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An invaluable new resource and Infographic have just been added to the PTSD Page.  This comes courtesy of Paul and his team at Reflect Digital(responsible for the design of this outstanding Infographic).

 

Further Information:

http://blackwaterlaw.co.uk/military-injury-claims/

http://blackwaterlaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/PTSD-INFOGRAPHIC_600px.jpg



In the past five years, over seventy people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents. We see the same pattern repeating over and over again. A parent kills their disabled child. The media portrays these murders as justifiable and inevitable due to the “burden” of having a disabled person in the family. If the parent stands trial, they are given sympathy and  comparatively lighter sentences, if they are sentenced at all. The victims are disregarded, blamed for their own murder at the hands of the person they should have been able to trust the most, and ultimately forgotten. And then the cycle repeats.
 

For the last four years, ASAN, ADAPT, Not Dead Yet, the National Council on Independent Living, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, and other disability rights organizations have come together at local vigils across the country to mourn those losses, bring awareness to these tragedies, and demand justice and equal protection under the law for all people with disabilities.


On March 1st, we will come together again, and we ask you to join us.

 

There is just one week left to sign up to be a site coordinator and hold a vigil in your area.

 

Current Vigil Sites:

 

Anchorage, AK
Mary Ellen O’Brien, maryellenrob@gmail.com

 

Tempe, AZ
Xander McDonald, xmcdnd@gmail.com

 

Berkeley, CA
Brent White, brent@alacosta-acat.com

The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), co-sponsor

 

Sacramento, CA
Stacy Shaw, asansacramento@gmail.com

 

Washington, DC
Jean Winegardner, jwinegardner@autisticadvocacy.org

 

Kissimmee, FL
Teresa Geiger-Sturgis, tgsturgis@yahoo.com

 

Atlanta/Decatur, GA
Kit Mead, silverbrook.aka.silva@gmail.com

 

Captain Cook, HI
Des Hirsh, autisticdimensionshi@gmail.com

 

Chicago, IL
Steph Ban, sban@uchicago.edu

Gurnee, IL
Roman Segal, roman.i.segal@gmail.com

Cambridge, MA
Finn Gardiner, fgardiner@autisticadvocacy.org

 

Medford, MA
Rachel Sommer, gingicat@gmail.com


Salem, MA
Hala O’Keeffe, halalettieri@gmail.com

 

Ypsilanti, MI
Jonas Blauer, jmblauer@gmail.com

 

Albuquerque, NM
Star Ford, starluciaford@gmail.com

 

Edison, NJ
Carole Tonks, ctonks@adacil.org

 

Brooklyn, NY
Debra Baker, mamadeb1963@gmail.com

 

Flushing, NY
Marvin Finkelstein, mrv11292013@gmail.com

 

New City, NY
Jason Ross, jasonross18@gmail.com

 

Rochester, NY
Diane Coleman, dcoleman@notdeadyet.org

Portland, OR
Phoebe Loomis, P.Loomis.PDX@gmail.com

 

Springfield, OR
Alex Taylor, alextaylor1359@gmail.com

 

Pittsburgh, PA
Jess Hughes, jess.fridy@gmail.com

 

Dallas, TX
Carly Allison McCullar-Main, carlyallisonmccullar@gmail.com

Salt Lake City, UT
Adair Kovac, adairkovac@gmail.com

 

Sultan, WA
Anca Moreno, anca.moreno@yahoo.com

Beloit, WI
Reid Caplan, caplanr@beloit.edu

 

AUSTRALIA

 

Kearneys Spring, Queensland
Nora Gainey, newnoz@gmail.com

 

AZERBAIJAN

 

Baku
Aytan Eynalova, Aytenhamza@hotmail.com

 

CANADA

 

New Westminster, BC
Alanna Whitney, alannarosewhitney@yahoo.com

 

NETHERLANDS

 

Amsterdam
Ellen Balledux, ellenbx@quicknet.nl

 

UNITED KINGDOM

Preston, Lancashire
John Meghen, JMPMeghen@uclan.ac.u



 Edvard Munch's Separation

Edvard Munch’s Separation

 

This month’s British Journal of Psychiatry has the latest in their ’100 words’ series on the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, famous for his iconic painting ‘The Scream’ and his own struggles with mental illness.

 

The Norwegian Expressionist Edvard Munch caused outrage when his paintings were first shown in Berlin but became one of the most prolific artists of his time. Often described as having had bipolar affective disorder, his low moods and sense of isolation are evident in works such as The Scream, Separation,and Evening on Karl Johan. Yet the evidence of his diaries and his many biographies suggest more plausible diagnoses of depressive disorder and comorbid alcohol dependence.

 

Read in Full:  http://mindhacks.com/2010/10/05/edvard-munch-in-100-words/

Edvard Munch: Evening on Karl Johan. 1889.

Edvard Munch: The Scream. 1893

 

Artsy’s Edvard Munch Page

 

This newly designed page includes his bio, over 20 of his works, exclusive articles about Munch, as well as his up-to-date exhibitions – it’s a unique Edvard Munch resource.  ~ Special Thanks to Nicholas over at Artsy for putting this wonderful resource together and for alerting us to it.

 

https://www.artsy.net/artist/edvard-munch

 

Also, check out “10 Screams for Edvard Munch’s 150th Birthday”:

https://www.artsy.net/post/editorial-10-screams-for-edvard-munchs-150th-birthday



 

In December of 2014, 49-year-old Katherine Lavoie was shot by her husband. A month earlier, 29-year-old Daryne Gailey and 6-year-old London McCabe were both killed by their parents.

 

In the year since our last vigil, our community has lost at least twenty more victims.

 

In the past five years, over seventy people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents.

 

Sunday, March 1st, the disability community will gather across the nation to remember disabled victims of filicide–disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers.
We see the same pattern repeating over and over again. A parent kills their disabled child. The media portrays these murders as justifiable and inevitable due to the “burden” of having a disabled person in the family. If the parent stands trial, they are given sympathy and  comparatively lighter sentences, if they are sentenced at all. The victims are disregarded, blamed for their own murder at the hands of the person they should have been able to trust the most, and ultimately forgotten. And then the cycle repeats.

 

But it doesn’t have to.

 

Here’s what you can do in your own community to help spread awareness of these tragedies – and help stop more from happening.

 

1. Read and share our new Anti-Filicide Toolkit.

 

This toolkit is intended to provide advocates and allies with concrete tools and resources to use in their own communities, including in response to local incidents. The toolkit includes information about how to understand and respond to filicide, frequently asked questions about filicide, and a guidebook for Day of Mourning vigil site coordinators.

 

2. Sign up to be a Day of Mourning vigil site coordinator

 

For the last four years, ASAN, ADAPT, Not Dead Yet, the National Council on Independent Living, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, and other disability rights organizations have come together to mourn the lives lost to filicide, bring awareness to these tragedies, and demand justice and equal protection under the law for all people with disabilities.

 

On Sunday, March 1, 2015, ASAN and the wider disability community will be holding vigils to mourn the lives of those we’ve lost and bringing awareness to this horrific trend of violence against our community.

 

If you’re interested in leading a vigil in your area, please sign up to be a Day of Mourning vigil site coordinator here.



The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is now accepting applications for the 2015 Autism Campus Inclusion (ACI) Leadership Academy!

 

The ACI summer leadership training prepares Autistic students to create systems change on their college campuses. Accepted applicants will travel to Washington, DC and participate in advocacy training from May 30 to June 6, 2015. Participants will acquire valuable skills in community organizing, policy formation, and activism. Travel and lodging are fully covered by ASAN.

 

View our flyer

Watch the video of our 2013 alumni sharing their experiences

 

Applicants must identify as Autistic and be current college students with at least one year remaining before graduation. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network will cover travel and lodging costs for all ACI students. We specifically encourage students of color, LGBT students, students with intellectual disabilities, AAC users, and students from other or multiply marginalized communities to apply.

 

To apply, please submit a completed application by February 15, 2015 to Natalia Rivera Morales at NRiveraMorales@autisticadvocacy.org with the subject line “2015 ACI Application”.

 

View and download the application here

 

If you need assistance or accommodations at any stage, please contact Natalia Rivera Morales at NRiveraMorales@autisticadvocacy.org.

 

                      HSC Foundation logo

ACI is made possible with the generous support of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and the HSC Foundation. 



 

 

Some have an aversion to winter, and can you really blame them? There’s chatter surrounding possible storms or blizzards. There’s loneliness, depression and anxiety that may be coupled with the holiday season. And then there’s the chronic cold that dares people to pack their bags and book a tropical getaway. (Or at least think about making a great escape for warmth.)

 

However, winter can rejuvenate our spirits. Here are several ways this chilly season can boost our mental health:

 

Take a wintry stroll.

 

The cold air reminds us we have no choice but to become aware of what’s around us. We observe our smoky breath from frigid temperatures. We observe the branches that are now bare.

 

At times, the early afternoon sunlight illuminates these desolate trees and emptiness never seems so captivating and lovely. And when the snow gently covers what we see, there’s a feeling of hope. Anything is possible; nothing is too crazy. Interestingly enough, the winter season is when nature appears to be dying. Yet, the cool, crisp air and the scenic landscape give us a feeling of rebirth.

 

Our closets are packed with scarves and hats and leather and wool. More important, our layers of clothing serve as insulation — literal armor for what we’ll face in the months ahead. Moments of fear, insecurity, stress and discomfort are already cushioned, already protected by winter’s foundation.

 

 

Embrace cozy chats.

 

We can curl up by the fireplace or anywhere that’s cozy and immerse ourselves in substantive and meaningful conversations. We’re not going anywhere in that moment. We’re here. We’re breathing. We’re alive.

 

Many shudder at the thought of enduring the winter season. However, taking refreshing and revitalizing wintry strolls, indulging in snowy activities, reveling in indoor fun and embracing cozy chats — dialogues that spark human connection — can be viewed as winter’s more positive aspects.

 

If it’s autumn’s vibrant and ever-changing nature that perks us up after hot summers, where we slowly maneuver our way through the blazing sun, then it’s winter that really smacks us awake. We’re here. We’re breathing. We’re alive.

 

Read in Full:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2015/01/02/ways-winter-can-boost-our-mental-health/



 

People prone to feeling guilty are amongst the hardest workers, a new study finds.

 

Not only that but people prone to feeling guilty are also highly ethical and are less likely to take advantage of other people’s skills to get paid more.

 

The results come from research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in which psychologists carried out 5 studies to test the effects of feeling guilty on work performance (Wiltermuth & Cohen, 2014).

 

Dr. Scott S. Wiltermuth, the study’s first author, said:

“Because of this concern for the impact of their actions on others’ welfare, highly guilt-prone people often outwork their less guilt-prone colleagues, demonstrate more effective leadership and contribute more to the success of the teams and partnerships in which they are involved.”

 

Set against these advantages, though, guilt-prone people may avoid working with others they see as more competent than themselves.

 

Read More …

http://www.spring.org.uk/2014/12/the-emotion-which-drives-people-to-work-the-hardest.php



Dear friends,
 

It’s been a big year at ASAN. This year, we ended the Combating Autism Act and began fighting for self-advocate inclusion in implementing the new Autism CARES legislation. We made sure that workers with disabilities working on federal contracts made the same wages as nondisabled workers. We helped get justice for disabled victims of violence from family members. On these issues and countless others, we are working to protect our community against those who seek to deprive us of our rights. And after many years of struggle, we are seeing tangible results.
 

Just last Monday, the President signed the ABLE Act, which will let people with disabilities save up for college, assistive technology, housing and other major expenses while keeping their Medicaid coverage.
 

But we still have a long way to go. Autistic people and people with other disabilities still lack many of the basic legal protections that we need to live independent, full lives – or even to live at all.
 

Just this month, a Wisconsin court announced that people with disabilities don’t have a constitutional right to make our own decisions about whether to live or die. That decision denied justice to a developmentally disabled teenager who died of treatable pneumonia nearly eight years ago, after doctors at the state-run University of Wisconsin Hospital Center took him off of antibiotics. Not because treatment wasn’t working or because he wasn’t expected to recover, but because one of the hospital doctors had convinced his parents that his life wasn’t worth saving. Nobody asked him what he wanted. There was no oversight by either the hospital ethics board or the court system. Just a unilateral decision that the child should die.
 

Before the court issued its decision, ASAN and eleven other disability rights organizations sent the court a brief explaining how important it was to protect people with disabilities from this kind of discrimination. We are committed to making sure that people with developmental disabilities are recognized as lives worth living.
 

The fight isn’t over. This January, we’ll be sending in yet another brief to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, asking it to review the case. Even after that, we’ll still be fighting anywhere we can: courts, state legislatures, the media, anywhere where disabled lives are under threat. We’re in this to win – because the stakes are too high not to.

 

But we need your help in order for that to happen. Next year we’ll be even busier than last. We’ll be continuing our fight to make sure that autistic people are able to make their own decisions, live in the community, earn the same wages as everyone else, and get the health care we need.
 

If you want to support the work we do, please take the time to send a donation our way. As the only advocacy organization that’s run by and for autistic people, our voice is vital, but there is still so much more that we could do. With your help, we can grow our advocacy arm so that we can do even more and respond to those who seek a world without us.

 

Donate now, and help us make sure that whenever our voice is needed, we’ll be there leading the conversation.


Regards,
Samantha Crane
Director of Public Policy
Autistic Self Advocacy Network



 

By
Associate Editor

 

Many people have stopped setting New Year’s resolutions. That’s because traditional resolutions can feel tedious, punitive, uninspiring and overwhelming. Instead, many individuals have started selecting one word to encapsulate the upcoming year.

 

“The power in claiming a word for the year is that it allows you to claim who you wish to be in the world rather than grounding your worth and well-being in what you do,” said Rosie Molinary, author of the book Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance.

 

Picking a word helps you chart the path to living a life you’ve imagined for yourself, she said.

 

Think of your word as a flashlight that guides and illuminates your next steps. It is a word that inspires and invigorates you. It is a word that sums up how you’d like to spend your days.

 

In the past years Molinary’s words have included: thrive; flow; wholehearted; expansiveness; well-being and peace. She’s still deciding her word for 2015 but these words have been resonating with her: spark; shine; abundance; radiate; glow; manifest; and embody.

 

She also shared these other examples of words of the year: connect; commit; leap; grow; patience; simplify; explore; and now.

 

Read in Full:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/12/28/a-creative-way-to-usher-in-the-new-year/



 

By

 

Depression During the Holidays

 

I haven’t written much in the last couple of weeks. This season with its “holiday cheer” and dark, fog-filled weather, has had me in one of the worst depressions I’ve experienced in over a year. And although my house has been the family hub for celebrations from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, I’ve been struggling to keep my nose above the water.

 

Oh, I’ve played the “I’m fine” card, but my kids know the real me – angry, sad, short-tempered and highly anxious. It’s been a hard thing to get through, even with my online support group – Group Beyond Blue on Facebook.

 

But now that the cooking and baking is done, the wrappings cleaned up, and the house quiet for a few days at least, I am left to pick up the pieces of myself that I’ve left strewn all over the place.

 

Starting Over

 

I feel like I’m starting over once yet again. Picking up the pieces of relationships I’ve broken and damaged and learning to forgive myself again and again for something that is out of my control: my unstable mood.

 

Taking Steps

 

Here are the steps I’m going to take to come out of this state of winter depression, even though winter is still in full force here in my hometown.

  1. 1. Forgive myself. I need to acknowledge that I’m so very conflicted about my feelings and behavior for the last two or so months. I’ve behaved in ways that I’m ashamed of, but beating myself up never helps and only makes things worse in the long run. Acknowledging again and again that I have a mood dysregulation disorder in bipolar disorder, though hard to do, isn’t an excuse, but the reason for my erratic behavior at home.
  1. 2. Reintegrate into my community. Whether it be heading back to church, taking my daughters out for lunch, meeting a friend for coffee, I need to add balance to my life and day but not isolating and dwelling on what’s past and what I can’t change or control.
  1. 3. Get organized. Time to open mail from the last month, make some to do lists (which are not for everyone) and get back on budget. When depressed, I tend to eat and buy everything in sight. I must get myself back under control by organizing my activities and prioritizing tasks.
  1. 4. Get fresh air and sunlight. I tend to be a hermit when feeling overwhelmed and depressed, as many of us do. I need to force myself to put the leash on the dog and get out for even a 20-minute walk. One of my goals for the New Year is to learn to run and I want to start by just walking the dog three times a week. If I can write a dissertation, surely I can walk the dog?
  1. 5. Pray, meditate, and trust. My faith has always been a huge part of me getting through depressive episodes and this time of year reminds me that, no matter what happens, I can get through it.

 

Read in Full:

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/bipolar-lifehacks/2014/12/how-to-revive-yourself-after-a-holiday-depression-episode/



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