This Is Not About Me

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Note that, in the “weak” example, the idea is not that the issues involved are weak; the “you” person does have a legitimate objection, but the opposing issue — the birthday — is stronger. If I’d known you were coming, she’d say eventually, if I’d found out. Things would have been different. It was too late. She was pushing forty, had a daughter who was pregnant herself. She had a nice house, a cat and a washing machine of sorts to care for. But it happened.

Started, things slide fast. The tiniest of realizations can tip life sideways, serve up a last straw. I have a very clear memory indeed of ours. Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (TPGA): You are now pursuing a Master’s degree. Can you talk about why you chose this educational path, and your career goal? TPGA: Can you talk about the work it takes to learn to communicate through AAC? (I ask because some people assume AAC is an instant miracle.) JZ: Learning to communicate through AAC is not easy and there are no words that describe the complexity (and frustration) it entails. Initially, besides using it here and there, I was pretty resistant to the iPad. I did not want to hold it or carry it—however, once a strap was put on it and I began to wear the iPad, I became more excited about its use.

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He looked over his shoulder, tilting off-beam just enough for me to see her face, for her to see mine. Seizing the chance, she pointed straight at me. Filmed in an observational style, This Is Not About Me gives a glimpse into Jordyn’s daily life. The documentary takes us to Jordyn’s schools and involves interviews with teachers that worked closely with her. Jordyn guides us through difficult moments in her childhood. Piece by piece, her story reveals how professionals misunderstood her and pushed her deeper into a broken education system. Despite this system, Jordyn thrived, but her story is not one in a million. There are thousands of students like Jordyn who have something to say.

TPGA: What messages would you like to give to autistic students who don’t feel heard, or understand, or supported, as you once were not? I’m in a line of shut doors. A dark hump moves in the bottom corner of the mirror and I know it’s me. I reach up on the tips of my shoes to try and see a whole face, and I do. Right behind me, the energy of him suddenly everywhere, my father comes through the front door. Only a glimpse of her emerges from the kitchen before I’m tipping sideways and before I know it, I’m not waiting in the hall any more, I’m in the living room and the key is turning out there, shutting me in. TPGA: Do you consider autistic traits like stimming to be good, bad, or neither? Can you talk about that? A photo of Jordyn Zimmerman, a smiling white woman with long curly brown hair.

My Book Notes

Outside, my mother moans like a seal. His eyes rivet on the board so he can’t see mine filling up, making the whole room quiver. Even so, the piece starts to shift. Nothing was permanent, nothing calm. He lost money, found strangers and brought them home, ruthlessly jovial in his own kitchen, men you never saw again yet who sat at the table and got me to fetch them a glass, a cigarette, matches; men who wanted to know if my mother was in. And when the noise got too much, she would appear, fully dressed because there was a guest of sorts whether she knew them or not, ready to scoop me up for bed as though the thought just occurred and she happened to be passing. But everyone knew it hadn’t. The men might look temporarily sheepish, but they didn’t shift. Who shifted was her. And it was when she shifted, turning to go out with me safe under one arm, that the sniping started. It was only when her attempts led to baby throwing up enough blood to coat her top sheets, twice, that she was let stop.

She founded the Ohio University Sparkle Effect team and was recognized by the International Council for Exceptional Children with the “Yes I Can!” Award. Jordyn is currently pursuing her Master’s of Education at Boston College and remains committed to being a catalyst for change in the education system. Also Read Subject of Film Jordyn Zimmerman, Also Serves on RespectAbility’s National Disability Speakers and Training Bureau Her voice hung alone for a moment before he made up his mind. He cranked up the volume and started the whole thing again. He came home any time of day with a stumble in his step, his voice awkward, his hands not able for his shoelaces. And when he did, afternoon or not, it was time for me to go to bed. He was in no fit state, my mother said. Off you pop.I have no memory of the move. It occurred to me years later that maybe he had sensed it coming, that fear was why he had shut us together. That he was clinging, trying to terrify one or other of us into stasis, obedience, God help us, affection. On the other hand, maybe not. Whatever the intention, if there was any at all, all he had done was make things pressing. She might have gone to her mother’s, her sister’s, to all sorts of places if it hadn’t been for me. I am under no illusion it was a choice. There was nowhere to take us, but we had to be together. There was nowhere to take us, but we had to go. But I don’t hear what it is my granny wanted us to bring, because she’s out of earshot already, veering into the kitchen to fetch it. Out of earshot for speaking, anyway. Wherever she is in the house, you can hear her singing. JZ: I definitely do not consider stimming to be bad. It is simply a motion to generate a sensory response and/or to help soothe our bodies as we become accustomed to the environment we are in at that time. Sometimes, I become totally engrossed in my hands and make sounds with my mouth. The repetitive motion and rhythm of running definitely helped to stimulate and regulate my body so I could handle more of the sensory input I was processing each day.