The Speed of Dark

A woman in Irving, Texas killed her two autistic children, then called the police and turned herself in, saying she didn’t want them to live like that.
The story, and the reactions to it (both here and the Star Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/07/20/2349223/09-cps-inquiry-on-irving-family.html) reveals a lot–but not enough–about the woman, her situation, the state’s social services, and the attitude of the public towards women who kill family members, including children, v. men who kill family members, including children.

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Sometimes I feel like jumping up and screaming “FINALLY!” at the research end of things.   This summer there have been several really good research reports, some mentioned in national media as well, on autism-spectrum issues.  But what I want to highlight tonight is the one that sparked the “FINALLY!” reaction.

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Dates and other details about my appearances this year, including links to the institutions,  are here.   I’ll be posting any additional news about these on the same site.

However,  here’s the outline:

March 31, 2009.  Teleconference with Howard Community College in Maryland.

August 18, 2009.   Visiting Clemson University,  Clemson, SC.

September 21, 2009.  Visiting Schreiner University,  Kerrville, TX

Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas invited me to come speak to them in September.  No firm date yet.

Reminder that I’ll be doing a teleconference appearance at Howard Community College in Maryland because I couldn’t make that trip (and that turned out to be lucky, as the pneumonia I had upset everything and I’m even more in crunch mode now.)   That’s March 31.   I did the equipment compatibility test yesterday.  I don’t have the right stuff at home, so Central Texas College is handling things on this end.   They have a large telecommunications program and run the local PBS station from the campus.

There’s another probable appearance in August, but I have not heard back from the organizers that it’s “for sure” yet.

My agent reported that The Speed of Dark sold 80-something copies in Austin last week.  He wanted to know what I’d done (nothing–I was starting this blog.)

I suspect that one of the local colleges/universities is using it in a class.   If I knew who chose it for his/her class, I’d offer to come speak to the class if they were interested.