"Ableism is more than just bias: it's the entire idea that anything can or should be perfect in this universe of entropy and chaos, applied at the level of human bodies and ways of being." - Ashley Shew, Against Technoableism: Rethinking who needs Improvement. #Bookstodon#bookstadon#Reading#Disability#Accessibility#DisabilityStudies
@jillrhudy ooh, I agree, I really like her writing. Lucky you 😊 you got to listen to her. Also, if you wouldn’t mind, could you direct me to some nice book-y places on mastadon? I’m kinda new here.
Any ideas? I’m looking for articles, maybe even research, on the impact on grief when family members or friends die overseas & you can’t really help from Australia (or wherever you live). For instance, war zones, natural disasters, human-made disasters & the like. I can’t find anything. 🤞#grief#bereavement#mourning
"A renowned grief expert and neuroscientist shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning."
Elevate Your Life: A Guide to Personal Growth for Teens and Young Adults
In the hustle and bustle of modern life, the quest for personal growth and self-improvement is a journey many embark on. "Elevate Your Life" is more than just a book; it's your personal guide to unlocking the potential within you and taking those crucial first steps towards becoming a better, more empowered version of yourself. Targeted at teens and young adults, this self-improvement handbook is a treasure trove of wisdom, distilled from a wealth of valuable life and business experiences.
The pages of "Elevate Your Life" are filled with lessons that transcend age and are universally applicable. These invaluable life lessons offer a roadmap to developing essential interpersonal skills, increasing your personal value, and nurturing a positive outlook on life. While the book serves as your guide, the journey of transformation is yours to undertake.
By embracing and practicing the lessons found within "Elevate Your Life," you have the opportunity to make a profound impact on your life's trajectory. It's a testament to your willingness to cultivate personal growth and navigate the path to becoming the best version of yourself.
One of the striking aspects of this handbook is its emphasis on action. The words on these pages are not meant to be mere philosophy but practical guidance for daily life. The difference lies in your decision to put these lessons into practice. As you begin to apply them in your interactions and experiences, the positive changes you'll witness in yourself will be undeniable.
Imagine the conversations with friends and family when they start to notice the newfound positivity, confidence, and wisdom radiating from you. "Elevate Your Life" empowers you to be the driver of your personal transformation, steering your life towards success, fulfillment, and happiness.
So, whether you're a teenager on the cusp of adulthood or a young adult navigating the complexities of life, "Elevate Your Life" is your trusted companion on the path to self-improvement. It's a handbook that not only imparts valuable life lessons but also encourages you to take action and elevate your life to new heights. Your journey to a better you begins here.
Earlier this year I went to the post office to get stamps, and I saw a set of stamps in the Black Heritage series depicting Ernest J. Gaines. I had never heard of this man. Who was he, I thought?
I bought the stamps and headed home, but it didn't seem right to use them without getting familiar with his work which is clearly a big fucking deal if he's on a stamp. When I got home I googled him and l found his book "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" on Libby and borrowed it.
Well I just finished the book and wow! Phenomenal book. I absolutely understand why he is on a stamp and I thank whoever advocated for him to be on a stamp for introducing me to his work.
If you also missed out on Ernest Gaines' work in your literary education... go read this book! And more of his work!
The research found that kids with ASD and ADHD couldn't clear out BPA and another similar compound called Diethylhexyl Phthalate (DEHP) with as much efficiency as other kids, potentially leading to longer exposure to their toxic effects.
IF these compounds are more prevalent recently, and IF the toxic effects are what cause the ADHD symptoms, THEN we might end up with newly ADHD adults who don't get diagnosed as such because there is no childhood history of such.
BPA has neurotoxic effects and it would be interesting to know what "faulty" flushing of the substance does to the brain of an adult. Is it the same as for kids?
Shopping clothes is a huge issue for me. What I sometimes describe as "clothing store phobia", can perhaps be broke down to:
(Fear of) sensory overload: harsh lighting, music, advertisements, amounts of clothes and information to process
Anxiety because of uncertainty (e.g. about the available products and their prices)
Social phobia: Sometimes there are a lot of people in shops. Will they judge me for being "weird" (queer & neurodiverse)? Will I be brave enough to ask the sellers if I have some question? What if someone interacts with me and my brain shuts down?
Agoraphobia
Perhaps lightly traumatic experiences from sensory overload from previous store visits
After I broke down the problem, I can try to find coping strategies:
Try to find the product range online.
To counter overstimulation, wear protective items such as earplugs (and perhaps blue light-filtering glasses, which I still want to get), and stim rigorously.
Go at a time where there are less people.
Also plan in time for recovery.
If I can look inside the shop from the outside, discretely observe the place and the people; try to make an "mental map", so that I know where to go.
First time go only quickly, to get a better overview of the place; next time I'll have fewer fear of going to a new place.
Apply hyper-focus and only look for one particular kind of item (e.g. midi-skirts). That means that I also have to make thoughts which kind of style I want to wear.
Remember that I don't need to buy anything!
If I don't have spoons for fitting clothes, buy them and try them out at home. I can later either return them later or donate them.
Avoidance is still a viable strategy. Buying online can be comfortable, since I'm in a familiar environment where I can dim the lights and block ads & animations. I can carefully compare the sizes with my measurements, so that I have to return (and try on) less.
I previously wrote about this issue on Mastodon, and I included some of the advice I got from there: https://todon.eu/@maxi/110338158852163385 (Unfortunately, part 2 of that toot got auto-deleted, but it only was about how to find a personal style)
I also got a lot of good advice from hashtags and groups!
Ooblets is a relaxing and offbeat farming, town life, and creature collection game. Manage your farm, grow and train your ooblets, explore strange lands, and have dance-offs!
@actualham This whole article hurts my heart, but the story of the Whitewater Faculty Senate chair who left academia because she saw no future in Wisconsin #HigherEd really resonated with me. Same reason I left UW-Madison 5 years ago. Republicans have gerrymandered themselves into permanent control of the state legislature, and they are outright contemptuous of the UW System. @academicchatter
Alright, let's see how many Plant Scientists/Botanists we can reach here in the Fediverse.
Reply to this tweet with an introduction of yourself, what first attracted you to plants, and what you work on now. And boost this toot! #Planticipation#Botany#PlantScience
@ml I forgot to say what first attracted me to plants: walking through the woods in Virginia during my childhood, learning to recognize (and avoid) poison ivy and Devil's walking stick, reading the 'Foxfire' series on Appalachian technologies, and a certain fascination with magic and sorcery from reading Tolkien, Arthuriana and the like
@ml and what brought me to mushrooms was an eastern European girlfriend, of course! I tell the story in the special "Mushroom Issue" of Economic Botany published on the 50th anniversary of Valentina Pavlova and Gordon Wasson's ground breaking ethnomycological survey 'Russia, Mushrooms and History' who shared a similar mushroom honeymoon
I'm so tired of teenagers being "the chosen ones" in fiction. please, let a middle-aged woman save the universe! she's seen some shit and dealt with it. she's tired of it all. she doesn't give a fuck. she's angry. she will get this shit done.
@reginasbread Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy, The Fresco and Gate to Women's Country both by Sheri Tepper, The Kingston Cycle books by CL Polk, Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon are a few ... @bookstodon
@reginasbread I can rememeber a steampunk/victorian space opera novella, where a middle-aged lady became a leader of a colonial planet uprising, because the government forces burned her cannabis lot.
If anyone can give me author and title, I will do a pot ceremony for you.
@aralqprf thanks for posting that link. Possible, certainly plausible but debated. I wish the Smithsonian had actually included or linked to the dissenting views. @RustyBertrand
NWS continues to flout ADA and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act...after the breaches have been repeatedly brought to their attention
Don't tell me ableism in STEM is no big deal. What the hell use is your #SciComm if you refuse to communicate important data (weather alerts, warnings, disasters) accessibly? Eugenics, is what it ends up being. #DisabledAndSTEM
You may think "eugenics" is an exaggeration here, but if you're a public agency disseminating information people need to make decisions about their safety and the safety of their homes in a form that can only be fully read by abled people, in the midst of #ClimateEmergency, then you're not just ableist but eugenicist. #DisabledAndSTEM#SciComm
While on the subject, AAPD has a call out for testimonials to the US Dept of Justice as to how digital inaccessibility affects you. Comments need to be received by Oct 2: https://aapd.quorum.us/campaign/51385/