Posts by Hilary Stace
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MP Grant Robertson has written a concerned blog post about it all
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I agree, John.
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What people describe themselves as is up to them to decide. Many people on the autistic spectrum choose to describe themselves as Aspies but others prefer terms like Aspergians or autists. As an outsider (a neurotypical or NT person) I don't tend to use any terms other than 'autistic people' or 'people with Aspergers or autism' or 'on the autistic spectrum' unless I'm with neurodiverse or ND friends who are comfortable for me to use this term. This blog I classify as a friendly environment, as I've assumed (?) many contributors are somewhere on the spectrum, so have used the term 'Aspie'. But if that offends, happy to reconsider.
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Thanks for another wonderful episode of our historical fragments, Damian. I remember Ponsonby when it looked like that. I wonder what Brian Edwards thinks about his 1960s reduction of the Pasifika population to just one male - eg 'the Polynesian [all 5 syllables] has come to Ponsonby to seek better prospects for his family'.
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Local Asperger advocates have been in touch with the Minister of Police about her reported comments, and she apparently denies saying them. This arrest and beating of an autistic man has also been noted internationally.
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An Aspie friend expresses his hopes for the justice system:
'I can begin to look forward to the day that police don't call my eyes "evasive", my body language "guilty", my weird mumblings "lies", my self defence "assault", my late night wanderings "suspicious", my helpfulnesses "crimes", my quiet demeanour "uncooperative", my hesitations "proof". '
(By the way Arie is now apparently out on bail and being represented by an Aspie- friendly lawyer)
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I'm going on a bit about this but I also have a 25 year old with ASD and he and his community are very vulnerable here.
What I found in my research is that currently good outcomes in autism policy are largely dependent on love and luck: love that you have a family to advocate for you and go into battle for you, your rights and needs; luck that good services and supports are available for the autistic person and their family when they need them.
This young man has a history of foster placements, and although he seems to have a loving foster family now, he's probably missed out on major advantage number one for much of his life. He's obviously been very unlucky to have been caught in the earthquake and to have been subjected to such disruption of his routine daily life. It is an understandable reaction then to seek what comforts, and for autistic people that is usually around their special interest (rather than the chocolate and alcohol others seek). He only took lightbulbs and fittings (his special interest) from one apparently abandoned house. He was then confronted by a system and people in no mood to deviate from their own assumptions. So no luck there.
I do hope Arie is getting good support now. An investigation and apology for the violence he suffered is warranted. But, if this awareness means the next autistic person to do something similar receives support rather than being beaten up and jailed, that would be one way to diminish the need for such variables as love and luck.
(And Michael Laws should try reading the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV Text Revision 2000)
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Autism NZ Chief Exec put out a press release about it.
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Thanks Russell for calling people to account over this horrendous event. There are just too many people vulnerable like this, and I know several. There has been recent police training in Aspergers (even in Christchurch) but this shows that events can overshadow what might be more straightforward in normal times.
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What really annoys me about this whole move to pay TV is that it hits poor people and beneficiaries twice. If they forgo the basics of survival to pay for the c$85 per month fees for Sky they starve and freeze, but then they face public criticism that if they can afford Sky, the benefit/minimum wage is too generous.