Rare Ambigram Birthday

Rare Ambigram Birthday

2nd day of the week, a Tues-Day

Series of two’s, a Two’s Day

2:22:22 two times in one Day

2/22/22, my Birth-Day

Anagram 20220222

A Palindrome birthday

An ambigram is a calendar rarity!!

Just jazz. Quite Rad

(Ambigram - reads same left/right and upside down.)

 

Fandom

 

Vanderbilt Admission

 A nice advance birthday gift. 

Dear Mr Srinivasan

On behalf of the Graduate School and the School of Medicine at Vanderbilt University, we are pleased and honored to offer you admission to the Doctor of Philosophy program in Neuroscience, beginning with Fall 2022 semester....

Lots of avenues that need to be filled.

One takeaway was that there are a lot of avenues that need to be filled with helping autistic people such as employment!

- Student in my 1:54 Autism Spectrum Disorder Decal 2/17/22

We can and should find ways to accommodate

 I think that we can, and should find ways to accommodate 

Autistics at work.

- student in my 1:54 Autism Spectrum Disorder Decal 2/17/22

Never heard of it.

I had never heard of "inspiration porn" before

- Student in my 1:54 Autism DeCal class.2/17/22

One takeaway from today's lecture was the concept of inspiration porn. I had never heard of this term before but it totally makes sense now and I can think of times when I've heard it. The TedTalk with Stella was pretty eye-opening into the harms of inspiration porn.

- - Student in my 1:54 Autism DeCal class.2/17/22

Including Social and environmental factors in patient care.

 

"I found it very intriguing how the predominant medical model doesn't take into consideration the social and environmental factors that can contribute to the expression of autistic people. I feel like it would be normal to include this in patient care. "

- Student in my 1:54 Autism DeCal Class

Neurodiversity is not a problem.

"Neurodiversity can actually bring lots of skills to the table 

and should not be overlooked as a 'problem'" 

- student in my 1:54 Autism Disorder Decal Class

A plethora of skillsets

Sharing Art made by student in my 1:54 Autism DeCal class this semester, 

Image Credit: Smriti Panchal

Ted Talk in poster refers to https://youtu.be/8K9Gg164Bsw

Good Job. You're so Brave

Sharing art made by students in my 1:54 Autism Spectrum Disorder Class.

Image Credit: Thanh Pham

Quote is from Stella Young's Ted Talk https://youtu.be/8K9Gg164Bsw

Vision - Imagining the Future

 

Image Credit: Sophia Zaleski

Sharing art made by the Students in my 1:54 Autism DeCal class this semester, which reflects something (learned in class or outside) about autism.

Rethink your perspective.

Image Credit: Emma Zhao

Sharing art made by students in my 1:54 Autism Class

 

Inspiration Porn

 

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)

Inspiration porn is a term used to describe the objectification of the disabled, where they are depicted as heroic or inspirational solely because of their disability. This type of portrayal often reinforces negative stereotypes and promotes ableism, which is discrimination against the disabled and gate-keeps actual solutions. 

For instance, a common example of inspiration porn is when a disabled person  is depicted as "overcoming" their disability and achieving success or accomplishing one specific task, which is then celebrated as an extraordinary achievement. Even mere academic success can be seen as "extraordinary" and makes the newspapers, when the equivalent would have been a non-event for a non-disabled peer. 

This type of portrayal can be problematic because it reinforces the notion that the disabled should be judged solely based on their ability to conform to able-bodied standards by becoming "super heroes."

Objectification, where the disabled are often seen as objects of pity, is also used as self-motivation by the non-disabled, who may view the contrast between their own lives and those of the disabled as a source of inspiration and motivation. This is very self-serving and primarily benefits the non-disabled. The object of pity (the disabled) is going to feel worse, while the 'pitier,' can walk away feeling inspired. 

Moreover, inspiration porn often fails to acknowledge the systemic barriers and discrimination faced by the disabled.  By presenting the occasional story of "inspirational porn," it can justify the societal indifference in creating actual solutions for the disabled. What each such "inspiration porn' story seems to suggest is that if that disabled person could achieve success, then all others must be able to do magically do so as well; without additional supports, thus reducing societal guilt at its lack of action.

Therefore, it's important to recognize and challenge the harmful effects of inspiration porn and work towards creating a more inclusive and equitable society and where solutions are being worked towards.
This requires acknowledging and addressing the systemic barriers and discrimination and on working towards real solutions, rather than relying on objectifying and dehumanizing portrayals of people with disabilities for motivation or inspiration.