaning her tree house.

But, Shrek throws it all away after a midlife "I want to be single, again" moment. In this alternative universe that Shrek has found himself, Fiona is the warrior princess leading the rebellion to save Far, Far Away from the maniacal dictator, Rumpelstiltskin. She has "rescued herself" from the dragon, raised an army, and protects ogres from--literal--witch hunts. For Fiona, in this alternative universe, she is a take-charge, aggressive, commanding presence who is respected by her "troops" and doesn't need anyone to protect or take care of her. She actually seems pretty happy as an independent woman.

However, Shrek's life will return back to normal if he can get Fiona to fall back in love with him (in 24 hours, mind you--because we women-folk are just THAT stupid) and kiss him. And, it works! Shrek manages to restore order to the universe and "right" these wrongs by kissing Fiona. Fiona's consensual sex (albeit, in the form of a PG kiss) restores the universe back to how it should be: Fiona is, yet again, a stay-at-home mom to three babies and has been rescued, yet again, by her prince charming, Shrek. Life returns for Shrek to how it "ought to be"...as it "should be": Shrek is the master of his domain and Fiona reduced back to her role as caregiving, nurturing subordinate.

So, Dreamworks: Shame on you. Because somehow, sexism and racism is perfectly fine when it's in animated form. The film ought to be called: Shrek: The Final Chapter, Thank God.

iMovie Reflections on Thailand

2010-05-31T13:58:00.000-06:00

I'm working on developing my Comp II Honors course for next Spring and I am thinking of requiring a video/multimedia project as part of the course's research project using film, photography, and iMovie/Moviemaker.

So, I started playing around with iMovie--because that's the fun part of my job--and here's what I put together. These are pics from my recent trip to Thailand. The music is a bit too sentimental but I think I took some kick ass photographs.

Check it out here...

Protesters Against Health Care Reform...

2010-03-20T18:55:00.000-06:00

...at a rally in D.C. on Saturday. This is coverage from the Columbus Dispatch of a protest rally for and against health care reform in Washington, D.C. today.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/multimedia/video/video.html?video=949486

To summarize, in the video, a man is sitting on the ground in front of protesters against the health care bill with a sign that states that he has Parkinson's and that he would be served by the health care bill.

Several protester tell the man that "this is America," that you have to work here in America to get what you want, and that there are no handouts here. Then, another man walks up and throws a dollar at the man sitting on the ground and tells him, "Here. Here's some money. Have a dollar. Want another one? Here."

I'm so disgusted. Some days, it's hard to believe that "this" is my America.

Testing, testing, testing...

2010-03-08T19:15:00.002-06:00

MRI, EEG, psychological evaluation, TAKS... Tobey's been one assessed young man as of late.

Why all the tests? Tobey has been having some "Tourette's like ticks" for the past year and his neurologist wants to see whether there might be something else going on with Tobey. Is there something else going on? I don't know... After all, it doesn't really change anything. Tobey is still Tobey, regardless of the label they put on him. His needs remain the same.

And, this year, I've come to terms with the realization that his needs are going to be significant. He's been moved into the self-contained classroom and he's officially one of the kids on the "short bus." Gawd, how I hate that joke, and I cringe a bit when I hear it used as an insult.

Still, I'm reminded of a passage from Roy Grinker's book Unstrange Minds when he is putting his daughter to bed and he realizes that he will be doing this for the rest of his life. That he has the privilege of doing this for the rest of his life. When other parents worry about their children going out on dates, moving away to college, flunking out of college, Grinker will have his daughter at home with him.

And, I will have Tobey. He may live in an independent living facility; he may not. But, I will always have him with me in some capacity.

And, that is okay.

I've been saying for years...

2010-02-26T18:41:00.002-06:00

...that Jenny McCarthy's son wasn't really autistic.

Now, she finally admits it in an interview in Time magazine this week. How many children have been harmed by parents who were afraid to vaccinate their children? And, how much money has McCarthy made by exploiting these parents' fears?

Shame on you, McCarthy. And, I feel sorry for those parents who trusted the "expertise" of a Playboy Bunny before the educated, medical experts.

A Letter to High School English Teachers...

2010-02-11T08:14:00.003-06:00

As my students start writing their first paper in my Comp I course, I have had many conversations w/ students this week on the differences between the writing they have done in high school and the writing I expect from them in college. Some students seem to embrace the freedom that comes with using "I," "you," more than 5 paragraphs, and "In this paper, I will discuss..." in their papers. Others seem indifferent and have just rolled w/ it. And, one student stormed out angry yesterday.

My conversations w/ students is much like the conversation happening online on the WPA list serv. I found this exchange between a high school teacher and college department chair to be especially interesting. In the interest of furthering the conversation about student writing, student needs, and professional development, I'm posting it here, too.

http://illinois.edu/db/view/25/22040?count=1&ACTION=DIALOG

Recent News on Autism, Wakefield, and the MMR Fraud

2010-02-03T09:45:00.000-06:00

Looks like Andrew Wakefield will probably lose his license--as he should. I feel nothing but contempt for the man for the pain and suffering that he has put autistic individuals through because of his quackery.

And, now, The Lancet has finally retracted Wakefield's 1998 article that made the supposed connections between autism and the MMR vaccine. Again, 'bout time.

If you're interested in sound, scholarly research that discredits any connection between autism spectrum disorders and MMR vaccinations or mercury, check out Paul Offit's book, Autism's False Prophets. As a rhetorician, Offit's book is such an excellent example of logical analysis that I can't recommend it enough.

Emanuel, Palin, and the "R" Word

2010-02-02T15:30:00.001-06:00

What is just as offensive as Rahm Emanuel's use of the word "retarded" to describe Conservative ads against health care reform? Sarah Palin exploiting the situation to get herself back in the spotlight by insisting that he should resign.

Emanuel reminds me of the student who says something off the cuff without malice intent. Palin, on the other hand, is completely exploiting the "I have a child w/ special needs" to further her own political celebrity. [Groan]

Back to Blogging...

2010-01-25T17:18:00.002-06:00

I have neglected this blog.

I'm a terrible owner because--after what could only be described as 9 months of a dissertation writing frenzy--I have had quite a bit of writer's block. My desire to write has been strictly limited to updating my Facebook status, which--like Chris--I do much too often. I'm sure my friends have just been dying to know that I am on my 6th cup of coffee, that I need to run to the post office, or that I really, REALLY hate Glenn Beck. And, yet, they all do.

Still, during my dissertation defense, my chair and two readers suggested that I return to my blog and present a public discursive presence. They encouraged me to continue posting on disability and rhetoric in the public culture. Too often, academics get "locked into" their own offices writing for the 3-4 people who will be at their conference presentation. But, it's important that academics contribute to the public discourse--even if it's from our tiny, little speck of the Interwebs. So, now that the dissertation is done and I'm Ph[inishe]D, I am returning to my blog to use my powers for good.

And, scene...

2009-09-17T13:50:00.002-06:00

The dissertation defense is complete. I am officially, Dr. Rochelle Gregory, PhD. I had some great feedback during my defense from my committee members, all of whom commented on my blogging over the past five years. So, I'm thinking of pursuing what Dr. Greer referred to as a "professional intellectual" more seriously. He suggested blogging about disability and rhetoric since I have the expertise, interest, and education. So, that's what I've been thinking about in more detail over the past couple days. That, and other things. Now, I just need to get the revisions made and turn in this bad boy.... Hahh, the sound of a done dissertation is wonderful...

The end is near...

2009-08-18T08:29:00.002-06:00

Yes, the dissertation is turned in. And, a defense date has been announced. August 26th at 1:00 on the 9th floor conference room.

I'm going to gather some resources so that I feel the confidence that I hope to project.

Now, what to do about this blog... I'm thinking of changing the name and moving forward with it. Blogging on FYC theory, disability theory, new book ideas, etc. Because I've got several.

Graduation: December 17th. (I'm so random this morning)

June Expense Report

2009-06-27T08:24:00.007-06:00

Okay. I've got 10 minutes to type up the blog before I have to get back to cleaning the house. My mother, father, sister, her boyfriend, her twins, my aunt, and my grandfather will be here with me, my boys, and Marc in about 2 hours. It's going to be a looooooong day.

But, here's my June expense report. Some areas were a great improvement. Others could use some more work.

Groceries $589.42 (Huge improvement from last month--$400 less than last month)
Healthcare/Medical 562.21 (This will probably be a bit high for a while.)
Education 476.60 (This is high b/c I had to buy a buttload of books for next fall and for my dissertation. This should go down a lot next month.)
Mom 300.00
Car Payment 300.00
Utilities 290.00
Gasoline 259.48
Restaurant 202.83 (A huge improvement from the $400 we spent last month.)
Travel 190.00
Home Improvement 159.35 (This was a bit higher b/c I did some home improvements in the yard. Dirt therapy.)
Insurance 150.00
Entertainment 128.43
Telephone 111.55
Cable 100.00
Hobbies 93.39 (This went down b/c I dropped Tobey from karate.)
Service Fees 77.00 (Okay, this is seriously all my fault and way too much--six $10 overdraft fees to move money from savings to checking when I don't pay attention and have insufficient funds in my checking. I have GOT to do better here.)
General Merch. 62.28
Auto 57.69 (Yearly inspection and oil change.)
Clothing 39.40
Other 40.00

Total Expenses for June 1st - June 27th: $3910. (Not really an improvement from last month. However, my income did go up this month since I'm finally getting child support for the first time in almost a year. Still, I've got some work to do here.)

Overall, medical went way up, but that was to be expected between my minor medical procedure and Tobey's medication. It will probably go down some in the next couple months, but not by much. However, I was able to compensate for the increase in medical expenses with less grocery expenses.

Education was way up, but that was including a Sallie Mae payment and some much needed resources for the fall and my dissertation. That will go down dramatically next month. But, I need to start thinking about the student loan payments that'll be there in the next couple months.

Still, the winner for this month were the groceries and restaurant expenses, which went waaaay down. Last month was almost $1100. This month, $800. That was a huge improvement for us, especially considering that this is the summer when the boys are home and doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and swimming.

Interesting Quote for the Day...

2009-06-18T18:27:00.002-06:00

While reading Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things, I came across this quote from The Satanism Scare by James Richardson, Joel Best, and David Bromley about the witchcraft/devil worshipping scares of the fifteenth, eighteenth, and twentieth centuries, and I immediately thought about the recent "Obama is a socialist" craze that's been filtering through the media here lately. (I even saw a bumper sticker at Wal-Mart yesterday that featured the Obama trademarked sunrise with the statement underneath: "Socialism. Poverty Trickling Up")

So, Richardson, Best, and Bromley describe a moral panic as "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by editors, politicians and other right-thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; ways of coping are evlauted or resorted to; the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates.' Such events are used as weapons 'for various political groups in their campaigns' when someone stands to gain and someone stands to lose by the focus on such events and their outcome" (qtd in Shermer 106).

Therefore, question: Who needs the moral panic that Obama is a socialist?!? Answer: FoxNews. "Talk-show hosts, book publishers, anti-cult groups, fundamentalists, and certain religious groups" all thrive on such claims (Shermer 107).

One has to wonder whether the exec's at FoxNews didn't high five each other the night Obama was elected. I mean, would 4 years of a McCain love-in really help their ratings? The whole Obama is a socialist ploy is the gift that keeps on giving FoxNews.

Update on the finances...

2009-06-14T18:45:00.004-06:00

So, my goals were to cut my grocery bills in 1/2 and to not eat out this entire month of June.

Update: While I have eaten out this month on several occasions, I have cut my restaurant spending in half, which is good. Whereas I might spend $5-10 per meal for myself, this month, so far, I've spent no more than $3 for myself by eating off the a la carte menus.

I've also cut my grocery bills in 1/2. Whereas I usually spend $200 every 7-10 days for groceries, I have spent this month only $200 on groceries for the first two weeks of June.

Ten more days until payday and when I need to reassess my spending this month.

Rhetoric of Autism Speaks

2009-06-10T16:32:00.003-06:00

I wrote this blog entry several years ago on the rhetoric of "tragedy" in an Autism Speaks online video and I recently revisited it for my dissertation. So, I thought I would repost it here in case some of my colleagues might be interested.
_________________

On May 13, 2006, Katherine McCarron, a three year-old autistic girl, was allegedly murdered by her mother, Dr. Karen McCarron, by suffocation. In the months that have followed, however, autism advocates and disability rights organizations have been outraged with the sympathy Dr. McCarron has received in the media for having the "burden" of raising an autistic child. Not Dead Yet argues, "Recent media coverage of mothers being charged with killing or attempting to kill their disabled daughters solicits sympathy and understanding for the heinous acts." In fact, Autism Speaks, a national organization dedicated to "funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder," has even produced and published Autism Everyday, a video available online that attempts to show the everyday struggles parents of autistic children face daily.

However, Autism Everyday has came under intense scrutiny in the past couple months for its negative and fatalistic portrayal of autistic children and the struggles parents face when raising autistic children. Critics have charged that this video portrays autistic children as economic and emotional burdens on their families. One alarming part of the documentary shows a mother discussing (in front of her autistic child) how she's contemplated driving herself and her autistic daughter off of the George Washington Bridge. This mother admits that the only reason she hasn't done so already is because of the needs of her "normal" child. I, too, found this video disturbing when I first watched it in late May following my own son's autism diagnosis. I remember too vividly thinking that for these women, "autism" was a death sentence. The tragedy that defined their lives.

A rhetorical analysis based on Kenneth Burke's theory of cluster criticism of the short documentary (it runs approximately 14 minutes long) would supports such criticisms. Specifically, the directors predominately show throughout the movie the burdens and heartbreak associated with raising a child with autism. The mothers interviewed in the documentary make statements that

they've had to "give up" their entire lives to autism,
"people have no idea" as to "how difficult life is on a day-to-day basis" for families with autistic children,
the condition is "heartbreaking,"
these autistic children are violent, disruptive, and take the joy out of everyday life,
other siblings suffer due to one child's autism,
these parents of autistic children are left "angry," "helpless," and "disappointed,"
these parents have had their children "taken away from them" by autism, and
these parents "cannot accept that we have to throw away this generation of children" to autism.

Likewise, supporters of the movie argue that it "was the most realistic portrayal of the struggles and heartbreaks of autism [...] ever seen. It was realistic, did not just show the 'success' stories, and did not glorify autism" and that the video "really hits home [...in regard to] children suffering from different forms of the disorder. The pain and frustration that families of autistic children go through was powerfully conveyed" (Autism Everyday).

Again, such descriptors as "heartbreaking," "angry," "helpless," and "suffering" illustrate the common ideological and rhetorical thread throughout the movie that autistic children are emotional and financial burdens on their families. In fact, the mothers only mention the words "loving" and "hope" in the final minute of the movie and there is no discussion in regard to the children's accomplishments, potentials, or capabilities. The autistic children throughout the movie are portrayed overwhelmingly negative and tragically.

What might be the purpose of funding and distributing a documentary that portrays autism so negatively, especially considering Autism Speaks' mission of "funding global biomedical research [...]; raising public awareness about autism [...]; and to bring hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder"? I believe that the rhetoric within the movie answers this question. If we're to accept that producers Lauren Thierry, Jim Watkins, and Eric Solomon selectively choose the footage that was to be used in the final cut, such words as "cure" and "prevention" further the organization's mission--finding a "cure" and "preventing" autism. This movie, then, helps support the Autism Speaks' cause of raising money for autism research aimed at "curing" and "preventing" autism.

Portraying autism as the tragedy that defines one's life is an emotional appeal that plays on the heartstrings (and wallets) of viewers. Would it have been as effective to discuss the biological or behavioral factors that contribute to the frustrations associated with autism? No, probably not. Seeing frustrated and frazzled, white, divorced, middle-aged women is more effective at garnering a "sympathy" response from audiences than seeing women who deal with autism day-in and day-out but live a relatively "normal" life--a life that isn't fatalistically defined by autism. Who would contribute money for a cause that isn't "terrible," "heartbreaking," and "devastating" in every possible way?

Important to note, though, is that it's sentiments like these, that autism is a heartbreaking disorder that leaves parents shattered and children suffering and struggling, that seem to reinforce the ideology that it's okay to murder one's autistic child. These children, it would seem, bring nothing but misery and hopelessness onto their families. This ideological stance argues that murdering the disabled is probably the best thing for the children, their families, and society-at-large. And, it's for this reason that it's important to identify the rhetorical clusters that construct the ideologies of autism.

However, this ideological stance is not indicative of the entire autism communities' approach to autism research, funding, and support. In fact, groups like the Autism Assembly "share the common goal of seeking acceptance for those on the autistic spectrum, who aim to educate about autism, and who are not seeking a cure for autism. This is part of the global autism rights movement." Therefore, if the movie were produced for a different organization, one that supports acceptance and does not support a "cure" for autism, the rhetorical "clusters" might've been completely different.

June Mini-Resolution

2009-05-27T20:07:00.003-06:00

I'm coming to a close with my PhD (sooner rather than later), and I tend to need "goals" in my life to work for and toward. I guess it's just part of my personality. So, I think I'm going to start making mini-resolutions each month. And, my first one is going to be related to my finances. After going through my expenses for the month of May, I've made a mini-resolution for the month of June:

No dining out in restaurants for the entire month of June.

If I spent almost $400 last month eating out, let's see how much better I can do. It'll take some planning and foresight on my part, especially with the boys, but let's see how well I/we can do.

(And, for the record, since paying off my credit cards in February, I have not charged on them sense. Debit card, all the way. Not too bad, I'd say.)

Today and Tomorrow...

2009-05-26T14:41:00.002-06:00

Okay. Today, finish up Methodology chapter. Tomorrow, start on Conclusion. Finish Conclusion by beginning of next week.

I keep hoping that if I write it down over and over--my to-do list--it'll sink in some how and get done.

Ohhhh, I so want this to be done.

May Expense Report

2009-05-25T07:50:00.005-06:00

I've decided to start a monthly addition to my little blog on my money. I did this a while back ago when I paid off all of my credit card debt (which was ultimately in the $18,000 range), but I'm going to continue this sort of disclosure here each month.

Since I'm quite sure that nobody is reading my blog (hi, Alison and Chris), I'm not really concerned that I'm "spreading all the business." Rather, I want to start making myself more accountable for the money that I make and the money that I spend. I'm a big girl, so I need to pull up my big girl panties and start being more honest with myself about my spending habits. The goal: Nothing earth shattering, I just want to be spend my money well. I want to be a responsible adult who can keep her shit together. That's all.

So, BoA's online banking service has a nifty little feature that lets you "see" where all of your money is going by dividing your expenses into categories, adding up those categories, and giving a percentage of those expenses in relation to one's monthly income. I've listed my May expenses according to percentage of income and I've also included my justifications/rationales/freak out thoughts for my or your amusement.

My May Expense Report [gulp] from April 25th -May 25th:

Expenses:

Groceries: $900 [What the hell?!? I spent $900 on groceries last month!?!]
Utilities: $405 [This includes electricity, water, telephone, and internet. Yes, internet is a utility that we can't live without. Facebook is a necessity.]
Restaurants: $371 [OMG! I spent more than $1200 last month just on FOOD!?! Okay, I have two growing boys and a Marc but still $1200 on FOOD?!?]
Healthcare/Medical: $369 [Okay, this isn't entirely accurate/fair. There are several visits to the pediatric neurologist and psychiatrist in here for Tobey, which are not regular expenses. But, this is also my trips to Wal-Greens, which would include my (abso-freakin-lutely) necessary sunblock, make-up, Slim-Fast shakes, and hair color. Still, that's a lot of sunblock and make-up.]
Car Payment: $300
Hobbies: $284 [This includes the boys' karate and my dirt therapy. This is a bit inflated because I went a bit crazy in my dissertation-depression and bought a crapload of plants last month.]
Gas: $269 [Not too bad.]
Insurance: $186 [This is car and life for me and the boys. Gotta have it.]
Service Charges/Fees: $153 [Okay, in my defense most of this is to the TWU library for overdue books, which I had to have for my dissertation, and the overdraft fees ($10) from savings to checking. We'll just think of the TWU library part as a "donation."]
General Merchandise: $133 [Stuff from Wal-Mart odd and ends]
Satellite: $100
Other Expenses: $242 [This includes my monthly charitable donation, entertainment, dry cleaning, home improvement--odds and ends "stuff."]

Total Expenses: $3750ish

Yikes. Because, let's just be honest here. We all know that I don't bring home $4000 a month. The worst part of the whole thing, the part that makes me shake my head--I spent $100 last month just at Sonic. Only Sonic. That means, I spent almost $100 on Diet Dr. Pepper's with Vanilla. Ho-ly Crap. The worst part is that this doesn't include sending my mother any money, which I need to be doing like I promised her.

So, what is going to be different next month. Let's start with the restaurants. We are going to cut waaaaay back on the restaurant expenses. I'm thinking in the $150 range next month. I'm also going on a Sonic haitus. Cold-turkey. I've got to do better about running to Sonic for a drink when I'm at home bored.

I'm also going to start looking for ways to cut back on my grocery expenses. I recognize that Alex and Tobey are growing boys but seriously, $900!!! That's just outrageous. I probably need to own up to my newfound love of all things salty, which means frequent, unnecessary trips to Earl's for chips, dip, beer. That's gotta go, too.

So, my resolution for May 25th - June 25th: Stay home. Don't spend money. Eat what's in the house.

What I need to do in the next couple days/weeks...

2009-05-24T08:27:00.002-06:00

Between now and end of May:

Finish up the methodology chapter.
Start writing (and finish) the conclusion.

June 1st and July 1st:

Finish up odds and ends in all the chapters.

Holy crap. This thing might actually get done. Now, if I could just quit stalling on Blogger and Facebook long enough to actually write something.

Summer Resolutions

2009-05-17T15:05:00.004-06:00

So, it's May 2009 and time for my annual summer resolutions. I'm going to teach Summer II, but in the meantime, I've got 2 months to work on these resolutions. Tobey is going to summer school, Alex is going to karate-camps, and here's what I'm going to do:

Finish up my dissertation. Whether I graduate in August or December, I will have the dissertation done and defended at the end of the summer. I've got about 20-30 pages left to generate and then I'll work on the revisions... Nothing too extreme though. T is pleased with what I've done so far so I'm not too worried about accomplishing this goal this summer.
Work out 5x week on the treadmill or elliptical.
Live healthier lifestyle. I'm going to do a raw-food, vegan detox diet for a couple weeks to get back into a healthier lifestyle. Hopefully, much of it will "stick" after summer is over. I think I'm going to juice and experiment with new recipes for veggie and fruit juices and smoothies, and I'm really kinda excited about this. I need some balance, figuratively.
Practice yoga. I need more balance, literally.
Practice meditation.
Clean my house from top-to-bottom. Garage, closets, bookshelves. Again, balance.
Take the boys to the movies.
Take the boys to the pool.
Take a roadtrip with mom and the boys to Colorado to visit Donna.
Go to the club with Marc.
Take a roadtrip with Marc somewhere. Anywhere. Maybe Houston. Maybe Kansas.
Reconnect with Marc. I have a great boyfriend. We just haven't seen much of each other lately.
Take the boys to Six Flags.
Start learning Italian. I'm going to Italy in January, after all.
Stop drinking. Not that I drink a lot. But, again, it's going to be the summer of healthy living.
Apply to University of Hawaii's disability certificate program. I'm thinking of working on an online certificate from the University of Hawaii in Disability and Diversity Studies. I would wouldn't really be like school...mostly just interesting opportunities to read and think about Disability Studies. (And, I can stall paying on my student loans until I pay off my car.)
Work on my custom textbook for Comp I and II at NCTC. I'm excited about this.
Work on WPA-stuff--adjunct training, research workshops, stuff like that...
Work on course-prep on ANGEL for Fall 2009. This is probably going to be much more fun because I have a lot more time to get my stuff together.
Read all the books I've bought but haven't gotten around to: Revolutionary Road, No Country for Old Men, Love in the Time of Cholera, Everything is Illuminated...
Clean and organize my office. I finally feel like I'm not going to get fired any day, so it's probably time to "make" it more my own. See if Keith and Chris would be okay with painting it. Putting up a couple of posters. Getting some plants. Organizing it. Did I mention that I needed balance?

That's the plan so far. I'm excited and ready to get to feeling more like myself.

Here's why I'm exhausted...

2009-05-11T07:45:00.004-06:00

I want a wife. Just like in Judy Brady's short essay/story, I want a wife, too.

I want a wife who will take the boys to the park on a beautiful, sunny 80 degree Saturday afternoon while I work on stringing together something that resembles a chapter in a dissertation.

I want a wife who will cook a healthy, balanced dinner because I'm too busy grading the last of my English Comp I students' papers.

I want a wife who will finish washing, folding, and putting away the laundry while I answer the 100+ emails sitting in my 'inbox.'

I want a wife who will clean up the living room and kitchen while I read and put together an assignment/lesson on Chapter 12's discussion on integrating visuals/images into documents for my tech writing class.

I want a wife who will put kiddos to bed and read them bedtime stories--and not run out of the room after 2 minutes--while I compile notes on The Wasteland for my Brit Lit class.

I want a wife who will shop for groceries--always using her coupons and driving around for the best deals--while I read and respond to students' rough drafts.

I want a wife who will drive little boys to pediatric physicians/neurologists/ psychiatrists while I finish reading and taking notes on another book on "autism as mercury poisoning/braindamage/a disaster."

I want a wife who will explain to my 11 year-old son for the 100th time why I don't have the emotional strength, physical endurance, and/or financial reserves for a pet. Even though, I understand that "every kid needs a dog."

I want a wife who will fill out the 25 page educational assessment forms for the upcoming ARD while I have student conferences.

I want a wife who will attend ARD meetings while I teach class and hold office hours.

I want a wife who will remind me when I step on the bathroom scale that--despite my 10 pound weight gain and bloated and pale complexion--I look great.

I want a wife who will keep the bank account balanced so that I can buy groceries/gas/hair spray without worrying about whether there is any cash in the account.

I want a wife who will tell the cashier at Wal-Mart to "suck it" when my [autistic] son starts singing the theme song to Thomas the Tank Engine at the top of his lungs and she yells back to "Be quiet!"

I want a wife who will explain to my officemate, Keith, that this is just a really rough semester/year for me and that I promise I am not usually this manic/tired/depressed/anxious.

I want a wife who will reassure me that I'm doing a great job at work/school/home even though I feel like everything is slipping slowly through the cracks.

Like Brady concludes at the end of her essay, with all the tasks that a wife does, who wouldn't want one?!?

What they don't tell you in the Autism books...

2009-04-15T15:49:00.003-06:00

I posted this story a while back on one of my blogs, but I wanted to share it here for some of my mommy friends who have their own potty stories...

So, I wrote my research paper in Film as Rhetoric back in the fall of 2006 on the depiction of autism in movies as a temporal or transitory condition--a character device that imbues a sort of mystique to a particular character. I've seen probably about 10,000+ feature films and made-for-tv movies to date and each worse than the one before.

And, within each movie, the autistic character suddenly becomes not all that autistic by the third act of the movie. In one movie, Molly, an autistic woman is "cured" of her autism through a controversial, experimental brain surgery. In another, the autistic 4 year-old "snaps out" of his autism long enough to shoot the father who abandoned him 4 years before when his father tries to strangle his mother. (Yea. Tobey would probably be grabbing a gun, unlocking the safety, and shooting a man square in the heart.)

What they also don't show in the movies? That autistic children shove food in their mouths and are prone to choking. That they have zero sense of danger. And, that they are very difficult to potty train--something I have worked with Tobey on for many, many years. It's been slow going and we have to do "potty cheers" when Tobey poops in the toilet and not his underwear ("Poo poo in tha Pot'ay, Poo poo in tha Pot'ay..."--you get the jest).

So, one night about two years ago, as I was sitting at the computer enthralled in Ed White's Teaching and Assessing Writing and typing away, Tobey came into the living room, "poo poo in tha pot'ay!" I responded, "Great job," and went back to work.

He came back about 2 minutes later: "Poo poo in tha pot'ay!" I responded, "Yea, I know. Great job!!"

Tobey was still not satisifed. So, he went into the bathroom and came back a minute later: "Momma, poo poo in the po'tay!!" To get my attention this time, Tobey had reached into the toilet, pulled out the poop, and brought it to me in the living room to show me just exactly what he'd done. And, that he wanted me to sing the song.

So, I cheered for his wet poo dripping all over the floor. Then I washed his bottom. And, hands. And, went back to work. Yes, that is something they never show in the movies.

PCA/ ACA Conference

2009-04-11T17:06:00.006-06:00

Just got back from 'Nawlens after attending the PCA/ ACA conference w/ Marc. Couple thoughts that I've learned since attending PCA/ACA (Popular Culture of America/ American Culture Association):

I love that my area of interest means I present on a panel with two papers on House. How freakin' awesome is that?!?
There nothing better for my money than an entire panel on "Post-colonialism and Women's Liberation in the Appropriation of Homosexuality in Katy Perry's 'I Kissed a Girl.'"
People take comic books VERY serious.
Answer: A Tool. Question: What do we call you behind your back if you leave your ringer on, answer your cell when it goes off during a session, and then announce to the entire room that you've got to go?
It's possible to write 6 different papers on the Saw franchise.
Answer: A Tool. Question: What do we call you when you are too distracted texting to get your question out during the Q & A? (If you have a question, can you stop texting for 20 seconds before asking it? You look like jerk when you're too distracted by your cell phone to ask the question you raised your hand to ask.)
All conferences should be held in really boring cities like DeMoine or Cincinatti. It's really hard to talk yourself into attending a panel in an overpriced and pretenious hotel when there are too many distractions outside.
Just "winging it" isn't typically the best approach to a conference paper.
A film clip and a powerpoint is just an excuse to watch television at a conference if there is no content to the presentation. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
You do not need to put your credientials on your boarding pass. Southwest Airlines does not care that you are "Ima Hogg, PhD."
How can you, in good moral standing, rationalize charging $15 for a piece of french bread and 3 shrimp? [I'm looking at you, Bourbon Street.]
It's quite obvious who the "working girls" and tourists are in 'Nawlens. I'm not saying, but I'm just saying.
How can you not have tap water? A facet. A glass. Tap water.

Still, the trip was great. I love my gals, Donna and Emily. And, I'll never drink another Hurricane for as long as I live.

Things Marc and I have argued about...

2009-02-15T20:32:00.001-06:00

I'm moving most of my blog over from Myspace to this blog to archive some of the material before I take my Myspace site down. So, this was something that I posted a couple months ago:

________________

Well, I am--apparently--late to the 2003 book, Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About by Mil Millington. It seems pretty cute and I've seen references to it just this past week on three separate occasions.

So, in an effort to avoid writing on the never ending hell that is my doctoral dissertation, I offer for your amusement:

Things My Boyfriend and I Have Argued About:

1. Conserving energy. (i.e., turning off the lights when you leave a room, closing the refrigerator door, turning off the water when brushing your teeth). Since I pay the electric bill each month, I'll let you guess who was nagging whom.

2. The over-use of the words "sanctimonious," "metadiscourse," and "retarded" in casual conversations. (I like to find ways to get $10 words--like "heretofore"--in everyday conversations. And, we had a huge knock down drag out over the Black Eye Pea's use of the word "retarded" in their song "Let's Get Retarded." Marc said the word was used in part of a larger discursive conversation; I disagreed. Strongly. For about 3 hours.)

3. Myspace Friend Lists. This one actually went on waaay too long on my part. Like 4 hours. Okay, more like 6. (He has an ex-friend of mine as a "friend" on his myspace. I want her deleted. He doesn't care--"It's myspace. Who gives a fuck?" I feel like it's a high school party and I'm the only one not invited.)

4. Ex-girlfriends. (He uninvited me to a wedding, after I drove 3 hours to get there, because his ex-girlfriend was attending.)

5. A Chiptole Burrito. (I was hungry. He wasn't. He implied I was weak. I turned into the Hulk to prove him wrong.)

6. Nacho Cheese, aka "The Nacho Cheese Fight." (I ordered a side of queso at Taco Bueno, which he confiscated when I went to the bathroom. I was furious. If he wanted queso, he could've ordered his own.)

7. A Slice of Cheesecake. (Instead of a birthday cake, he brought me a slice of cheesecake. Not even an entire cheesecake. And, it was 4 hours late. And, I don't like cheesecake.)

8. My Driving.

9. His Driving.

10. Grammar. (I was editing a paper of his. He was mad because I found some errors. Sue me.)

11. Whether he should stay up all night and sleep all day. (I write this knowing full well that it's 1:00 a.m. in the morning.)

12. Whether the boys should've had to walk home from school in the cold.

13. The use of the preposition "of" and "because" in a sentence. (We're nerds. That's what nerds do.)

14. Whether or not I actually had a migraine one night.

15. Whether or not he was being "ugly" to me about my migraine.

16. Five dollars. (It was my $5.00 He said that's "not money." I said that "it sure as hell is when it's my money.")

17. Whether we see more of "his" movies or "mine." (Exhibit A, B, and C: Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, The Dark Night.)

18. Whether ghosts exist or not. (Yea, not too proud of this one.)

19. The fact that I'm a great girlfriend. (During those times that he "forgets." Does he think his chicken breast cooks itself?)

20. Whether I'm really a feminist. (Because I cooked said chicken breast for him.)

21. Whether I would want clean clothes taken out of the dryer and put on top of dirty clothes or pt on the bed, aka "The Dryer Fight." ([cue sarcasm] Because it just makes complete sense to put clean, dry clothes on top of dirty, nasty, wet ones.) I'm not kidding here. We fought for 4 hours over whether I was saying he was "stupid" for putting clean clothes on top of the dirty ones. For the record, I wasn't saying he was stupid. Just careless. That's different.

22. A Burger King Whopper Junior. (It was Spain. I was hungry. (I'm noticing a pattern here.) Anyways, I was willing to pay $7.00 for a Whopper Junior. He told me to suck it up and eat the tapas. To quit being a baby and a pain in the ass. I told him to suck it. If I wanted a Whopper Junior, I make my own money. I'll sure as hell buy myself a Whopper Junior. He walked off and left me sitting alone (with my burger) on a street corner in Spain. But, he did come back. After 45 minutes.)

23. Whether I should be watching Pride and Prejudice/ Bridget Jones' Diary/ Sex and the City/ Arrested Development/ Scrubs for the 1000th time. Even if I can recite the dialogue. And, the plot never changes.

24. Why he isn't an organ donor. (Needless to say, this fight went on for several hours. He response: "Respect my decision." My retort: "I don't have to respect your decision. It's stupid. And, so what if I don't respect it. What are you going to do about it? Command that I respect it?")

25. The T.V. Remote. (He bought the t.v. I pay the cable. He keeps putting it on BET. I keep going back to HGTV.)

26. Whether he was being a dick. (He was. I got mad. Problem: We were driving back from Houston to Dallas. I pulled over at a Dairy Queen in the middle of nowhere and threatened to just "walk home" from here. I'm anything, if not, sensible.)

27. Who's the bigger pack-rat. (He is. Do we really need copies of student papers from 2003? Boxes of random wires/computer parts? And, if he disagrees, he can write his own flippin' blog.)

28. Arguments. (Who started them. Who's arguing and who's "just talking." Who's yelling and who's just "talking loud with inflection.")

29. Whether I roll my head when I roll my eyes. (which I do.)

30. Whether you can say "never" and "always" in a fight. (I say it's always a good idea to never say "never" in a fight.)

31. Whether psychology is complete bunk that applies to ALL human beings or just the Westerners that most Western psychologists have studied. (Do we really know that the stages of development are the same for the Amazon tribes that have never been exposed to modern civilizations? I say not. And, yes, we really did argue of this.)

32. Whether anime is just a glorified genre of "cartoon."

33. Whether the thermostat should be set at 73 or 78 degrees at night. (Heretofore, we are back at the beginning. See fight 1.)

34. Whether he should clip his toe nails in my bed. (Please note the first person possessive pronoun in "MY bed.")

35. Whether it's possible to or whether one should stop buying plants.

36. Whether my feet are cold or not.

And, for all of you who say that you NEVER fight with your sig other, you can suck it. Because, we're just practicing for the Big One. And, because we've tackled nacho cheese, his driving, and my cold feet, we'll be prepared to tackle anything.

My Dissertation Schedule

2009-01-27T13:38:00.001-06:00

Okay, Friends. I need help.

I'm presenting for you my schedule to get this dissertation done by the end of the Spring semester. So far, I have about 1/3 of Chapter 1 written and most of Chapters 3 and 4 completed. That's about 100 pages, so far. And, T has said that the 100 pages I've written so far is really good, solid stuff. So, I'm feeling pretty good about the (hopefully, minimum) revisions that will be required later.

However, I need timelines, deadlines, and schedules. I'm a bit type A, if you haven't ever noticed.

So, here is my schedule for the next four months:

Now -- End of January: Finish first 1/3 of Chapter 1 (almost there)
Feb 1 - 15: Finish 2nd third of Chapter 1
Feb 15 - 28: Finish final 3rd of Chapter 1
Mar 1 - 20: Finish up Chapters 3 and 4 (almost there)
Mar 21 - 31: Finish Chapter 2 (Methodology)
April 1 - 30: Write Chapter 5 (Conclusion (haven't started))
May 1st: Turn in complete dissertation to T (YEA!!)

(And, fingers crossed)
late May - early June: To committee members
late June: Defend!!
July 10th: Dissertation to Grad Office
August: GRADUATE

(Worst case scenario, I defend in August/September and graduate in December. Not the plan but wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.)

Now, what I need from YOU!! I need you to be my pain-in-my-ass. I need you to ask me every time you see me, notice I'm online, comment on my facebook, and run into my on campus: "How much have you written today?!?" I need you to hound me so that I begin to hate you and everyone who looks like you. That's your job. Forget your other jobs. Your new assignment is to help me get this done. Got it?

My little snot...

2009-01-20T17:56:00.002-06:00

My latest installment in Adventures in Autism...

So, last night before bed, I walk/stumble/crawl into the bathroom to find it completely covered in water. Water on the floor, on the toilet, on the laboratory. The water on the floor had to be at least a good 1/2 in high. I sighed, cleaned up the water, and went to sleep. I just couldn't manage to care in my exhaustion.

But, I woke up at 2 a.m. a bit cold so I stumbled over to the closet to get a blanket. Except that they were all wet. Apparently, Tobey tried to clean up the water in the bathroom with 4-5 bath towels. However, rather than putting the towels in the laundry room, he put them back into the closet. On top of my blankets. Soaking wet.

Whatever. I'm too tired to care. I turn up the heat and just go back to bed. Jet lag still sucks.

This morning, I wake up to get ready for work. Workout. Shower. Get lunches made and boys off to school. And, when I went into the bathroom to fix my hair and put some make up on, I pull open the laboratory drawer in the bathroom to find it completely flooded. My make up. Toothbrushes. Cotton swabs. Best of all, two small, plastic figurines of Wawa Woobzy floating in a 2 inch pool of water next to my eyeliner. The little snot turned my drawer into a swimming pool. Needless to say, Momma was not looking too cute this morning before stopping off at Walgreens.

[sighs and pounds head on the desk]

New Year's Financial Resolutions...

2009-01-19T07:17:00.003-06:00

Each new year, I tend to reassess my financial situation from the previous and for the current year. I've made LOTS of positive financial changes last year, and I'm excited and looking forward to the upcoming year. Most notably, my new job at NCTC has boosted more than just my checking account. I finally feel like the "grown up" that I am. Finally. I earn enough money that I can provide for my children all on my own and I'm paying off my debt steadily.

(And, just as nice as the financial reassurances, the job has also given me a much needed boost to my confidence. I feel good about what I'm teaching and the contributions I can make toward the college and my students. Last semester was a bit rough but I'm really excited about starting the spring semester, and I'm looking forward to what I can do for my students and the college.)

But, back to my finances... I probably should be more embarrassed about this, but I guess I'm not since I'm putting this out into the universe...

So, here's the cold, hard truth: Raising a family on your own while working on a Ph.D. is pretty much a financial nightmare. It's impossible to raise two small children on a GTA's monthly salary. At least, it's impossible without going into serious credit card and student loan debt. However, I make no appologies: Supplementing my meager GTA income with student loans, credit cards, and additional part-time adjuncting jobs made sure that the boys had health insurance, food to eat (even if it was sometimes just Totino's pizzas and pb & j sandwiches), and clothes on their backs (even if they often came from the resale store, much to my ex-husband's chagrine.)

I've charged on credit cards Alex's dental expenses, much needed groceries, back-to-school supplies, and the occasional winter coat at Old Navy. While I've driven a car with 200,000+ miles for the past 8 years and my boys haven't been able to do extra-curricular activities because we couldn't afford them, I must admit that I owed more than $14,000 in credit card debt in October. (In my defense, $8,000 of that debt was carried over from my divorce, which is another financial story. But, considering that I once owed $18,000 after my divorce, the fact that I paid it down so much is still quite an accomplishment.)

However, thanks to a small financial windfall here, an Earned Income Tax credit there, a whole lotta skimping and saving, and a new job w/ a "grown up" paycheck, I can say that by March 2009, I will have paid off more than $14,000 in credit card debt.

Here's the breakdown:

As of 10/1/08, total outstanding credit card debt: $14,179
As of 12/1/08, total outstanding credit card debt: $6,179
As of 1/21/09, total outstanding credit card debt: $3,436
As of 3/01/09, total outstanding credit card debt: $0

While I will have to start on my student loans next and I did buy a (new to me) used car this fall that I won't have paid off until the summer (fingers crossed), I'm feeling really proud of my accomplishments. Toot, toot.

Back to blogging...

2008-12-29T17:17:00.002-06:00

I haven't been on this blog in about a year, but Chris has inspired me to start blogging, again. I've been putting most of my generative discursive abilities into writing on the dissertation or I'd blog on myspace. But, since I've all put abandoned myspace and facebook doesn't seem the "appropriate" place for blogging, I've decided to come back here and start writing/updating again. I do like some of the little stories and tidbits that I've posted on myspace, so I think I'm going to post them again here from time-to-time for achival purposes if anything.

This blog was once private; however, I've decided to open it up since I'm pretty far ahead on the dissertation, and I don't think there's any intellectual property here that needs protecting. And, if anyone did try to pirate any of my ideas, I think they'd probably be in a world of hurt anyways. Suckers...

It's interesting to see how optimistic and over-zealous I was with the dissertation this time last year. I've been writing for a year now on it and my scope has narrowed down significantly, and my writing processes are much slower than I anticipated they would be. However, T is happy with what I've done so far and I'm feeling really optimistic that I can finish everything by August.

So, here I am. Back to blogging. Back in the cyber-universe of online publishing. For what it's worth.

The Crystal Children

2007-12-12T08:20:00.000-06:00

I'm working on the section in my dissertation on Idigo/Crystal children, so here's some notes that I've gotten from:

Virtue, Dorren. The Crystal Children: A Guide to the Newest Generation of Psychic and Sensitive Children. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc., 2003.

(Bar none, one of the most ridiculous books ev-er)

"new 'breed' of kids who are rapidly populating our planet"--"Indigo Children" who will "point to where humanity is headed...and it's in a positive direction!" (1).

Indigo children (ages 7-25) are "highly sensitive and psychic" (Virtue 1). They have "a warrior spirit" (sic) and Indigo children are "here to quash governmental, educational, and legal systems that lack integrity" (Virtue 2). They are often misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD because they are often misunderstood by adults that value conformity and resist change (Virtue 2). Indigo children's auras or "third eye chakras" are "indigo blue" so that they are clairvoyant and have the ability to see energy, spirits, and visions (Virtue 3).

Ingido Children posses the ability to "sniff out dishonesty" and they recognize instantly when they are lied to, patronized, or manipulated (Virtue 6). They are unable to conform to dysfunctional situations at work, home, and school because of their warrior spirits, which leaves many adults feeling threatened (6).

Crystal Children on the contrary are much more even-tempered, forgiving, and easy going (Virtue 2). They have "beautiful, multicolored, opalescent auras, in paste hues like a quartz crystal's prism effect" (3). Crystal Children were born after 1995, have large, piercing eyes, magnetic personalities, are affectionate, start talking later than other children, are musically orientated, are telepathic, are highly sensetive and empathetic, are connected to animals and nature, possess healing qualities, discuss angels, spirit guides, and past-life memories, are artistic, and explore their surroundings fearlessly with no sense of danger (Virtue 3-4).

Crystal Children existed before 1995; however, they served as scouts to "check out the situation and report home during dreamtime transmissions" (Virtue 5). After 1995, many more Crystal Children were born and "each year's crop of freshly born Crystal Children reveals increasingly profound spiritual abilities" (Virtue 6).

Crystal Children's spiritual abilities are also misunderstood. Since they communicate telepathically ("mind-to-mind") with the world around them, they often do not begin to speak until they are much other than other children, usually around three or four. However, Crystal Children are often "judged by medical and educational professionals to have 'abnormal' speaking patterns. It's no coincidence that as greater numbers of Crystals are being born, the number of diagnoses for autism is at a record high" (Virtue 7-8). Virtue argues that the "diagnostic criteria for autism is quite clear: The autistic person lives in his or her own world and is disconnected from other people. The autistic peson doesn't talk because of an indifference to communicating with others" (Virtue 8).

Virtue believes that Crystal Children are misdiagnosed with autism and demonstrate very different behaviors. Unlike autistic children who are "disconnected" from and indifferent to the world, Crystal Children are "among the most connected, communicative, caring, and cuddly of any generation" (8). Crystal Children are also enormously "philosophical and spiritually gifted" and possess an "unprecedented level of kindness and sensitivity" (Virtue 8). Crystal Children are misdiagnosed and do not "warrant a label of autism. They aren't autistic--they're awe-tistic!" (Virtue 9). Crystal Children are "worthy of awe, not labels of dysfunction" (9). Virtue notes, "Crystal Children are very empathetic, connected, and loving with other people. Truly autistic kids exhibit no sense of connection at all with the outside world" (47). [Throughout Virtue's book, she compares Crystal Children with autistic children and identifies how awful autism is and how disconnected and unemotional autistic children in comparison to Crystal Children.]

Crystal Children possess "an authoritative air about them, as if they're wise adults in little bodies. Even more, they seem like seasoned sages...little sorcerers and high-priestesses" (Virtue 21).

Crystal Children are often diagnosed with autism because they do not communicate in verbal or written discourse until late in childhood (Virtue 32); however, "[d]oes speaking or reading later than expected warrant such a serious diagnosis? Why not call these sensitive children "late-talkers" instead of pathologizing them with psychiatric diagnoses and making them feel ashamed of themselves?" (Virtue 33).

Crystal Children are also diagnosed with autism because they often go into trances and because they have no sense of danger. However, Virtue argues that these Crystal Children are not autistic but are "channeling or receiving information" from forces that we cannot know or perceive. Crystal Children, like autistic children, are very sensitive to external stimuli like loud noise, crowds, temperature, clutter/disorganization, chaos, and artificial ingredients and chemicals (Virtue 56-8).

Yule Tide Cheers

2007-12-12T08:18:00.001-06:00

I was telling my friend Brandon on his blog about Bartleby/Brandon the Scribner that I've been feeling very "Kafka-esque." I've been doing fairly well academically and professionally. I'm caught up on all of my grading in my four classes, I think my students actually learned something this semester (well, those who showed up), and I'm moving right along on my dissertation (Chapter 4 is at 30 pages and I should have it completed by the end of the month).

Still, I can't shake this nagging feeling that I'm a complete and total failure. I leave class questioning everything I said. I think all my students hate me (which some of them probably really do). And, well, my dissertation is a whole lotta damn work.Am I just ready for the holidays? Feeling overwhelmed and overweight? Or, am I just going through a funk?

Here's what I do know though:

1. That the lady at Weight Watchers last week who whispered with scorn and judgment that I've "gained a couple pounds" can just suck it.

2. That my student who stormed out during class after receiving his Dismal grade on his dismal major rearch paper can just suck it.

3. That my boyfriend, who's been a royal pain in the ass while trying to get his paper written for Visual Rhetoric, can just suck it.

4. That the frozen cookie dough in my freezer that is tempting me at every juncture can just suck it.

5. That my student in the Spain class who did nothing all semester for her group project and then emailed me a nasty message when I reported her inepititude can just suck it.

6. That the Christmas shoppers who fight over the parking spot 10 feet closer to the mall entrance can just suck it.

7. And, that Long John Silvers--and all it's yummy, greasy, crispy goodness--can just suck it.

Bah humbug.

Update...

2007-11-02T10:55:00.000-06:00

I've been working so much that I haven't felt the need to blog. But, just an update:

Proposal approved by committee members in early October. Waiting still for K's approval, but I'm optimistic. So, I'm plowing forward. (He comes back from CA next week so I'll start bugging him again, then.)

Getting the fellowship application off this weekend. Working on the narrative autobiography. Those just suck. I feel way to self-conscious writing it.

Going to start posting on Donna's blog, too, since this one is private.

Working on Chapter 4 (suprahuman) to finish by end of the year.

Then, in the Spring finish Chapters 5 and 6 (inhuman and nonhuman).

Need to buy these books for next Spring semester (ILL'ed them and they're good):
Landmark Essays on Kenneth Burke, Barry Brummett, ed.
Intentions: Negotiated, Contested, and Ignored, Arabella Lyon
The Art of Rhetorical Criticism, Jim Kuypers, ed.
Kenneth Burke and the Scapegoat Process, Chris Allen Carter

Update...

2007-09-04T18:51:00.000-06:00

I've been putting together some notes in Word.

I'm reading currently Roxanne's, Dr. Reynolds', Kathleen's, Christa's, and Deb Martin's dissertations. Help to see what's worked successfully in the past to get an idea of what will be expected from me. I've also been reading the few dissertations that are sort of related to my topic online--a couple dissertations on Identification but nothing specifically on Burke, disability, and autism. Nothing on autism in the Humanities. (I need to have a list of those dissertations' topics for the defense, if that should come up.)

I've also been researching articles and sources in the databases. There's some really creepy stuff on the web about Autism and the Bible.

And, I've been reading on qualitative methodologies. Foss's metaphorical criticism. ILL'ed some books on media and methodology, film and methodology.

My proposal will go out to the committee members in the next couple days, and the defense will follow in the next couple weeks--fingers crossed that it will go well.

Back to work...

2007-08-28T09:04:00.001-06:00

It's been a good, relaxing summer and now it's back to work.

I have to start getting some of this dissertation done and so that I can graduate. I need to graduate and move on.

Second draft completed

2007-07-31T23:29:00.000-06:00

I've completed the second draft of the proposal and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Which scares me a bit.

Oh well. I'm taking a much needed break this weekend. Or, next weekend when I don't have the boys. And, I can drink. A.lot.

Summer Resolutions

2007-07-29T21:55:00.001-06:00

So, I posted on my myspace blog on May 15th my summer resolutions.

Here's an update on the status of the summer resolutions (because, honestly, I'm tired of working on "The Dissertation" and want to stop thinking so hard--you'd think 5 pages wouldn't be hard, but you're wrong).

1. Write my prospectus for my dissertation. Turned in my first draft on July 15th and have been working on my second draft ever since. Will have second draft turned in to Dr. T by August 6th. Feeling confident that I'll defend the proposal in September.

2. Write 2 pages/day (or thereabout) drafting on my dissertation. May not become part of the final draft, but drafting out rough ideas will help me get my ideas together. Not exactly "original" material but collecting copious notes that can be copied and pasted later to resemble "text." At least, it's way more than 2 pages/day.

3. Lose 15 pounds. I've lost 8 so far. So far, so good.

4. Continue running more. I haven't been running much--just not feeling it. About 15 minutes a day.

5. Continue working out 1 hour/day, 5 days/week. I've been working out religiously on the elipitical machine for 45 minues/day and treadmill for 15 minutes/day, 5-6 days/week since January.

6. Take the boys swimming everyday (or thereabout) in July and August. Got a little tan to prove it.

7. Shoot for more "healthier," "simple" eating. (Cutting out sugar, white breads, chips. Eating more "natural," less processed foods.) Haven't drank hardly any diet soda since June 1st (maybe 1-2 Diet Dr. Peppers/week compared to 4-5 cans/day in the past). Been eating a lot of oatmeal. A lot of grilled chicken, brown rice, bran flakes.

8. Watch lots of movies/tv shows in my Blockbuster Q. I've been watching nothing but The Office, Six Feet Under, Entourage, and House since July 1st.

Also, I've read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (again), Rhetoric of Motives (again), Language as Symbolic Action (again), Grammar of Motives (again), The Birth of the Clinic, Madness and Civilization, Claiming Disability, and about 20 other disability/rhetoric books for "The Dissertation." Oh, and I've cleaned Tobey's room, shampooed the carpets throughout the house, and mowed the grass (twice).

Now that I've patted myself on the back enough, I guess, it's back to work.

Burke's "The Range of Rhetoric"

2007-07-27T21:05:00.000-06:00

..."for by reason of the 'scene-agent ratio' the individual can identify himself with the character of a surrounding situation, translating one into terms of the other; hence a shift to a grander order, the shift from thoughts of one's own individual end to thoughts of a universal end, would still contrive to portray the character of the individual, even while acquiring greater resonance and scope and enabling men to transcend too local a view of themselves" (RM 16).

"A is not identical with his colleague, B. But insofar as their interests are joined, A is identified with B. Or he may identify himself with B even when their interests are not joined, if he assumes that they are, or is persuaded to believe so" (RM 20).

"Here are the ambiguities of substance. In being identified with B, A is 'substantially one' with a person other than himself. Yet at the same time he remains unique, an individual locus of motives. Thus he is both joined and separate, at once a distinct substance and consubstantial with another" (RM 21).

"A doctrine of consubstantiality, either explicit or implicit, may be necessary to any way of life. For substance, in the old philosophies, was an act; and a way of life is an acting-together; and in acting together, men have common sensations, concepts, images, ideas, attitudes that make them consubstantial" (RM 21).

"The Rhetoric deals with the possibilities of classification in its partisan aspects; it considers the ways in which individuals are at odds with one another, or become identified with groups more or less at odds with one another" (RM 22).

"Why 'at odds,' you may ask, when the titular term is 'identification'? Because, to being with 'identification' is, by the same token, through roundabout, to confront the implications of division. And so, in the end, men are brought to that most tragically ironic of all divisions, or conflicts, wherein millions of cooperative acts go into the preparation for one single destructive act. We refer to that ultimate disease of cooperation: war" (RM 22). [Division b/t NT and ASD, Autism Speaks and Neurodiversity Movement, HFA and LFA]

"Identification is compensatory to division" (RM 22).

"insofar as the individual is involved in conflict with other individuals or groups, the study of this same individual would fall under the head of Rhetoric" (RM 23).

"Rhetoric is concerned with the state of Babel after the Fall. Its contribution to a 'sociology of knowledge' must often carry us far into the lugubrious regions of malice and the lie" (RM 23).

"In pure identification there would be no strife. Likewise, there would be no strife in absolute separateness, since opponents can join the battle only through a mediatory ground that makes their communication possible [...]. But put identification and division ambiguously together, so that you cannot know for certain just where one ends and the other kind of begins, and you have the characteristic invitation to rhetoric" (RM 26).

"we must think of rhetoric not in terms of some one particular address, but as a general body of identification that owe their convincingness much more to trivial repetition and dull daily reinforcement that to exceptional rhetorical skill" (RM 26). [Like public discourses--film, television, internet]

"The fact that an activity is capable of reduction to intrinsic, autonomous principles does not argue that it is free from identification with other orders of motivation extrinsic to it. Such other orders are extrinsic to it, as considered from the standpoint of the specialized activity alone. But they are not extrinsic to the field of moral action as such, considered from the standpoint of human activity in general. The human agent, qua human agent, is not motivated solely by the principles of a specialized activity, however strong this specialized power, in it suggestive role as imagery, may affect his character. Any specialized activity participates in a larger unit of action" (RM 27). [Like metaphor in film reflects larger cultural fear of weakness. Stigma against intellectual deficiencies. Western idolization of independence, productivity]

"But we are clearly in the region of rhetoric when considering the identification whereby a specialized activity makes one a participant in some social or economic class. 'Belonging' in this sense is rhetorical" (RM 28).

"Science, as mere instrument (agency), might be expected to take on the nature of the scenes, acts, agents, and purposes with which it is identified. And insofar as a faulty political structure perverts human relations, we might reasonably expect to find a correspondingly perverted science" (RM 29).

"The liberal is usually disinclined to consider such possibilities because applied science is for him not a mere set of instruments and methods, whatever he may assert; it is a good and absolute, and is thus circuitously endowed with the philosophic function of God as the grounding of values" (RM 30). [Back to pervasiveness of medical discourses on public view on mental/cognitive disabilities. Science connected to God. Good and absolute. Explains Autism Speaks emphasis on biomedical treatments to and research on autism.]

"Obviously, any purely secular power, such as the applications of technology, would not be simply good, bad, or indifferent, depending upon the uses to which it was put, and upon the ethical attitudes that, as part of the context surrounding it, contributed to the meaning in the realm of motives and action" (RM 30). [Justifications for DAN protocol. chelation.]

"If the technical expert, as such, is assigned the task of perfecting new powers of chemical, bacteriological, or atomic destruction, his morality as technical expert requires only that he apply himself to his task as effectively as possible. The question of what the new force might mean, as released into a social texture emotionally and intellectually unfit to control it, or as surrendered to men whose speciality is professional killing--well, that is simply 'none of his business,' as specialist, however great may be his misgivings as father of a family, or as citizen of his nation and of the world" (RM 30).

"For the history of the Nazis has clearly shown that there are are cultural situations in which scientists, whatever may be their claims to professional austerity, will contrive somehow to identify their specialty with modes of justification, or socialization, not discernible in the sheer motions of the material operation themselves. [...] The very scientific ideals of an 'impersonal' terminology can contribute ironically to such disaster: for it is but a step from treating inanimate nature as mere 'things' to treating animals, and then enemy peoples, as mere things. But they are not mere things, they are persons--and in the systematic denial of what one knows in his heart to be the truth, there is a perverse principle that can generate much anguish" (RM 32).

I think I know where I'm going

2007-07-27T21:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, I think I've figured out how to narrow my scope a bit so as to focus on the discourse about autism. I'm still drafting but I'll post up my latest draft of the proposal when I have it completely fleshed out. Goal: August 6th.

A former professor of mine told me last month that the proposal was the hardest part for him. (Roxanne's told me the same thing many times.) I'll say, it's much more difficult than I thought it would be. A lot of research to do before you can even begin to know what you even want to try and say.

Thoughts to work out...

2007-07-26T14:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, Dr. T looked at my first draft of the proposal and had a big issue for me to address:

Will this primarily be a dissertation about rhetoric and/or identification (in which I employ autism discourse as a vehicle for exploration)?

Or, is my dissertation about the discourse about autism (in which I argue that a rhetorical examination will yield insights)?

I see how I'm sort of doing both at the moment but here's how I got to where I am currently:

When I first started researching about autism, as a new member of this discourse community, I scoured the Internet, watched movies, tuned into to television news programs. Kept hearing people ask about autism: "He's like Rainman?" Kept coming up against these symbolic representations of autism and Tobey that didn't really fit. He wasn't gifted at anything in particular, he was very verbal for an autistic child, but he certainly wasn't the "demon" child I've seen in movies, either.

I couldn't identify my son with any of the representations that I saw in movies or in television news programs.

So, I looked around on the Internet more and found online autism communities comprised of parents, siblings, teachers, and autistic individuals. There were discourse communities wrestling with who gets to "identify" themselves as autistic, who gets to "speak" for the autistic, how to reflect the beauty of our autistic children in light of the (overwhelmingly negative) representations of autistic individuals on television and in the media. The latter being a major objective of many blogs and online postings via youtube that I've noticed. This discourse community striving to identify themselves in light of these common representations.

Identification as means of agency (consubstantiality) to illicit change in society regarding the treatment and representation of autistic individuals. Identification as means of challenging these common symbolic representations: the autistic as "savant," as "a burden," as as "demon," as a "non-human," as "white, middle-class condition." Identification as way of coping with challenges that come with raising a child with mental/cognitive disabilities. Identification as way of coping with challenges that come with living with a mental/cognitive disability.

I suppose talking about both questions? Does that make sense? Can I do that?

I'm still wrestling, I suppose, with this...

Back to the land of the living...

2007-07-23T22:56:00.001-06:00

I've finished Harry Potter and it's back to work tomorrow. Burke and Foucault and the 6 books from ILL that have come in...

And, finish the proposal...

The Birth of the Clinic--Chapter 3

2007-07-19T20:29:00.000-06:00

"It must, therefore, have a world in which the gaze, free of all obstacle, is no longer subjected to the immediate law of truth: the gaze is not faithful to truth, nor subject to it, without asserting, at the same time, a supreme mastery: the gaze that sees is a gaze that dominates; and although it also knows how to subject itself, it dominates its masters" (BC 39).

"Disease is thus caught in a double system of observation: there is a gaze that does not distinguish it from, but re-absorbs it into, all the other social ills to be eliminated; and a gaze that isolates it, with a view to circumscribing its natural truth" (BC 43).

"disease is an individual accident that the family must respond to by ensuring that the victim has the necessary care" (BC 44). how true it seems our society believes that sentiment really is...

I'm thinking this passage relates well to the discussion on corporatization of autism: "Can medicine be a free profession that is protected by no corporate law, no prohibition of practice, no privilege of qualification? Can the medical consciousness of a nation be as spontaneous as its civic or moral consciousness? Doctors defend their corporate rights on the ground that they should be understood not in the sense of privilege but of collaboration. The medical body is to be distinguished from political bodies in that it does not seek to limit the liberty of others or to impose laws and obligations upon the citizens" (BC 46).

The Birth of the Clinic--Chapter 2

2007-07-19T19:30:00.000-06:00

"The analysis of an epidemic does not involve the recognition of the general form of the disease, by placing it in the abstract space of nosology, but the rediscovery, beneath the general signs, of the particular process, which varies according to circumstances from one epidemic to another, and which weaves from the cause to the morbid form a web common to all the sick, but peculiar to this moment in time and space" (BC 24). This statement is increasingly interesting in light of Grinker's book on the "epidemic" of autism.

"Transmission from one individual to another is never the essence of an epidemic" (BC 24).

"Whether contagious or not, an epidemic has a sort of historical individuality, hence the need to employ a complex method of observation when dealing with it. Being a collective phenomenon, it requires a multiple gaze; a unique process, it must be described in terms of its special, accidental, unexpected qualities" (BC 25).

"A medicine of epidemics could exist only if supplemented by a police" (BC 26)-- i.e., an organization governing the behaviors of those "stricken" and those "in danger." "a political status for medicine and the constitution, at state level, of a medical consciousness whose constant task would be to provide information, supervision, and constraint, all of which 'relate as much to the police as to the field of medicine proper'" (BC 26).

"What defines the act of medical knowledge in its concrete form is not, therefore, the encounter between doctor and patient, nor is it the confrontation of a body of knowledge and a perception; it is the systematic intersection of two series of information, each homogeneous but alien to each other--two series that embrace an infinite set of separate events, but whose intersection reveals, in its isolable dependence, the individual fact. A sagittal figure of knowledge" (BC 30).

"the myth of a total disappearance of disease in an untroubled, dispassionate society restored to its original state of health. But we must not be misled by the manifest contradiction of the two themes: each of these oneiric figures expresses, as if in black and white, the same picture of medical experience. The two dreams are isomorphic: the first expressing in a very positive way the strict, militant, dogmatic medicalization of society, by way of a quasi-religious conversion, and the establishment of a therapeutic clergy; the second expressing the same medicalization, but in a triumphant, negative way, that is to say, the volatilization of disease in a corrected, organized, and ceaselessly supervised environment, in which medicine itself would finally disappear, together with its object and its raison d'etre" (BC 32).

This passage illustrates well the need for a Humanities-based approach to autism studies--1. Almost worship of empiricism and medicalization of disease that isn't beneficial. Doctors as deities who can do no wrong. But, empiricism doesn't exist in a vacuum. Medicine carried out by doctors who are influenced by society as much as they are influencing it. Humanities emphasis on how society is shaped by the way that we think about it--through language--needed to understand the individuals studied and to reiterate the "human" behind the science, both those studied and those studying. 2. This medicalization leads to the Positivistic approach to medicine and the body as something that should be perfected. The imperfect body that needs to be "fixed" or "cured."

"Are not doctors the priests of the body?" (BC 32).

The Birth of the Clinic--Chpt 1 Cont.

2007-07-19T19:12:00.000-06:00

Back to Foucault... and since it's been a couple months since I read what I underlined throughout the book, I'm going to start at the end of the chapter because Foucault tends to reiterate what he's stated in the final paragraphs:

"Is a medical experience [...] not bound up with the very structure of society? Does it not involve, because of the special attention that it pays to the individual, a generalized vigilance that by extension applies to the group as a whole? [...] [M]edicine becomes a task for the nation" (BC 19).

"The natural locus of disease is the natural locus of life--the family: gentle, spontaneous care, expressive of love and a common desire for a cure, assists nature in its struggle against the illness, and allows the illness to attain its own truth. The hospital doctor sees only distorted, altered diseases, a whole teratology of the pathological; the family doctor 'soon acquires true experience based on the natural phenomena of all species of disease" (BC 17). This passage makes the case, in a roundabout way, for a Humanities-based approach to autism/ disability studies. Too much of the discourses about autism is medicalized with the focus on the distorted and pathological.

"The chain of one disease engendering another, and that of he perpetual impoverishment of poverty, is thus broken when one gives up trying to create for the sick a differentiated, distinct space, which results, in an ambiguous but clumsy way, in both the protection and the preservation of disease" (BC 19). Foucault is establishing in this section the "birth of the clinic" as a "space" that isolates disease but not to the patient's benefit. And, while Foucault is showing how medical care was slowly isolated to specific "clinics" and argues in this chapter for a more "home-based" integrated-into-society approach to medicine and long-term care, care that isn't isolated from society in institutions creating individuals who are alienated and dependent on the state (I think), his point seems valid in regard to discussions on the treatment and institutionalization of autistics. Not sure if this point will end up being used later, but I thought it was an interesting passage all the same.

Burke's "Mind, Body, and the Unconscious"

2007-07-18T18:04:00.001-06:00

"If man is the symbol-using animal, some motives must derive from his animality, some from his symbolicity, and some from mixtures of the two."

"The fact that a machine can be made to function like a participant in a human dialogue does not require us to treat the two kinds of behavior as identical. And in one notable respect a conditioned animal would be a better model than a computer for the reductive interpretation of man, since it suffers the pains and pleasures of hunger and satiety, along with other manifest forms of distress and gratification, though it's weak in the ways of smiling and laughing" (64). I find this quote particularly useful since autistic savants are often describes as "computers" and the behaviors of some autistics are described as "mechanistic." Problems with those kinds of metaphors.

"In Freud's sense an action is 'symbolic' when, as interpreted in terms of his particular 'terministic screen,' it reveals the presence of a neurotic motive involving ' repressions' due to the particular kind of 'Unconscious' which he postulates as a locus of motives" (64).

Burke's "Terministic Screens"

2007-07-18T17:32:00.000-06:00

I think, perhaps, why Burke might apply more appropriately to my dissertation is his discussion of "terministic screens" in Language as Symbolic Action. While Foucault's discussion on power relations in regard to disease and "madness" will be relevant to my discussions, Burke's "terministic screens" apply specifically--as David Blakesley as shown (and Dr. K would agree since he's also published in Blakesley's book)--to media and the ways in which media reflects and reinforces "reality."

Burke notes a distinction between "scientistic" and "dramatistic" approaches to language (44). "A 'scientistic' approach begins with questions of naming, or definition" (44). "Or, the power of language to define and describe may be viewed as derivative; and its essential function may be treated as attitudinal or hortatory: attitudinal as with expressions of complaint, fear, gratitude, and such; hortatory as with commands or requests, or, in general, an instrument developed through its use in the social processes of cooperation and competition" (44).

"dramatistic"--"stressing language as an aspect of 'action,' that is, as 'symbolic action'" (44).

"the 'scientistic' and the 'dramatistic' (language as definition, and language as act) are by not means mutually exclusive" (44).

"Definition itself is a symbolic act" (44). dramatistic view of language as "symbolic action" (45)

"Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature as a terminology it must be a selection of reality; and to this extent it must function also as a deflection of reality" (45).

"'terministic screens' direct the attention" (45)

"Not only does the nature of our terms affect the nature of our observations, in the sense that the terms direct the attention to one field rather than another. Also, many of the 'observations' are but implications of the particular terminology in terms of which the observations are made. In brief, much that we take as observations about 'reality' may be but the spinning out of possibilities implicit in our particular choice of terms" (46).

"As Jeremy Bentham aptly pointed out, all terms for mental states, sociopolitical relationships, and the like are necessarily 'fictions,' in the sense that we must express such concepts by the use of terms borrowed from the realm of the physical" (46).

"'Reality' could not exist for us, were it not for our profound and inveterate involvement in symbol systems" (48).

"even something so 'objectively there' as behavior must be observed through one or another kind of terministic screen, that directions the attention in keeping with its nature" (49).

"Basically, there are two kinds of terms: terms that put things together, and terms that take things apart" (49).

"terministic screens positing differences of degree and those based on differences of kind" (50).

"We must use terministic screens, since we can't say anything without the use of terms; whatever terms we use, they necessarily constitute a corresponding kind of screen; and any such screen necessarily directs the attention to one field rather than another" (50).

"All terminologies must implicitly or explicitly embody choices between the principle of continuity and the principle of discontinuity" (50).

"It should be apparent how either situation sets up the conditions for its particular kind of scapegoat, as a device that unifies all those who share the same enemy" (51).

"all members of our species conceive of reality somewhat roundabout, through various media of symbolism. Any such medium will be, as you prefer, either a way of 'dividing' us from the 'immediate' [...]; or it can be viewed as a paradoxical way of 'uniting' us with things on a 'higher level of awareness'" (52).

"But are we not here 'necessarily' caught in our own net? Must we concede that a screen built on this basis is just one more screen; and that it can at best be permitted to take its place along with all the others?"

"I need but point out that, whether or not we are just things in motion, we think of one another [...] as persons. And the difference between a thing and a person is that the one merely moves whereas the other acts." I think this quote is important for those with intellectual/cognitive disabilities that seem to merely move rather than act because the "symbolic" is missing from the act. Again, response to Terri Schiavo illustrates this point.

"The human animal, as we know it, emerges into personality by first mastering whatever tribal speech happens to be its particular symbolic environment" (53).

From a Grammar of Motives: "A technique of analysis of language and thought as basically modes of action rather than a means of conveying information" (54).

Stigma of Intellectual Disabilities

2007-07-17T22:19:00.000-06:00

I've been reading quite a bit from disability studies over the past couple months, and I was thinking about the lack of representation there is for intellectual/cognitive disabilities. Physical disabilities and mobility disabilities are covered. But, little is often covered in books on intellectual disabilities.

And, I think there's even a stigma and abandonment by the disability studies community in regard to the intellectually disabled. I said it. There. There is so much stigma against the physically disabled as being "inferior" and ignorant, that there is almost a shame--so little that wants to be said--about the intellectually disabled because it might reinforce or draw attention to those who represent the "reality" for some. Look at the program for the national Disability Studies conference in 2007--not ONE paper or presentation on autism. Not one. There was a entire panel at least at 4C's on autism in the classroom. But, at the national convention for disability studies--not a single one. I checked. And, in many of the books that I've read, there are chapters devoted to physical disabilities of various natures, but if there is a chapter on intellectual disabilities, it's just that a chapter.

I think disability studies are abandoning the intellectually disabled in a way. Here's why:

Linton mentions throughout her book, as do others, the necessity of the disabled to contribute to scholarship on disability. Couldn't agree more. Yes, the disabled need to have the opportunities to contribute about themselves.

But, like it or not, those without disabilities do not carry the ethos of those with disabilities to contribute scholarship on the issue. Ethos really belongs to the disabled.

However, if I (as a yet-not-disabled woman) do not contribute to this conversation, who will "speak" for Tobey? Who will "speak" for the nonverbal, intellectually disabled if not for the NT, non-disabled?

By limiting "who can speak and for whom" to just the disabled, the disability movement is ignoring a large group of people who can't speak up for themselves.

Burke's "Definition of Man"

2007-07-17T21:34:00.001-06:00

I think this chapter from Burke's Language as Symbolic Action will prove very useful in my dissertation--

"Man is the symbol-using animal" (3). "'reality' has been built up for us through nothing but our symbol systems" (5).

"What is our 'reality' [...] but all this clutter of symbols about the past combined with whatever things we know mainly through maps, magazines, newspapers, and the like about the present?" (Burke 5). I think Burke's focus on terministic screens and the representation of reality fits well, more so than say Foucault, with my interests in media representations of autism as means of identifying autism.

"we like to forget the kind of relation that really prevails between the verbal and the nonverbal. In being a link between us and the nonverbal, words are by the same token a screen separating us from the nonverbal [...] since so much of the 'we' that is separated from the nonverbal by the verbal would not even exist were it not for the verbal" (Burke 5).

"Language referring to the realm of the nonverbal is necessarily talk about things in terms of what they are not--and in this sense we start out beset by a paradox. Such language is but a set of labels, signs for helping us find our way about" (Burke 5).

"'ideology' is imposed upon people" (Burke 6).

Humans are a "symbol-using, symbol-making, and symbol-misusing animal" (Burke 6). I'm wondering how Burke's distinction between "symbol-making" and rationalization plays into intellectual disabilities. I'm thinking of my Terri Schiavo paper and that she was considered less-than-human because she wasn't appearing to others to be using or making symbols. For autism, how much of the stigma against those with intellectual disabilities--even the struggle to accept and understand--is based on the fact that people believe that the autistic are not able to use or make symbols. Notice that Burke distinction between "man" and "animals" lies in the difference between being able to use and make symbols (man) and not (animal).

"symbolism" form of "substitution" (Burke 7). "substitution is a quite rational resource of symbolism" (Burke 7).

"symbolism"--"condensation," "displacement"

"cult of the scapegoat"--need to revisit this in earlier work for discussion in dissertation

Humans are the "inventor of the negative" (Burke 9).

"To look for negatives in nature would be [...] absurd" (Burke 9). "The negative is a function peculiar to symbol systems" (9). Negative is reflection of "unfulfilled expectations" (Burke 9). I underlined these passages when reading b/c I believe they fit well with discussions on disability. "Negative"--disability, "Positivism"--normal, well human with functions and abilities recognized and observable. Especially in regard to intellectual disabilities, conversations present those as "less than human," not the child that parents expected.

"the negative is but a principle, an idea, not a name for a thing" (Burke 10).

From Rhetoric of Religion--would tie in nicely with Suprahuman section: "Action involves character, which involves choice--and the form of choice attains its perfection in the distinction between Yes and No [...]. Though the concept of sheer motion is non-ethical, action implies the ethical, the human personality. Hence the obvious close connection between the ethical and negativity" (qtd in "Definition of Man" 11).

Humans: "Separated from his natural condition by instruments of his own making" (Burke 13).

"define man as the 'tool-using animal'" (Burke 13). "development of tools requires a kinds of attention not possible without symbolic means of conceptualization" (14). "Animals do not use words about words" (14).

"If we defined man first of all as the tool-using animal (or, old style, as homo faber rather than as homo sapiens), our definition would not be taking into account the 'priority' of its very own nature as a definition. Inasmuch as definition is a symbolic act, it must begin by explicitly recognizing its formal grounding in the principle of definition as an act. In choosing any definition at all, one implicitly represents man as the kind of animal that is capable of definition" (Burke 14).

"The instrumental value of language certainly accounts for much of its development, and this instrumental value of language may even have been responsible for the survival of language itself" (emphasis mine, Burke 15). I noted "instrumental" as "purposeful, pragmatic, and functional--a point relevant to autism and nonverbal autistics unable to use language pragmatically, purposefully. Or, at least some think that. I would argue that "nonverbal" is a loaded term--one that I would need to discuss in my dissertation. Because we assume that because someone is "nonverbal" that they aren't able to use symbols like NT's would. However, "nonverbal" means not speaking, but not nonsymbol using. Still, there's the assumption that thought is only able to be expressed verbally or with a formal language system. But, autistics use symbols to convey needs. This discussion on the semiotics of language is something that scholars of language and communication can contribute to the conversation. So much of autism-related discourses involve empirically-derived research; however, the Humanities can add to the discussion by examining the stigmas and associations made between symbols and those who use those symbols.

"Language is a species of action, symbolic action--and its nature is such that it can be used as a tool" (Burke 15).

Humans: "Goaded by the spirit of hierarchy" (Burke 15).

"The principle of perfection is central to the nature of language as motive. The mere desire to name something by its 'proper' name, or to speak a language in its distinctive ways is intrinsically 'perfectionist.' What is more 'perfectionist' in essence than the impulse, when one is in dire need of something, to so state this need that one in effect 'defines' the situation?" (Burke 16).

Aristotelian concept of "entelechy": "that each being aims at the perfection natural to its kind" (Burke 17).

"inasmuch as substitution is a prime resource of symbol systems, the conditions are set for catharsis by scapegoat (including the 'natural' invitation to 'project' upon the enemy any troublesome traits of our own that we would negate). And the unresolved problems of 'pride' that are intrinsic to privilege also bring the motive of hierarchy to bear here; for many kinds of guilt, resentment, and fear tend to cluster about the hierarchal psychosis, with its corresponding search for a sacrificial principle such as can become embodied in a political scapegoat" (Burke 19).

Revelations, Observations, Stuff to Read...

2007-07-16T23:09:00.000-06:00

I've been working on the draft of my proposal over the past week and I've come across some points that are hard to "flesh" out. Namely, my rhetorical terms. I just kept coming back to "identification" and thinking that I need more rhetorical theory to base an entire dissertation on than just "identification." One of those things that you don't know what you need to read up on and study more until you try to start writing about it.

So, this week, I'm returning to the rhetorical "heavy hitters" Burke and Foucault for some rhetorical assistance.

And, what do you know, laying in the bathtub, I realized it's "consubstantiality" and "dramatism" were the terms that I was groping for last week in the dark.

Readings and bloggings for the week: A Rhetoric of Motives, Language as Symbolic Action, Madness and Civilization, and The Birth of the Clinic. I'll keep working on the proposal still, but I'm going to supplement that with readings from Burke and Foucault. I think I'll feel better when this week is over about where I'm going and what I've got.

Blogs of interest for dissertation

2007-07-15T10:15:00.001-06:00

I plan to discuss the rhetorical construction of agency and identification in my dissertation (probably at some point in the first section on definitions and in the second part on the "gaze"--many are written by parents of autistic children and some are written by communicative (I use this term rather than the more popular "verbal" because Amanda Baggs is able to communicate via computer but not able to speak) autistic individuals). The motivations differ from blog to blog but each is unique and I believe that they, as a collective rhetorical space, reflect a very different time in autism's history when ordinary people can feel like they are doing something about their or their children's neurological condition.

Note to self: need to address differences between viewing autism as "neurological," "developmental," and "psychiatric" condition. All wrought with different implications.

Back to the blogs. Some relevant ones of interest that I keep bookmarking (and I'm going to continue to add to this list). Of course, there is a list of autism related blogs available at autismhub but these are the ones that I keep finding linked from others and keep coming back to myself:

Autism Vox
Autismland
The Autism Crisis
Autism Diva
Natural Variation
The Joy of Autism
It's All Okay
Autism's Edges
Hoop Dee Doo and PDD
A Shade of Grey
Whose Planet is it Anyway?
Left Brain/ Right Brain
Searching Equilibrium
Hating Autism

Constructing Autism--Chapter 4

2007-07-10T20:07:00.000-06:00

"The historical matrix of events, knowledge, and professional identities that emerged out of the end of the nineteenth century set the stage for the creation and expansion of twentieth-century psychiatry, and ultimately provided the conditions of possibility for autism to emerge as a diagnostic category" (Nadesan 53). Could help also explain how autism of late 20th century part of historical matrix...

part of that "matrix": "formalization of compulsory education and the creation of the child guidance movement" (Nadesan 53)

Section of dissertation: identifying autism from 1960's and especially 1990's... Part of the conditions that enabled the definition of autism in early 20th century: "identification of childhood as a discrete phase of life," "emergence of pediatric medicine, child psychology and psychiatry," and "creation of new ways of thinking about childhood 'deviance'" (Nadesan 54).

Locke's view of the tabla rasa changes how children viewed in regard to infant's psyche... (Nadesan 54). "Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the belief that children were innocent and spiritually pure replaced the idea of children as bearers of original sin" (Nadesan 56).

"Rousseau's Emile (1762) articulated a stage-based developmental model of childhood, which borrowed from the empiricists an emphasis on (sensory) experience in the acquisition of knowledge" (Nadesan 56).

Until around age 12, children are believed to be "primarily pre-social in orientation and that knowledge is best acquired through their empirical involvement in the natural world" (Nadesan 57). Interesting that Beddleheim moves this age up to conception...

"Accordingly, the proper goal of childrearing in the socialization mode was to produce a mannered, rational adult through careful surveillance and deliberate intervention" (Nadesan 58).

"the expansion of state authority to include governance over (publicly funded) childhood education and the expansion of professional interest in childhood were expressions of new forms of social control that began in the seventeenth century but found full expression in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These new forms of control involved new methods of observing and governing populations that gradually transformed monarchical systems of governance into professional and bureaucratic ones" (Nadesan 60). As I was reading this section and thinking about why the increased awareness in autism flourish in the 1960's following Beddleheim's work and again in the 1990's following Aspergers publication, I'm also thinking how much LBJ's "War on Poverty" with the development of Head Start and Medicaide programs influenced the diagnosis of autism...

I'm reminded of this again when Nadesan notes (about the early 20th century)--taken from an 1897 text: "It is now conceded on all sides that, if we would make social progress and strengthen the foundations of good government, into the minds of this unfortunate class must be instilled principles of morality, thrift, industry, and self-reliance" (from Preston and Haines, Nadesan 61).

"Vast numbers of mobile, poor, and uneducated people who worked infrequently, according to the whims of industry or the whims of personal inclination, threatened state stability" (Nadesan 62).

Government programs, like those initiated in the early 20th century in America and Europe were "'philanthropic' in that they served a purpose in the longterm rehabilitation of the family and, simultaneously, facilitated state, economic, and social security" (Nadesan 62).

Throughout the 19th century, "government and professional efforts to monitor, divide, and sequester children expanded" (Nadesan 62).

the medical model that has prevailed encourages a "disease based metaphor' that enhanced 'anxiety' and the 'threat of contagion" (Nadesan 64).

"The social anxiety and threat that the feebleminded (and mad) posed stemmed from beliefs about their morally unfettered reproduction, the lack of economic self-sufficiency, and their purported susceptibility to criminal exploitation due to lack of moral judgment" (Nadesan 64, also discussed in Trent 16).

"the new emphasis [in the late 19th and early 20th centuries] on 'normal' childhood development did not preclude investigation into 'deviant' behavioral or cognitive development. In fact, quite the opposite was true. The emphasis on 'normality' functioned to delineate 'abnormality' as never before" (Nadesan 67).

"The new classes of child experts--pediatricians, child psychologists, and child psychiatrists--played an active role in the creation and dissemination of professional knowledge about normal and abnormal stages and processes of child development" (Nadesan 69).

"The role of the mother, in particular, was highlighted within the models of child development influenced by the psychodynamic framework that finally came into vogue in North American psychiatry in the early 1930's" (Nadesan 69).

"The popularization of these clinics and the creation of special schools simultaneously heightened public awareness of mental health issues in childhood and reduced the stigma associated with them. The sheer number of child experts coupled with changing understanding about and valuation of mental health resulted in an explosion of psychiatric diagnoses" (Nadesan 71).

Kanner identified autism as a "unique communication and affect based disorder" (Nadesan 71).

Asperger believed that patients did not have a developmental disorder; instead, Asperger believed that they had an "inherent affliction of personality" (Nadesan 75).

"Asperger was particularly intrigued by the unique manner of perception specific to his more intelligent patients. Although he may have stressed his patients' special skills to save them from eugenics policies, his accounts stress sincere interest in the form and expression of their 'autistic strengths'" (Nadesan 75).

"Asperger observed that the identification of autism as a distinct disorder was fundamentally linked with the study of affective and communication-based disorders" (Nadesan 77).

Drafting on the Prospectus...

2007-07-10T19:59:00.000-06:00

...I have a very rough start to the prospectus but I've got the sections identified and I'm going to work on one each day for the next couple days. Should have a more completed draft of it come this time next week. Then, it's off to Dr. T for suggestions, recommendations, and the like.

In the meantime, keep reading. Keep blogging.

Constructing Autism--Chapter 3

2007-07-08T20:37:00.000-06:00

"Chapter 3: Psychiatric Niche Conditions"

"Efforts to identify, categorize, and systematize differences were particular [sic] significant within the European enlightenment movement, which sough during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to forge clear distinctions between reason and unreason" (Nadesan 30).

"mental 'illness' was qualitatively distinguished from mental 'retardation' in the mid-nineteenth century" (Nadesan 30).

"Nineteenth-century innovations in psychiatric thought were indebted to new social and economic conditions that led to increased social surveillance and control over populations. The nineteenth century engendered new strategies for monitoring, dividing, and acting upon populations in order to foster and ensure social stability in a time of rapid urbanization and industrialization" (Nadesan 31).

"private life became subject to governmental and professional scrutiny, particularly in the extension of surveillance over populations regarded as 'deviant' and in the extension of surveillance over a person's earliest childhood years" (Nadesan 31).

"many people who are today judged as having a developmental disorder would not have been judged so before the nineteenth century and few distinctions were made between the mad and the 'feebleminded'" (Nadesan 32)

"It was not until well into the nineteenth century that 'consciousness' became a criterion used to distinguish among forms of mental illness, particularly between temporary, illness-induced delirium and pervasive insanity and that the study of psychosis was distinguished from the study of neurosis," [...] "insanity was distinguished from epilepsy, and that mental retardation was distinguished from insanity" (Nadesan 33).

Nadesan discusses the historical events that led up to the systematic efforts to identify and describe forms of psychopathology. "Enabling advances such as these were a number of historical circumstances, including the enlightenment ethos of scientific thinking and the transformation of institutions designed to house the 'insane'" (Nadesan 33). For my earlier note about the 1960's to the present, there seems to be a lack of ethos surrounding technology, medical advancements, and the government (mercury poisoning, environmental toxins, government corruption).

"madness came to be seen as the primary threat to social welfare" (Nadesan 34)--today, developmental/cognitive deficiencies/delays seem to be the threat to fear. Cultural fear of being incapacitated. Terri Schiavo as an example of this fear...

"'Governmental' power focuses both on the administration of populations and their behavioral normalization. This extension of the finality of state control to include influence over everyday affairs constitutes an important shift that [Foucault in "Governmentality" in The Foucault Effect] termed the shift from 'sovereignty' (over a territory) to 'government,' which is concerned with the disposition of things such as people, customs, habits, etc" (Nadesan 35).

"The psychiatric taxonomies [...] coupled with the transformed madhouse--the asylum--together illustrate how new forms of knowledge were concomitant with the reorganization of social space so as to divide, sequester, and administer populations" (Nadesan 35). I'm reminded here of Simi Linton's discussion on special education and the division of "normal" (nondisabled) and "special" (disabled) children in school.

"Social welfare, and the welfare of the species, demanded intensification of efforts to identify and sequester the mad and feebleminded. Thus, fearing the reproductive capacities of such 'degenerates,' the asylum took on more social import due to its ability to sequester and 'organically' mad, even while its therapeutic aspects were regarded as suspect" (Nadesan 36). I'm reminded here of my research into 19th century abortion legislation--enacted to keep the upper classes from aborting their fetuses and limiting the potential linage of moral, upstanding citizens.

"one key nineteenth-century innovation in psychopathology involved distinguishing those forms of mental illness that involved delirium and hallucinations from those that did not" (Nadesan 37).

"As interest in these disorders grew, psychiatry devised ever more strategies for distinguishing disorders characterized by 'psychosis' from more subtle abnormalities of affect, social relations, and subjective experience" (Nadesan 37).

"Bleur believed that the (schizophrenic) autistic break with reality, coupled with the other disassociations of affect and thought, ultimately leads to dissolution of personality. Personality was, in Bleur's time, understood in relation to self-awareness and subjective experience (Berrios 1996) so schizophrenia constituted a fundamental threat to the self" (Nadesan 40).

"Ernst Kretschmer, for example, distinguished between autism in which patients suppress external stimuli in order to pursue a dream existence and autism characterized by lack of emotion and affective responses to the environment" (Nadesan 40).

"autism" as a term was used often during early 20th century (Nadesan 40).

Importance of Freud to enable autism to be "psychologized" (Nadesan 42). Importance for "refrigerator mother" of 1960's: Freud's work had the "implication of bringing into focus the inner psychic life of childhood, a state whose complexities and crises demanded careful parental care guided by professional expertise" (Nadesan 42).

Mental Hygiene movement: "psychoanalytic principles and biological psychiatry in an emphasis on treatment and prevention" led to the formation of psychiatric wards (Nadesan 44).

Children missing from a history of madness and psychiatry until 19th century (Nadesan 45). 1. Children believed to no have mental illnesses. (However, "expansion of public and private schooling in the nineteenth century that children came under any systematic observation and control" (Nadesan 46). 2. Children who seemed "abnormal" or "exposed" were abandoned. (Nadesan 46)

Constructing Autism--Chapter 2

2007-07-07T22:56:00.000-06:00

Chapter 2: "Constructing Autism: A Dialectic of Biology and Culture, Nature and Mind"

Nadesan's purpose in this chapter is to explore "how socially constructed standards of normalcy embedded in cultural values and practices not only shape our interpretations of autism but also contribute to the production and transformation of people labeled with the disorder" (9).

"biological diseases, particularly autism, are the clinical practices developed to 'cure' them are fundamentally cultural in origin and remediation" (Nadesan 9).

Over the next 3 pages, Nadesan describes how Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger developed their theory of autism and Asperger's syndrome. A good place for historical material for backgrounding discussion in dissertation. (pages 10-13)

"In 1981 Asperger's work was introduced to a wider audience through Lorna Wing's essay 'Asperger's syndrome: a clinical account' published in the journal, Psychological Medicine" (Nadesan 13). A good definition (to supplement or explain DSM's) is also provided...

"a simple answer to what autism is, that is, what constitutes its essence, is unattainable" (Nadesan 14).

"overly educated mother" (Nadesan 18)

"the emergence of autism as a diagnostic category in the 1940s must be understood in relation to a matrix of professional and parental practices marking the cultural and economic transition to the twentieth century just as the popularization of high-functioning forms of autism must be understood in terms of the matrix of practices that mark late-twentieth century and early-twenty-first century life" (Nadesan 19).

conditions rooted in "cultural practices and economy of their times" (Nadesan 19).

"This raises questions about the relationship between the biological and the cultural, about the relationship between disease and social representation" (Nadesan 19). A statement particularly relevant for autism... Also, have to know what "normal" is to know what "abnormal is"

"In the search for its essence, the being of autism, researchers debated whether autism is a psychological disorder of the ego attachment (e.g., Bettelheim 1967), a biological disorder of the brain or metabolism (e.g., later Kanner), a personality disorder (e.g., Asperger), or some combination. [...] The implicit but dominant model seems to be that there is a visual-spatial-topological autistic center that will ultimately be discovered. This view of autism implicitly invokes a model of medicine in which disease is ontological, a thing in itself, which can be distinguished from the afflicting patient whose ontological status is unrelated to the disabling disorder" (Nadesan 20). Bakhin's chronotope

"disease is represented in our everyday understanding as available to 'empirical' identification, interpretation, and intervention. This everyday understanding of disease is partially rooted in nineteenth-century 'positivistic' thought holding that humankind can identify and understand the laws of nature unequivocally through detached empirical inquiry" (Nadesan 20). DAN protocol

"Positivistic conceptions of medicine presume a mind-body dichotomy in which diseases are primarily if not exclusively located in the biological body and presume that each disease is caused by a specific and ultimately, identifiable element" (Nadesan 20). Need an agent of harm...

"David Armstrong's (2002) A New History of Identity takes a moderated social construction approach in tracing changing perceptions of the origin and treatment of disease. Armstrong is less concerned with the biological reality of disease than in the representational practices used to identify, diagnose, and cure it" (Nadesan 21). [ILL'ed]

Armstrong argues that "prior to the nineteenth century, disease was understood to be found in the weather, the soil, and various aspects of the physical environment" (in Armstrong 58, from Nadesan 21). "However, medicine in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries began to localize disease in the form of a 'pathological lesion, a specific abnormality of structure (or later, function) situated somewhere in the corporal space'" (in Armstrong 58, from Nadesan 21). I noted in my margins after reading that this might also apply to current discussions on autism.

new regime that "demarcated the diseased body from its environment" (Nadesan 21).

"Armstong's account of changing conceptions about the nature and origin of disease [...] highlights how social beliefs, values, and institutions influence medical practice" (Nadesan 21).

"Is culture merely the clothing within which the diseased body appears? Or, does culture--through its practices of hygiene and diet and through its medical vocabularies and institutions--produce disease in its entirety?" (Nadesan 21).

Nadesan and Grinker (amongst others) have focused on the construction and identification of autism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Trent focuses on the construction of mental retardation in the mid to late 19th century in America. However, in my dissertation, I think a large scholarly "hole" that is missing is the "epidemic" of autism that seems to have occurred following Beddleheim's book until the present. An examination of the events that have led to this so-called "epidemic" that can be traced from the 1960's to the present. A quote that would support this statement:

A study of autism during the twentieth century notes that autism was "[d]erived in relation to schizophrenia," as such "autism was first thought to be organic in nature. However, psychoanalytic thought was becoming increasing popular in North America and Europe at the time that Kanner first identified and labeled autism. Thus, the ascendancy of psychoanalytic thought, soon after the formalized identification of autism as a distinct disorder, led to speculation that psychic distress brought on by 'frigid mothering' caused autistic symptoms. [...] Today, however, the pendulum has again swung in the direction of organic causes, although contemporary causal agents may be considered exogamous (e.g., mercury poisoning) as well as endogamous (e.g., genetics)" (Nadesan 22).

"to emphasize the biological component of autism can lead to a devaluation of psychologically based therapeutic interventions such as behavioral modification therapy [...] or 'play therapy' rooted in psychoanalysis. The social construction of 'ideas' about the origin and remediation of the 'autistic' patient is imbued with material consequences" (Nadesan 23).

The Social Construction of What? I. Hacking describes "interactive kinds" and "indifferent kinds"--"interactive kinds" are "affected by the process of classification to such a degree that classification may require eventual modification or replacement" (Nadesan 24). "Interactive kinds are classifactory systems that emerge within complex matrices of institutions and practices" (Nadesan 24). "effect of producing what was classified" (24)

"biolooping" (24)

"Psychotropic drugs increase the ability of those classified as schizophrenic to reflect actively upon their diagnoses, leading to potential transformations in their disorder through their interpretive engagement with it" (Nadesan 25). Point to note: Performative aspect of biolooping

Autism "is a particularly compelling example of the intersection of biology and culture because although it is arguably an interactive kind, it also evidences the characteristics of an indifferent kind in that its symptoms are in some way rooted in genetics or molecular chemistry" (Nadesan 25).

The remainder of Nadesan's book argues that autism is a "disorder that emerged and was created in relation to cultural practices and discourses specific to particular points in time, the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries and, more recently, the transition from the twentieth to the twenty-first centuries" (Nadesan 26).

Constructing Autism--Introduction

2007-07-07T22:17:00.000-06:00

Nadesan, Majia Holmer. Constructing Autism: Unravelling the "Truth" and Understanding the Social. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Chapter 1: Introduction

"The medical and scientific literatures represent autism as a biological facticity that must be explained using the positivist methods and assumptions of the natural sciences" (Nadesan 2). I think this point is important because I'm thinking that part of my discussion in my dissertation will focus on representations or identifying autism as a biological condition and a psychopathic condition.

I know Dr. T has said often that she believes that depression and mental illnesses are biological in origin. And, while I'm not looking to refute that statement, the difference between autism as biological and psychological in origin is relevant for discussions of treatment and origin--namely, do parents choose to "treat" autism with medication, dietary changes, DAN protocols? Is the "autistic condition" one that occurs to an otherwise "normal" brain in response to biological factors (like mercury, for instance)? Or, do parents choose to view autism as a neurological development (or lack thereof) and choose to "treat" autism with ABA therapy, neurological acceptance, and the like? In other words, autistic children were born with brains that functioned differently, not because of any acute biological factor, but because their brains just developed differently. The distinction then between autism as biological, environmental, and developmental is crucial in contemporary rhetorics...

In Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph over Autism, "autism is a biologically based psychiatric condition to be therapied, remedied, assaulted in an effort to 'save' afflicted children locked inside an autistic cage" (Nadesan 2).

Nadesan: "it became increasingly clear to me that autism, or more specifically, the idea of autism is fundamentally socially constructed" (2).

"autism has a performative component" (Nadesan 2). I find this statement particular interesting, especially thinking about Aristotle's 5th canon of rhetoric: Delivery. How much of low/high-functioning distinctions is based on the performative component of autism? Especially considering criticisms against autism bloggers like this one (link from bookmark on other computer) who are criticized for blogging about autism and appearing on CNN and how their children, based on the televised report on autism, don't appear to be all that autistic, or the criticisms against Amanda Baggs, most notably by John Best Jr., because of her performances on autism that she's able to do. Especially interesting for this discussion: Baggs publicizes her autistic behaviors in vignettes (for lack of a better word) on Youtube. (link up here)

Something to consider: performative aspects of autism on Youtube by autistic individuals. Also, criticisms of ABA therapy because of emphasis on spoken delivery. Considered by notable Anti-ABA blogger, Autism Diva, (find her name) as abuse...

"Although there is a biological aspect to this condition named autism, the social factors involved in its identification, representation, interpretation, remediation, and performance are the most important factors in the determination of what it means to be autistic, for individuals, for families and for society" (Nadesan 2).

"'autism' as an epidemic has also captured the public imagination as a disorder that is regarded simultaneously as both threatening and fascinating. Therefore, exploration of the social conditions involved in the production, interpretation, and remediation of autism is important not only for people intimately involved with autism, but also for those interested in how social institutions such as medicine, psychology, and psychiatry, and even the popular media, constitute and shape our ideas about normality and difference in the context of economic and political environments" (Nadesan 3).

"Autism, I will argue, is a disorder of the early twentieth century while the high-functioning variants of autism such as Semantic Pragmatic Disorder (SPD), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), and Asperger's syndrome (AS) are fundamentally disorders of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries" (Nadesan 3).

Autism as a disorder could not have occurred prior to the twentieth century because "[i]t was not until standards of normality had been formalized and narrowed and standards of pediatric screening extended to a child's earliest years that children with PDD, SPD, AS (or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)) could be widely identified, labeled, and therapied" (Nadesan 3).

"The history of 'high-functioning' forms of autism must be further understood in the context of new standards for parenting that emerged mid-twentieth century and new economic and social conditions surrounding the purported 'information revolution' that began in the 1960's" (Nadesan 3).

"alternative explanations for interpreting the rise of autism diagnoses must be explored. In particular, environmental discourses play an important, although somewhat marginal role, in explaining and preventing disease at the end of the twentieth-century. These environmental discourses, particularly when coupled with biomedical frameworks, play a role in the political debates surrounding the causes of autism" (Nadesan 4).

"autism reflect[s] and shape[s] societal norms and expectations and opportunities for personhood" (Nadesan 5).

"the emergence, identification, and treatment of disease are always infused with cultural practices, values, and frameworks of interpretation" (Nadesan 5).

"autism can be understood historically as a 'niche' disorder whose interpretation, representation in research practices and in the popular imagination, and remediation reflect cultural preoccupations and concerns" (Nadesan 5).

"the matrix of institutions and practices that engendered the identification and exploration of autism [...] was dependent upon the emergence of a new, early-twentieth-century psychiatric model of the medical subject that centered childhood psychopathology, personality, and social relationships/interpersonal dynamics" (Nadesan 5).

Work to do... Schedules to keep...

2007-07-07T22:06:00.000-06:00

Notice the date and time posted on this blog--Yes, it's Saturday night at 11:00 and I have no life. I also have no children or boyfriend tonight, which means I have lots of time to work in peace and quiet without the "I want some more chocolate milk" and "Swiper No Swiping" interruptions that usually occur once every 20 seconds. Good thing that I've got the concentration skills of a, well, someone who's very focused.

Now, objectives for next couple days:

post on Constructing Autism
finish posts on Foucault
post on Burke
finish posts on Claiming Disability
work on prospectus--1 page/day
work on CFP for FRS

Right now, I'm reading a couple hours in the early afternoon and trying to blog for about 3-4 hours at night from 7-10 p.m. (I'm also working out for 1 hour/ 5-6 days a week in the morning and taking the boys to the pool everyday for 2 hours around lunch time.) I plan on extrapolating the blog posts into Word documents at some point and using these to jump start the writing process of the dissertation. There is really no other motivator like sheer panic that one won't finish this project.

After 10 p.m., it's been my newfound love obsession with The Office--OMG is that show hilarious. I'm now in love with Jim. Next, the British version of The Office and the entire series of Six Feet Under and The Riches. Man, do I love my summer schedule. (But, I'm looking at my rigid schedule and I'm wondering if I'm not a little autistic myself?)

The Birth of the Clinic--Chapter 1

2007-07-04T20:06:00.000-06:00

While I read The Birth of the Clinic and Madness and Civilization in May, I never properly "blogged" about them in the hustle-and-bustle of Upward Bound. So, here goes:

"Chapter 1: Spaces and Classes"

"Before it is removed from the density of the body, disease is given an organization, hierarchized into families, genera, and species" (BC 4).

"Disease is perceived fundamentally in a space of projection without depth, of coincidence without development. There is only one plane and one moment" (BC 6).

"The picture resemble things, but they also resemble one another. The distance that separates one disease from another can be measured only be the degree of their resemblance, w/out reference to the logico-temporal divergence of genealogy" (BC 6).

"For classificatory medicine, presence in an organ is never absolutely necessary to define a disease: this disease may travel from on point of localization to another, reach other bodily surfaces, while retaining identical in nature" (BC 10).

And, need to get from the library...

2007-07-04T19:23:00.001-06:00

Hillyer, Barbara. 1993. Feminism and Disability. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.--Rhetoric of dependency...

Gendering Disability--"Integrating Disability"

2007-07-04T18:36:00.000-06:00

Rosemarie Garland-Thomas in “Integrating Disability” from Gendering Disability examines the ways in which disability theory can borrow from feminist theory. She looks, specifically, at the domains that each share: representation, the body, identity, and activism.

Relevant for my research, Garland-Thomas notes that in regard to prenatal testing for disabilities as a means of modern eugenics [an issue in autism-circles--prenatal screening for autism]:

“[W]e cannot predict or, more precisely, control in advance such equivocal human states as happiness, suffering, or success. Neither is any amount of prenatal engineering going to produce the life that any of us desire and value. Indeed, both hubris and a lack of imagination characterize the prejudicial and reductive assumption that having a disability ruins lives. A vague notion of suffering and its potential deterrence drives much of the logic of elimination that rationalizes selective abortion (Kittay 2000). Life changes and quality are simply far too contingent to justify prenatal prediction.”

Also, relevant: "disability has four aspects: first, it is a system for interpreting and disciplining bodily variations; second, it is a relationship between bodies and their environments; third, it is a set of practices that produce both the able-bodied and the disabled; fourth, it is a way of describing the inherent instability of the embodied self" (Garland-Thomson 77).

"The disability system excludes the kinds of bodily forms, functions, impairments, changes, or ambiguities that call into question our cultural fantasy of the body as a neutral, compliant instrument of some transcendent will" (Garland-Thomson 77). I wonder how much of our (collective) fixation with finding the "cause" of and "cure" for autism is related to our fear of our own diminished mental capacities? How much do we fear losing our consciousness? Our abilities to think and rationalize for ourselves? The Terri Schiavo case reflected just how much our society finds abhorrent the mentally disabled mind... And, besides that, if autism can happen to him/her, can it happen to me, too? Or, to a child of mine?

"Normal has inflected beautiful in modernity. What is imagined as excess body fat, the effects of aging, marks of ethnicity such as supposedly Jewish noses, bodily particularities thought of as blemishes or deformities, and marks of history such as scarring and impairments are now expected to be surgically erased to produce an unmarked body. This visually unobtrusive body may then pass unnoticed within the milieu of anonymity that is the hallmark of social relations beyond the personal in modernity. The purpose of aesthetic surgery, as well as the costuming of power, is not to appear unique--or to 'be yourself,' as the ads endlessly promise--but rather not to be conspicuous, not to look different. This flight from the nonconforming body translates into individual efforts to look normal, neutral, unmarked, to not look disabled, queer, ugly, fat, ethnic, or raced" (Garland-Thomson 83). While Garland-Thomson is discussing, it seems, the physically disabled body, I think her observations apply equally to the mentally disabled mind (that's redundant, I know). While seemingly praised for their individuality of mind, autistics are still seen as mentally "abnormal"--a mind needing to be "cured" or fixed. We praise the unique abilities and/or characteristics of some autistics but still seek to normalize their thinking and mental processes.

A quote for my ultrasound images paper (that I would like to submit for publication at some point after developing it more with a section on disability): "The beautiful woman of the twenty-first century is sculpted surgically from top to bottom, generically neutral, all irregularities regularized, all particularities expunged. She is thus nondisabled, deracialized, and de-enthinicized" (Garland-Thomas 83).

Thoughts by the pool...

2007-07-04T18:07:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about some of the negative sentiments that are offered in regard to autism and mental disabilities posted at Autismvox by some commenters and by John Best at HatingAutism (a disgraceful website if I've ever seen one--"hate speech" if there ever was a more fitting example) and I've been thinking today about the different meanings for "autism," "mental retardation/disability," and "pervasive developmental disorder." I don't read articles referring to the "epidemic" or militaristic metaphors of "armies of mentally disabled children" like I've seen in print before. There are no committees and trials investigating the links between mental retardation and mercury or toxins.

Why "autism"? What about "autism" as a term, a medical diagnosis, leads to the rhetoric of "cure," "intervention," and "harm"? Why do we accept someone as "mentally disabled" but argue that a "normal" person exists somewhere beneath the surface of the autistic person? Maybe because those with Fragile X, Down Syndrome, or FAS, for instance, show some physical representations of their mental retardation? After all, I haven't found any "HatingDownSyndrome" websites dedicated to eradicating those with extra chromosomes. No "Hatingthementallydisabled."

I wonder if the difference between the mentally disabled and the autistic individual is that many individuals with autism don't really "look" any different than anyone else? If an autistic adult was not gazing at the ground and was making eye contact, he or she might "look" like any other "normal" person... There are no definitive "visual" markers of an autistic individual to differentiate him/ her from the "normal" population. Perhaps, this is why it's hard to believe that there isn't a "normal" child inside the autistic one? After all, he/ she looks "normal."

Not to mention the fact that "autism" seems more acceptable than "mentally retarded." (Roy Grinker discusses this in his book Unstrange Minds.) Media representation of autistics as "geniuses," perhaps? After all, "Rain Man" could do cool "tricks"--an interesting oddity--but if someone is just "mentally disabled," what's "cool" or "interesting" about that? (God, how many times have I heard someone ask, "What talent does Tobey have?" "Is Tobey really good at math, too?" Pu-leaze. Try explaining why 2 + 2 = 4 for the 100th time.)

I suppose this discussion might fit in my chapter on the "gaze" and definition of autism...

Genering Disability--"Interpreting Women"

2007-07-03T18:58:00.001-06:00

In Brenda Jo Brueggemann's "Interpreting Women," she discusses how the construction of moral character or ethos influences the "rhetorical triangle" between the speaker, hearing-impaired "listener," and signer. However, what is particularly relevant here is Brueggemann's discussion of ethics and authority--for Brueggemann the ethics of the interpreter, in my research, the ethics of the parent or advocate "speaking" on behalf of the autistic.

Brueggemann notes: "First, there is the way that an ethics of care and ethics of justice occur in often-entangled operations with each other" (Brueggemann 68). Brueggemann describes a challenges faced by interpreters in regard to the "dimensions of, and boundaries around, their service to and representation of their d/Deaf clients" and how those concerns govern "their collective and individual views of care and justice" and how that "impacts their way of doing their job" (Brueggemann 68).

A second issue she addresses in regard to the "interpretive authority dynamics" is how "complex representation issues are encountered repeatedly by sign language interpreters," particularly when the deaf person is a "power-under situation"--as in a medical scene. Such instances are "microcosms of the way power plays out at large in our culture" (Brueggemann 69). Brueggemann argues, "The complex of representational issues that sign language interpreters encounter in their authoritative 'speaking' space need to be even more carefully coded, catalogued, and categorized so that interpreters in training and practice might have better frames within which to understand their own authority" (69).

Another issue: The "representational dilemmas that sign language interpreters often encounter, that are also often complementary and competing at the same time, are their ethical conflicts about their own positions as mere instruments or powerful advocates" (Brueggemann 70). Brueggemann discusses the ethical concerns in regard to sign language but I think her concerns likewise apply to issues related to representation and autism (parental advocacy, ABA, assisted communication): "Is an interpreter merely a kind of communicative conduit? Are they a unique form of access technology? And (or?) are they real people and an active, engaged part of the dia-no, make that tria-logue?" (Brueggemann 70).

A final point that is important for autism and representation: Interpreters "are deeply involved in the politics of translation. In exploring the always shifting standpoint of an interpretative triangle, they must turn to issues of translation, transliteration, and communicative and crosscultural (mis)understandings in general. Sign language interpreters by and large have a discomforting awareness that too much depends on upon them, that hearing people often only have conversations with them (not with the deaf person they are interpreting for), that their authority is simply too great, that the balance of communication is off-kilter to begin with and the triangle askew, near to collapsing" (Brueggemann 71).

Finally, Brueggemann concludes with a statement about "willing speech" that seems particularly relevant for autism issues, especially considering how difficult speech--communication--can be for the autistic: "What strikes me here then, and finally, is how the power of willing speech --of speech that is one's will, of speech that is easy and willing , of the ability to will speech to occur--is no authority to be ignored. [...] The authority of [...interpreters] represents perhaps one of the keenest examples we could imagine of rhetoric's long-standing educational, political, and personal power--the endowment of willing speech" (Brueggemann 71).

Deaf Studies Research

2007-07-03T18:44:00.001-06:00

Gendering Disability has actually been much more useful than I first thought it would be in my research. I'm going to start reading some texts on the ethics of interpretation and sign language for my discussion on "who can speak for whom?" in my dissertation. I'm still gathering research and reading everything I can get my hands on, but for homework, after I'm finished with Smith and Hutison's book, I've ILL'ed Melanie Metzger's Sign Language Interpreting: Deconstructing the Myth of Neutrality, Judith Roof and Robyn Wiegman's Who Can Speak?: Authority and Identity, and Fiona Robinson's Globalizing Care: Ethics, Feminist Theory, and International Relations. I will pick up Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's article "The Politics of Translation" in Destabilizing Theory: Contemporary Feminist Debates and Linda Alcoff's "The Problem of Speaking for Others" in Feminist Nightmares: Women at Odds: Feminism and the Problem of Sisterhood on Thursday from the TWU library.

I'm thinking that the issues addressed in regard to sign language interpretation will prove useful for my research in two regards: One, I'm going to argue that "personhood" is linked closely with communication--i.e., the ability to speak and listen--determines our (in the collective sense) constructions of who is "a person" or "human" and who isn't. (My research into the Terri Schiavo case might prove very useful here.) This will also play into definitions of autism. And, deaf studies has a wealth of resources that will help me flesh out this discussion. I could transition from this discussion on "personhood" and communication to "who can speak for whom" and the ethics of representation (in regard to activism and advocacy--especially by parents in online communities.)

Back to reading...

Gendering Disability--"Why the Intersexed Shouldn't Be Fixed"

2007-07-01T18:01:00.000-06:00

Colligan, Sumi. "Why the Intersexed Shouldn't Be Fixed: Insights from Queer Theory and Disability Studies." 45-

Colligan's article examines the ways in which queer theory and disability theory intersect in regard to intersexuality and disability as "cultural spectacle,"

"I contend that such an analysis should be broadened to include the role that the development of statistics played in turning disability into deviance, a process that included upholding a statistical norm against which all else was rendered abnormal" (Colligan 48).

"Moreover, the analysis should consider the manner in which the growth of the rehabilitation industry was catalyzed by a drive to remove the 'lack' and restore the disabled body to its 'assumed, prior normal state'" (Colligan 48).

The disabled are "extended the benevolent hand of charity because, particularly in the United States, their images help reaffirm the virtue and moral fitness of its nondisabled citizens" (Colligan 49). I've been thinking about this statement a bit and [just to rant] can see how enormously obvious this is. If Americans, for instance, were really concerned about the wellbeing of the disabled, why not insure that those on SSI are provided with more than the sheer, bare minimum to survive on? Why not uphold laws that prevent the discrimination of the disabled? If we really cared about the disabled as we claim to, why not have initiatives, for instance, that employ every mentally disabled American with some kind of employment? Maybe not the most productive or cost-beneficial, but it would meet the objectives of taking care of the mentally disabled. Oh well... rant over.

Why? Because "their images help reaffirm the virtue and moral fitness of its nondisabled citizens" (Colligan 49).

These statements justify autism representations because they affirm the "normalcy" of the non-autistic.

Gendering Disability--"Critical Race Theory, Feminism, and Disability"

2007-07-01T16:48:00.000-06:00

I've been reading Gendering Disability over the past two days, not necessarily because it discusses mental disabilities, but because it's a title that I keep seeing over and over again in disability readings. So, here's some relevant points that I've identified in my brief reading:

Asch, Adrienne. "Critical Race Theory, Feminism, and Disability: Reflections on Social Justice and Personal Identity." 9-44

Asch applies Critical Race Theory (CRT) Disability Theory in her article. Asch's article is relevant for my dissertation because it addresses issues related to "Human Variations" (determining who is or who isn't disabled), how those "variations" influence the "worth" or profitability of the disabled individual, and how the disabled constitute "communities" and how community membership acts as a means of agency leading to social, legal change.

Asch cites Richard Delgado: "Because racism is an ingrained feature of our landscape, it looks ordinary and natural to persons in the culture... [W]hite elites will tolerate or encourage racial advances for blacks only when they also promote white self-interest" (qtd in Asch 9).

In regard to discussions of the representation of autistics as children, never adults: "Many commentators note that people with disabilities are expected to play no adult social role whatsoever; to be perceived as always, in ever social interaction, a recipient of help and never a provider of assistance; and to be more disliked by nondisabled others if they are clearly competent than if they are perceived as incompetent at a task" (Asch 11).

An interesting point made by Asch as to why minority theory doesn't necessarily "work" in regard to disability theory: "First, impairments are multiple and various; the same impairment may affect several individuals differently, depending upon other factors in their lives. The same impairment may affect the same individual differently at different times in life. [This is particularly true of autistic individuals.]

"Second, making notions of impairment equivalent to forms of human variation would reduce the need to decide who is 'in' and who is 'out' of the group of people counted as people with disabilities, which has become on of the major methods of denying people protection under the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. ["Human variation" model discussed in a moment]

"Third, people with various conditions have a range of needs that influence their ability to take advantage of legal entitlements to education, employment, or public services. Without income to meet certain impairment-related expenses such as medications , transportation, personal assistance services, particular diet supplements, or items of clothing, for example, individuals may not flourish. Without the assistance of job coaches or other support staff, persons with emotional or cognitive impairments may not receive the individual assistance that permits them to manage the demands of typical schools or jobs. Without equipment or work schedules adjusted for rest or medical appointments, people with limited energy or with chronic pain may be unable to perform work for which they are otherwise well suited" (Asch 13).

Scotch and Schriner explain the "Human Variation" model that Asch believes ought to be applied to issues of disability: "In this...human variation model of disability, the problems faced by people with disability might be seen as the consequence of the failure of social institutions (and their physical and cultural manifestations) that can be attributed to the institutions' not having been constructed to deal with a narrower range of variation than is in fact present in any given population" (qtd in Asch 14). According to Asch, this model "has many advantages for people with a range of impairments [...] because it removes some of the pejorative specialness and exceptionality--some of the 'us and them' quality--from disability and reminds everyone that human beings come in a variety of physical, mental, and emotional make-ups that change over time" (Asch 14).

In regard to the ethics and financial interests involved in autism issues: "society will balk at making modifications tat include everyone unless dominant members of that society can be perceived to benefit as a by-product of these changes" (Asch 14).

Also in regard to the financial "worth" of the disabled according to the nondisabled and making disability issues relevant for the nondisabled: "Until it is legitimate, respectable, and acceptable to be a person with a disability in the world, until the nondisabled majority recognizes how ubiquitous impairment is and how likely it is that everyone will experience it themselves or in someone they love, and until the nondisabled majority perceives the millions of people with impairments are fully human and can contribute in meaningful ways to the economy and the family, that world will fight against every legal or moral claim made upon it to change institutions, cultural practices, and institutional and physical structures to become readily inclusive" (Asch 15).

"Instead of discussing which kinds of people have impairments or disabilities and which people do not, instead of saying that some members of society are disabled and others are not, we should consider which people cannot perform which activities in given environments and question how to modify the environments so that they are not disabling. Arguably, any person now living could, without any change in his or her physical, cognitive, sensory, and emotional make-up, be considered impaired [...] Instead of discussing impaired individuals, attention should go to determining which environments--which social, physical, bureaucratic, and communication structures--could incorporate the widest array of individuals in all their diversity of capacities and then determine which environments were impairing and how they could be modified" (Asch 17).

"impairments impinge upon people differently from one another depending upon a host of psychological and social factors that all are external to the biomedical condition" (Asch 19).

Important for discussions of who's "autistic enough": "The medical model of disability would [...contend] that people with substantial departures from a notion of 'species-typical' cognitive, orthopedic, hearing, and visual norms may be the only ones with genuine impairments" (Asch 19).

"If people labeled as mentally ill are filing complaints of discrimination in employment, it may derive from the existential anxiety occasioned by contact with someone whose behavior may be feared unpredictable, out of their or our control, or whose modes of social interaction startle those with the power to make employment decisions" (Asch 21).

In regard to her discussion on community, Asch notes, "Even for those who acquire their conditions at birth or in childhood and young adulthood, most characteristics are not genetically transmitted, and thus only a small fraction of the millions of people with disabilities grow up in a natural community of others with their same characteristics" (Asch 23).

"Lack of natural community, the variability among impairments, and the domination of medical services and philanthropic disability service organizations by nondisabled professionals have all mitigated against developing a strong, coherent, politically powerful community of people with disabilities" (Asch 23). I see online autism communities as part of creating this community to enable social change--creates agency.

Online communities are important, according to Asch, because they challenge the medical model of disability that so often presents disabled children and adults as unwanted, unhappy burdens. Communities create counter-discourses to that "[c]ontrast the views of disability as burdensome and disappointing to families expressed by many philosophers and physicians" (Asch 27). Counter-discourses are necessary considering that "most families who raise children with disabilities fare as well as others in overall life satisfaction and enjoyment of their children" (Asch 27).

Smith, Bonnie G. and Beth Hutchison, eds. Gendering Disability. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2004.

Claiming Disability, Chpt 3

2007-06-25T12:19:00.000-06:00

Chapter 3, "Divided Society"

"society works to divide up the human community and oppress some of its members" (34).

"Disabled people have existed predominantly as marginal figures, their contributions and perspectives are not generally noted" (36).

Linton discusses the role of voice (vox) in the rhetorics of disability and her statement is particularly relevant to discussions of online autism communities: "The most fundamental problem, though, is that disabled people's voices are almost completely absent from this picture, and so the understanding of disabled people's place in these situations is filtered through the experience of people who have never been in that place" (37).

Distinct categories that disabled people have occupied in Western history (Linton is referencing and elaborating on categories first described by Hanks and Hanks):

1. Pariah--"disabled people are denied most if not all claims to succor and to rights by the dominant nondisabled majority and are deemed a threat to the group itself" (38). "despised by society." "Denying or withholding resources or protection is one set of responses to disabled people deemed pariahs" (39). Nazi Germany.

Also, published reports of institutions and schools abusing autistic children and adults fits within this discussion. Numerous examples are seen in the media and noted on Autismvox.com in regard to "electroshock therapy," neglect, and physical and emotional abuse. "A most profound example of withholding care and 'succor" can be seen in the United States, in the history of many of our institutions and asylums" (40).

"Disabled people around the world who are deemed pariahs by their own families and communities have lived through the terrible pain of being denied succor by the very persons to whom it would be most natural to turn. Practices ranging from withholding attention, food, love, and education to denying them life itself have been documented" (45).

2. Economic and Social Liability--"disabled people's being seen as impairing the economic well-being, as well as the vitality and viability, of a society" (45). The disabled are thought to drain economic resources and "deflect attention from other needs" (45). Rhetoric involves the "lifeboat image" of a "society abandoning the 'weaker' members to aid the survival of the group.

Couple this "lifeboat image" with technology and "There are at least two compteting ideas at work here. One is the belief that in the modern, industrialized world scientific and technological competence, along with advanced humanitarian and moral development, would lead the way toward the highest level of care and of concern ever evidenced. However, those modernist ideals mean the society would not tolerate being bogged down by those who can't keep up, who are thought to drain resources, or who remind us in any way of the limitations of our scientific capabilities" (46).

Economic concerns are particularly relevant to discussions on autism, especially considering the enormous costs that ABA, medication, chelation (if a parent chooses to go in that direction), tutoring, etc can cost parents.

Local responsibility of raising disabled child and, possibly, caring for disabled adult.

Important to note the distinction of those "in need" who are worthy of help and those who are not (47). Another important note: "dependency was deemed antithetical to citizenship" (qtd in Linton 48). Interesting for discussion on those with mental disabilities--what constitutes active citizenship (especially considering the focus on citizenship in the early American institutions as discussed in Trent), who gets to have citizenship, does one have to contribute economically to have citizenship, and how might all of this impact those who are mentally disabled? (Perhaps something to discuss in the corporitization/ethics of autism?)

Also, important to note: "America's glorification of independence has not served disabled people well" (48).

Interesting point to note for "supranatural section": "In the nineteenth century, there was a shift from the belief that disability was caused by supernatural agency to a biological explanation that held that treatment, or some form of rehabilitation, was the logical response to disability" (48). Discussion also found in Longmore... Thoughts to consider: how does our ideological shift during the 18th and 19th centuries influence autism treatments in the 21st century? Seems to be 2 rhetorics/discourses going on: Media--autism as a reflection of some demon, spirit, supernatural being, angel existing in the body of the individual. And, Media--autism as a biological defect or some active poison wrecking havoc on the autistic's body. Point to note is that there is some "other" at fault for the disabilities of the individual.

"Although medicine didn't overtly claim expertise in reducing the economic liability posed by disabled people, it did corner the market on attempts to contain the perceived negative social impact of disability" (49).

"The institutions that emerged in the twentieth century became teaching hospitals and research centers" (49).

"In the current climate in the United States of managed health care, there is a deep fear among disabled people that our lives will be weighed on an economic scale" (50).

Michael Berube writes: "I do not want to see a world in which human life is judged by the kind of cost-benefit analysis that weeds out those least likely to attain self-sufficiency and to provide adequate 'returns' on social investments" (qtd in Linton 51).

3. Tolerant Utilization--disabled people "are allowed to participate to the extent that they have the ability to fulfill certain roles and duties designated by the nondisabled majority as necessary" (51). "[T]hese situations are ripe for exploitation" (51)--freakshows and carnival acts.

4. Limited Participation--"disabled people's roles and status are largely derived from their ability to be productive in terms of the standards set by the dominant majority"(53). "[I]t is up to the individual to demonstrate worth and competence" and this model promotes "a false sense of acceptance because the norms and standards of the able-bodied majority are imposed and held up as the ideal to which all should aspire" (53). "Limited participation indicates the society's willingness to accept a disabled person among its ranks in any domain in which she or he can 'keep up' with the nondisabled" (53).

5. Laissez-Faire--"a steadfast relation to the protective group, despite handicap," (qtd in Linton 53) and the "obligation of the extended family to shelter and provide for its unfortunates continues, whether they are able to give their labor or not" (qtd in Linton 53). For Linton, this term means that society accepts the "idea of noninterference" as applied to social structures. "The society makes no effort to reconstruct its goals or acceptable means of achieving them to reflect a broader range of citizens, the society has accepted a laissez-faire approach to disability" (54). "Disabled people then are left in the uneviable position of having to keep up with norms and standards but with no opportuntity to shape them" (54).

6. Participation and Accomodation--"concerted efforts to accomodate all members of the group and to adapt the procedures and standards typically imposed to reflect a range of abilities, interests, and needs. This does not mean lowering standards in an absolute sense; it means that greater flexibility is evident and a broader range of objectives are set. These actions are based on moral, practical, religious, and/or rights-based approaches to full participation of all members of society" (54).

Claiming Disability--Chpts 1 & 2

2007-06-21T08:22:00.000-06:00

I finished reading Simi Linton's book last night and found it enormously informative and insightful. I wish I had found this book at the beginning of last semester.

Points for discussion:

Disability studies enables scholars to understand "disability as a social, political, and cultural phenomenon" (2).

Differences b/t "disability" and "impairment"--disability is a social construction

"the field of disability studies is even more mariginal in the academic culture than disabled people are in the civic culture. The enormous energy society expends keeping people with disabilities sequestered and in subordinate positions is matched by the academy's effort to justify that isolation and oppression" (3).

The disabled "are all bound together, not by [the] list of our collective symptoms but by the social and political circumstances that have forged us as a group" (4). For my research, I see this statement as important because it is not the symptoms of autism but the circumstances that constitute "autism" as a definition. Definitions of autism are not medically based but socially and politically...

"vantage point of the atypical"... "atypical experience as deficit and loss" (5)

Disability studies grounded in humanities and social/political contexts, not psychology, because psychology endorses notion of "normalcy," which "centers and priviledges certain types of behavior, functioning, and appearance" (6), psychology's emphasis on empiricism, and psychology's emphasis on the individual rather than the environment (6).

"Disability studies, in contrast, focuses on the external variables: the social, political, and intellectual contingencies that shape meaning and behavior" (6).

"The scholarship and curriculum practices housed in academic institutions play a significant role in the perpetuation of a divided and unequal society" (7).

Discussion on the different labels and meanings behind them in Chapter 2.

"the medicalization of disability cast human variation as deviance from the norm, as pathological condition, as deficit, and, significantly, as an individual burden and personal tragedy. Society, in agreeing to assign medical meaning to disability, collude to keep the issue within the purview of the medical establishment, to keep it a personal matter and 'treat' the condition and the person with the condition rather than 'treating' the social processes and policies that constrict disabled people's lives" (11). This seems to relate well to criticisms of Autism Speaks by the neurodiversity movement. The problem with Autism Speaks for some is that the organization treats autistic individuals as "abnormal" through their emphasis on bio-medical interventions rather than addressing the social practices that disable, e.g., lack of group homes to insure a higher quality of life for disabled individuals.

"When medical definitions of disability are dominant, it is logical to separate people according to biomedical condition through the use of diagnostic categories and to forefront medical perspectives on human variation. When disability is redefined as a social/ political category, people with a variety of conditions are identified as people with disabilities or disabled people, a group bound by common social and political experience" (12).

Interesting point for discussion in regard to high/low functioning of autism--big deal in autism circles-- "The question of who 'qualifies' as disabled is as answerable or as confounding as questions about any identity status. [...] The degree and significance of an individual's impairment is often less of an issue than the degree to which someone identifies as disabled" (12). I would say that Linton's claims here do not necessary apply to autism discussions. Issue of ethos in regard to who can identify themselves as high/low functioning, who is even considered autistic.

Disability is determined by disclosure.

"Nice words" such as "physically challenged," "able disabled," "handicapable," and "special people/children" "may be considered well-meaning attempts to inflate the value of people with disabilities, they convey the boosterism and do-gooder mentality endemic to the paternalistic agencies that control many disabled people's lives" (14).

"Overcoming a disability" is really about overcoming the "social stigma of having a disability" (17). "the individual's responsibility for her or his own success is paramount." The disabled are required to "manage an inaccessible environment rather than demand that the community change to include them" (19).

"Shame and fear are personal burdens, but if these tales are told, we can demonstrate how the personal is indeed the political" (22).

Normal/Abnormal rhetoric is often used to describe "absolute categories" that maintains their "certainty by association with empiricism, and they suffer from empiricism's reductive and simplifying tendencies" (24).

"Language that conveys passivity and victimization reinforces certain stereotypes when applied to disabled people. Some of the stereotypes that are particularly entrenched are that people with disabilities are more dependent, childlike, passive, and miserable and are less competant then people who do not have disabilities" (25).

"disabled people are rarely depicted on television, in film, or in fiction as being in control of their own lives--in charge or actively seeking out and obtaining what they want and need. More often, disabled people are depicted as pained by their fate or, if happy, it is through personal triumph over their adversity. The adversity is not depicted as lack of opportunity, discrimination, institutionalization, and ostracism; it is the personal burden of their own body or means of functioning" (25).

"Victim" rhetoric casts the disability as the "active agent perpetuating an agressive act on a vulnerable, helpless 'victim'" (25). Rhetoric of "victim" markedly different when used to describe those "suffering from" or "afflicted with" HIV. Distinction is then made b/t "innocent" victims of blood transfusions and "complicit" victims of HIV from sexual contact and shared needles (26).

Other "victim" rhetoric: "afflict," "agonize," "excruciate," "rack," "torment," "torture" (26). Distinction b/t "living with" and "dying from" a disease. "Wheelchair bound" or "confined to a wheelchair" (27). "Invalid"

"Disabled people, who have often spent a great deal of time as patients, discuss the ways that we have been socialized in the medical culture to be compliant, and that has often undermined our ability to challenge authority or to function autonomously" (29).

the verb disable means "to deprive of capability or effectiveness" (30).

Sections of the dissertation?

2007-06-09T15:53:00.001-06:00

Possible discussions/sections for the dissertation?

Problem of Identifying Autism--

"defining" autism, maybe a look through Burke's pentad w/ Kanner, Asperger, and today (Kirby? moving "autism" out of schizophrenia in DSM),
semiotics/linguistics/discursive influence on autism as disability--or the lack of discursive/semiotic/linguistic construction in autistics
high-low functioning distinction?
metaphors describing autism?

Identifying the "Gaze" of Autism--

see blog post below
discussion on high-functioning and low-functioning as it relates to an autistic's ability to disclose

Identifying the "Suprahuman"--

including discussion on autism and God, devil (presenting in November at SAMLA)
savants' "superhuman" abilities

Identifying the Commodities of/ Corporatization (?) autism-- (submit proposal to RSA for presentation in May? CFP on "responsibilities of rhetoric" so would fit well)

white, upper-class condition,
autism and productivity,
autism and expensive treatments, therapies,
autism and multi-million dollar non-profits and rhetoric of soliciting donations (all connecting to identifying autism and agency of parent and autistics to "cure" or treat autism)

Hmm... and within each section I would use Western media to support my claims (television, film, news, internet...) I keep coming back in my readings to identification and agency...

Starting on the prospectus...

2007-06-09T15:33:00.000-06:00

Just some thoughts I've started getting together--it's pretty vague and sketchy still:

Since the DSM-IV first defined autism and autism spectrum disorders as pervasive developmental disorders separate from schizophrenia and childhood emotional disturbances in 1990, scholars in medicine, biology, chemistry, genetics, psychiatry, psychology, education, and environmental science have published thousands of books, journal articles, and research studies in an attempt to better understand this neurological condition. A simple search in any medical database at any university library on "autism" will pull up tens of thousands of entries.

However, a search on the "representation" of autism in the Humanities will yield only a handful of books and journal articles; in fact, many notable works in Disability Studies do not even mention autism. Discussions on mental illness often focus primarily on schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. For instance, in Lauri E. Klobas' book Disability Drama in Television and Film, she cites thousands of instances when mentally and physically disabled characters have appeared in Western television programs and films; however, she does not cite one movie or television program with an autistic character, although autistic characters have appeared in more than fifty-five feature films and made-for-television movies, as noted by Stuart Murray in his article "Hollywood and the Fascination with Autism." Likewise, recent publications by James C. Wilson and Cynthia Lewinsky-Wilson (Embodied Rhetorics: Disability in Language and Culture (2001)) and Sharon L. Snyder and Brenda Jo Bruggemann (Disability Studies: Enabling the Humanities (2002)) do not even mention, much less discuss, the rhetoric or representation of autism.

While the recent media and public attention on autism have increased awareness and interest in this neurological condition, scholars in the Humanities have yet to discuss this matter as extensively as scholars in medicine and education have. More recently, two notable works on the construction of autism in Western discourses by Majia Nadesan (Constructing Autism (2005)) and Roy Grinker (Unstrange Minds (2007)) have been published; however, neither works examine the rhetoric of the representation and identification of autism, particularly in Western media.

While the recent media and public attention on autism have increased awareness and interest in this neurological condition, scholars in the Humanities have yet to discuss this matter as extensively as scholars in medicine and education have. Therefore, my dissertation will examine the rhetoric of agency and identification of autism spectrum disorders as reflected in Western media, including films with autistic characters or characters who exhibit autistic behaviors, youtube videos, and autism-related blogs. Through films, online videos, and online journals, autistic individuals and parents of autistic children are able to share their experiences with various treatments and news publications. [This part needs alot of work. Need to be much more specific.]

Little doubt exists as to the influence of films and television on our perceptions of society; our "visual culture" shapes both how we act toward each other and how we respond to those actions. The perceptions of the physically and mentally disabled are significantly relevant since such perceptions in turn shape how society, as a whole, treats, responds to, and cares for those who are primarily considered "inferior," "broken," or an "other" in society. Likewise, new media online video servers, such as youtube, and online journals allow autistic individuals and parents of autistic children to share their experiences with various treatments and their responses to and concerns regarding news publications. Therefore, my dissertation will examine the representation of autism spectrum disorders in Western media--films, television programming, youtube, and online journals--in order to illustrate how Western media both reflects society's anxieties regarding developmental (and invisible) disabilities and how those anxieties manifest in Western diagnosis, treatment, and care for individual with autism spectrum disorders.

As W. J. T. Messaris notes in his book Picture Theory, the importance and reliance on the visual has led to the current "pictorial turn"--a turn in which humans rely on images, rather than the text, to understand the world around them. This "pictorial turn" is no less important in regard to media and disability studies. The ways in which the disabled are "gazed" upon by the camera and online reflects non-disabled anxieties and concerns regarding the disabled--both of which shape how the non-disabled and the disabled, themselves, respond to those with disabilities when they are no longer visually represented in the media. Still, this concern for "visual culture" is particularly relevant in regard to disability studies because "visualizing" is often a passive activity--images flood us in all facets of our lives and we, in turn, "receive" them. We use those images to understand and construct the world around us. Humans, in turn, use what those images to as a means of signification--to identify, define, categorize, and interpret the world around us. Images allow humans to identify what an object is in respect to what it is not; in other words, images of the color "red" enable viewers to distinguish it from the color "blue." Likewise, humans use images to categorize what is "normal" from "abnormal"--wearing tennis shoes on our feet is "normal" while wearing them on our hands is "abnormal."

However, the ability of images in our visual culture to distinguish what is considered "normal" from "abnormal" has profound consequences when applied to the human body. Images of "health" and "vitality" become synonymous with "normal" while images of "difference" and "disfigurement" become analogous with "abnormality." Consequently, the "abnormal" body is separated, distinguished, and isolated as something to fear, loathe, and pity. As such, the disabled have throughout history been marginalized because of their perceived "differences." The ever-popular circus freak show in the nineteenth century illustrates the pervasiveness of the human interest in those whose bodies and minds render them "abnormal." During the twentieth century, the "freak show" moved out of the circus tent and into television programs and feature films. Audiences have been fascinated with the gruesomeness of the "monster" in Frankenstein, the deformed Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the remarkable "genius" of Rain Man. The marginalized "others" often serve as educational fodder for cable television, as seen on such programs as Medical Incredible on TLC (The Learning Channel) and the weekly specials often featured on The Discovery Health Channel. Such programs as "The Mermaid Girl," "The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off," and "400 Pound Tumor" have resurrected the circus freak show under the auspices of "education," "health," and "learning."

While those with visible disabilities are often "gazed" upon as "abnormal," those with invisible disabilities pose different concerns; namely, how do we "gaze" upon someone whose "abnormality" is invisible to the naked eye? What complexities exist for the disabled with their "abnormalities" or "differences" are not visible in this increasingly visual culture? Additionally, how does the visually-dependent media (specifically, the medium of television, film, and the internet) construct the images of those with invisible disabilities when their disabilities are not visible? The visualization and marginalization of those with invisible disabilities, especially autism, are represented and reinforced in Western media and in turn shape how those with invisible disabilities are treated (and not treated) by society. As such, these issues are just a few of the concerns I will address in my dissertation.

[After reading these last 4 paragraphs, I wonder if a major "section" (chapters?) of my dissertation will involve the "gaze" of autism. Particularly who is gazing? How does the "gaze" of those with autism, perhaps as reflected in Send in the Idiots, Mozart and the Whale, Born on a Blue Day, and other autism narratives, differ from the gaze of observers--parent's narratives, television, film, blogs? This conversation could include discussions on disclosure, particularly relevant for online electronic communities in blogs and online discussion groups.

I keep seeing two main discussions in my readings--identification and agency. Perhaps the meta-terms that connect the dissertation as a whole together? Then, I think looking at the "gaze" of autism would connect well within the larger discussion of identification and agency. Or, maybe not...]

"People with 'Learning Difficulties'"...

2007-06-09T14:54:00.000-06:00

...in Corker, Mairian and Tom Shakespeare, eds. Disability/Postmodernity: Embodying Disability Theory. New York: Continuum. 2002.

I'm working today and tomorrow on the prospectus and reading around. Something of interest from Dan Goodley and Mark Rapley's article "People with 'Learning Difficulties'" that would be relevant for a discussion on the construction of autism based on discursive and linguistic abilities. Specifically, Goodley and Rapley argue that "assumptions and ways of talking about disability [...] are crucial to the production of persons as incompetent. Both approaches point to the political consequences of these ways of talking: to the silencing of people with intellectual disabilities. Both approaches draw our attention to disability as a socially produced phenomenon in a social world, and social worlds, we argue, are worlds that can be changed" (127).

Also relevant: "We challenge both the modernist construction of 'learning difficulties' as naturalized impairment, and also demonstrate that phenomena frequently understood as aspects of social interaction" (127).

Goodley and Rapley's article focuses primarily those with 'learning difficulties' tendencies to acquiesce. Specifically, Goodley and Rapley challenge how the tendency to acquiesce, which is one significant "marker" or characteristic of the mentally challenged that is often used to justify how the "utterances of people with 'intellectual disabilities' are not to be trusted as veridical reports of their actions, beliefs, or feeling states" (128), is based on faulty methodological practices that assumed to be neutral or objective. Goodley and Rapley note that just as "language talks to the world into being, discursive psychology insists that (research) 'methods' are always and already 'theory' in disguise (128).

An interesting point for a discussion on the social construction of autism: "Discursive psychology [...] grants prior status to language : without the prior existence of language, such 'psychological' things 'intellectual (dis)abilities', 'syndromes' or acquiescence 'biases' can, quiet literally, not sensibly be talked of" (128). While G & R focus primarily on discursive analysis of transcriptions, I think G & R's statement illustrates well how rhetorical analysis can be applied to discussions on the "construction" of autism in the past 2 decades.

I'm still working and reading...

2007-06-04T19:47:00.001-06:00

...away at some books that I need to read. Foucault, etc. I haven't blogged in a while but I'm still working and my dissertation is on my mind about 23.4 hours of every day.

Upward Bound is kicking my butt. So, I'll work on the prospectus on Saturday. (Sigh).

I swear: I. will. not. get. a. full. time. job. until. I. finish. my. dissertation!! I can't find 2 hours to read quietly--let alone work on my prospectus, which the rough draft is due July 1. I don't know how someone could think about getting a full time job and writing a dissertation. It's impossible.

Because I need a schedule...

2007-05-22T18:53:00.000-06:00

...here's my reading/blogging schedule for the week:

Monday--read Introduction to Foucault Reader, started Madness and Civilization
Tuesday--read Madness and Civilization
Wednesday--finish Madness and Civilization, start The Birth of the Clinic
Thursday--read The Birth of the Clinic
Friday--finish The Birth of the Clinic
Saturday--blog out Foucault
Sunday--blog out Foucault
Monday--blog out Foucault
Tuesday--Start working with UB (9-5), work on dissertation prospectus from 9-11 every night through month of June

...and my "tentative" dissertation schedule (that's subject to revision):

July 1st--Prospectus draft to Dr. T
September-ish--Defend Prospectus
September-August 2008--Write dissertation from 9-11 every night. Goal: 2 pages/night. 10 pages/week.
August 2008--Completed rough draft to Dr. T
August-October/November--Revise rough draft
December/January--Defend dissertation
May 2009--Graduate

Engendering Idiocy

2007-05-15T16:35:00.000-06:00

One last interesting observation from Trent:

"Before the war, moral idiots were [...] almost always male, and like him they were portrayed as responding to the good efforts of the asylum to rescue them from their moral degeneracy. when the superintendents wrote about this type of idiot, their illustrations were of 'boys' who had improved both intellectually and morally under the tutelage of the institution. A decade after the war the discovery of female moral imbeciles, whose moral imbecility included the ability to bear illegitimate children, added a new urgency to the type. With their discovery, images like those of Grubb and other male moral idiots began to compete with new and more threatening images. In a few decades, the threat of a baby in the arm would substitute for the promise of a book in the hand" (Trent 23).

"Moralizing Idiocy"

2007-05-15T16:22:00.000-06:00

Seguin's definition of idiocy rested on "educational potential" (Trent 18).

However, Linus Brockett, in 1855, took idiocy as a reflection of physical abnormalities:

"We should define idiocy...as the result of an infirmity of the body which prevents, to a greater or less extent, the development of the physical, moral and intellectual powers" (qtd in Trent 18).

R. J. Patterson notes "Idiocy, then, has a physical rather than a mental origin" (qtd in Trent 18).

As Trent notes, "For these early reformers the pathological emphasis was associated with a widely held view of degenerative and polymorphous heredity. Idiocy was related to many 'sins of the father': intemperance, poverty, consanguinity (meaning marriage between cousins), insanity, scrofula, consumption, licentious habits, failed attempts at abortion, and overwork in the quest for wealth and power. 'The vast majority of idiocy in our world,' claimed Brockett, 'is the direct result of violation of the physical and moral laws which govern our being; that often times the sins of the father are thus visited upon their children; and that the parent, for the sake of a momentary gratification of his depraved appetite, inflicts upon his hapless offspring a life of utter vacuity'" (qtd in Trent 18).

"A moral component was linked closely" (Trent 19).

I found this description of an "idiot" in 1860 particularly relevant for autism studies: "Given to making bizarre noises, masturbating frequently and in public, eating their own excrement, and abusing themselves, these transformed 'worst cases' convinced audiences of the salubrious effects of careful and intensive education" (Trent 19). It was, particularly, this description that got me thinking about the archival research into 19th century "idiots"--these behaviors are very, very common among autistics.

"Pathologizing Idiocy"

2007-05-15T16:11:00.000-06:00

Another interesting quotation:

"For Seguin, idiocy was a failure of the will. Training techniques mastered by Seguin were used to excite the will, to invigorate the muscles, and to train the senses, all leading to higher cognitive development. Idiots unwilling to exercise their senses were blocked from this higher development. Thus the lack (or failure) of will was manifested as a functional blockage. Proper education through what he called physiological training, coupled with moral treatment, was the only successful way to break through this blockage" (Trent 16).

"By 1852, Wilbur had identified four types: simulative idiocy defined people whose development was merely retarded and who could be prepared for 'the ordinary duties and enjoyments of humanity'; higher-grade idiocy defined those who would eventually enter common school ' to be qualified...for civil usefulness and social happiness'; lower-grade idiocy applied to people who could become 'decent in their habit, more obedient, furnished with more extended means of happiness, educated in some simple occupations and industry, capable of self-support under judicious management in their own families, or in well conducted public industrial institutions for adults idiots'; and incurables were idiots for whom education was a goal in itself (New York Asylum for Idiots 1852, 18-21). Going beyond Seguin then, Wilbur defined idiocy to emphasize gradations of the condition. Idiocy became types of idiots" (Trent 17).

Some rhetorical reasoning...

2007-05-15T16:00:00.000-06:00

Another thought I've been bouncing around since the VTech shootings and the media speculations that Cho was autistic: the emphasis on deductive reasoning in regard to disability, criminality, and Cho.

Cho was psychotic.
Cho was autistic.
Autistics are psychotic.

Or, for that matter:

Cho lacked empathy.
Autistics lack empathy.
Cho was autistic.

For a discussion on the criminality of autism? There's plenty of discussion out there on the "lack of empathy" arguments made in regard to autism and schizophrenia, autism and criminality...

"Inventing Idiocy"

2007-05-15T15:37:00.000-06:00

So, I'm still reading through Trent's book--due back tomorrow to the library--and here's some important points I've noted thus far:

Interesting note in regard to "idiots" in early 19th century: "Although postrevolutionary Americans might feel humor, sympathy, benevolence, and even admiration for the familiar local idiot, after the panic of 1819 they began to view idiocy with a mixture of curiosity, anxiety, and after the Civil War, fear. This change of perspective--from particular individuals to a general type--began with a major shift in the way Americans dealt with a host of so-called dependents (the unemployed and criminals).

Before 1820, most dependent people (but especially the unworthy) were linked by what was believed to be their common moral frailty. Ignorance, idleness, intemperance, and prodigality, which led to hastily arranged marriages, gambling, frequenting the pawn broker, prostitution, and so forth--were associated with America's depend populations (Society for the Prevention of Pauperism 1818, 3-6). Only their 'worthiness' distinguished one dependent group from the other, and only the worthy received local public assistance. This help usually came in the form of so-called outdoor relief, that is, relief that respectable dependents received in their homes or in the homes of care givers."

So, points to note here--

1. Contemporary contexts to create own shift in regard to "fear" of autism. Catalyst that prompted the contemporary fear--as reflected in media and metaphors used to describe autism? Began in 1990's or so... So, what prompted this newfound fear? More importantly for rhetoric, how specifically is the fear reflected in the media? "Army of autistic children."

My initial answer: I think the Internet has something to do with this fear. Of course, this is just speculative, but I can't help but believe that the availability of resources and information has increased awareness of autism--both for good and bad. Grinker believes in Unstrange Minds that autism rates haven't gone up; rather our awareness of autism has enabled better diagnoses. Availability of information, via the Internet, for starters, in my opinion. But, with information and newly diagnoses cases of autism comes fear of a disability that we know so little about. Add to that the fear of technology... (I'm thinking Katherine Hayles' work on posthumanity might be something to looking into for this sort of discussion. Maybe a later post?)

2. The first paragraph makes for an interesting discussion on "high-functioning" and "low-functioning" autism ("low-functioning" is more typically replaced with "classic" autism). While scholars have noted the connection between "functioning" and productivity (Trent discusses this also on pages 24 and 25), but I'm thinking there's also a connection here between high and low functioning and morality. High-functioning--able to reason "right" from "wrong." Low-functioning--not as clearly discernible. Additionally, the possibility of morality more recognizable/thought in "higher" functioning autistics. Going back to fear here, we fear what we don't know/can't control. If "low-functioning" autistics can't be taught "right" from "wrong," they are potential dangers to society--in theory, of course. I think this morality issue is a relevant one, especially considering my paper for SAMLA on autism and God.

"Inventing the Feeble Mind"

2007-05-12T10:30:00.000-06:00

I'm reading Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States right now, and I'm struck by James Trent's lengthy discussion on mental "idiocy" in the 19th century. Which has me thinking about a couple things:

"Crisis" or "epidemic" rhetoric of autism is reliant on autism as a construction of 20th-21st century epidemiology. Autism has to be caused by mercury, pollution, toxins... But...
One could look at archival material of "idiocy" in 19th century, if one were so inclined, to "identify" autistic individuals in 19th century using 20th century diagnostic criteria. While this isn't something I necessarily want to do in my dissertation, it's a relevant point and one that could be further explored in a lengthier study.
If autism did exist in 19th century (as I believe it did) then why the need to begin any history of autism with Kanner in early 20th century? Why not go back and look at archival research of "idiots" in America in 19th century? "Idiots" existed. So, why does "autism" only begin with Kanner? My answer: ease of accessibility. If one were to look at archival material/records of "idiots" and their behaviors in 19th century, that would be a HUGE undertaking. Enormous. (Maybe a smaller analysis would be appropriate for a chapter/section of one's dissertation?) But, to do a comprehensive exploration of autism and mental impairment in the 19th century? That's a huge undertaking. One reason being the accessibility of records and documents. BUT to look at 20th century cases of autism? Not as hard. One, the diagnostic criteria exists already. Two, media. **We don't know about what we don't know about. **

Just some thoughts I was bouncing around in my noggin this morning...

Back to work...

2007-05-12T10:25:00.000-06:00

The Spring semester's over, so it's time to start cracking down on the dissertation. The Summer of the Dissertation.

Thoughts I'm bouncing around:

First, proposal draft to Dr. Thompson by July 1st.
I'm going to read and work on writing at least 2 pages a day during July and August. During June, I'll be busy working for Upward Bound but July and August are just for drafting out ideas. Whether they become part of the dissertation or not, who knows, but they'll become part of my "writing out" my thoughts. Can't get to Z without going through A, B, C...
Write one chapter a semester. Maybe two if the momentum is going. I'm going to utilize my strengths--endurance. I'm good at doing a little bit everyday. So, that's the plan. 3-4 pages a week during the long semesters. Maybe more, maybe less. This should have me completed and ready to defend in December 2008 and to graduate by May 2009.

Some good news...

2007-05-12T10:24:00.000-06:00

My proposal was accepted at SAMLA. I'll be presenting my paper in November with some notable names in autism research. Yea, me.

Submitted Proposal

2007-04-15T20:17:00.000-06:00

So, I finished the proposal yesterday and sent it off to Dr. Osteen. And, here it is... I worry that the discussion on mental impairment and demonizing is done too much, but I wanted to include that because it fits so well with the "suprahuman"--child of God--topic that I wanted to write about. I think, in regard to the dissertation, The God Connection (or Indigo Children, as I've heard, too) would transition well into a discussion on savants and their perceived "superhuman" power.

I think the Christianity aspect of this is pretty interesting, especially considering that autism is considered to be such a Western, upper class condition.

Speaking of which, there was an interesting article out of Arizona about an autistic boy who was refused Communion because he refused to swallow the bread. Autistic children often have sensory issues that make swallowing certain textures and tastes uncomfortable. Instead, the nine year-old would hold the bread in his mouth for a couple seconds and then give it to his father, who would then swallow it. The Catholic church officials determined that the boy was not officially partaking in Communion and, therefore, could not continue to do so in that manner. Quite interesting implications that correspond well with this discussion here.

So, here's my abstract:

The “Suprahuman” and the “Inhuman”:
Identifying Those Of, Beyond, and Without God in Autism Texts

In recent years, autism texts have begun to explore and identify autism in terms of religion, spirituality, damnation, and salvation. For instance, in William Stiller's recent book Autism and the God Connection, Stiller, who has Asperger's Syndrome, proposes that autistic individuals possess unique spiritual qualities that, as blessed children of God, reflect the “purposeful plan to refocus us on the importance of reverence for all of humanity.” Similarly in Chuck Russell's film Bless the Child, autistic five year-old Cody O'Connor exhibits extraordinary abilities that are intended to reflect her designated status as God's crusader against Satan. In both these examples, the autistic individual possesses the unique positions as “special” children of God who are not merely “human” but are “suprahuman.”

While these two examples represent the autistic individual as possessing spiritual qualities that place him or her “closer” to God than those considered neurotypical, other autism texts describe the autistic individual as a sort of “changeling” who was transformed from “a healthy, normal” individual to one lost, cursed, or consumed by some unknown demon or monster. Parents have long described their children possessed or stolen and locked away in a remote and hidden dungeon waiting to be rescued by the perils of autism. Such representations, often reiterated in narratives by parents of autistic children (i.e., Let Me Hear Your Voice, The Sound of a Miracle, and Strange Son), equate autism--to continue to metaphor--to a hell on earth and places the autistic individual as beyond and without God.

This presentation, then, will apply current research in disability rhetoric, including Foucault's discussion on power, discourse, and mental disorder, to textual and cinematic representations of the autistic as of, beyond, and without God to illustrate how such rhetoric positions the autistic individual as “suprahuman” and “inhuman.” Such depictions--even those relatively more favorable--stigmatize the autistic individual, reinforce fears of those with ASD, and justify prejudicial practices and policies that perpetuate inadequate and even inhumane treatment and care.

Proposal in Process

2007-04-12T10:19:00.000-06:00

So, I'm sitting at my computer this morning working on a proposal for an Autism panel at SAMLA chaired by Mark Osteen (a notable name in autism circles), and as usual, I'm having trouble getting started. I thought I might come here and blog a bit to get my thoughts down in a less threatening environment.

I was thinking about doing something with criminalization of autistic individuals in film, and using Hinshaw's book as a jumping off point, but this morning, I've been feeling more inclined to do something with autism and the supranatural or suprahuman (rather than superhuman as Dr. T suggested). Specifically, I'm thinking about the ways in which autism is connected with God, salvation, and spirituality. In the 17th and 18th centuries, "autistic-like" children were believed to be without souls and parents were advised by priests and town elders to kill, drown, or abandon their children in wild. See connections here between feral children and autistic children, for instance. This connection between autism and earlier manifestations of the cognitive condition illustrate a history of autism that refutes environmental toxin, mercury, vaccine arguments on autism as a late 20th century condition.

Interestingly, I think contemporary connection between autism, spirituality, and changelings, as discussed in William Stiller's book Autism and the God Connection, correlates in some ways with the neurodiversity movement. Both are based, in part, on an acceptance-based approach to autism cognition. Autistic individuals are not normal people who are flawed, harmed, or with "deformed" brains (or as one grandmother I read noted--"toxic waste dumps"), but rather unique individuals born with unique cognitive abilities and unique neurological functioning. It seems all the more interesting that Stiller is autistic, himself, so his point-of-view is markedly from within or inside, rather than the parent on the outside--which is the most often point of view regarding autism discourses.

I'm also thinking about how metaphor of "changleing" children comes into play here. Children possessed by demons or lost to some monster/devil who endure some kind of metamorphosis changing from "normal, healthy" toddlers to some vacant, apathetic, "lost" child. (Again, metaphor of the feral children--lost in the wildness of their minds might come into play here.)

So, how might I show this rhetoric? Methodology for carrying out my research? I'm thinking of the representation both in film and text--online and print. Films such as Bless the Child, The Wild Child, Change of Habit... Texts such as Stillman's, Grinker's, and online blogs that illustrate this rhetoric of "changeling" and God and spirituality. I'm not sure if this is as good a methodology as I ought to have but I'll work on this more.

If I were to expand this into "something" larger, say a dissertation (who knew, right?), I would link this discussion with one on autism savants as superhumans with superhuman brains. Back to Rainman and the like. But, that's for another time.

The Mark of Shame

2007-04-09T19:28:00.000-06:00

I've been reading Stephen P. Hinshaw's The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change over the past couple days (damn, Interlibrary Loan gave me a whole 7 days to read the book and get it back to them--needless to say, I have $4 in fines waiting for me tomorrow). So, I'm going to post some important quotations to help me for future reference/discussion. Oh, and I'm working on my abstract for the Autism panel this week and I'll post it here when it's done. I'm pretty much going to beg the chair to let me be on the panel, even if I have to wash his car or something. Whatever it takes.

"Currently, homelessness is fueled by a mental health system that fails to provide even rudimentary care for those formerly housed in institutions. A third or more of the homeless population suffers from severe mental illness, and a lack of systematic care plagues people with mental disorders even if they do find shelter. Isolated in inner-city settings, many current 'community' residences rival earlier institutions as sources of despair and even premature death" (Hinshaw xiii).

"Jails and prisons have become the largest mental facilities in the United States, fueled by the increasing tendency to criminalize mental illness and the closure of most public mental hospitals. Psychological and psychiatric care is woefully inadequate in prisons, and exposure to violent conditions can only worsen the prognosis. Training of police and law enforcement is almost nonexistent" (Hinshaw xiii).

[I see these points important particularly as it relates to the representation of autistic adults in society. One common topic of contention amongst "vaccines cause autism" proponents is that "we" don't see adult autistics walking around in our society. Because we don't see autistic adults like we do autistic children today, autism is a late 20th century-early 21st century phenomena due to vaccination reactions. I argue, however, that perhaps we don't "see" autistic adults because those profoundly autistic are more likely to make up invisible sectors of our society. The homeless, prisoners, immigrants, "mentally retarded."]

"Media portrayals of people with mental disorder continue to feature stereotypes and ridicule, equating mental disorder with incompetence and violence" (Hinshaw xiii).

"In the United States, knowledge of mental illness has improved over the past decades, but stigmatization of the most severe forms of mental disorder has actually increased" (Hinshaw xiii).

For purposes of time and space, I'll just note that Hinshaw provides a thorough definition of "mental disorder" as it relates to stigma based on social, moral, and medical models.

"...aberrant behavior cannot be considered as mentally disordered unless it explicitly violates social norms or induces substantial impairment to the individual in question. That is, the first component of the definition involves harm. As with all definitions incorporating such socially normative perspectives, this component is culturally relative: What might be considered harmful or impairing in one society or culture may not be in another. The point is that social and personal judgments are a necessary component of defining behavior patterns as mentally disordered" (emphasis not mine, Hinshaw 15).

"Yet, this criterion alone is far too relative to constitute a viable definition. Indeed, designations of harm could easily constitute cases of social deviance per se, without the presence of a deeper level of medical or neural problem. The behavior patter in question must also be dysfunctional in an evolutionary sense to qualify as a mental disorder. In other words, there must be an aberration in a naturally selected mental mechanism that is not working as intended (in other words, as naturally selected)" (emphasis not mine, Hinshaw 15).

"If we are not positive as to the nature of functional minds and mental mechanisms, how can we know what is inherently dysfunctional?" (Hinshaw 16).

"Mentally disordered behavior, just like typical behavior, is not static but rather dynamic and fluid" (Hinshaw 16).

DSM-IV states that mental illness includes "personal/social maladjustment plus dysfunction" (Hinshaw 19).

Hinshaw also has an interesting discussion on labeling theory and its modifications in Chapter 2, which might be relevant or useful for my discussion on using "person with autism" or "autistic person."

"A fundamental question is whether conscious experience emanates from physical processes grounded in the body--the brain, in particular--or whether mental life is distinct from chemical, physiological forces, with a source and essence of its own. The latter view, relating to the independence of mental life, is called dualism" (Hinshaw 54).

"Consider the very term mental disorder. It explicitly communicates that a 'mental' disturbance is separate from 'physical' illnesses or processes, with several implications. For instance, if mental disturbances are in the mind but not of the body, they may not be seen as real. Perhaps they are imagined, or their sufferers do not exert enough control over their mental lives. Alternatively, if the mind is conceptualized as occupying a higher plane of existence than mere bodily processes, then mental afflictions would be viewed as evidence of a fundamental lack of reason and moral sense. The deepest human qualities would be seen as absent in the person with mental disturbance, who may be perceived by others as less than fully human" (Hinshaw 54).

[I find this last quotation particularly relevant considering that autistic individuals have difficulty expressing reason and moral sense--and possibly seen as less than fully human. Capable of crimes? Like connecting autism to serial killers? Lack of empathy? Lack of emotion?]

Historically, mental illness connected with demons and lack of moral reasoning, impulse control. "battleground for grand battles between holy and satanic forces" (Hinshaw 61). During the Medieval period, "Through religious doctrine, which was now the official source of societal views, mental afflictions indicated that their bearer was a heretic, one whose religious faith was not sufficiently strong to withstand possession by demonic forces. Note a crucial point in this reasoning: The perceived weakness of the sufferer was believed to set the stage for possession, so that ascriptions to demonology were merged with attributions of responsibility and control" (Hinshaw 60).

Because I'm tired of evaluating freshman papers...

2007-03-29T17:28:00.000-06:00

"Romney lists potential running mates." "Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday dropped some names of potential running mates in the 2008 race, but added such speculation is a bit premature. Among those Romney mentioned for the second slot on the Republican ticket were three Southerners: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush."

Because apparently 12 years of the Bush dynasty just isn't enough! Ugh!
And...

"FDA advisers OK prostate cancer vaccine." "Federal health advisers have endorsed an experimental vaccine to treat advanced prostate cancer as safe and effective."

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that there won't be nearly the windfall about this vaccine as there has been about the HPV vaccine? Men's sexual health and lives threatened--Vaccine okay. Women's sexual health and lives threaten--Vaccine sparks all kinds of debate.

Larry King and MLA

2007-03-23T15:17:00.000-06:00

Larry King Live had a special on autism a couple days ago. It's supposed to repeat on Sunday. I'll check it out and let you know...

And, I'm submitting a proposal on autism (I think disability and "personhood," especially as it relates to language and speech) for the regional MLA conference in Atlanta in November. I figure I could use the opportunity to write the paper as part of a chapter (hopefully) in my dissertation. Thanks, Alison, for the head's up.

Any other tips or leads are always welcome.

Burke's Agency and Identification

2007-03-23T14:59:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking more about the means of rhetorical agency as it relates to autism representation and the rhetoric of autism online, particularly in youtube and online blogs. In one comment on autismvox, anonimouse comments in regard to the representation of parents of autistics as martyrs ready and waiting for their pity party. The commenter is specifically discussing how such representations make it seem okay to harm one's autistic child:

…The big problem is that some parents have convinced themselves that they are martyrs at the throne of something they can’t control. (or in many cases, was thrust upon them by evil drug companies) And once you get that thought in your head, you can justify all sorts of questionable things to do to your kid…

I found this statement particularly interesting in regard to the rhetoric of agency--or in this case, the (perceived) lack thereof. Again, someone/thing has to be blamed for a person's autism. Either the drug companies, the government, the environment, or the parents who just "accept" autism without fighting to do something about it. Without agency, there's despair and despondency. No hope because there's nothing that can be done. No one to be held accountable. All of which leads, unfortunately, some parents to murder (Katherine McCarron, Brandon Williams, Marcus Fiesel, Ulysses Stable are just a few autistic children--all under 10--who were murdered by their caregivers because they were autistic).

I also think this lack of agency is represented in the Autism Speaks video, in which mothers of autistic children discuss the hopelessness and challenges of raising an autistic child. Aside from the obvious financial motivations for the video, the video does illustrate the despair that comes from lack of agency, as in the case of the mother talking about driving herself and her daughter off of the George Washington Bridge. It's interesting the importance of doing something. Act.

Just some thoughts...

Rhetorical Agency and Metaphor

2007-03-18T11:46:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite websites, autismvox.com, is having a great conversation on the use of metaphors to describe autism. Autistic individuals and autistics talking about the metaphors used in regard to autism--war, combat, toxicity, waste... Rhetoric in use. By "non" rhetoric scholars. Isn't this a great discipline or what?

I see these kinds of blogs as so interesting in terms of rhetorical agency. Doing something to help the way they see autism, the way autism is treated, and the way the world sees autism in return.

It's a fascinating read and so interesting...

Mozart and the Whale

2007-03-11T15:53:00.000-06:00

Well, I just finished watching Mozart and the Whale (2005), a film starring Josh Hartnett and Rhada Mitchell as a couple with Asperger's syndrome struggling to overcome the difficulties that come with just being a couple and a couple with Asperger's syndrome. The two meet at a support group Hartnett's character, Donald Morton, runs and soon fall in love. Mitchell's character, Isabelle Sorenson, while autistic, does not seem to be as impaired emotionally or economically because of her condition as Donald is. However, Isabelle does suffer from emotional disturbances that culminate in her suicide attempt when she and Donald break up. The two eventually decide to take things slow and eventually marry by the end of the film.

And, the film is actually not that bad. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Namely, because the film doesn't fall into the stereotypical autism-movie cliches that Anthony Baker identifies in his article, "Recognizing Jake: Contending with Specularized Representations of Autism." In Mozart and the Whale, the autistic character is overly cute and endearing, while being placed in mortal danger, and being threatened to be taken away from their caregivers. In fact, Isabelle and Donald both do not have any family aside from their friends at the support group. The movie is about adults on the spectrum trying to negotiate the conflicts that come with any relationship and conflicts that might be more pronounced with two individuals who have difficulty with relationships of all kinds.

Perhaps what was more frustrating for me were the reviewers comments on the movie at IMD, Blockbuster.com, and Rotten Tomatoes. Most notable: the characters were either too "retarded" as at Rotten Tomatoes (autism is not a form of mental retardation, fyi) or they weren't "autistic" enough, as at Blockbuster.com. Specifically, "Stephanie O." recommends Rainman for a more accurate and compelling representation of autism. She also recommends a website on Temple Grandin, to learn more about autism.

As I'm reading these reviews, I'm reminded of conversations on autism, particularly the challenges some individuals considered "high-functioning" and Asperger's face. Namely, that they are not autistic enough for services, patience, and compassion, but aren't "normal" enough to keep from standing out and from being ostracized in society. While the film does an excellent job showing the different manifestations of Asperger's syndrome and the different ways in which Asperger's manifests itself in the individual, it seems that, in this instance, it's cinematic failures occur because it doesn't comply with the stereotypical, autistic experience. I find it enormously frustrating to hear that Rainman is the more typical autistic experience--especially considering that the man to which the film is based, Kim Peek, isn't autistic and the character is institutionalized.

How many times have I heard, "Autism. Oh, like Rainman?" Well, no autism is nothing like Rainman. In fact, in South Asia, an autistic person is referred to as "Rainman."

More thoughts on vaccines and autism

2007-03-10T20:16:00.000-06:00

Donna touched upon this in her comment to my earlier blog, but I think Caplan's examination is pretty interesting from an autism-mom's perspective. I have never had the "you shouldn't have gotten your son vaccinated" line thrown at me, but it's pretty common among some autism circles. In fact, while Caplan notes that scientific research has "put the nail in the coffin" on the connections between autism and vaccinations, I would venture that if he were to lurk long at many autism blogs written by parents, he would see that this connection is *much* more common and disputed than he might like to think. It actually gets down right ugly. Vicious.

I think, like Donna noted, that the mistrust of the government is partially to blame. Something I find a little interesting, if I can go on for a second off topic. The American people seemed to have put 100% faith in a president who had no verifiable truth that WMD existed in Iraq, but when we have 100% no verifiable truth that autism is connected to vaccines--then people begin to mistrust the government?

There is also the fear of the "intelligencia" that I think is going on, also. Of course, this is just an observation of mine, but many of the autism advocates that I've met online who hold degrees higher than the BA level do not adhere to this "vaccine" theory of causation in regard to autism. It's not that I think those with more education are more likely to read the literature than those without, but I have to wonder whether those of us who are more "on the inside" of government bureaucracy are more likely to know the chains of command, so to speak. We're more likely to believe that credible research is going on at research universities and institutions and at the CDC; such that, we don't tend to fall into the "I don't trust the scientists who work for the government." Because as of late, much of the criticisms I read regarding the CDC and the research into autism and vaccinations isn't that the research doesn't exist to disprove the links. Many of the vaccine and autism advocates acknowledge that the research exists. But, that the research is tainted, faulty, or part of a larger government conspiracy.

So, how might this come back to rhetoric? Well, first, I think this goes to show more of the rhetoric of autism as a "white, affluent, Western" condition. Many academia people have autistic children, read autistic literature, and fight the good fight for neuro-diversity (as it's called in my circles). And, I could go on here for a while... for a later post, I suppose.

But, the seemingly popularity of the autism-vaccination causation theory stems, I believe, partly in the dissemination of the autism literature. Specifically, many of the opponents of vaccine theories are within academia and the government. The discourses are one, already suspect, and two, probably not written for a wide enough audience. As a discourse, it's too specific to a smaller discourse community. However, some of the more widely distributed materials regarding autism come from the Autism Society of America, Autism Speaks (or as it's called in neuro-diversity circles, Autism Weeps--it's the organization responsible for the "Autism Everyday" video in which a mother discusses killing herself and her autistic child), and Cure Autism Now (this is the organization responsible for those corny "puzzle" car magnets).

These national organizations, honestly, do a much better job of getting their agendas across. They've held countless charity events with celebrity sponsors (Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to name two) and are accessible to parents of autistic children. Type in "autism" in google and the first listing, I will bet you a dollar, is from either of the three organizations I listed above.

Interestingly, I just picked up a book for a general audience (I was getting it for my ex-husband who is having a difficult time adjusting to the diagnosis still) regarding autism spectrum disorders, and the author is on the board of directors for the Autism Society of America. In the book, she lists the various theories as to the causes of autism, from environmental heavy metals to vaccines to brain abnormality. She also lists many of the biological and chemical treatments available to parents (chelation, vitamin B injections, gluten and dairy-free diets, just to name a few) encouraging parents to try those that they believe might help their children. Because, of course, it couldn't hurt, right?

What's funny is that in her discussion on behavioral treatments, such as behavior modification therapy (practice desired behaviors and reward, ignore negative) and sunrise therapy (shadowing the autistic child, repeating whatever they do as if a mirrored reflection), she cautions parents to use their discretion that these techniques haven't been proven effective for large populations of autistic children.

This is a general book on autism. One that looks like any other. But, it's based on biomedical causations and treatments. Sponsored by the Autism Society of America. Had I known this author worked for them, I would have never ordered the book. Like I said, the vaccines cause autism people have much better resources and have been able to reach the general audience much more effectively.

Still, I think the tides are changing and this is where I think my dissertation comes in. Specifically, the use of blogs (not just blogs like this but professional blogs or web communities) to create a grassroots effort to encourage neuro-diversity. It's actually called PosAutive and there are videos, sort of like PSA's available on youtube. Parents attempting, without the money or resources, to counter the big spenders of the national organizations. This is the rhetoric of autism that I find amazing. The civic discourse that is challenging those typically who spoke the loudest. God bless the Internet.

Autism and the HPV Vaccine

2007-03-08T08:23:00.000-06:00

On autismvox.com, the latest conversation is on how the fear of autism has fueled some of the fury against the HPV vaccine. Authur Caplan's article in the Philadelphia Inquirer discusses how this fear of autism shapes public health policy. Another instance of the myth of autism... (I still don't understand how people can be so afraid of having a child like Tobey?)

Anyways, I think the rhetoric of fear and blame and its latest manifestations in the HPV debate are interesting. There's so much rhetoric to look at here... I guess that's what I can do after I get some papers evaluated.

That and I believe the HPV debate also centers on the notion that women should not have sex and if they do, they deserve to die from cancer. "I don't want to give my daughter the wrong message: sex is okay." Translation: You should never have sex because if you do, you can die. From cancer. Of the Cervix.

While we're on the topic of giving credit where credit is due...

2007-03-06T20:36:00.000-06:00

...I, yes--me, I was cited in a paper at CCTE this weekend. I, unfortunately, was presenting my own paper at the time (which wasn't really all that necessary since the guy before me presented pretty much the same thing I did--only he did it better) and didn't get to hear the speakers read their paper and note, "According to Rochelle Gregory's article 'Popken's Tarleton Writer..." although Marc did hear it and was kind of enough to tell me.

Yes, I'm famous. I'm bringing sexy back.

I will be available for autographs later this week.

Some thoughts I'm bouncing around

2007-03-06T20:15:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday, I submitted a fellowship application for two prospectus writing workshops in May and September. Regardless of whether I get the fellowship or not, the experience was beneficial because it, one, gave me some experience applying for fellowships, and two, because it forced me to start thinking more specifically on the direction I would like to go in my dissertation. Specifically, I want to look at the rhetoric of the representation of autism in Western media (television, film, internet blogs, and youtube).

So, without further adieu, some thoughts on the rhetoric of autism that I think I'm going to blog around on over the next couple weeks/months:

The complexities and difficulties of representing invisible disabilities, like autism, in our "visual culture"
The connection b/t autism and the supernatural (i.e., Autism and the God Connection), particularly as it relates to representation in film and television (i.e., The Boy Who Could Fly, Bless the Child). Also, the connection between autism and the supernatural as it relates to pre-20th century "stolen" and feral children. (Nymphs were believed to have stolen healthy babies and replaced them with demon or possessed--autistic--children. Church leaders believed that these demons did not possess a soul and many are believed to have been killed by their parents or abandoned in the wilderness.)
The differences between (and subsequent representations of) autism as a mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia) and developmental disorders
Rhetoric of blame in regard to developmental disorders (i.e., mothers, vaccines, mercury, cell phones)
Autism blogging and youtube broadcasts as rhetorical agency (someone is doing something)
Autism as a white, educated, affluent Western disorder--disorder of Industrialized societies
The "suffering" of autism and the connections between autism and pain
Representations of autism in online blogs--parents blogging about autistic children, autistic adults blogging about themselves--means of advocacy
Advocacy and awareness of autism through home videos posted on youtube
Autism and the superhuman (i.e., savant syndrome)

So, these are just some of the thoughts I've been bouncing around in my ginormous nogin. I'd love to hear any ideas or suggestions or thoughts.

I'm also planning on submitting to SAMLA's panel on Autism Texts (4/15/07), thanks to Allison for the head's up. I'd love to hear any thoughts on which idea might be most appropriate for MLA...

Background noise tonight: Wonderpets Save the Cow... (in case you were curious)

Welcome to Your Dissertation

2007-03-05T16:28:00.000-06:00

This is my first post on my new, private blog space for my dissertation. I'm going to post thoughts, ideas, ramblings, and general musings on my dissertation to help me get some thoughts bouncing around in this ginormous head of mine.

I'm going to keep my other blog up and running but post only theories or ideas that I don't want to share with the world here.

Can't have anyone stealing my dissertation before I get to write it.