Well, if anyone is curious as to what the voice behind the typing sounds like, I am up live on a podcast on Autube.
Autube, funded by the Dan Marino Foundation, is “an issues-driven web channel enabling exchange of ideas for people with autism.” The site is designed and operated by Kent Creative. The podcast is an edited version of an interview of me that was conducted by Jon Kent, president of Kent Creative.
A few words about the interview:
- My intonation is uneven and my speech hesitations worse than usual – a result of doing the interview while imitrex and a migraine battling it out in my skull.
- There are a couple of places where I laugh (kind of) and it might seem weird. In at least one of those places – talking about “aversives” – it was more of a nervous “tic” talking about something I hate looking back at, but feel I have a duty to do just that.
- A lot of specific information about media coverage and advocacy groups was edited out of the interview. This is understandable but regrettable. Hence, the quote from a leader of a Canadian “right to die” group equating the length of a girl with cerebral palsy’s life with a prison sentence isn’t mentioned (Marilyn Seguin on Tracy Latimer). Also missing is a lengthy discussion of the coverage of Katie McCarron’s murder – and the role that specific advocacy groups (e.g. Autism Speaks, Autism Society of Illinois, ANSWERS) played in promoting a “blame the victim” theme in coverage of her death.
- Finally, this is in audio only. The site is a new one and they are working at providing print transcripts of podcasts.
So, for anyone who is interested, here is a discussion of some of my journey through life and the advocacy work I do now:
A conversation with Stephen Drake (mp3 format)
The upside of the omission of some of my more pointed and specific references, of course, is that I may be spared an increase in hate mail/comments. –Stephen Drake
You are being over critical of yourself. You come across quite well and I did not pick up on any of your reservations aside from some obvious spots where material was cut.
Bill,
Thanks. The fact is, I am much more fluent and conscious of my voice when doing something focused. I don’t need to be reading from a script – an outline does it, helps me focus on my material and to say things in ways I’ve learned to be fairly effective over the years. One part of the interview was especially difficult to talk about – being a someone who actually inflicted “aversives” on kids is something I’ve only written about for limited audiences.
Time to move on to the next thing… Stephen