We’re in a CAR we’re in a CAR!
Autistic adults continue to get short shrift:
The Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC), a department within the National Institutes of Mental Health that tracks autism research and spending, issued a report on April 19th (available here) that tracked autism research money spent in 2011 and 2012.
OARC’s findings disturbed the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), a rights group run by and for autistic people. They noted that the study showed that only 1 percent of research money was spent on needs of adults with autism—and this actually represented a decline from 2 percent in 2011.
Further, only 7 percent of research dollars in 2012 were spent on services, down from 9 percent in 2011. The bulk of rest of the money was spent on researching causation, treatment, diagnosis, and biology.
The only clinic in Canada that does gender confirmation surgeries has been torched by arson:
Danielle Chenier, a representative for the trans support group Aide aux trans du Québec (ATQ), said she was shocked by news of the arson at the CMC.
“That’s really an important place for the community,” she said.
Chenier said the clinic was the only one in Canada performing gender confirmation surgery and people waited for years to get it.
“I’m very anxious,” said Kate, an American transgender woman who did not want her last name used. “Any setback can be pretty traumatic.”
Kate is among the many transgender people who have waited several years to get gender confirmation surgery. She was due for surgery at the CMC in June.
I’ve had one particular conversation over and over again with other children of immigrants: When you don’t fit in because of skin color, accented English, and/or a poor command of local customs, clothing matters. Fake it till you make it; dress for the job you wish you had; maybe if you look like the well-heeled women in your Vogue magazines, you won’t be made to feel less-than by those who believe themselves to more obviously belong. My mother dressed me like a tiny, frilly doll when I started kindergarten, and she modeled herself after big-shouldered, big-haired fashionistas. Although we clearly stood out in my almost all-white hometown, our sense of style was meant to be on point.
life is a rich, rich tapestry, and it’s better than having them in my book club, so enjoy your clubhouse:
Perhaps because participation in reading groups is perceived as a female activity, some all-male book clubs have an outsize need to proclaim the endeavor’s masculinity. In addition to going by the name the Man Book Club, for instance, Mr. McCullough’s group expresses its notion of manliness through the works it chooses to read. “We do not read so-called chick lit,” he said. “The main character cannot be a woman.”
This is detailed in the Man Book Club’s criteria, on the group’s website: “No books by women about women (our cardinal rule)”.
Buzzfeed has a good primer on #rapedatmorehouse and #rapedatspelman
Kids with disabilities being abused in the classroom (you can decide if this is something you want to read about today, I personally have to really be in the right frame of mind to pull it off):
Despite decades of improvement in our special education practices, and the hard work of tens of thousands of fantastic teachers, the data is clear. Children with disabilities — especially those who are black or brown — remain terribly at risk for violence in schools.
