NeUUrodiversity: Neurodiversity & Unitarian Universalist Principles – Free national webinar this Sunday, 13 April 2025

Image of intern Ember.

Moderator Ember in front of Sanctuary at UU Church in Eugene, site of webinar.

NeUUrodiversity: Neurodiversity & Unitarian Universalist Principles – Free national webinar this Sunday, 13 April 2025, 12:00 to 1:30 pm pt

At that time, click here: https://zoom.us/j/963297758

To download a one-page PDF of this flyer:
https://uueugene.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/neuurodiversity-free-webinar-atf-2025-04-13.pdf

Moderator: Intern Ember Morgan-Wigmore (pictured right)

Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene

Join Ember and our diverse group of panelists, all of whom identify as neurodiverse. Ember says, “I believe that neurodiversity inclusion is central to our principles, in which each individual is inherently worthy of engaging their spiritual path in ways that allow for our diverse, amazing brains to fully realize our potential.”

All welcome from anywhere, any faith. Questions & comments encouraged! Or just watch anonymously.

Eugene community is invited to view in the UUCE Sanctuary starting at 11:30 am: 1685 W 13th Ave. While you wait, enjoy free refreshments & live music by folk singer and guitarist David Rogers.

Sponsored by Accessibility Task Force for Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene. Email to ATF and we’ll add you to our Access News list: access@uueugene.org

ASL interpreted.

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New Game: What Are Your Four Truths (#4Truths) That You Feel Could Save the Planet?

Here in Eugene, brother Tony, worker Ian and love of my life Debra joined me for 2017 eclipse watching. Senior discount seating was available!

Over the years I have created a number of games that I mostly play in my own head. One of these has actually caught on a bit with some of my homecare workers: When you hear anyone, such as on the radio, say the word “normal” you howl. That is it. You can play!

On the right we made a party for watching the 2017 eclipse. My brother Tony chose the soundtrack.

Personally my current game that I play in my own head is named “4Truths.” All you need to do is provide four of your truths that you feel that if the world knew, it may save their bacon.

Here are my four truths: 

  1. What is the lag time between emitting carbon pollution, and hurting the environment? I have read that this is 40 years. In other words, a recent summer 2017 month was the hottest on record. The pollution that led to this was produced back when I was in college, and I graduated 1977.
  2. Why is there this major lag time? My understanding from scientific articles and documentaries, is that the ocean absorbs a lot of our pollution. About 93% of greenhouse gasses are gobbled up by the sea, so that the impact of climate chaos is not immediately visible. The ocean stays all blue and consistent. Right? Not forever.
  3. When is seven generations ahead? We often hear that phrase first put forth by Iroquois Native Americans. According to my search engine, the average generation is now about 25 years. That means that seven generations is about 175 years. From this year, 2017, that would be 2192, the 700th anniversary of the invasion of this continent by us Europeans. (We had tried before, such as with Viking settlements, but they did not last.)
  4. So what if there are a few lags between pollution and climate crisis? There are more than four “lag times” before the year 2192. Big deal? Yes! Science has gone through a quiet revolution. Ask any reputable scientist, from physics to sociology. They will tell you that if anyone triggers enough positive feedback loops, chaos can result. Think of shooting off a gun despite warnings of a pending avalanche. When the snow starts to tumble, it may be too late.

What are your four truths? 

I will be tweeting the short phrase #4Truths. Please post your tweet there, and/or here on my blog comment area. Thanks!

Buddhism has its “Four noble truths.” Let us hear yours!

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Preparing for an Altered State: “Intensive Care Unit Psychosis”

David W. Oaks says “Honk 4 Revolution.”

Many people seem to think that only a parentage of folks ever experience extreme and overwhelming states of mind. Actually, thousands of everyday people go through the trauma of ICU and go through  what is commonly called “madness.” I know, because since my fall in 2012 I have been through this a bunch. While I hope I never go through ICU again, even though everyone was nice, here are the ways I am preparing just in case I do.

Maybe you and everyone else should too?

  • I have a short video to myself to watch if I ever go through this again.
  • I have a great supported decision making team, both here in Eugene and internationally.
  • I also have a brief video to my team, in case I am ever considered unable to make a decision.
  • Yes, I have an advanced directive already that says that I only agree to voluntary mental health care ever, but the above help do more, especially support the people closest to me, who I so much love.

Everyone is always in an altered state, always. There is no normality. But we each need to be ready in case we enter especially vulnerable territory.

 

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9 Questions that US Senate HELP Committee Should Ask Dr. McCance-Katz

21 July 2017

Dr. Ellie McCance-Katz, appointed by President Trump to a important mental health position.

Next week should be interesting, perhaps revolutionary, for those of us who care about human rights, disability and mental health.

I heard from leaders at the National Council for Independent Living (NCIL) that the US Senate HELP Committee will be quizzing Pres. Trump’s appointment psychiatrist Dr. Ellie McCance-Katz, to a new powerful mental health position in the federal government.

This new job is commonly known now as “Mental Health Czar” and if you are new to this little-known controversy, I blogged about this a few days ago.

9 Questions that Should Be Asked that Haven’t Been

Technically, Dr. McCance-Katz is being recommended by Pres. Trump to be Assistant Secretary for the huge USA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA). Mental health agencies mainly are asking about her positions regarding “recovery” and “peers,” important topics, but here are some tougher questions:

  1. Do you support or oppose SAMHSA Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC), such as court-ordered coerced psychiatric drugging? (Yes, in the last few years, some of your US taxpayer millions have gone to support court-ordered psychiatric procedures, mainly to enforce involuntary drugging. This has been done for decades by laws changing quietly on the state level. Now your USA federal government has thrown its weight behind this atrocity.)
  2. If you do support this, then about how many more million Americans do you feel should get court-ordered drugging? (Fanatics for IOC, which they call Assisted Treatment to hide what it really does, are a bit shy about the number of Americans they would like to see involuntarily drugged.)
  3. Do you endorse the current use of federal money for IOC? (Let us hear about how many millions have already been spent by federal agencies to promote IOC. Easy enough to find out. How many more millions are planned for, how many more millions would Dr. McCance-Katz want?)
  4. Do you admit that court-ordered involuntary electroshock on an outpatient basis can be done? (Find this incredible? Very occasionally, on the state level, IOC has reached the bizarre extreme of court-ordered involuntary outpatient electroshock. Where the subject has to report regularly to a local hospital for another forced outpatient electroshock, or face re-institutionalization. For more proof, use your web search engine for these phrases: ray sandford electroshock, elizabeth ellis electroshock. An attorney confirmed federal support for IOC could conceivably mean more forced outpatient electroshock. Even one more American forced shock is wrong. Outpatient forced shock is horrible. So is inpatient forced shock, which has gone on continuously in the USA and most countries, for decades including now!)
  5. What is the long-term impact of psychiatric drugs?
  6. Did you know that neuroleptic psychiatric drugs, commonly called antipsychotics, are often used during IOC?
  7. Did you know infants and children in the USA and globally are given off-label neuroleptics?
  8. Did you know these drugs are well known to cause brain damage, such as tardive dyskinesia (easily viewed on Youtube) or an actual lobotomy effect, shrinking the frontal lobes?
  9. Why aren’t non-drug alternatives offered to Americans, including the millions of vets?

And many other questions!

You may suggest more questions here on the comment section. Sometimes my blog entries are picked up by the big website Mad in America. Incredibly, my last blog about this topic led to a flurry of predictable controversy about Hillary vs. Trump vs. whoever.

Look, this is far deeper than who is in the White House. Whether it is Pres. Pence or the signer of the 21st Century Cures act, one of his last acts as President, Barack Obama (and I generally support him), can we discuss that later?

Whether you are Republican, Democrat, Libertarian (which has had a plank for years against government forced psychiatry, of course), a Berniecrat, Green, whatever, okay. For more than 40 years I have worked for human rights and mental health. I have seen Americans and people from other countries of all political stripes speak up. For example, we psychiatric survivors warned about the undo power of the drug industry to SAMHSA, in 2010.

Come on, especially we who are survivors of psychiatric coercion! Let us have a revolution. Certainly no one can stop us for speaking up with the truth!

Mad with the truth!

Speak out against this violation, speak out for freedom!

NCIL is holding their annual conference during this same week that the US Senate should be asking tough questions. NCIL’s theme is Revolution.

The last time I was able to attend this great conference, I heard one of the last speeches from my late, departed friend Justin Dart, Jr., known as the father of the ADA. Justin called for revolution, and both he and his amazing widow have known that psychiatric survivors tend to have the fire in our bellies for freedom, love, and revolution!

Lead on!

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Your Feedback In Free Survey Will Help MindFreedom & Psychiatric Survivor Movement

NEWS RELEASE  — July 14, 2017

 

MindFreedom International and Aciu Institute ask you to answer 11 survey questions! 

In a few moments, you can support human rights in the mental health system and one of the most important groups in that movement, MindFreedom International!

This survey asks for your opinions and ideas about MindFreedom and the future of this movement. You are invited to fill out this online survey whether or not you are a member of MindFreedom.

One of the most controversial parts of this survey asks whether you support:

“Underground railroad: Assisting individuals leaving their local areas to be free of coerced outpatient drugging.”

In other words, more and more Americans are under court order to take powerful psychiatric drugs against their will, on an out-patient basis, often in their own homes. MindFreedom and Aciu Institute are asking whether you would support a system such individuals who choose to leave to get away from this coerced psychiatric drugging.

You can read more about opposing forced outpatient drugging on this blog, here.

David Oaks (showed in the upper right trying out a standing wheelchair) is one of the co-founders of Aciu Institute, which is a consultant for MindFreedom International. David used to be an executive director for MFI, before a spinal injury in 2012.

You can fill out the survey here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mfi-survey-2017

The survey begins on the annual day to celebrate psychiatric survivor human rights, traditionally Bastille Day, July 14, 2017.

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