eBooks available through Lake County Library

Jonathan and I spent some time last evening exploring the catalog of eBooks available for download through the Lake County Library.

Vineyard Run for Literacy set for Oct. 14

Jonathan and I walk during a previous Vineyard Run for Literacy

 I'm looking forward to walking again this year in the Vineyard Run for Literacy, scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 14 at Steele Wines, located off Highway 29 at Thomas Drive in Finley.

Invite self-advocates to explain what ‘they’ want

Image credit: A Diary of a Mom

“Jess,” the author of A Diary of a Mom, recounts a conversation with Liz Feld, president of Autism Speaks, in her Aug. 21 blog.

Specifically, Jess shares her thoughts about a question that she felt uncomfortable answering:

“I was explaining why a particular term was problematic and I said that I’d heard self-advocates condemn its use. She asked what they would prefer that we use. She really wanted to know how to better frame it. In context, the question came out, ‘So what do they want?’

“It took me four days to answer the question. I finally wrote the following.

‘The other day, you asked me what they (self-advocates) want. I don’t know if you caught it – but I was somewhat stymied by the question. And it’s bothered me ever since. I wondered if I couldn’t answer it because perhaps I just didn’t have the handle on this that I thought I did.

‘But then I had a revelation.

‘I can’t answer the question because I’m not the one of whom it should be asked. They are.

‘What they want is representation. What they want is to be included in the decision-making process. What they want is for us to stop asking *each other* what they want.

‘What they want is to not be the “they” in this conversation but the US.

‘That’s the answer to your question.’”

Jess expresses gratitude that Feld has begun reaching out to self-advocates.

I appreciate Jess deferring this question to “us” and I second her hope that through these conversations, “the gap can be bridged, changes will be made and that when Autism Speaks it will be autistic voices that we hear.”

Fragments of an SCA history

One of the best arguments for back-dating my writings and migrating them onto my blog is the reasonable assurance that they will continue to exist for as long as I allow them to.

I went looking today for a history of my involvement in the Society for Creative Anachronism. I wrote it more than 15 years ago and submitted it to the website of the Shire of Ravenshore in Lake and Mendocino counties.

From consumers to creators of media

Viking fans Brett Gardner and his mother, Tami Gardner, watch  a video on the
TC Rover TV with John Brewer and C.J. Sinner of TwinCities.com.
From Steve Buttry/The Buttry Diary

In the September/October edition of American Libraries, author Greg Landgraf highlights eight libraries and four museums awarded $100,000 grants to create digital learning labs and mentor teens to become creators and not merely consumers of media.