My first piece of advice when running a group for people with special needs or any mental health condition is contrary to the typical rhetoric surrounding these things in contemporary culture. The first rule of safe spaces are to set boundaries and expect delicacy. That’s a problem for the obvious reasons that when handling mentalContinue reading “How to Run a Special Needs Ministry”
Tag Archives: Psychiatry
Loneliness & Hegel
Contemporary loneliness is a Hegelian antithesis. It is a reaction to the Hegelian thesis of the world before of creepiness and darkness that was pervasive as well as its hyperbolization in the media such as in the horror and the true crime genres. A Hegelian antithesis is a psychological phenomenon of reactance to a norm.Continue reading “Loneliness & Hegel”
Are Autism Experts Experts in Autism?
No, I recently had an email exchange with a psychology professor at the College of Charleston who specialized in autism and it didn’t go well. I was working with her on creating sensory-safe parties and other special needs support on campus. I’m not going to recount it all here but that would be tangential. TheContinue reading “Are Autism Experts Experts in Autism?”
How Autistic Am I?
Very. Yet, I am not of the most common subtype. I share plenty of traits with them with the most common subtypes. I make deep connections with people quickly and am much less censored in my topics of conversation. I memorize social rules much more than I read social cues. I tend to come acrossContinue reading “How Autistic Am I?”
Applied Behavioral Analysis: An Autistic Perspective
ABA is not the most effective means of reducing problemaic behaviors in autistic people. It is not useless and it is a tool that should be used but, let’s be clear, it is not a great means to treat most autism. The most effective means is trial and error in the context of social immersionContinue reading “Applied Behavioral Analysis: An Autistic Perspective”
Fears of Strangers
I had to write a blog about this. I saw this headline and felt it belonged on The Onion. An actual major news website reported a story about someone at a Starbucks being creeped out by a stranger sitting next to him when the rest of the store was empty. Nothing sexual, violent, or evenContinue reading “Fears of Strangers”
Subepistimes and Cultural Stereotypes
What is sexuality like? The truth is that is a terrible question. Sexuality is not like anything. There is no such thing as sexuality. There are spectrums of sexualty and romantic attraction defined by quantity of intensity and quality of form. Alas, there is very little vocabulary in the public discourse that describes most ofContinue reading “Subepistimes and Cultural Stereotypes”
How Society Reacted to the Death of my Mother
Oxytocin is a curious chemical and a fickle one, too. Are empathetic people empathetic? Well, no. Not without a lot of cognitive empathy in addition to their emotional empathy. Absent cognitive empathy, the only endangered species, and I mean this metaphorically and literally, people care about are charismatic megafauna. Whether or not and to whatContinue reading “How Society Reacted to the Death of my Mother”
Suburbia, Neurodivergence, and the Uncanny Valley
The liberalization of the concept of creepiness is most associated with third-wave feminism yet it is not that movement where it is most problematic. While a modicum of blame may be afforded that movement, they are mostly fine. Creepiness and the terms “creep” and “creepy” are vague and ill-defined and may describe an awkward teenagerContinue reading “Suburbia, Neurodivergence, and the Uncanny Valley”
Hedonism and Populism
One of the most curious social phenomenon is that so many decades after the sexual revolution, sex is still regarded as edgy. Same with alcohol. People talk about drinking heavily like it is some bold and radical act of subversion. The Volstead Act hasn’t been a thing for a while. Having never had an alcoholicContinue reading “Hedonism and Populism”
The Autistic Resistance 