Talk about putting yourself in Their Shoes...

Common Difficulties of Autistics include:
-Inability to discriminate sounds, such as in a large crowd
-Inability to detect unstated meaning in words
-Lack of understanding of body language
-Vocabulary inappropriate to age

It is really amazing how much we left unsaid and expect people to understand, but it seems to me that even in one´s own language, the assumptions we refuse to articulate leave a huge gap open for deviant interpretations, not to mention the fact it signals that we are probably saying something we should´t. I like the Ani DiFranco quote "we don´t say everything that we should so that we can say later, Oh you misunderstood"

Though it is kind of fun not understanding folks -- when someone makes a face or gesture apparently replete with unspoken significance, and says, "you know?," the expression of surprise and terror that follows my reply, "no. what do you mean?" is quite amusing!


So why the title of this entry? Part of this project is breaking down the "Otherness" of disabled groups. I am not saying, of course, that I have much in common with a carrier of a lifelong genetic abnormality, but rather that there are ways to relate to their experience, nothing more. By viewing these kids as not really so different from me, it automatically addresses the discrimination that is masked in pauses in the conversation and phrases like "you know what I mean..."



Random fact for the day: the WHO officially changed the term "mongoloid" to "Down´s Syndrome" in 1965. The same year in which the Voting Rights Act was passed, 575 Civil Rights Activists were attacked with a fire hose in Selma, the United States began bombing North Vietnam, and the Pope officially declared the Jews not responsible for the murder of christ.

Not quite as civilized as the Mayans, but...

My guidebook to the ruins of the Mayan civilization at Copan reads:

"Archaeological investigations indicate that during its final decades, the city of Copán saw an unprecedented demographic growth. This brought with it a great intensification of the agricultural system, which in turn caused a spiraling rate of environmental degradation.

The expanding population was forced to spread into areas that were hardly apt for settlement, let alone agriculture, on the steep slopes of the hills and mountains that surround the valley. There they deforested wide areas, which were already only sparsely covered with trees due to the demands for wood for construction and more particularly for firewood for food preparation, lighting in the homes, and the production of lime for plaster floors and building facades. Samples obtained by paleoecologists provide dramatic evidence for the disappearance of the forest.

Similarly, archaeologists working in the valley have found indications of massive erosion of the soils in the foothills and mountains. It is also believed that there were marked climatic changes: intense droughts, with river and stream levels going even lower, disastrous floods during the rainy season caused by lack of vegetation cover to slow down the flow, etc."

sound familiar? Virtually all of the 27,500 inhabitants of Copán valley at its peak disappeared. The population would not be that large again until the 1980s, almost 1200 years later. And yet, favelas are growing around Tegucigalpa; entire mountains in the Copán and Sula valleys are clear-cut for agriculture, while water is harder and harder to find. Whereas farmers used to be able to find groundwater at 200-300 ft, now they are digging some 1200 ft to reach the water table. Hurricane Mitch destroyed an entire country 8 years ago, and bridges and cities in Honduras are still being rebuilt.

But global warming can´t be a problem, that would be too inconvenient. We still treat major irregularities in the environment like the Gods are angry, and the only thing to do is build more temples and hope our problems disappear. Hope someone else (or something else) takes care of it for us. I discussed all this with my host while we drove some 25 kilometers in his Diesel-engined truck, noting how people just throw their garbage along the roadside. It is easy to discuss the problem, but everyone has to take responsibility for their own personal contributions. I drove over 10,000 miles in six weeks this year and used over 1,000 gallons of gas or approximately 250 barrels of crude oil at 42 gals per barrel. I have spent a total of 3 and a half days on a bus so far. I have planted no trees, I don´t go out of my way to recycle, and I drink only bottled water (though that is for a much more important reason!!) I dont eat any sort of meat, which uses 25,000 liters of water to produce each 8 ounces of beef. In the US, the meat industry´s land devoted to growing cattle food uses 14 times the land used to produce vegetables for human consumption.

The mayans didnt have internet yet, but we do! Go to http://www.myfootprint.org/ to see what your ecological footprint is...and how to reduce it. If everyone lived like me, we would need 8.4 planets. But hey, that would make the cosmological dynamics of our solar system more interesting...and chaotic. (haha, get the physics joke?)

Love, your favorite tree-hugger

The Power of Tourist-Man

The following is an excerpt from an informational leaflet given to tourists upon purchasing Tunu, a Honduran tree bark fiber used to make traditional clothing, but more recently only artwork and various souvenirs:

"After making the naturally cream colored tunu cloth, the women then dye it. Previously, they used natural dyes and the colors have special significance. Tourists complained these colors were too dull, and now commercial dyes are used."

Proof that Tourist-Man does, in fact, rule the world.