A year or two before David was born my mom gifted me a weeping cherry tree for my birthday. It bloomed happily for a while and then a freeze split its bark and it became diseased and distressed.
I did my best to save the tree, but last year it didn’t come back after winter. After a year of mentally preparing myself for this I decided to use the sinuous wood to make a sculpture and Nathan helped dig up as much of the root as possible.
This month I’ve started stripping the bark.
My title for this work is Bloom Where You’re Planted. As an autistic person this has always rankled because I am not always able to thrive in unsuitable environments.
Here are some process photos.
A time when the tree was happy.
Before
Sad tree half dead and half distressed.
Shoutout to Nathan’s farm boy muscle. I never could have dug this up myself because of my connective tissue disorder.
Progress
After pruning and removing some branches I found it balanced nicely upside down.
Cleaning
David helped me clean the mud off the root. This project has been a family affair.
Stripping Bark
Removing the bark has been a very satisfying (if incredibly slow) process. Because of all the twists and turns in this particular tree I think I’m going to need some finer carving tools soon.
If you’re autistic or ADHD and you’ve struggled with learning a foreign language you are not alone! The typical class structures are not made for our brains.
Growing up I had no idea I was autistic.
I was an early talker, a self taught reader, and my social differences were percieved as “shy.”
Flash forward thirty years and I am learning so much about myself alongside my autistic child. For one thing, our brains process language completely differently than neurotypicals.
If you want to do a deep dive into language development I suggest starting with Alexandria Zachos of Meaningful Speech. She has a lot of free resources on her blog and Instagram.
While I was learning to support my child’s speech development I had some big epiphanies about my own use of language and specifically why I struggled with Spanish classes in university.
Neurotypical humans learn speech word by word.
This is why most babies point at objects to learn their names. They learn a bunch of single words and eventually use them like building blocks to make sentences.
This is the way foreign language classes are structured because this is the way most brains process language.
I’m thinking of the times in class we would recite conjugations – as if that was at all useful outside the context of a sentence. 🫠
Autistic humans (and some ADHDers) learn speech in chunks. 🤯
Our natural language progression is to pick up phrases or sentences like shiny objects.
Bonus points for musicality, expression, or relating to our interests.
Once we have enough chunks we naturally start to mix and match.
How can we use this to teach (or learn) a second language?
Now we know why traditional curriculum aren’t going to work for us.
So what do we do instead?
1. If you do use a curriculum look for something that introduces phrases. Not words. 💬
Learning individual words is not helpful for gestalt language processors.
We need to see them in action.
Even if you find a curriculum that does this, you’re still going to need to supplement it to really engage a neurodivergent student.
2. We need hear a human native speaker. 🧑
Because we’re picking up on the whole language gestalt – including intonation.
Google AI is not the way forward here.
This doesn’t mean you need a private tutor, but whatever you are watching or listening to should be a real human who is a native speaker of the language you are learning.
3. Find expressive & interesting material. 📺
We’re incredibly lucky to live in a time where our favorite TV shows are probably dubbed over in multiple languages. Here’s the secret sauce where you engage with your student about whatever they are most passionate about.
We are currently loving the Spanish dubs of Numberblocks on Netflix. (My kid literally falls asleep listening to the soundtrack – which is also available in Spanish!)
I find that it’s easier to pick up on language if you’re watching shows that are made for emerging speakers (toddlers). Vocabulary is simpler and the speed of speech is (usually) slower.
But we also love watching Totoro in Japanese.
There’s something to be said for the immersion of watching something you love. Before my child was fluent in English he was singing the theme song to Totoro in Japanese.
Sometimes it’s about what speaks to your heart.
4. Sing! 🎶
Our brains engage with music on a different level than spoken language. Sometimes neurodivergent folks even sing before speaking.
99% of what I do remember from Spanish class was from songs.
Just search for children’s songs in whatever language you want to learn.
Or jump in the deep end and try translating a pop song. I did this for Kudai’s Quiero after studying abroad in Mexico. It’s twenty years later and I still know it by heart.
5. Consider auditory processing supports. 🎧
Not all neurodivergent folks struggle with auditory processing, but plenty of us do. Sometimes I can’t “hear” sounds unless I see them.
If you’re watching a show or YouTube channel look at your options for captions. Captions in the native language are really helpful. But sometimes they do differ from the recorded audio so you have to watch out for that. (This is always the case even with English.) Or English captions can help with understanding the context.
Another great tool for students who need to see to hear is AAC.
David already had the Proloquo2Go app as a support for communicating in English. He hasn’t used his AAC in months so I set up a second user in Spanish. (I’m sure there’s a way to set up a bilingual user too.)
It looks like this. When you tap the word the tablet speaks it.
I wish this app were not so expensive.
But language curriculum is also quite an investment. I wanted to mention this because it is such a powerful tool. Since we already have it – using it for a second language is an exciting way to put that investment to good use.
I started with a template for an emerging speaker and then customized folders with phrases from Numberblocks.
It’s really important to put in phrases for our neurodivergent kids in addition to the single words that come preloaded.
I’ll probably write a second post specifically about how we use this.
The caveat is that AAC tablets are not very expressive. This is like a speaking dictionary, but it will not teach you the natural musicality of a language. You still need a native speaker (in real life, recordings, TV, or YouTube) to model language. This is a tool for making that material accessible.
6. Read books together! 📖
I love bilingual books with two languages printed side by side.
But I learned the hard way to look for books that are for “early readers” versus classic favorites.
La oruga muy hambrienta is a mouthful.
While I didn’t learn much conversational Spanish during my time studying abroad, I am fairly confident at sight reading words. (It helps that the sounds in Spanish are very consistent versus what we’re used to in English.)
If you’re not comfortable reading aloud yourself (yet) try audiobooks!
But it’s also okay to be imperfect and make mistakes while you are learning. It’s all part of the process. If you’re a parent reading with a kid – seeing you make mistakes and correct yourself can be a good life lesson.
7. Practice with friends. 👭
Once you have phrases use them in your daily life.
Weave in what you’ve learned with your family or a friend group. My little extrovert is already having short conversations with native Spanish speakers in our area.
Follow his lead and look for opportunities to practice and learn in community.
8. Play! 🕹️
Try simple games in another language. Learn the phrases needed for a card game. Play “I spy” or charades. Put the words you’ve learned to good use.
You may even find video games or apps with multiple languages. Toddler apps are designed for emergent speakers (we love Eric Carle’s), but they do tend to focus on words versus phrases. If you’re picking up individual words (numbers, colors, nouns) try to learn phrases too so the words don’t get “stuck.”
Toolbox for ND Language Learners 🧰
Learn phrases and sentences. Not words.
Learn from a human native speaker. Not AI.
Find expressive & interesting material.
Learn songs!
Try captions and AAC.
Read books for “early readers.”
Speak the language in daily life.
Play!
If you found this useful I’d love to hear from you. I’m always open to chat or share resources, but simply hearing that you enjoyed this will make my day.
Season 3 is airing in March – just in time for my birthday.
If you love fantasy books like Lord of the Rings… I’d love for you to give this a watch next month and nerd out with me. Even if you haven’t read the books – the visual design and performances for this show are so stunning I’d really recommend watching first and then diving into the books.
This season is based on my favorite book in the series!
The Shadow Risingis when Wheel of Time steps away from Tolkien and starts being it’s own thing.
Half the characters travel to the desert and meet a complex warrior culture. The others go hunting down some very dangerous women. The layers build from there! I can’t even mention my two favorite parts because they are too spoilerific, but check this image out:
Don’t you want to know what’s happening there?
I’m dying to see this scene. It happens “off page” in the books. 👀
[This Clip Contains Spoilers]
If you’re a book reader (or just don’t care about spoilers) here is the first scene of Season 3. We are starting out with a bang!
What else happened this month?
Well… I completely redesigned my website. 😂
It’s still “under construction” so pardon my dust (and broken links) as you’re poking around. I hope to “unveil” the new site properly next month.
I wrote a few posts including this one about website design as worldmaking. My old website was a minimalist website (which lives on as a virtual art gallery.) But I’m letting the rest of my site be weirder and more me.
I hope it will sprawl and grow into a proper labyrinth.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with visuals and texture. But my favorite detail so far is this “page not found” design, which feels very me.
If you want to read the boring reasons about why I’m switching web & newsletter platforms I’ve written about my online ecosystem here.
I’m leveling up my zines!
This month I used a printing press to make the February zine.
You can see the process (including a timelapse video) here. You can also see a mini Wheel of Time zine I made. I’m going to print them up and leave them around town as guerrilla fan marketing. (Let me know if you’d like to do the same and I’ll share the file.)
Now that I have a printing press I’ve added a $10 tier where you can subscribe for quarterly prints as well as zines.
I’ve also realized that the time I’m spending on these zines has been growing each month. (Especially in contrast to the simple letters I started with.) So I’m phasing out pledges below $5. This means I have more freedom to play with color and multiple page zines if I’m so inspired.
I’m also stepping away from Patreon and Substack to host subscriptions on my own website.†
Everything in one spot. (Finally!)
Works in Progress
Here’s a peek at what else I’ve been working on this month.
SOFT SCULPTURE BRAIN
Nearly done with my soft sculpture brain sewn from baby clothes. I have two hemispheres complete and need to spend some time refining them and doing finishing work. (They’re a little unbalanced at the moment.)
home education rhythm
The transition from holiday chaos back to a normal routine is hard for neurodivergents. Here is how we’re finding our feet again and freedom within structure.
Now that I’m integrating my various blogs into one location my archive is much larger than I realized.
I’m planning to move the archives month by month. Motivated in part by sharing this time hop with you. Which means (if all goes to plan) I’ll be done by next February. ‡
The Compost Heap is handmade without the use of AI. 🐝
Support doing things the old fashioned way by joining my Patrons ($5) and I’ll send paper copies of my zines with the coolest postage stamps I can find.
Not into snail mail?
Here are other ways you can support.
Share with a friend. (It’s free!)
Art swap! Let me know if you’d like to swap your art for a zine.
* To share the Neuro Nest Retreat. The workshops were all recorded so you can still join in here. I’d love to have a weaving from you. (Yes, you!)
† Substack supporters will continue to be charged through Stripe. Patreon has been shut down so anyone supporting there will need to resubscribe. (You should already have emails from those platforms, but if you have any questions at all just ask.)
‡ Something I’ve learned by moving blogging platforms a couple of times is that something always goes funky. Formatting is strange. Photos are hotlinked. Multimedia elements (audio, video, embeds) are missing or broken. And hardly anything has alt text. I’m using this chance to dust all the cobwebs before making posts public.
This month’s zine is a collaboration between 38 year old me and 13 year old me. I made it with stickers and journal entries from my millennial time capsule – created in 1999.
To celebrate waiting 26 years to open this time capsule I’ve made a full color zine this month! To go with the Crayola vibes I used rubber stamps instead of my typewriter this month. Sometimes it’s nice to get your hands dirty.
Patrons watch your mailboxes. The rest of you can click here to read online.
I was SO sure there was a Tamogotchi inside! But the only “artifacts” were a dried out gel pen (I’m 90% sure it was dried out before I put it in) and a McDonalds Beanie Babies Happy Meal bag. I remember being really confused about what to include that I wouldn’t somehow miss in the next 26 years. 😂
What would you have put in a time capsule to represent the year 1999?
In the Studio ✂️
Something I realized during NaNoWriMo is that I want to make my noveling process more interdisciplinary. My first step was printing out images from my novel’s mood board. Holding these in my hands and moving them around was incredibly regulating after an overstimulating holiday season.
10/10 would recommend paper mood boards.
I’m planning to pin these on a cork board so I can continue to move them around rather than gluing them down. I may even use string. (I have a long standing thing for conspiracy corkboards.)
The added benefit will be keeping my story visible to my conscious and unconcious mind throughout the year. Here’s a time lapse since I’m not on Instagram anymore.
Over the last month I’ve realized (reading Ray Bradbury & Dorothea Brande) that my creative ecosystem needs more time for dreaming and ideation. So my word of the year is Reverie and I made this phone wallpaper as a visual reminder. The painting by John William Waterhouse is titled Boreas.
I’m also starting a “writing from life” practice – separate from my self reflective journaling – to keep up my prose writing throughout the year. I both need space to think about my novel and space to write. I’m using this gorgeous spreadsheet to track my progress. Something I love about it is that you track time as well as words. Time researching, writing, prepping all counts. There’s tons of flexibility in setting goals and the spreadsheet even encourages you to allow for missing days.
My kid is 5 1/2 years old and this feels like the first time I’ve had the energy and capacity to stay up late writing most nights. (Brain fog in the morning means waking up early never worked for me.) I’m so grateful to home education for giving us the flexibility to set our own hours.
Reading these together really formed a constellation of creative process. Observing what overlapped and what differed. I learned years ago I can’t use another creative process wholecloth, but reading about other people’s experience can help demystify the process. Studying early drafts of Tolkien and Sanderson’s work is really doing that for me as well.
Apparently a Rat Rod “is a custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts.” Pretty cool.
Wicked’s ‘Dancing Through Life’ Full Scene Breakdown (I love the stage production and never expected to like the film version, but with Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman at the helm this is a stunning adaptation so far.)
This time last year…
Hello from a Human Jungle Gym is a reflection on time and energetic capacity. I had similar goals last year, but continued to sink too much time into Substack. I’m hoping that making the big jump to Beehiiv will help me realize some of these intentions.
We’ll see what happens long term, but I had twice the open rate on my last email as I have on Substack recently. People are starting to treat Substack like a social media and posts get lost in the feed.
The Compost Heap is handmade without the use of AI. 🐝
Support doing things the old fashioned way by joining my Patrons ($5) and I’ll send paper copies of my zines with the coolest postage stamps I can find.
Not into snail mail?
Here are other ways you can support.
Share with a friend. (It’s free!)
Art swap! Let me know if you’d like to swap your art for a zine.
Because The Medium is the Message I’ve given up weekly blogging and I’m making monthly zines instead.
Here’s how it works.
First, I noodle around with an idea. I type up a few notes on my phone and mull it over.
I might browse are.na to find some images or I might use a photograph.
Next, I do 2-3 rounds of edits. This process is powered by my kid’s hyperfocus when playing Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Then, I go out to my studio and load up my 1950’s Underwood typewriter.
Unless there’s a big problem (like above: when I loaded my typewriter ribbon backwards) I do my best to type the zine in one go. The mistakes and typos are part of the zine aesthetic and show it was made by hand.
I actually love when the letters print twice or a little crooked. It feels punk rock in a world with AI.
Then I add any images with double stick tape. I’ve decided to go full analogue and not do any digital touch ups.
I Xerox the final product on my laser printer and send physical copies to my patrons (pledges starting at $3 on Patreon.)
But you don’t have to pay to read. I’ll be sending a virtual zine every month to YOU.
If this works.
I’m not sure how well the zine will read on phone screens so this is a bit of an experiment. You may have to pinch and zoom.
Or read on a computer. You can click here to read on archive.org. It’s pretty cool over there because you can flip the pages and see the spreads as they were designed.
Websites cost money. If we don’t pay directly they are making their money by selling our attention (ads) or mining our data (for advertisers or to train AI.)
Here are some algorithm free websites I have been enjoying. I am happy to chip in my support for the services they are providing.
A simple microblogging platform. This is the passion project of Manton Reece, author of Indie Microblogging. He created micro.blog as a simple solution to own your own microblogging content. I could write a whole post about how great this is (for $5 a month), but I’ll try to keep it short. You can use it to build a website, make a blog, or microblog (like a Twitter or Instagram alternative.)
I am playing around with a photo blog which automatically publishes to Bluesky. You can also subscribe to it via RSS.
micro.blog is the way the web should work. It can be integrated with so many different things. I’ve even set up Beehiiv to automatically archive itself at sarahshotts.blog
Bluesky is a public benefit corporation with the mission to “to develop and drive large-scale adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation.” (Source)
This is a radical experiment in prioritizing the open web over commercial success.
You have so much control over your experience there and you can even follow Bluesky feeds through RSS or on other platforms (like the micro.blog app).
Come on over to blue skies. Claim your name at least!
My biggest frustration the last time I tested Beehiiv was the friction in the comment system. But I overlooked the simplest solution.
I’ve turned comments off.
Just hit reply to message me directly (or text me if you know me.)
So much cozier.
P.S. I should probably port over my “ways to support” banner, but it’s nearly midnight and we are drowning in sales emails this month anyway. I’ll put it back in January.
A few years ago I started making artwork with a gallery setting in mind (rather than Instagram.) That completely changed the kinds of things I was making.
I started the series My Brain on Motherhood and have been in over 10 fine art exhibitions. That never would have happened if I kept making art “for” the Internet.
The medium is the message.
The platform that we create for work for informs the work.
Earlier this year, I stopped writing paywalled posts for paying supporters and started sending letters in the mail.
Changing the medium of the message has made that work feel more personal and also more like human connection and less like work. So I’ve been wondering how to bring that energy to what I’m making here.
I’m contemplating the ways in which I might go analogue with my newsletter in the new year.
This will be going out to my paid supporters this month as an experiment. (You can sub for as little as $3 a month via Patreon.) I’ll might alternate letters and zines depending on what I have to say.
What’s interesting to me is how much this is about intention.
Once made the work with an art gallery in mind – I can then share it on Instagram. (My “I’m Fine” cross stitch actually went low key viral.)
But the frame in which I formulate ideas changes what I make.
So when I say I’m going “analogue” I’m thinking of creating physical zines on my typewriter. That’s the medium. I’ll send paper copies to paying supporters (a sliding scale starting at $3 a month.)
Once I’ve made that I can then archive digital versions of that zine on my website or Internet Archive (like this). I’ll send fewer emails (monthly or quarterly) that point directly to my website and / or compost heap. So the email newsletter becomes a channel to share my work and not the medium of the work itself.
I’m less and less comfortable having the work that I make live on someone else’s platform and this is an experiment I am excited to try.
I’ve been circling around this idea for months now and I finally discovered Mail Blog and it inspired me to give it a go.
If you’re considering how creating for the Internet in general is informing your work I’d really recommend the book The Medium is the Message by Marshall McLuhan.
In the Studio ✂️
Meanwhile here are a few updates from my creative ecosystem.
I’m also taking a course on sensory regulation with my partner. David and I are painting these sensory regulation cards and I’m very excited about them. (I don’t have it handy, but let me know if you’d like an affiliate link.)
A lot of creative energy is also going into creating spaces for learning.
And I’m also using our new laser printer to design our own handwriting sheets. (We’re saving the paper for a recycled paper bookmark project I’ve been ideating for about 5 years.)
I also made this Wheel of Time inspired snowflake for WoTtober
In the Garden 🌱
Our garden is completely feral.
But these volunteer tomatoes are VERY happy.
Reading 📖
Inspired by Hayley Dunlop I thought I might share more of the picture books we’re reading. This one has been a big hit. (No loose teeth yet, but we’re preparing to understand when it does happen.)
You can see another example of The Medium is the Message by these flashbacks to the time I was a “YouTuber.” I’m exhausted just thinking about trying to mask as much as I did in 2016.
Two of my favorite authors and educators (John & Hank Green) founded good.store which donates 100% of profits to charity.
Over the past year they have donated 9 million dollars to support maternal mortality and tuberculosis treatment in impoverished countries.
If you’d like to gift loose leaf tea, coffee, soap, or quirky socks, swing by good.store and use my affiliate code SARAHDSHOTTS for 25% off.
I don’t do much affiliate marketing, but I really love good.store’s mission. And the Keats & Co. Breakfast Tea is my new favorite. ☕️
The Compost Heap is free to all. Thanks for exchanging your time and energy. If you’re feeling particularly generous here are other ways you can lend your support.
Join during November to get this zine in your mailbox!
If you missed my last post I’m planning to shapeshift this newsletter into a zine in 2025. This month was an experiment and I really loved making this. I’m definitely leaning into analogue in the new year.
Meanwhile you are welcome to reach out, but I am unlikely to respond in a timely fashion. November is for noveling.
A record of the books and resources we are using for home education.
We didn’t buy everything at once, but have been collecting resources gradually.
A Note on Affiliate Links
All of the links you’ll find here point to Bookshop.org. This is a cool bookshop where online orders can support your local bookstore. (Yes, yours!)
My intention is to give you all the information you need to buy the book wherever you wish. (Including secondhand! We often buy books secondhand. Our favorite used bookshops and tips for finding books on a budget are at Free and Secondhand Books.
You can see all our home education books in one place click here.
Aside from Bookshop.org none of the links on this page are affiliate.
Gorgeous photos. Easy navigation. It holds a LOT considering it’s size.
So far we’ve found 2 bugs that weren’t included. Yellow Jacket we found in the dictionary. Milkweed Beetle we identified with iPhone’s visual look up feature.
Even if it doesn’t have every insect, it’s nice to have a physical book to flip through. I keep our field guides on the table each morning while we have breakfast outside.
No word of a lie – while I was typing this up David spotted a butterfly out the window I asked him what kind it was and he said – correctly, “Western Tiger Swallowtail.”
Again, beautiful photos. Color coded by the predominant color of the bird. I loved having an option that only included birds local to us. There is whole series of these.
Gorgeous full color photographs. Lovely to peruse and easy to look up definitions. Letters are color coded in rainbow order.
This also inspired me to buy my childhood dictionary, because it’s so nostalgic. This 80’s dictionary has fewer images, and they are all illustrations, but I love it. This book represents the beginning of my love affair with learning new words.
Language Games are really big for us as David has an asymmetrical experience with spoken language and reading.
Handwriting
We love these handwriting fonts to make our own printables with David’s name and the names of characters he loves. These are designed by a Canadian teacher. I love that these include right and left handed! Don’t miss the free printables.
We have two different pencil grips. This one really tells all your fingers what to do. And this one is more of a gentle suggestion to open your web space.
I’m also making notes ar Holistic Handwriting to document creative approaches to handwriting that overlap with art.
We’ve also added a magnetic poetry set recently for sentence building.
Not to mention tons and tons of picture books and early chapter books. We love reading together. Maybe I’ll write about those another time.
Social & Cultural
I wanted a book to introduce the concept of homeschool and was so pleased to find this one written from the perspective of a picture book author & artist who was home educated.
I’m including a few spreads just to give an idea of the style.
History ⏳
Davy’s reading above his grade level and he is loving Magic Tree House books. We read them together and he also listens to the audiobooks (with his Yoto Player) to fall asleep. These would be great to inspire unit studies and there are companion books (called Fact Trackers) about the historic setting of each adventure.
These books combine magic and history so if that’s not your thing this series is not for you.
Art 🖍️
I’ve taught art on and off since 2004. So I thought I’d share my favorite art supplies for kids. None of these are affiliate links.
Crayola Crayons are worth paying extra for (for the same reason – there is nothing worse than a crayon that barely colors.)
Crayola Slick Sticks glide almost like oil pastels. I learned about them from Austin Kleon.
Stabilo Woody Pencils are similar with no plastic. I find they hold up better and are less apt to break. They’re expensive, but long lasting. I like drawing with them myself. You can also add water and use them like watercolor pencils. Or use them on wipe off booklets or windows.
Kitpas Block Crayons are also creamy and delightful. I got lost of questions about them when I made my post coming out as nonbinary and queer.
Canson Watercolor Paper is a great quality for the price and you can even find it at Walmart. Their mixed media paper is also good. The thickness really does matter for watercolor painting – thin paper will wrinkle up.
For day to day drawing we use Melissa & Doug’s sketchpad or a roll of IKEA paper. But for pencil and crayon pretty much anything you have on hand will work fine – recycling cardboard and cereal boxes can be great for crayon and markers.
Cooking & Baking 🥄
Food Play board book of very simple food prep and activities by Amy Palanjian (she also shares tons of recipes for free on her blog and IG and has a flexible meal plan that we subscribe to.)
Everything Grows another lovely book with lyrics to this song by Raffi. This has diverse representation in the illustrations. The lyrics are structured around a gender binary (boys & girls, brothers & sisters). I still love it.
This whole series is great. We also love Baby Beluga.
Considering gestalt language processing I’m looking into the audio lingual method. I want to prioritize learning phrases and songs (versus vocabulary and grammar conjugation.)
We tried minimal screentime for a long time, but when I started including more videos & apps Davy’s spoken language exploded. (We are both autistic and he was late to speak.) I am very selective with the apps we use. Here are some of our favorites.
I often prefer to pay for apps because they don’t have ads. I’m not including any apps that constantly ask for upgrades or unlocking new content.
Prodigies Bells (Free! There’s a very cool game called Pitch Quiz that would be great for all ages.)
Sesame Street defies category, but one of the reasons we love it is clips from classic Sesame Street including the songs Nathan & I grew up with. There are also games and clips from new shows. But no full episodes.
Science
Little Mouse’s Encyclopedia (Free & paid versions. A little mouse explores ecosystems. Lovely illustrations. Gentle music.)
Geography
Barefoot Books Atlas App David loves the flag matching game. He knows African countries better than I do now. (There’s also a book version I just found and ordered used for $5.)
Math
Numberblocks (Based on the UK show. A paid app and worth every penny. David has used this app to teach himself multiplication and other advanced math concepts in self directed play. There are games as well as clips from the show.)
We made Numberblock counting beads with pony beads and pipecleaners that we are now using to learn about currency.
Khan Kids (Free! This one is new to us and includes math and reading. You choose the grade level Pre K – 2nd grade.)
Puzzles
Monument Valley This is a beautifully designed puzzle game designed for adults, but David loves it. It has an M.C. Escher inspired style and could tie in well with an art history lesson.
Polygrams Tangrams & a slow paced TETRIS style puzzle game. Muted color palette. No timer.
Preschool
David is outgrowing these, but at 3-4 he loved…
Colorblocks (Similar to the Numberblocks app, but for colors.)
There are lots of reasons TV is a great educational resource for autistic kids. It’s multi media (visual, auditory). You can turn on the captions. Professional actors are dynamic and engaging (this is especially helpful for late talkers with gestalt language processing.) Kids can watch the same thing over and OVER to absorb the material.
That said, I’m pretty discerning about what we watch. Mostly so I don’t end up overstimulated myself. And also because David is likely to echo or mimic nearly everything he sees (it’s a neurodivergent way of learning.)
Our favorite shows are:
Magic School Bus (Netflix)
Old and new versions – we love them all.
Puffin Rock (Netflix)
A very gentle show that teaches both social skills and nature. It’s by the BBC so it has a gentle musical score and narration.
Numberblocks & Colourblocks
We love almost everything by the BBC better than American TV. 🤷
In the US these shows are on Netflix (although they don’t have all the episodes.)
There’s also Alpha Blocks, but Davy was an early reader so he never took to it.
Sesame Street
Davy watches this mostly on the Sesame Street App because even when we did subscribe to HBO it doesn’t have all the archives.
Reading Rainbow
It’s hard to find these episodes, but Nathan tracked some down on Internet Archive (and there are a few on Amazon and YouTube.) Sure, the live action is dated, but narrating picture books is timeless. Also, Levar Burton is a national treasure.
Daniel Tiger
Before Davy could talk he would hum songs from Daniel Tiger as communication. I also find they are very useful to play before we do something new (go to the doctor, gymnastics class, etc.) For those who haven’t heard of Daniel Tiger – it’s an animated series inspired by Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
My Neighbor Totoro
This is the first film Davy watched all the way through so it has a special place in my heart. Sometimes we watch in Japanese with English subtitles turned on. Watching favorite shows (the ones you’ve seen a million times and have memorized) can be a great tool for language immersion.
Traditional Curriculum 🍎
I’m mostly using a home brew approach (meaning I’m making my own curriculum from books and various resources), but we may weave in more traditional home ed materials for certain subjects.
For preschool we used Oak Meadow’s Seasons of Wonder – which is full of poems, songs, and crafts for each season. There’s still plenty here for us to weave in throughout elementary years.
Likewise we invested in a Montessori moveable alphabet when we were all in on Montessori. We’ve diversified our approach, but are still using that material for spelling, writing, and punctuation.
We are also trying out the free Language Arts curriculum from The Good & the Beautiful. It’s made up of illustrated workbook pages and they offer PDF versions for free.*
Heads up – this is a Christian curriculum, but from what I’ve seen so far it hasn’t proven to be overly religious. Your mileage may vary. You can also pay for printed materials if you prefer that to digital.
Prodigies Music Curriculum is the biggest financial investment we’ve made in home ed so far. We signed up for this before David was talking and singing “Do Do Do” and “Re Re Re” were some of his first voiced sounds. It’s an investment, but the quality is excellent and I believe is a great fit for neurodivergent brains.
You can start out with their free resources to try it out. If you don’t want the video lessons you could also buy a songbook and a set of bells from Amazon (that’s where we got ours – we painted them to match.) Or try their free app!
Since taking my foot off the gas here at Substack I’ve freed up a lot of time and creative energy. If you’re feeling pressure to post weekly it’s worth asking yourself what your intentions are. If it’s all about growth there’s no doubt there is a benefit to posting weekly.
But if you’re looking holistically at your creative ecosystem there may be another rhythm that’s better for you.
Curating my feed (and subsequently reading more blogs.)
As an elder of the internet, I’d like to take a moment to point out the ancient technology of an RSS feed.
An RSS feed is a chronological, non-algorithmic feed of what you choose to add.
It is basically the holy grail of the internet.
But we left it behind in favor of the siren song of social media.
Before socials, if you wanted to follow updates from multiple sources, you used an RSS reader. Every blog and podcast has an RSS feed (even Substack.)
It’s baked into the DNA of the internet.
What I’ve done is moved most of my Substack reading to a free RSS reader called Feedly.
Most RSS feeds will automatically pull the post and strip away the formatting – meaning you don’t see certain Substack features like embedded posts. I have my Feedly set to open all posts in the web browser. (Here’s how.) This also makes it easy to comment or share. There are lots of ways to show love to posts without subscribing.
My actual subs are now the newsletters I read pretty much every time. The ones I don’t want to miss. If I have time to read more I can pop over to Feedly to see what’s new or to check certain categories like Food or Art.
I haven’t done much art making recently because I’ve been focusing on curation projects (like Neurokind & Entwined.) But I have submitted a poem to Motherlore magazine and am preparing works for Painting at Night & Mothering.
I’ve also been doing a lot of journaling and research for my fiction novel. I’ve started writing at my antique secretary instead of the couch and it’s been a lovely change (I’m writing at it now.) Davy has finally reached a stage where he’s happy to play LEGO beside me while I write and it’s a game changer!
Other bits and bobs I’d like to recommend this week.
Read
My favorite new sub is SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE CLUB. It reminds me of old days of the internet. Just because social media wants us all to yell over each other and be content machines doesn’t mean we have to comply. This post is a great place to start.
If you’re neurodivergent I can’t recommend Moving from Burnout to Balance by Louise Brown enough. This sounds deceptively simple, but if you struggle to make time for the things you love this process can be revolutionary.
Looking back this is how I climbed out of a very dark place in 2020 to where I am now.
We played a lot of Dreamlight Valley over the holidays. If you’re a Disney nerd and you like cozy games (where you harvest plants, craft, and collect things) this game is for you. I don’t know why I find this type of game play so regulating, but I just do. Here are some selfies!
One Year Ago
This time last year I was reflecting on a year long creative collaboration with Claire Venus.
Instagram brought us together and I’m so thankful for it.
This is an indie passion project! Here are some of the ways you can support me.
Leave a comment. (This one’s my favorite. And it’s free!)
Specifically listening to the audiobook of this version whilst reading along in hardcover and taking notes. I’m researching the Norns (Norse Fates) and Yggdrasil (Norse Tree of Life) for a fantasy novel I’m working on.
†
You can scroll down to the bottom of this post for a little update about how I’m integrating Obsidian into my hybrid (analogue / digital) note taking practice.
It was Christmas Day and I was sitting at the kitchen anxiously trying to finish a weaving to submit to an exhibition about motherhood.
Here’s a video showing the weaving process. I made data weavings recording each time I was interrupted by tying a knot.
I barely finished and photographed that work in time for the deadline. Looking back that first weaving (smaller and less textured than the one in this video) wasn’t a strong piece and I’m not surprised it was rejected.
But the rejection stung because I was also told off for being unprofessional by photographing my work on a wall that wasn’t white. I felt like the art world was a secret club I didn’t have the passcode for. *
The next year I submitted another weaving to another show. No snooty response, but it still didn’t connect.
One submission a year clearly wasn’t working for me.
So my 100 Submissions project was born.
This was an energetic shift from holding each submission so closely to casting a wider net.
I managed 11 submissions last year and the strangest thing happened…
There’s some bit of luck in submitting the right piece at the right time.
But I think the real magic was putting myself out there without worrying if I had a “chance.”
This led to…
– exhibiting my art for the first time
– speaking at my first author event
– my first publication in an academic journal
That’s a lot of firsts!
I’m going to share this process – not to brag – but to encourage you to put your own work out into the world.
I meant to share this process in real time, but I quickly became overwhelmed at the amount of admin work involved (emails, mailing art, etc.) and I couldn’t keep up with writing Substack posts too.
Here goes!
I kept track of everything in Notion. If you have the bandwidth I found this really useful because you can resuse / adapt submission materials instead of starting from scratch each time. This way you can build up some momentum.
Submission #1 – NWA Book Fest
Venue: NW Arkansas Book Festival
Cost to Submit: None
The first acceptance I had was to do a book reading and signing at a local book festival (NWA Book Fest). It was a great learning experience which I wrote about here.
Takeaway: Author events are a massive energetic drain.
What I learned was I simply I don’t have capacity for book festivals at this time. This was a very short appearance and it took me quite a long time to recover. So paying to be a vendor for a full day (or weekend) event would definitely push me past capacity.
Here’s a clip of actual footage of me after the event. †
“Success” isn’t worth it if it pushes you into burnout.
Submission #2 – Carve Out Time for Art
Venue: Instagram
Cost to Submit: $25
I considered this application to be a complete shot in the dark.
I was stunned at the invitation to takeover Carve Out Time for Art on Instagram. This one gave me big imposter syndrome, but was actually a delight. This was one of the first acceptance emails that came in, but the takeover itself didn’t happen until much later in the year.
Before I did this takeover I pretty much thought “everyone who wants my book already has it so I should stop talking about it.” It’s easy to fall into this trap when growth is slow or nonexistent. Reaching people beyond my normal subscribers brought a breath of fresh air. I made some new friends who followed me here! *waves* And sold a couple copies of my book. Not loads, but it broadened my horizons.
Submission #3 – Stay Home Gallery
Venue: Art Gallery (Paris, TN)
Cost to Submit: $10
Next, my textile piece Maternal Mental Health was accepted to an art exhibition about paradox in caregiving. Here’s a statement from the curator Tara Carpenter Estrada,
“In Together/Alone, the paradox of emotions between “never alone” and “very lonely” felt by caregivers is given the spotlight. The societal devaluing of care-work places the responsibilities of care (and self-care) on individuals. Without structural support, a tension can arise between love and devotion, and resentment or anxiety— the need for alone time, and the need for togetherness.”
Takeaway: Try to align your expectations with reality.
Because this was my first time exhibiting art outside university I really wanted to travel to the gallery opening. The whole situation was confusing because it was a hybrid show. On one hand it was a physical exhibition at an artist retreat – so I had to mail my work. But the main exhibition was on the Stay Home Gallery website. The physical location was not open to the public and was only seen by the artist residents. So there was no opportunity to visit and see the work in person. I was a bit heartbroken, to be honest, because my expectations weren’t aligned with reality. But it was my first tiny baby step into the fine art world.
The next thing I knew I was being published in an academic journal. My piece, The Benefits of Asynchronous Friendship, exploring my collaborative project with
I have a lot to say about this one that should probably live behind a paywall, but I found this process very challenging. I’m an academic – my day job is teaching university theatre courses – but I’m a theatre instructor. (Not an autism researcher.) And I’ve never written for an academic journal before.
Takeaway: Academic writing = time consuming revision.
The challenge came from writing a piece that was “too academic” to be creative and “too creative” to be academic. The editor didn’t quite know what to do with me. They literally said, “it is neither beast nor fowl.” 😂
In the end, we decided to treat it as a creative piece, meaning I had to strip out the research I’d done and root the writing in my lived experience. It was a stronger piece afterward, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. Trying to edit this piece whilst also running a crowdfunder almost killed me.
If I submit in the future it will be a visual artwork which wouldn’t require revision.
Cut, Torn & Mended was an open call for members of Spilt Milk Gallery including a virtual exhibition and printed zine. I submitted my bricolage, The Mental Load, which I created as a self regulation process after publishing my first book.
The Mental Load / 2023 / broken toys, detritus of motherhood / 28” x 25” x 8”
Takeaway: Virtual exhibitions are perfect for large or heavy works that are hard to mail.
There’s no way I could afford to ship this piece due to it’s size and fragility so a virtual exhibit & zine was a perfect fit.
View the virtual exhibition or purchase a copy of the Cut, Torn & Mended zine here.
Anthropology of Motherhood Culture of Care was curated by Amy Bowman-McElhone, PhD and has traveled from Pittsburgh Three Rivers Art Festival to Dyer Art Center at National Institute for the Deaf.
This is also the only exhibition I participated in that had funding to pay the artists.
The work that was originally submitted was my 360 VR piece From Where I Stand. Once we started talking about the logistics of the VR headset the curators asked to show My Brain on Motherhood instead. It felt like a double acceptance because they considered both works worthy of exhibition.
I also learned that this work was not the physical object itself, but the video. This makes sense in retrospect, but wasn’t obvious to me until they asked to exhibit the video. I changed the details in my portfolio to list this as a video piece.
Takeaway: Video works are low cost. They don’t require framing or postage and are always “ready to hang” if a screen is available.
I have a few other video WIPs I need to finish up and get into my portfolio. I’m also keeping an old iPad to display works as needed.
Every submission was aired, but for me this submission was about putting myself out there and doing something for myself outside of my “professional” portfolio.
If you’re new around here I’m passionately dedicated to the Wheel of Time and have recently reconnected to the community. Last April I submitted a WoT Idol parody video turning Wheel of Time characters into Sesame Street style puppets. I wrote about the experience here:
Do you hear us… are you listening? was “curated through an open submission to members, without a defined theme, nor a selection process. All members were invited to have their work included. The process of removing the selection committee allowed for a more democratic way of exhibiting our artists’ works, free of judgement or censoring and for all voices to be heard with equal importance.”
For this exhibition, members were invited to submit two works, and I submitted Meltdown and Meltdown Prevention. It felt like a nice opportunity to exhibit these works together and both were included.
If you’d like to see this exhibition it is archived here.
Takeaway: Exhibitions and open calls can come in many forms.
The way Spilt Milk Gallery includes both curated and member exhibitions is a big inspiration in how I’ve decided to structureNeurokind.
Submission #9 – Euphoria Quilt Project
Venue: Instagram
Cost to Submit: FREE
When I saw this project by
Euphoria Quilt Project I knew I wanted to submit a block, but I didn’t know if I had time to make one. Eventually I realized I could utilize the crazy quilting skills I’d developed while making my gleeman’s cloak and I made a quilt square from textured scraps.
This piece will be included in a quilt representing gender expansive joy organized by Eliot Anderberg. You can see some of the squares that have been submitted over on Instagram.
I wrote the following about my square, “Embracing into my neuroqueer and nonbinary gender identity means leaning into the fact that I may appear eccentric. I explored that in this project by using the “wrong” side of several fabrics and improvising a “crazy quilted” design. Gender expression is also tied up in sensory experience for me so I also included some soft stimmy textures.”
If you’re new here and didn’t know I was nonbinary maybe give this a read…
Submission #10 – HNDL Magazine
Venue: Instagram
Cost to Submit: FREE
HNDL stands for Highlighted Neurodivergent & Disabled Life and is a “magazine featuring the work of creatives who identify as neurodivergent, disabled &/or chronically ill”. Give them a follow over on Instagram.
After such a wild run of acceptance I was sure that this one was going to be my first rejection of the year. You’ll notice this is the second work I submitted to a queer space. I’m a baby queer – only openly identifying as nonbinary, ace, and neuroqueer as of last year. So I felt some imposter syndrome stepping into these communitites, but I’ve been embraced into these spaces with open arms.
There’s something about exhibiting in NYC that feels like a right of passage. Even when I was packing up my work to mail it didn’t feel real. Luckily I had some friends who visited the exhibit on my behalf and documented that it was. (Thanks to everyone who sent me photographs and videos. You can see my work in situ here.)
“Through sculpture, the 13 exhibiting artists make objects that stand outside of normative interpretations of usefulness and conventionality, thereby expanding our worldview and possibilities for engagement. If queerness is an act of making things strange (or challenging norms), strangeness identifies potential points of rupture within social conditioning.”
Takeaway: Submit the maximum amount of works possible (if you can.)
I actually created a new piece specifically for this call, but when I saw that there was the opportunity to submit 3 works I also included Meltdown and Unravel. It’s always nice to give the curator choices.
Some people have asked how I know about opens calls.
The truth is by serendipity.
Over the years I’ve connected with a variety of artists with similar overlapping interests. Many of them generously share opportunities (often on Instagram stories) which spark my interest.
Huge shoutout to these lovelies who often share art exhibitions and residencies:
And Tamzen Bryantwho shared the local book festival.
I’ve also really loved being a member of Spilt Milk Gallery who hosted 2 of these exhibits.
I hope I’ve demystified the process and inspired you to submit your work.
I wish you the best in making work and putting it out into the world. The next one I’m working on is a piece about roots for Motherlore Magazine. And if you’re neurodivergent I’d love to see your work submitted to Neurokind.
It’s not scary. We’re all people making things happen.
Cheers,
P.S. I’m rubbish at marketing, and this has been on my “to do” list for over a year. But I finally made a new footer to remind people I wrote a book / have courses / love comments. 🥰
I’m a Renaissance Soul so I always have lots of irons in the fire. Here are just a few of the ways that we can connect. (Psst… comments and shares are my favorite. And they’re free!)
* We don’t have white walls in our house so I purchased a large sheet of white hardboard from the hardware store. There is a small hole drilled that lines up with a nail in Davy’s nursery where I often hang works to photograph them. I also have a smaller board I can set up on an easel and photograph in the backyard. Light is almost always the problem so I tend to use a tripod for portfolio photos even though I hate them. I also have a small white IKEA table I use to photograph 3D works. Here’s a peek at my set up. It’s a relatively inexpensive solution. If your work is small and lightweight you could probably get away with a piece of foamcore and a pin stuck in, but my larger works have needed a nail to hang from.
† (That’s Odo from Star Trek Deep Space Nine.) It took a lot out of me.
