My Surreal Life - A Continuing Odyssey Into What It Means To Be ME!!
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Sharisa Joy Lakewood, CO, US I'm 29 & have autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, a Genius IQ & am a FLIRT!!!!
- Entry for August 18, 2008
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FACILITATED COMMUNICATION and ME
Sharisa Joy Kochmeister
Copyright 8-18-08“How can you call what you do ‘Facilitated Communication’ if there is no hands-on facilitation?”
This is a question I'm asked over and over... no one seems to quite get that emotional facilitation is at least as important if not more so in many cases. Yes, I am an augmentative device user, but I still feel a need to have my process facilitated – even I question why I still feel that need. I know that with new facilitators I must start with support – few people understand how that can be so when they see me type without support. Am I frustrated by the questions? I used to be, I’m not any more. Am I frustrated with attacks against FC? Absolutely! Am I tired of defending a process I know is valid? Definitely! To combat the lack of understanding, I write, I present, I teach and I hope people will finally get it before too long. Do I suffer for every child and adult denied the chance to communicate? I suffer greatly, more than I ever let on because if the other side knows I suffer, they think they win. The win-lose mentality is all too prevalent on this planet but it's where we live and when it bleeds over into our supposedly safe world, it frustrates me, concerns me, worries me, frightens me, and makes me not want to communicate. Am I thankful for FC? Yes... but there have been times I wish it had never entered my life because of all the pain and anguish that have accompanied it over these past 17 years. Will that stop me from typing? No, only I can stop me from typing and I won't! But I will stop arguing, I will stop debating and I will just continue to say my piece and do my part to make FC a reality rather than the pipe dream it far too often remains.
As for defending and explaining autism, that’s another subject for another time.
Monday August 18, 2008 - 01:15pm (MDT) Permanent Link | 1 Comment - Entry for August 06, 2008
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I never have felt like anything but a visitor from another planet,
except in the company of my family and a few special friends. I often
wonder why so many professionals are called "autism experts" when so
few of them really understand autism or people with autism at all. I
hate when people think they know what I'm thinking when all they see
are a few of my words, not much of my thoughts and ideas. I know I
share a great deal of myself with others but not very many people
reciprocate - do they think I won't understand? I understand so much
more than most people truly give me credit for understanding. Does
anyone besides someone who communicates almost entirely via typing
have a right to tell me I need to find better ways to communicate when
I already have forced myself far beyond almost everyone's
expectations? Is it fair to ask me to change any MORE just because
they can ask, whether I want to or not? I am grateful for those of you
on this list and a few others elsewhere who DO give me credit for
being me and being smart and NOT demanding I change just to suit the
needs of a world that has historically held so little regard or esteem
for people like me. I am continuing to do all I can to change that
treatment and those skewed perceptions and misconceptions.
Please feel free to respond as you please - that's why we're here!
Wednesday August 6, 2008 - 11:55pm (MDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments - It's So Quiet Here Lately - A Brand New Poem by Me
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It's so quiet here lately,
Almost like a tomb
As I lie in my chamber
Or pace the room
Till I try to type
The words inside
That for far too long
I was forced to hide
Now words never get caught
On the tip of my finger -
They just stay in my mind
And constantly linger
Until they wander
From brain to page
Unless they're stopped
By bursts of rage
That corrupt my mind
So I lose control
As they burn my body
And freeze my soul
Until once again
Dams burst within
The places where
Emotions begin
So they can pour
And stream and flow
Enabling me
At last to show
The mind that many
Thought was numb
Because they figured
I'd been struck dumb
And called me retarded
And names I won't say
Because I made them
Just go away
So now I'm me
Alive and free
To be the person
I'm meant to be
Despite the pain
And tears that strain
My body, my mind,
My soul and brain.
Sharisa Joy 3-29 to 3-30-08Tell Me If You've Ever Felt This Way
Sunday March 30, 2008 - 12:37am (MDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments - Entry for March 26, 2008
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I AM A CONTRADICTION
SHARISA JOY 5-20-94I AM A CONTRADICTION
THAT NO ONE CAN EXPLAIN.
HOW CAN I BE A GENIUS
WHEN I WON’T SHOW MY BRAIN?FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE PUZZLES
AND RIDDLES WITHOUT END,
HERE I AM, APPROACH AND SOLVE
AND I WILL BE YOUR FRIEND.Wednesday March 26, 2008 - 01:28pm (MDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments - You-Manity
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YOU-MANITY
Flapping hands, wings, lips,
Leaves and minds –
Incessantly beating
In rhythmic time
On my head, heart, soul –
Snapping fingers, joints,
Twigs and wills –
Slapping me, you, me
Back into sanity
As it lingers
Close to you-manity
In the spaces
And sad faces,
And rapidly
Fading graces
Separating
The differing places
That distinguish
The opposite races
That embrace
What is you
And/or me.Sharisa Joy
12/10/96Revised 3-15-08
Saturday March 15, 2008 - 11:16pm (MDT) Permanent Link | 3 Comments
