Welcome to my blog/story website! A little about me: I live in Vandalia, which is a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, in the United States. I have two grown children, who went away to college in other cities—both within driving distance, but far enough away to develop some independence and not hang around too much with their friends from high school. My husband and I thought that was just right. (Update, May 2014: They’ve graduated — YAY!!)
I work in the legal publishing industry and have a law degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Although I’m originally from Southern California, I came to Ohio in 1983 because I received a scholarship to law school. I met my husband while he was an engineering student at Case, and we have been together ever since.
I’ve always had an interest in how changing cultural narratives shape the development of our society, weaving together various aspects of history, law, sociology, cultural anthropology, psychology, philosophy, politics, religion, mythology, folklore, and the arts. On the occasions when many of these strands intersect and align, that’s where to find a place to stand with the lever to move the world.
One such change took place when the neurodiversity movement spread across the Internet several years ago. As with other civil rights advocacy efforts in the modern era, it calls for acceptance and accommodation of human differences—in particular, autism and other neurological differences. I expect that some readers will have come here from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, where I serve on the Board of Trustees, or from another site that focuses on neurodiversity and disability rights issues. My personal website may touch on these topics occasionally; however, I don’t intend it to be specifically about neurodiversity or autism politics. I’m not writing it to change anyone’s views or to promote any particular agenda.
Rather, it’s meant to reflect my impressions of life in a society that is changing more rapidly than any other in history—a society that is just beginning to discover the vast diversity it contains, to understand and feel comfortable with differences instead of suppressing them, and to draw strength from our shared stories and traditions in positive ways while navigating this complex cultural shift. I hope that my readers will find it meaningful when seen from this perspective.
I found the link to this blog from the ASAN, and I hope you continue to post! I live in Columbus and would love to know more about how encourage self-advocacy for all people.
Thanks Valarie!
Great blog post! Congratulations on your new site! 😉
Glad you’re enjoying it, Elesia!
Hi Meg, I’d love to follow your blog, but can’t seem to find a place to ‘sign up’ – can you point me in the right direction?
Thanks for the kind words! My blog is not hosted on WordPress.com and I’m not on Facebook, so I don’t have follow buttons; my blog has only the RSS feed links in the sidebar.
Update — the WordPress subscription features are now installed. 🙂
Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving such a thoughtful comment. I have never come across the term neurodiversity before so I looked it up and am fascinated by the idea. Looking forward to following your blog posts!
Much appreciated, Barbara, and I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Hi Meg,
I just found your site today after reading a comment you left on mine on about 2 weeks ago. I really like the premise of your site and I will be following it….though, truth be told, I will usually be weeks behind…
Peace!
Jan
No worries, Jan, I don’t often post more than once a week anyway, so you won’t be very far behind. And blogs are mainly for exploring life anyway, as you describe so well on yours, and just for having fun; so there’s no need to feel obligated!
Hi Meg – thanks for leaving a comment today, so I could come over and visit you here. I started grad school at Univ. of Cincinnati in 1982, just before you began your law school studies in Ohio. I have worked with developmentally delayed kids including some autistic spectrum kids, so I am quite familiar with that population, although not so much from the legal perspective. Thankfully, I am able to now pursue my creative passions (including blogging). I am looking forward to reading some of your writing here…
Glad you stopped by, Annette, and I hope you’ll enjoy my posts. I agree that blogging is a great way to pursue creative passions!
Dear Meg, thanks for stopping by my blog today; it’s good to meet you through the www. I too had to look up the term neurodiversity – you have a very insightful blog and i have read some of your posts with interest. I fully support aspects of cultural diversity, and bridging divides. Certainly we need a better understanding and acceptance of neural disorders. It’s good to see advocacy and support groups making a difference in positive terms. I leave with good ‘food for thought’ and look forward to returning again. Liz.
Thanks Liz — I’m glad you came here to visit, and appreciate your thoughtful comment!
thanks for dropping by my place – I am always curious who is reading and what they have to say… as a middle school teacher I am always learning and adjusting my thinking, values, and beliefs. There is nothing like the Midwestern value system. Have a great day.
Hi Clay — I hope you’re enjoying the day too! And I agree that it’s very important to keep on learning and adjusting our thoughts all through life, otherwise we stagnate. Thanks for visiting!
Great focus n vision for your blog. Cultural n societal behaviors are changing going so rapidly at the fastest pave in known history .and we live unaware and unmindful of changes within each generation.
Much appreciated, Rosanne — I’m glad you found your way here! 🙂
It’s lovely to learn more about you Meg ~ and why you started blogging. I’m much more inspired to link back to my early blogposts now. It’s easy to forget what our original motivations were! I’m interested in learning more about neurodiversity too ~ my husband would probably have been diagnosed with Asperger’s if he’d been born later ~ as it is he was just labelled ‘odd’ and can still appear rude or unfeeling. We only discovered this when we were going through difficulties and I picked up a book about it ~ he scored on every single point and was so relieved to discover this. 🙂
Thanks Jacqueline, it’s good to know that your hubby feels more positive now! Yes, there are many people who may look “rude” when they do not mean to be, and just need more time than the average person to process what is going on around them.
Great to see a fellow Gaucho involved in this!
Thanks much, 1985 Gaucho, I’m glad you stopped by and said hello! 🙂
Hi Meg, I have nominated you for an award, please check:
http://teandpaper.com/2016/01/10/champions-awards-of-2015/
Thanks Elizabeth, my response is posted here:
http://megevans.com/2016/01/18/champions-friends