alexist

Another example of PC gone mad:

http://autisticbfh.blogspot.com/2006/09/neutral-words-glossary.html

Because you're never, ever allowed to imply that autism is in any way negative, nor that any effort to change an autistic person's behaviour is positive. UGH.

Now, I'm not autistic (though the way they're diagnosing Asperger's and borderline Asperger's today, who the hell knows, especially when I was younger and had zero social skills). But I'm not "neurotypical" (god, I hate that term, especially when it's used as a kind of reverse insult) and you know what? I wouldn't want to change and be "normal", but I also know that there are things I did that interfered with my life, and I was HAPPIER when I had therapy to change them. Being able to interact with the world on some kind of "normal" level isn't a bad thing and it's not bad for a parent to want it for their kids. There's a big difference between that and wanting your kid to be "just like everyone else".

I also think that talk like this (invariably from very high functioning Aspies, because they have the ability to be articulate) is a real insult to parents who are struggling with autistic kids who have major issues. It can come off as "oh, you're imposing your view of normality on your kids". No, they're trying to deal with the fact that their kid bangs their head against the wall, or can't talk, or has public meltdowns at the drop of a hat.

First, I slept like a log and feel MUCH better now.

Second, this week involved a frustrating search for labels. As in A4 sheets I can use in my printer. WH Smiths (the big one in Brent Cross) didn't have any. I had to shlep out to Staples (in out of the way business park by Staples Corner [not named after the store, merely an amusing coincidence] to get some.

Neil's gone to his bridge club xmas do, so I'm home babysitting. I've made rice pudding and currently have cabbage and noodles cooking. Yum.

I think Aliza's developing object permanence: if I try to hide something so she won't play with it (e.g. the laptop) she cries and looks for it! I covered up the laptop with one of the couch cushions and she took it off. Cheeky.

Need to take more pics of her.

1) The first couple of nights that I lit the menorah, she wasn't interested. Just candles and she'd seen them before. Now that there are more (5th night tonight) she's fascinated by the lights.

2) She's now eating grilled cheese sandwiches. She can't bite from the whole sandwich, of course, so I cut it into strips, and she takes big bites. Too big, sometimes! It's funny because until recently you had to tear things like a sandwich or toast into bits, and now she'll take bites.