tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65800724340294690252024-03-13T15:34:30.059+13:00AStrangerInGodzoneA blog to explore my thoughts, feelings and opinions, mostly about being autistic but also pretty much anything else that captures my attention.StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-84670486575784462552024-02-09T15:02:00.004+13:002024-02-09T15:02:47.075+13:00Privilege, Prejudice and My Life<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-488622639831165092024-02-09T14:51:00.000+13:002024-02-09T14:51:02.770+13:00Thoughts on Moving Back to Auckland<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-11088508208718045172023-09-23T12:11:00.000+12:002023-09-23T12:11:02.180+12:00Fearing Other People<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-10340042276202518162023-08-18T15:10:00.000+12:002023-08-18T15:10:20.034+12:00Twilight<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->Nearly thirty years ago, during the winter when I was most
severely ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I’d sometimes fall asleep in the
afternoon and then wake up at sunset, and become extremely upset, terrified and
crying. The overwhelming feeling was that not only the day but my entire life
was slipping away into the dark, as if I was dying yet not dying StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-27078145640737340862023-04-01T13:15:00.000+13:002023-04-01T13:15:16.532+13:00On Wanting To Be Normal<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-64064052322789153322023-03-01T15:45:00.000+13:002023-03-01T15:45:30.972+13:00Floods, Weather and Global Warming<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-29792482347111631402023-02-15T16:56:00.003+13:002023-02-15T16:56:36.411+13:00I Don't Fit Into This World<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-83463920966700960382022-11-14T08:34:00.000+13:002022-11-14T08:34:05.494+13:00So The Queen Is Dead<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-24158251476969771302022-08-18T14:37:00.002+12:002023-02-15T17:13:53.728+13:00Women And Abuse - Time For A RethinkAs some of you will know, I spent years in the feminist movement back in the day, where there was a lot of focus on things like rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. The prevailing ethos was ‘believe women’, take them seriously, take the charges seriously. And given the experiences of so many women, I still believe this was a necessary step, one that led, eventually, to the ‘MeToo’ movementStrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-49380405263383570532022-04-19T20:23:00.002+12:002022-04-19T20:23:36.838+12:00Stranger in Godzone gets interviewed Recently, Altogether Autism, an autism organisation here in New Zealand, asked to interview me, as one of their autistic voices for Autism Acceptance Month. Here's the result (you may have to copy and paste to get the link to work. )https://youtu.be/iogV8ogNuHgStrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-24099080402019196602022-03-25T14:01:00.000+13:002022-03-25T14:01:45.788+13:00Two Big Mistakes People Make About AutisticsThere are two Big Mistakes
that people make when interacting with autistics. Firstly, they presume we’re
the same as everyone else. Secondly, they assume we’re NOT the same as everyone
else.
If this sounds contradictory,
let me elaborate on what I mean.
1) If people presume we’re
the same as everyone else (this applies whether we have a diagnosis or not), it
means that our actions are StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-60806122975645954552022-03-07T15:54:00.003+13:002022-03-07T15:54:42.210+13:00Why Is The World Going Backwards? Why does the world seem to be going backwards?
Let me expand on this idea. I
am a member of the post-war generation. In our childhood, Nazis were recent,
and evil, history. Despite how some see ‘boomers’ now, as we grew up we saw
ourselves as progressive, throwing off the ‘fuddy-duddy’ ideas of the ‘old
days’. There was also an implicit belief in science, and we assumed that the
world StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-25480855157276295092022-01-12T21:24:00.001+13:002022-01-12T21:26:30.584+13:00My Struggles With Executive DysfunctionI’ve been thinking a lot
about Executive Function Disorder. It’s mentioned frequently in the list of
autistic co-occurring conditions, yet no-one really talks about it all that
much. But it’s nonetheless one of the biggest problems for many of us.
Executive Function disorder
(EFD for short) happens when there are differences
in the chemicals in the brain which affect the frontal lobes, leadingStrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-75164318717332539982021-08-28T18:39:00.001+12:002021-08-28T18:41:26.512+12:00The World Is Broken, And It Breaks Us
Call me cynical, call me
jaded, even call me broken. And you’d no doubt be right. I’m tired of the
world, I admit. Sixty-some years of a not-particularly-easy life have worn me
out. Yet more and more I can’t escape the conclusion that it’s not just me, that
this world is a extremely messed-up place. It’s broken, and it breaks people. You
only have to look around you to see this. The world is StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-37233403957772875152021-07-28T17:06:00.004+12:002021-07-28T17:06:46.473+12:00That So-called StigmaI’ve been criticised for writing about borderliners before.
Sometimes the criticism comes from the borderliners themselves, other times
it’s from the well-meaning but ultimately misguided who are concerned about
what they call the ‘stigma’ of having one.
The problem is that so much of the attitude of many towards
borderliners (or those with other Cluster B conditions, for that matter) isn’t dueStrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-49556555400580471692021-04-07T13:21:00.002+12:002021-04-07T13:21:42.541+12:00Things I Wish I Never Had To See Again So here we are in April again, and the legions of Autism
Awareness are out again. I’ve become quite cynical or maybe just jaded in
recent years, as it sometimes seems like the more things change, the more they
remain the same. There are so many things, so many people, I wish that I never
had to see again. Here are the most prominent of them, and what they say,
sometimes outright, sometimes StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-69262043379945562202021-02-12T23:06:00.002+13:002021-02-12T23:06:44.466+13:00On Being AromanticFor some time now, I’ve been reading up on aromantics, and
what it means to be one. And the more I read, the more I know that I am one
too. It’s really the only fit explanation for the struggles with relationships
that I’ve always had.
But let me emphasise here what some of the websites I’ve
read also stress – that each person’s experience of being aromantic is going to
be different. The StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-65610438228141837532021-01-21T21:34:00.002+13:002021-01-21T21:34:43.538+13:00The Public Image Of Autism Is All WrongThe public image of autism is all wrong.
Well, duh, most autistics are probably thinking about now.
But I want to dive deeper into how it’s wrong, and how thoroughly
distorted that image is.
It seems to me that there is an entire tangle of intertwined
fallacies about autism in the public domain. Some are just assumptions based on
meeting an autistic child, or hearing about one, or seeing StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-72381543705586008442020-11-03T18:02:00.004+13:002020-11-03T18:04:37.368+13:00A Manifesto of Self-Worth For AutisticsI don’t know who in the autistic community needs to hear
this, but I am telling you now –
YOU ARE WORTHY.
You are worthy of your space here on this planet, of being
treated with respect, and of treating yourself with respect, no matter what
your situation, or your feelings, or how others are rating you or treating you.
Because autistics don’t have to be perfect, or anything
close to it, to beStrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-32340232418270414322020-08-27T15:02:00.001+12:002020-08-27T15:02:14.612+12:00The Central Dilemma of Being Autistic There’s a phrase that’s been echoing in my head a lot
recently - you can only be what you are.
This may seem so obvious as to be not worth saying, but it’s
a privilege that most autistics aren’t allowed, or don’t dare allow themselves.
Our authentically autistic selves are considered Not Acceptable to most of the
world. We are all too often not permitted to be what we really
are.
&StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-25972572718620371712020-06-26T14:51:00.000+12:002020-06-26T14:51:42.096+12:00What It Feels Like To Be Emotionally Abused
I don’t normally watch the TV ‘soapies’, but a storyline on
one of them caught my eye recently. It’s about an older woman who’s been
emotionally and verbally abused by her husband to the point where she breaks
and lashes out at him with a wine bottle. At the point of writing this, she’s
in jail, awaiting trial for attempted murder – and viewing herself as a ‘bad’
person who deserves StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-3366195206692070212020-06-26T14:47:00.000+12:002020-06-26T14:47:11.625+12:00THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY CAN
Like a lot of people, I’ve been watching the Black Lives
Matter protests. What strikes me every time I see the clip of that cop kneeling
on George Floyd’s neck, is how little he’s worried about being on camera. He’s
watching the bystanders, sure, but only, it seems to me, to judge whether
they’re a further threat. Being videoed kneeling on someone’s neck till he dies?
Nope, not a worry.
StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-13438505471326768612020-05-27T15:04:00.000+12:002020-05-27T15:04:20.236+12:00I'm A Marginal Person<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-91664913787072891512020-04-04T15:34:00.000+13:002020-04-04T15:35:11.518+13:00MY AUTISTIC REACTION TO THE PANDEMIC<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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StrangerInGodzonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01092023230098316617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6580072434029469025.post-1045142243160474312020-03-08T16:10:00.001+13:002020-03-08T16:16:05.748+13:00BECAUSE I CARE<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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