Sixth Semester teaching the Autism DeCal
50 and waitlisted!!
Woo hoo. Not only have 50 students enrolled but the class is waitlisted as well.
Got Approval for 50 students this time.
The paperwork for the course gets done during the previous semester as the course syllabus has to be approved by Academic Senate COCI (Courses of Instruction) along with faculty support from the sponsoring faculty.
This time, we got approval for 50 students, so super thrilled. This will be the largest class size yet. Over the years we have grown from 17 to now 50!!
Inspiration Porn
Autism Lexicon: Inspiration Porn
Inspiration Porn: A term that refers to the portrayal of individuals with disabilities as inspirational solely because of their disability, often objectifying them and reinforcing ableist stereotypes. This phenomenon typically emphasizes the disabled person's ability to overcome challenges, thereby detracting from the broader societal and systemic issues they face. [Read in More detail].
PlainSpeak: Inspiration Porn refers to when disabled people are shown as being amazing just for doing everyday things, simply because they're disabled. It often leads to them being seen as inspirational or brave in a way that actually puts them down. [Read PlainSpeak in more detail].
One of the Lecture slides used in 1:54 Autism Class
Inspiration porn was coined by disabled comedian Maysoon Zayid and popularized by the disabled activist Stella Young in her Ted Talk. (I had initially thought it was coined by Stella Young, just due to the popularity of her Ted Talk, till I was corrected by disability activity Rebecca Cockley who knew both)
Barker Hall
https://bds.berkeley.edu/barker: "Barker Hall is located on the Northwest corner of campus (map) and houses labs from the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology and from the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI). It was named after UC Berkeley Biochemist Horace Barker." famous for discovering an active form of Vitamin B12.
Caltopia
An in-person Caltopia this year brought out a large crowd of student.
Whence "social distancing!!"
Look at the lines upto the Rec Center which stretched all the way to Sproul
The area around Haas Pavillion was buzzing with activity
with a taekwondo display
Second Mention in Time Magazine
I got a 2nd mention in a Time Magazine Article in an article by Eric Garcia. :)
https://time.com/6092407/autism-making-life-easier/
Neuronal Pruning
Autism Lexicon: Neuronal Pruning:
Neuronal pruning is the process of selectively eliminating excess synapses and neurons during brain development to optimize neural circuitry. In autism, atypical pruning has been implicated, potentially leading to altered connectivity and information processing in the brain.
PlainSpeak: Neuronal pruning is the brain's way of trimming excess connections to make neural pathways more efficient. In autism, this process may not occur as expected, which could affect how the brain processes information.
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