Letters to the Editor
pinksugar
Published Letters: 8 Editor's Choice: 2
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if you have asperger's syndrome...
[Read the article: I've got a stupid racist ditty playing in my head]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...this perseverative thought, your "ditty", is probably stuck in your head because you also have a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
I've worked as a therapist for autistic and Asperger's children for over ten years now, and I can tell you It's common for people on the autism spectrum to also have other issues such as OCD. You need to find a therapist who can take you through a course of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and although I can't guarantee the "ditty" will disappear, the success rate for CBT is very high.
Medication can also help, but from my own personal observation, CBT is even more effective than the meds. I believe there was a clinical study in the past five years or so which showed a roughly similar success rate for both CBT and medication.
One last important point for you: autistic/Asperger's people often are unable to get rid of an obsessive thought for the precise reason that it is DISTURBING to them. They are shocked and repulsed by the thought, which makes it even harder for them to stop thinking about it. This is called the attractive/aversive cycle, and it's why you need Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. BUT it is also why you can look yourself in the mirror and say "I am a very *good* person who is horrified by racist so-called 'jokes'. I also have Asperger's Syndrome, so my brain tends to focus on things that horrify me. Currently, my brain's focused on a racist song that horrifies me. I'm not a racist; I'm suffering. And I can be helped."
Good luck to you, my friend. You will work through this.
And yay Cary, I agree we must feed the world. I just wanted to give this person a little more specific help.
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Autism & fluorescents
[Read the article: The light-bulb wars switch on again]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In addition to the negative effects noticed by migraine sufferers, I have to add here that people with autism are severely affected by the wave pattern of fluorescent bulbs. I'm an autism therapist and one of the most successful modifications we make in classrooms for autistic children is to bring in incandescent lights. The kids open up and concentrate better, stim less, work longer.
Forcing people to use the fluorescents is discrimination against a disabled population with no political voice.
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chiming in late: bullying/social cruelty
[Read the article: Parade shames Gloucester Girls]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wow, I wish I'd seen this earlier. I live in a neighboring community to Beverly Farms (and yes, BF is very affluent--think huge beachfront Victorians and the Frick Estate). I just needed to point out that this "float" appears to be yet another manifestation of a pervasive problem here on Boston's North Shore among affluent high school age kids--bullying/social cruelty. What you saw in this clip was not social commentary or nouveau charivari, it was abuse pure and simple.
Such publicly sanctioned abuse is an egregious example of parent and community passivity, exacerbated by the fact that Massachusetts has zero state programs or regulations in place in its public schools to put a stop to it. Some of us here on the North Shore have banded together to try to change the culture leading to this kind of abuse, and to implement guidelines and preventive measures.
The going is slow.
As you can see, we have a huge task in front of us.