.
Sue Scheff recently interviewed the great Jaylen Arnold for examiner.com. Their conversation was so engaging (and so important) that we are reprinting it here in its entirety.
Enjoy!
Over a decade ago, freewheelin’ comedian Howie Mandel (howiemandel.com) first spoke about his debilitating obsessive compulsive disorder and ADHD—when he was outed on Howard Stern’s radio show. Now, all these years later, he’s finally opening up and “telling all”…in his candid, courageous, and VERY VERY FUNNY memoir titled Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me.
.
The book Cowboy & Wills opens the day after critically-acclaimed author Monica Holloway’s adorable three year-old son Wills is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She takes him to a pet store; and from her first impulse purchase of a full aquarium, Holloway quickly graduates to hermit crabs, hamsters, African dwarf frogs, and a rabbit. But like all children, what Wills wants most is a puppy. That Christmas, eight-week old Cowboy arrives and forever changes their lives.
Where Wills is cautious, fastidious, and tender hearted, Cowboy is rambunctious, affectionate, and impulsive. Soon, the boy who could barely say hello to his kindergarten classmates is going on playdates, learning to swim, and sleeping in his own bed. Through it all, Cowboy is there, dragging him toward other children and giving him the confidence to face his fears—with her by his side. But love is not enough to save the beautiful Cowboy from her fate, and the cruel world of puppy mills quickly catches up to them. When Cowboy is diagnosed with lupus, Wills and his family realize that they must be there for her, just as she was there for them.
Monica Holloway sat down with Simon Spotlight Entertainment (a division of Simon & Schuster) for a discussion of her life’s path as a mother and memoirist, and the unexpected trajectory this path has taken through her life. Here are the highlights:
Tim Page, author of “Parallel Play: Growing Up with Undiagnosed Asperger’s” and a Pulitzer Prize winning music critic, was online at washingtonpost.com Tuesday, October 27 to take readers’ questions and to discuss the effects of Asperger’s syndrome on his life and coping mechanisms he uses to treat it.
The entire conversation was fascinating (and well worth the read), but in case you’re in a hurry…here are some excerpts from Tim’s responses that leapt off the page:
Ladyhawke—aka Pip Brown (whose debut album “Ladyhawke,” produced by Modular Recordings, is out now)—sat down with pedestrian.tv recently and opened up about many things, including her Asperger’s, allergies, anxiety, awkwardness, adrenaline, audiences, and…erysipeloid.
Here are the highlights:
.**
“I have this thing called Asperger’s syndrome. When I found out, it explained my whole childhood. I told my mum and she said: ‘That’s why you used to sit on the floor doing puzzles for hours.’ It was the reason I was so solitary. I’d say completely inappropriate things. The other kids thought I was a weirdo.”
.
“I’m allergic to everything. I was lactose intolerant from the minute I was born; I couldn’t be breast-fed. On planes, if I order a non-dairy meal, they always give you a vegan eggplant thing – and I’m allergic to aubergine. When I was 10, I got this weird random disease [erysipeloid] that no-one had seen in New Zealand for 20 years. It’s common in seagulls, but is rarely transmitted to humans. Somewhere in New Zealand there’s a photo of my face in a medical journal. It crept up to my brain. They caught it hours before I was about to slip into a coma. So they put me on penicillin and I had an allergic reaction to that! I nearly died.”
.
“I wish I didn’t have such bad anxiety and wasn’t so shy. I’ve always been a nervous person, very awkward. I can’t walk without looking awkward – it’s my middle name. I find live performances hard. I can’t look anyone in the eye. I’m so conscious of everyone staring at me. I start to think I’m terrible or I’m singing out of tune. I sometimes get sickly-nervous before I play. I throw up and start shaking and sweating. The second I get on stage it disappears and the adrenaline kicks in. But I try not to look at anyone in the audience or it will freak me out.”
.
Then…
Read Irked posts tagged “music”
.
Remember Craig Evans, the wonderful man behind autismhangout.com who interviewed Donna Williams via Skype earlier this year? Well, Craig recently interviewed Donna and Dr. Stephen Shore for his new “Thriving with Autism” webinar.
Here’s the absolutely remarkable, riveting interview:
.
Learn more at:
autismhangout.com >>
autismasperger.net >>
& donnawilliams.net >>
.
Then…
Read Irked posts tagged “autism”
Read Irked posts tagged “interview”
.
Six years ago, Crystal Renn was an unknown size-0 model who moved to New York from Clinton, Mississippi, to make it big. She struggled with her weight for years, however, and finally made the bold decision to switch to plus-size modeling. Now a healthy 165 pounds, she is the highest-paid plus-size model in the world, having graced the covers of American Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and appeared in Dolce & Gabbana ads. The 23-year-old recently talked with TIME Magazine about her new book Hungry, her size-0 modeling days and walking the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier. Here are the highlights:
Jeff Bell is a renowned author, speaker, and radio news anchor. His first book, “REWIND, REPLAY, REPEAT: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,” was published in 2007 and quickly established Bell as a leading voice in the mental health community. His story has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, DETAILS Magazine, and The New York Times, for which he was commissioned to write a feature that ran internationally in 2008. He has appeared on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, on The Infinite Mind programs, and on Good Morning America Radio. In addition to being a National Spokesperson for the International OCD Foundation (found at ocfoundation.org), Bell, whose new book “When in Doubt, Make Belief: An OCD-Inspired Approach to Living with Uncertainty” was recently published, currently co-anchors the afternoon news at KCBS Radio in San Francisco.
Jeff was recently interviewed by Peter Hartlaub, Pop Culture Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Here are the highlights:
Kathie Snow is a highly-acclaimed public speaker, trainer, author, filmmaker, and consultant on disability issues. In addition to being Benjamin’s mom, she also runs the excellent website disabilityisnatural.com.
Karen Putz is an insightful, talented and entertaining freelance writer. She provides early intervention services to families with deaf and hard of hearing children. She serves as a board member for Hands & Voices (www.handsandvoices.org) and runs Illinois Hands & Voices in her state. She’s also a deaf mom to three deaf and hard of hearing children, and her husband is deaf, too. Learn more at karenputz.com.
Quoting a recent announcement written by editor Susan Burch, Ph.D., published on the History of Disabilty listserv:
On behalf of the advisory board and our publisher (Facts on File), I am pleased to announce the release of the first historical encyclopedia of disability in America. The 3-volume “Encyclopedia of American Disability History” showcases nearly 800 subject entries and includes more than 350 authors. A wide array of primary sources, including letters, interviews, paintings, newspaper clippings, photographs, cartes des visites, pamphlets, speeches, laws, song lyrics, and literary works complement many of the articles. The extensive chronology of significant events in American disability history extends from the colonial period to present day. Throughout the volumes, breakout quotes from “common folks” offer insights into daily lives that typically have remained in the margins of historical study. The bibliography includes hundreds of books, articles, and documents, as well as sections on electronic resources: CDs, DVDs, videorecordings, and Web sites. A digitized version of the encyclopedia will be available in several months. We hope that you will find this a useful tool and encourage institutions, organizations, and libraries to order copies of it. Most major booksellers are offering the encyclopedia. You may also visit the publisher’s website by clicking here. This encyclopedia simply could not have been completed without the hundreds of talented and generous contributors. We offer our deep thanks to everyone who participated in this project.
.
NOTE: If you live in Canada, you can buy this historic book AND help support Irked Magazine! We hope you’ll do just that…
