Faithful Elephants

Santa gave me this book when I was in 3rd grade and it has always been my favorite children's book.

This book was written about the animals in the Tokyo Zoo that were euthanized during WWII because city authorities were afraid the animals would be freed and run loose around the city. Narrated by the zookeeper, the book focuses on the story of the elephants refusing to eat the poisoned food. It is a sad book and definitely not one I would use in therapy. In fact, I would not give this book as a gift either. It is a beautiful story and I guess it is my version of watching some tear-jerker movie. I think the intuition and loyalty of the elephants is why I am so drawn to this book.

The watercolor illustrations are gorgeous.

swallowing skeleton- happy halloween

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4375530805602416900#docid=5954662330604777509

Temple Grandin

I first learned about Temple Grandin from my mother. My mom works for a company dedicated to research and innovation, and Temple was invited to speak at a conference. By then, I had already had experiences working with individuals (mostly adults) on the autism spectrum.

I think it is fascinating that Temple is able to empathize with the animals even though her skills at taking another person's perspective has always been more challenging for her. Temple used her ability to synthesize information (from all the senses) to provide insight and bring peace to a process that many "compassionate" individuals fail to even recognize as a meaningful event.

There are so many ways to bring peace to the world. When we focus on each other's and our own differences and identify them as "deficits" the peace process is compromised.

I dedicate this to all my CSD homies.

soap (not the note)

My bathroom needed more handsoap. I spent 10 minutes at the store trying to decide if I need to get an antibacterial soap or a moisturizing soap. Why this is not a black and white decision:

Antibacterial: I am going to be around kids and germs and I would like to be a considerate roommate and try to protect my roomie as much as possible from the dangers of my work environment. If she cleaned Honey Buckets all day, I would hope she would take the extra step to put space between her work and home life.

Moisturizing: campus is already ridden with the alcohol based acid-like potions. My hands need a break from all the cleanliness. Call me a hippie, but it can't be healthy to kill all the bacteria. My immune system needs something to keep it from atrophing. Plus, I do not like to use regular lotion. It is a sensory thing, it makes my skin feel heavy. So I try sneaking in the lotion with the soaping. On top of being a sensory hassel, lotioning is a time hassel and is just another thing to do. I have enough to do. An Emergency Flossing of a blackberry seed nearly put me over the edge the other day. Lotion falls in the Luxury Grooming category. Since I cannot afford any dental work for the next two years, flossing and mouthwashing are living int he Luxury Grooming Suite.

So, which option (antibacterial or lotion-potion) do you think I chose?

Hand Sanitizer

I am using hand sanitizer somewhat consistently for the first time. If I get sick, a few things could happen:

a. I could get everyone else in my grad program sick. Clinic woul dneed to be shut-down. We would miss out on hours and I would be publicly flogged by my peers and supervisors.

b. Only I would get sick, I would miss a week of class and clinic. I would not be able to catch-up. I would have to remediate my remediations. And nobody would like me.

c. I would feel sick and would lose my sense of humor.