[Picture of me in cap and gown outside the hotel where the graduation ceremony was held.]

[Picture of me in cap, gown, and honors ribbon holding up my graduation certificate.]

The busyness started on Thursday when I picked up my brother from the airport.  That was a late night.  Then, Friday (an early morning) I attended the graduation ceremony.  My parents-in-law took us out to lunch.  And we came home to finish getting ready for the party.  The last of which was done while watching Avatar (much better movie than all the marketing indicated—the best part of the movie is not the cool new style, but instead it is the world-saving story).

Saturday we had to finish finishing getting ready for the party and then we partied.  Sunday was a much slower day and sad, too, taking my brother back to the airport.

Then, Monday, it was time to get back to work.

It all went very, very well, but blogging just didn’t make it into the mix.

Achieving my second goal was much more important to my family and me.  That goal is to own my own writing business.  Now I do.  Purple Pen Writing Services is officially open for business.  You can visit my site at www.PurplePenWritingServices.com.

I provide resume writing and business writing services to clients in the Greater Janesville area.  I’ll amend that.  While most of my marketing efforts target my local area, I’m online for a reason.  I will provide affordable writing services to any client who requests them, assuming their request is both ethical and within my abilities.

I’ll also provide some consulting services.  I have not completed my training, so the services I am comfortable offering don’t run the full gambit of career consulting or marketing consulting services.  For those individuals who are struggling with their personal marketing plan (i.e., getting the kind of job they want) or with their professional marketing plan (i.e., reaching their target customers) I would be more than happy to provide consultation on marketing strategies and tactics.  I can do so knowledgeably and effectively.

Of course, most of this is not of interest to Embracing Chaos readers.  The point that might be of interest is this:

Now that I’m working 50-60 hours a week getting my business off the ground I will not be blogging as much.  Once my business is off the ground I’ll be running my business and attending graduate school, so I still won’t be blogging as much.  I intend to maintain Embracing Chaos, continue to add links, continue to visit old friends and new blogs—just not quite as much as I’d like.

If it is any consolation at all, bringing neurodiversity more fully into the mainstream through articles and other efforts is a very big part of my short-term, mid-term, and long-term plans.

Okay, so yes, there’s the getting the transcripts bit, and there’s the graduation ceremony bit.  There’s even the party planning and hosting bits.  But…  I’m a college graduate!

As just a bit of icing, I’m graduating Summa Cum Laude and my Capstone project (the business plan for the business I’m launching in the first week of May) has been nominated for the Herzing Cup Award!

But, most importantly I’m done!  Now, in the next few days we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled programming here at Embracing Chaos.  But, for a few moments longer I just need to revel in my accomplishments.

• First, note that this network is not exclusively for women or for those who are autistic.

 “AWN is dedicated to building a community of autistic females, their families, friends, and supporters who have a place where they can share their experiences amongst a diverse, inclusive, and supportive environment.”

• Organized much like an e-zine, there are also articles of interest to AWN’s target audience.  Here is an excerpt from Amy Caraballo’s piece on Zakhquery Price:

“During a typical school day in October, Zak had a behavioral tantrum in class. It has been reported that while in mid-tantrum, he was cornered and “taken down” by school staff in an unspecified restraint technique. He fought back and allegedly caused insignificant injuries to the staff involved.”

• AWN also offers a calendar of events, which lets us know about expected radio guests and other relevant events.
• AWN provides a forums section, which includes forum areas like “Strategies for Daily Living,” “Advocacy,” and “Networking.”
• There is a directory of prominent participants of the Autism Women’s Network and contact information.

Now, I would like to draw your attention to latest issue of Autism-Asperger’s Digest Magazine.  Not only are there some great articles in this issue, one is of personal interest to me!  A few that caught my eye right away follow:

• “Nothing to Hide: The Danger of One Wrong Provider” by me

“Like many of you, I’ve read articles and heard lectures on the importance of carefully choosing providers and selecting services for our children with autism.  I’ve walked away from doctors, and even a school because of what I’d learned.  I took charge of my children’s care and actively led every team involved.  Then, I learned how much damage one wrong provider could do.”

• “Neurodiversity: A balanced Opinion” by Nick Dubin, Psy.D

“And that’s where the battle lines seem to be drawn: ‘High functioning’ autistics versus the parents of ‘low functioning’ autistics and various adults on the spectrum who also advocate for a cure.  What’s the solution?  Is there a solution?”

• “Asperger’s Adults and the Court System” by Laura Larissa Scott

“My second court system interaction was much less pleasant, made more so, I believe, by the fact that I am an adult with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS).”

Please check this issue out if you can!

I knew I wanted to write for a living and pursued a few different strategies to do that.  The latest is business writing, which should result in a viable small business by this time next year.

Writing non-fiction didn’t really interest me until recently.  It was a practical avenue to break into business writing, but other than blogging I didn’t see the non-fiction venues as my thing.  While I intended to write a book about autism someday, trying to share a different perspective than the books I’d read when my kids were first diagnosed, I didn’t really take it seriously as a professional pursuit.

I don’t know about other people, but I tend to get flashes of insight.  I see my interests and activities align in an unexpected way.  Writing, professionalism, neurodiversity, and the need for more mainstream attention to this important perspective was an unexpected alignment for me.  The quality, quantity, and marketability of my writing have gone up significantly since this alignment became apparent to me.  After over a decade of trying to write professionally, I sit down and write about a topic I’m passionate about, and lo and behold, my work is accepted, and then another piece is accepted and published.  On it goes and I hope it continues.

I don’t expect to make a living writing about neurodiversity, but I do hope to make an impact.

For those who are interested, I now have a working writing blog up.  Its primary target is the writing group I started, but the material on there is useful for almost anyone who’s interested in writing.  If you want tips on how to break into publication, just ask and I’ll tell you what I can.

As the first professional periodical to accept my non-fiction work for publication, I would like to highlight Autism Asperger’s Digest and tell you a little more about it.  AADigest won the Gold Award three years in a row from the National Parenting Publications Award competition.  “This is NAPPA’s highest honor, and the prestigious award recognizes the AADigest as one of the most useful products geared to expectant, new or veteran parents today,” says the AA Digest.

“Autism Asperger’s Digest has the unique distinction of being the only NAPPA winner to receive a NAPPA Gold Award three times in a row. We salute the editors and writers who provide such reliable, reputable and positive information for families with children and adults on the spectrum,” said NAPPA spokesperson Barbara Smith Decker.

After finding AADigest (far too late for comfort) I immediately became a subscriber.  Being accepted for publication, I got an additional year’s worth of subscriptions as payment.  For those considering trying to place an article here, I should warn you that there’s no financial compensation, but you’ll be published, you’ll get several copies of the issue in which your work appears, and you’ll get a subscription.  For a magazine like this, that’s a great deal – especially if you’re like me and are both trying to reach this particular audience while also being part of this audience.  Of course, parents aren’t the only ones who read AADigest.  They also publish information that is useful to service providers and family and friends of those on the spectrum.

One feature that I believe adds special credibility to AADigest is the column written by Dr. Temple Grandin, Autism & Asperger’s: The Way I See It.  Thus far I’ve been very satisfied with the magazine.  I don’t agree with everything I read there – I’d be disappointed if I did, because that would show a particular bias that is uncharacteristic of good journalism – but they take a very balanced approach between respecting the differences and blessings of autistic people and aiding people who trying to educate and assist autistic people.

I recommend you take a look at AADigest if you haven’t already.  You can browse past issues (some articles are available online), check out the contents of the current issue, or subscribe for a reduced price now!