Comments on: Fair Representation?

By: Autism Vox » Amanda Baggs on CNN tonight

Autism Vox » Amanda Baggs on CNN tonight — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:35:13 +0000

[...] Another comment from Baggs made has been making me think very carefully about how I represent Charlie in my writing: “I do not see you describe other people in your life from as far outside as you describe Charlie.” [...]

By: Autism Vox » Why I Write: The Beautiful, the Precious, and the Happy of Life with Autism

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 17:52:12 +0000

[...] Recently, there has been some discussion about how parents write out and “represent” their autistic children. Are we violating their right to privacy in sharing stories of their trials and tribulations, and triumphs; of their lives? [...]

By: Autism Vox » Paratext and Writing about an Autistic Child

Autism Vox » Paratext and Writing about an Autistic Child — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 06:07:56 +0000

[...] A few days ago in a post entitled Fair Representation? I asked: Am I being honest in more portrayal of Charlie; am I being fair and thoughtful in my writing about autism and autistic persons? If you are the parent or sibling or relative, of the teacher or other professional, of an autistic child or adult, do you ever think about how you are representing him or her? [...]

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 00:47:18 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing on this—-I really do not know what Charlie might be thinking of how I represent him. I look forward to someday reading B’s own thoughts!

By: Daisy

Daisy — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:33:51 +0000

Often. Often. And since mine is high-functioning and 14, we keep working on teaching him to be his own advocate. How successful will that be? Only time will tell.

By: Lisa/Jedi

Lisa/Jedi — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 15:22:15 +0000

Interesting question, Kristina… Yeah, I do think about it. B is capable of reading & understanding what I write, so sometimes it feels like a tightrope between being honest about my parental journey with him & worrying about possibly embarassing him. I have not invited him to read my blog, since it really is geared for parental-unit-types (& other adults). I have interviewed him for my blog & I did my very best to type verbatim what he said without filtering at all, out of respect for him. I do the same thing when I use quotes of things he’s said. I also try hard not to interpret his actions too deeply, since reading the blogs of autistic people has taught me that I have a lot to learn about the motivations for his behaviours. I expect someday it will be interesting to see what he thinks of what I’ve written about our family, when he’s old enough to have some perspective on it. When I write I try to keep my reasons for blogging, mainly to share our family experiences with others & to perhaps discover other ways of doing things through the comments made, clear in my mind, so I don’t get tangantial or whiny (I hope!).