My interview with Giorgena - In 2021

Sharing my responses from my interview with Giorgena after getting selected as a Spellibrity in the Humanitarian category as part of SpellX 2021.

Q1. You were nominated and selected as a spellebrity in the category of  Humanitarian.  What are the qualities that make YOU a good Humanitarian? 

My response - Look naturally at people positively. Taking no hurtful actions, specially would be careful around people weak and vulnerable. Being loving and kind. Taking your thoughts to how you can help everybody. You think good with bad people. Years together doing work that helps perfect the sad lives. Typing to talk about my world so people understand more about autism. The thought others perhaps need light to keep going too. Over

Q2. I remember your SpellX presentation well. In reviewing my notes, I see not only that you are a lover of music and poetry, but you carry lyricism and poetry into some of your own writing. Tell me what these art forms do for you.

My response - Music induces inner calm, anticipates my lost state and moves me into better phases. Count on music in being able to not become generally looking non functional. Road that inner listener travels through music and poetry leaves my totally blank mind blown. Over

Q3. Thanks to the advocacy of nonspeakers like you, doors that were once shut are opening. With this in mind, what are your plans for the future?

My response - I entertain the hope of studying math because it is a simple soulful vortex of more happiness.

Opened doors, to remain so, more has to be done keeping in mind our going forward. In my little way be more closely involved in speaking for my community of non speaking autistics. over

My First Podcast in-person Interview for Newsreel Asia

My first podcast interview

Interview I did for Newsreel Asia 

Where the mind is without fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

                                    

                                                                          Rabindranath Tagore

Freed from my prison of silence............

Here I share some of my responses to queries put to me during the interview

Did I feel like I had to pick up the pencil before Priya helped me, pick up the pencil and write before that?

My response - Yes.

Why didn't I do it?

My response - Because people felt I could not do it.

What stopped me from trying on my own?

My response - My body mind disconnect.

For somebody who does not understand what this feels like could you explain it?

My response - Going south when your mind actually wants you to go north.

Do I read poetry?

My response - Yes

My favourite poet - Tagore

My favourite poem - Where the mind is without fear.

Growth through fear

 

Teachers and often parents don’t take this so importantly to talk about how fear can play really key role in shaping the personality of the child. The only possible difference lies in the way fear is taught to be used. If used effectively often could become an empowering strategy to success through stepping outside that comfort zone that one only limits oneself time and again to. Fear when strategically used can just lead to exponential growth in mindset setting in motion changes right across the frame of your personality.

However using fear to control can have disastrous results. Over time gradual shrinking of one as the individual takes place leading to a hollow hull of one's personality alone remaining.

To be true to oneself the only way forward is to wade through one's fears growing through the learnings it helps one gain. Doing so makes one become more confident be yourself.

That fear only determines growth trajectories is an important fact to take note of!

My thoughts on cognitive diversity and its importance in today's world

 

The following is taken from my interview for Care4Autism.

https://care4autism.blogspot.com/2023/01/tarun-paul-mathew-17-years-old-is.html

 

My thoughts on cognitive diversity and its importance in today's world

 

Why the need for diversity?

 

Makes coping with hardships lot likely more possible. Things reach better ends if varying participant perspectives are included in all cases. The faster we reduce diversity, the sooner our hour of final tryst with our future survival as a species is reached. Having diversity ensures greater checking of things, keeping the hope of human survival high.

 

Why is Cognitive Diversity important?

 

Having different kinds of minds problem solving, only makes things easier. Prism simply brings out the actual beauty of totally mundane white light. The spectrum exists only because of the individual wavelengths of light. Each colour of the rainbow is beautiful in its unique way. Likewise, only when there are diverse minds in the world is the human rainbow complete.

 

How does cognitive diversity help?

 

Looking from varied personal outlooks aids better solutions that can be more helpful for growth in more people. More the number and variety of minds looking at a project, the wider the scope of the outcomes because of the complexities understood and considered.

 

How do we make acceptance of cognitive diversity a reality?

 

The thought that it is likely the biggest factor on which the entire human race is dependent on to survive, must necessarily be pressed into people's minds. Lessons we humans learn on evolution in school need to give impetus tomorrow to our actions if we hope to survive. By mobilising youth to acknowledge that differences are just part of life like any of the many things making your life beautiful and completely colourful.

 

How does this translate into inclusivity practices?

 

What has been observed most to have really made a difference has only been better knowledge of criteria that both could show how the person struggles as well as the area the person has potential in. Thinking is likely to have to be the most prominent place to begin the cleansing from. By changing attitudes, making inclusion happen becomes a far more realistic goal.

 

Interview with Padma Aunty

Sharing my interview responses for Padma aunty's blog 

1. How old are you? What are you studying?

 

I turned 17 this year though feel lot older. Just perhaps my thoughts. I would like to find great happiness through the nuanced balance between my still teenage thoughts and the older thinking.

Have completed my grade 9 and plan to keep on the attempt right in until I finish my grade 10.

 

2. Would you like to share a few details of your schooling, how you learned to adapt to the environment and friends, etc.

 

 

Yes. Initially school was only to have mechanisms to learn new things. I used to play a lot. Having many good teachers really helped me very much. They kindly treated me like my classmates. Yes. gave lot of encouragement of course really giving me more confidence. It quite felt overwhelming during games and appeared impossible many a time to manage lunch break too. Positively managed only because my teachers and classmates helped me. Great amount of socialisation is included in both situations. It can fester persisting anxiety and sensory overload has truly dreadful consequences. Proving I understand lot more than it appeared gave me the freedom to not be helpless most often totally helping in adapting to situations in school. Special mention to my classmates and teachers for all the special support for my schooling experience.

3. Please share a few details about your sensory world. What helps you to calm down and relax?

 

Mostly progress from very happy state going on to becoming lost minutes later.

Keep moving between diving into the water cold and the water full hot. Leaves me totally in helpless position. Lot of sensory experiences are painful.

Music only offers relaxation.

 

4. What is your all-time favourite and current favourite song and movie/book? Please share a poem you wrote recently.

 

All-time favourite song

 

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Current favourite songs

 

Higher power by Coldplay

Faded by Alan Walker

Waiting for Love by Avicii

Paradise by Coldplay

 

All-time favourite book

 

 

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf

 

Current favourite book

 

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

 

Book reading presently

 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

5. Please share a few details about your first annual day participation in school. What did you perform? How did you feel?

 

That was perhaps one of my happiest experiences in school. I took part in the Japanese lantern dance and had to go for practice daily to learn to time my steps perfectly together both with the other dancers and the music. Of course, it was panicky to have to do all this with sensorial overload that is part of such school programs. Much of this was overcome with singular effort from my teachers. The actual program really had me experience too much of flood of sensations. Observing my dance part later felt very fascinated. Like tango the lovely movements positively looked like flowing river. Possibly my best dance performance to this day. Pleasing effort.

 

6. Please tell us about your passion for music. What instrument do you play? When did you start learning to play?

 

Music is one of the things in life that makes it all worthwhile. Better friend one may never have. Time loses importance when music becomes bigger. I am happy listening to music night and day.

 

 

7. Please share a few details about the Spellibrity contest.

 

Important milestone that helped me to really gather the confidence to engage with the world on my terms. You are treated much more respectfully.

I liked the way they personified us into the different categories. I particularly liked my humanitarian label. Because it tells people absolute truth about me. 

 

8. Do you remember the first word/sentence you communicated by typing? How did it feel?

 

Yes

 

Only my name.

 

It felt great, touched my lonely being, completely liberating mechanism.

 

9. Please share a few details about how your learning to communicate progressed and what/who helped the most?

 

Priya miss opened important doors for me. She freed me from the prison I was trapped in - a silent totally lonely place.

 10. You were close to your grandparents; how did you feel and cope with their loss...

 

There happened to not be anybody else that accepted my differences as my grandparents. There clearly was an unspoken connection with them. Of course I felt very sad to lose them. Many times, miss them. In my memories they stay with me always.

 

11. Would you like to share your future plans with us?

 

In the future my wish is to probably both learn and dance to music that is found only in math. My every effort to specifically be a voice for other non-speaking autistics always. 

 

1    12. Would you like to share details about your short story on inclusion.

 

The story was about standing up to bullying. Have not been bullied but know very well how difficult and scary to be bullied can feel.

 

1    13. How was the experience of writing for the book - Talking Fingers?

 

The full experience felt great mainly because of the opportunity to collaborate with my clan of non-speaking autistics from my country. People got to hear us. That gave me the motivation to push the body the maximum.

Life goals

 Looking simply at life 

People endlessly racing towards pointless goals

Looking for happiness outside.

Having  lot of money yet only wanting more.

You keep working though there are people you really love 

Who may need you much more.

Teens

                    Teens

 

Wills of sterling silver that greatly shine

Through experiences all not so fine.

Waiting in the shadows that cloud 

The silence before adulthood is found.

 

Nothing possibly gives more confidence

Yet regularly exacts greater learning.

Interest amounts, heading off into silence

Meaning to life learned only in this testing time in life.

 

The sea of life, daring in that hindsight

Gathering strength until adulthood approaches life tomorrow bright.

Roads lay many, to take or to not to follow

Kindness perhaps lessens grave teen sorrow.

 

Understand the inner poetry of youth

Terms of interactions have passed on

Like homeless learning their truth

Parents treat your teens with plenty of love and care.

Mom, Amma......

 Mom

Preferred person, multiplier.

Having many talents.

Like perfect laugh I most gain immensely from.

Plight, much young looking.

I move morning and night greatly because of mom.

Over

Mother - Is this poem about amma?

Me - Yes

Mother - So you are saying all this is true about amma?

Me - Yes

Mother - You have described me as a multiplier. In what sense?

Me - Of people in life, the love.

Mother - Whose life?

Me - My life

Mother - Please explain 'the love'

Me - Love flowing into my life.

Who is that Genius I admire?

"A Genius is a person of extraordinary mental powers whose original works or insights [plural] change society in some significant way for good or for ill across cultures and across time." 

                                                                        Professor Craig White

                                                                        Henry L & Lucy G Moses Prof Emeritus of Music

                                                                         Yale University

                                                                                

As part of doing the course 'The Nature of Genius' offered by Yale University on Coursera.org, this was a question I had to think about and respond to and my answer is shared below - 

Can you think of a person, not mentioned in the lectures who meets all of Craig's criteria? If so, name them here and provide evidence of their genius as it relates to originality, significance, and lasting societal impact.

Nelson Mandela

Originality - He stood out specially timelessly and as someone very relatable to above everything all people. 

Significance - He brought an end to apartheid. Made way for South Africa to become a democracy and have equal rights for all the people. Taking away significantly the discrimination based on race allowed the country to try to become a rainbow nation. 

Societal impact - Mandela is an inspiration to people through not just being the builder of South Africa after ending apartheid but also bringing groups of people together through nonviolent means using forgiveness and compassion.

                                                                        

On Education and the Schooling Experience

 

Education according to me

Education is the opportunity to learn new things in a safe and happy environment. To naturally learn, highly important is having powerful teachers.

 

About my schooling experience

The schooling experience mostly all children look to with eagerness wasn't in my life the loveliest of ones. Perhaps lot of good people made it much better than most other boys of my capacity but still not perfect. My capacity to learn was often ignored or not good enough.

 

Aspects of schooling I liked the most

I loved my classmates and nice teachers the most. They brought many melodious little moments into my life. Personally, both meeting my friends and the opportunity to learn were the happiest.

 

About the support I received in school

Yes, there was good support for certain things not for others. Most academic things had the total freedom that only necessary things I wanted or felt had that capacity to do I could choose to do. However, the help that I needed to build nice friendships was not enough. Since I completely speak in typing, answering questions together with the slow pace of typing can make it really difficult.

 

 

About my Classmates

I had classmates who supported me significantly, so my experiences were quite nice.

 

 

C - concerned for me.

L - light hearted conversation.

A - affectionate.

S - simple happiness shown only, very important.

S - special.

M - missed.

A - amazing cool people.

T - talk jovially

E - enthusiastic

S - stand by me.

 

 

About my Teachers

 

Yes, many believed that my abilities did not match how most people saw me. Including me understandably took a lot of patience and caring for me and the teachers gave their thought and time for my participation fully.

 

Opportunities where I could share my abilities with my school and classmates

Yes, some good opportunities.

Annual day - Participating in the annual day programs.

Science exhibition - I presented PowerPoint on connection between math and music. I put up a little galaxy in a bottle model.

Class assembly – Playing the song, 'We shall overcome' on the keyboard to contribute in my class's school assembly program.

 

 

Did I ever feel looked down upon?

Many situations I was looked at as having below age intelligence, failing to understand simple things.

 

 

Changes you feel are necessary based on your schooling experience

 

Much more support on writing tests. More breaks would be better. Lot more getting personal help. Bring more specific help as needed by the student and not using a standard method for all students.

That thought of freedom

 Do you know what is the significance of today?

Yes

What is it?

Today only India gained freedom.

When did India gain freedom?

15 august 1947

Do you think freedom is a good thing to have?

Yes

Why do you say so?

It forces you to have that say in decisions from family about the path of your life, talking possibly how you go specifically following goals you care for.

What about freedom for the country? What does it mean for us as citizens?

You matter and you are looked as having value to choose the path for the country.

What does freedom mean to you personally?

To matter 

To be looked as having value

To behave responsibly

To think without that fear

To live a life I enjoy

to understand your truth.

Can you read the above comment?

Yes

Did you understand what it means?

Yes

Who do you thinking is making that statement, an autistic person or a non autistic person?

Spectrum in autistics

So do you agree with the statement?

Yes

Could you write what your thoughts are about this

Them people who are not autistic don't have an  understanding of your autistic traits.

A World of Ad Lib.

28thFeb2020

Mother - What do you like listening on radio and tv?

Me - Music

Mother - Do you read newspapers or magazines?

Me - No .

Mother - Do you surf the internet?

Me - Yes

Mother - What do you surf?

Me - Music

Mother - Do you use Youtube?

Me - Yes

Mother - For what?

Me - To watch advertisements.

Mother - Why do you watch ads?

Me - For entertainment.

Mother - Do you learn anything watching ads?

Me - Yes

Mother - What do you learn?

Me - Feelings of people.

Mother - Ok. How does it help you?

Me - It helps me understand people.

Mother - What about people do you find difficult to understand?

Me - To know people's minds.


Mother - How does watching ads help you understand people and how does that help?

Me - It helps me learn about making more trust worthy friends.

Righteous Doing

20th Jan 2020

From the first when the mouth tries to voice people try to not support. This ultimately comes out as a cry of anguish. The painting represents this show of anguish. 

Together

together lets create lots of music.
together lets create lots of memories.
together
yes, of left sides.
yes, of boys.
yes, of right sides.
yes, of girls.
together who tries putting together the remains.
one to keep.
(over)

comment - thoughts about good friendships