I’ve always wanted one of those living willow houses. I finally realized it was beyond me and ordered this gazebo greenhouse kit – assembled it without the plastic exterior and grow vines on it.
Last year I didn’t put down enough seeds, but this year we planted many more and I bought a clematis (the green vine you see here.)
It may take some trial and error to get the right effect.
I’m still celebrating!
Last week, on my actual birthday, one of my favorite chapters from the Wheel of Time was adapted to screen. So I am having a great month.
As my gift to you, anyone who joins the zine subscription this month, will get a bonus Wheel of Time mini zine. 🥰
This month I wrote about creating safe spaces and regulating nervous systems in “unprecedented times.”
You can read the digitized version here.
The work on the cover has been exhibited in several different galleries and is part of the My Brain on Motherhood collection as part of my ARIM.
I’ve also spent a substantial amount of time this month working on a sculpture called Bloom Where You’re Planted from a dead cherry tree.
You can read about the process here.
Here I am cleaning mud off the root.
I’m making a concerted effort to spend more time creating and less time on admin this year. One of the tools I’m using for this is logging my time with spreadsheets and charts.
As someone with time blindness I can very easily sink time into something without realizing.
Seeing time visually has made a huge difference for me!
If you’re curious about this process you can click here to read more about what I’m doing and what impact it’s having.
Last month, in all my excitement about The Wheel of Time, I completely forgot to tell you I published a ramble podcast. I’ll be doing these on an ad hoc basis moving forward. (If you enjoy listening let me know!)
I haven’t managed to migrated podcast episodes off Substack yet.
Listen here for now.
This is essentially a brain dump I recorded in January reflecting on my creative ecosystem, closing loops, and my intentions for moving into a new year.
When I migrate off Substack I’m thinking of calling this a “Brain Dump Podcast” to remind myself it’s okay to be messy. Here’s some possible podcast art. Not my normal color palette, but maybe my kid’s love of all things rainbow is rubbing off on me.
Of everything I’m sharing I spent the most time and energy on this.
If you’ve struggled to learn a second language later in life – it may not be for the reasons you think. I’d love to know what neurodivergent folks think of this post.
I also wrote some thoughts about From Where You Dream. A book about storytelling from your unconscious.
Just two posts in the TARDIS time hop this month.
If you have time to check out my 360 VR work I’d love to know what you think.
While I was at it I also created a landing page for free resources and printables.
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.
Here are other ways you can support.
If you’re reading this in your email inbox you can just hit reply to message me directly. I’d love to hear what you think. It makes it worth the time I put in.
Thanks for being here.
I appreciate you.
P.S. One downside to emailing each month instead of weekly is that there is SO MUCH to cover. I’ve almost given up on sharing links because I have too many to narrow down. But the 15 hours a month I’ve recovered to spend on other projects seems worth the trade off.
If you want a suggestion… Watch the Wheel of Time. 😉
As someone with time blindness I can very easily sink time into something without realizing.
This year I’m experimenting with spreadsheets and time charts as tools to visualize time. Here is how 2025 has been looking (as of March 24.)
I had a lot of loops to close in January and it felt like a ton of admin. This was my first month tracking my time. The pie chart was a game changer. I started it mid month and the wedges for web & self publishing dominated the chart. It took conscious effort to put more time into personal projects to balance the chart out.
Writing & Research (31.9%)
Most of this was my fantasy novel Mawd.
Web (32.9%)
Mostly Substack – my own newsletter & wrapping up Neurokind.
Entwined & Ember (20.1%)
Admin for self publishing these books.
ARIM (15.1%)
This is time spent on my Artist’s Residency in Motherhood making visual art for My Brain on Motherhood.
This month my biggest wedge was redesigning my website. But seeing how big the blue wedge was motivated me to make time for other things.
Web (59.0%)
Redesigning my website and migrating my newsletter to Buttondown.
Zines (21.1%)
Making Not About TETRIS and working on illustrations for a zine about the spectrum of neurodivergence. My scanner died this month and created a lot of headaches.
Other (10.3%)
Designed two self inking stamps (folks with zine subs will see these soon) and sewing patches on a denim jacket.
Mawd (4.4%)
Work on my fiction novel. I’m in an ideation phase.
Picture Book (3.6%)
Admin for self publishing How it Feels to Me.
My website wedge is still the largest (although I have a few days to go) based on shop and subscription migration headaches. I hope to continue making this wedge smaller over time.
Web (38.9.0%)
Moving zine subs from Big Cartel to Stripe, redoing various opt ins, migrating Neurokind to Beehiiv, archiving March blog posts, and writing for blog & newsletter.
Zines (21.1%)
Making I’m Fine zine and a few Wheel of Time mini zines.
Mawd (12.9%)
Work on my fiction novel. Still in an ideation phase.
Other (10.1%)
Sewing patches & picture book admin (maybe that should be separated.)
ARIM (9.2%)
Working on Bloom Where You’re Planted.
Gardening (4.8%)
I debated over logging this, but it is important self regulating work and part of my creative ecosystem.
I also did a bar chart showing the different parts of the process to see that balance.
Here you see Admin & Prep decreasing and time to Create growing from January to March.
I’m 90% sure this shift would not have happened without this visual tool. It’s too easy to get pulled into neverending admin and website tweaks. This makes me more aware.
I found tracking the time itself really hard until I started using the Tap When app. (Not a sponsor.) I tap when I start and tap when I finish. No math!
P.S. My spreadsheets are in no condition to officially share as a resource, but if you’d like to see the imperfect version I’m working with I’m happy to share the template for you to make your own. Just drop me a line or respond to a newsletter.
Image Credit: Prague Astronomical Clock via Wiki Commons
Rand’s face took on a pained expression. “I don’t know.” He sounded embarrassed. “When I want fire, for a lamp or a fireplace, I just make it, but I do not know how. I don’t really need to think to do things with fire.” That almost stood to reason. Of the Five Powers, Fire and Earth had been strongest in men in the Age of Legends, and Air and Water in women; Spirit had been shared equally. Egwene hardly had to think to use Air or Water, once she had learned to do a thing in the first place. But the thought did not further their purpose.
The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time Book 4)
Rand is pretty much every author trying to explain how they write fiction.
Rare Roots – a resource to find native perennials by US State.
Zines may seem simple, but it still takes time and iteration to get them just right. Especially for color. I took extra time this month because March’s zine features one of my exhibiting artworks. This is just a laser print, but with some minor adjustments it’s popping off the page.
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.
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.
After pruning and removing some branches I found it balanced nicely upside down.
David helped me clean the mud off the root. This project has been a family affair.
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.
Update: March 2025
“What does outside mean?”
“Where you can sap the sun’s energy.”
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.
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.
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. 🫠
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.
Now we know why traditional curriculum aren’t going to work for us.
So what do we do instead?
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.
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.
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.
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.
There are so many YouTube channels for songs.
Super Simple Songs has translations for Spanish, Japanese, and Portuguese.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
I’m Sarah Shotts, late diagnosed autistic artist, writer, and mum to an autistic child who I’m home educating.
I write eclectic emails each month about creativity, neurodivergence, and (quite frankly) whatever my current hyperfixation happens to be.
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