Solidarity forever!

in the tags , declaring him “illegal” or “very cursed”. Just remember that he is mobile and he can echolocate doubt

I MET THE WORLDS SHARP EDGES BREAD-SOFT, EXPECTING TO BE TORN FOR THE GREATER GOOD, BUT INSTEAD THE MEANNESS AND HARDNESS BECAME GENTLE UPON MEETING MY SURFACE. I STILL HURT, BUT I DID NOT DIE OR KILL OR DIE OR KILL OR DIE.

(THEIR NAME IS LITTLE SOFTNESS)

Happiness Will Come To You.

when tho

When You Least Expect It. Probably Late March

reblog for happiness to come for you in late march!

pretty shitty how baseline human activities like singing, dancing and making art got turned into skills  instead of being seen as behaviors

so now it’s like ‘the point of doing them is to get good at them’ and not ‘this is a thing humans do, the way birds sing and bees make hives’.

Think about why it’s illegal to hire a hit man.

All you’re really doing is speaking and giving someone money.

It’s legal to speak.

It’s legal to give someone money.

Even if they actually complete the job, you’re not the one who committed the murder.

So why is it illegal to hire a hit man?

Could it be because inciting violence is not protected under free speech?

And if that’s the case, why should free speech protect Nazis advocating genocide?

Never reblogged something harder in my life

Art by Elise Gravel [website | FB]

That’s Louis Rossman, a repair technician and YouTuber, who went viral recently for railing against Apple. Apple purposely charges a lot for repairs and you either have to pay up or buy a new device. That’s because Apple withholds necessary tools and information from outside repair shops. And to think, we were just so close to change.

Follow @the-future-now

Reblog if you:

No one will know which is it

important!!!!!

Pavel Tchelitchew, The Head (Spiral), 1950

Trust no motherfucker who attempts to frame human rights issues or questions of basic respect as a “debate” what has “sides.”

And yes this very much includes people who play-act the “debate” in youtube videos

YouTube suggestions like: “Hey there, bud! You seemed to really enjoy that instructional video on laboratory procedures for fine aggregate sieve analysis. Want some related videos? Here’s some related videos such as ‘Why Hitler Was Right’ and ‘Top 200 Ways Judeo-Bolshevik Feminism Is Destroying White America’”

Me: *watches literally nothing but dirt science videos for work, New Vegas lp’s, Kat Blaque, and Monster Factory*

Youtube: Oh, I know what she wants to watch! Some related videos! *stares directly into the camera while Horst Wessel Leid starts playing in the background*

Learning Disabilities Masterpost

At the end of every section there will be a soundcloud link, where you will find a recorded voice reading what I wrote.

EDIT: classification and terminology are based on my country and bound to american translation. They may be different where you live. Thank you to @captainbluebear for pointing this out. 

General Info

What are learning disabilities?

Learning disabilities (LD) are difficulties in several areas of functioning. People with LD may experience troubles with letters - writing, reading; numbers - recognizing digits, calculating, measuring, timing; spacial recognition; languages, sounds, and visual procession. They’re not exactly separate disabilities: they’re more like different kinds and manifestations of a same disability.

LDs have nothing to do with cognitive disabilities, or under-average QI.  

What causes them?

LDs are congenital (from birth), and their cause is not yet clear. What we know is that the brain of people with LDs is peculiar is some areas, but we don’t know why. 

Accidents or illnesses can cause similar conditions, but not LDs, which are developmental disorders (thank you to @actuallydyspraxic for this correction).

What kind of learning disabilities exist?

Learning disabilities include:

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

Condition that adversely affects how sounds that travel through the ear are processed or interpreted by the brain. Individuals with APD do not recognize subtle differences between sounds in words, even when the sounds are loud and clear enough to be heard. They can also find it difficult to tell where sounds are coming from, to make sense of the order of sounds, or to block out competing background noises.

Dyscalculia

Affects a person’s ability to understand numbers and learn math facts. Individuals with this type of LD may also have poor comprehension of math symbols, may struggle with memorizing and organizing numbers, have difficulty telling time, or have trouble with counting and measures.

Dyslexia

Affects reading and related language-based processing skills. The severity can differ in each individual but can affect reading fluency, decoding, reading comprehension, recall, writing, spelling, and sometimes speech.

Dysgraphia

Affects a person’s handwriting ability and fine motor skills. Problems may include illegible handwriting, inconsistent spacing, poor spatial planning on paper, poor spelling, and difficulty composing writing as well as thinking and writing at the same time.

Dyspraxia

Disorder that is characterized by difficulty in muscle control, which causes problems with movement and coordination, language and speech, and can affect learning.

Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

Disorder which is usually characterized by a significant discrepancy between higher verbal skills and weaker motor, visual-spatial and social skills. Typically, an individual with NLD (or NVLD) has trouble interpreting nonverbal cues like facial expressions or body language, and may have poor coordination.

Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit

Disorder that affects the understanding of information that a person sees, or the ability to draw or copy. It can result in missing subtle differences in shapes or printed letters, losing place frequently, struggles with cutting, holding pencil too tightly, or poor eye/hand coordination.

AUDIO

Useful links

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

Overview on APD: a nhs page which lists symptoms and other useful info.

AuditoryCenter: a website dedicated to APD, belonging to a small private practice specialized in assessment and treatment of this condition. Informative.

Resources for Adults with Auditory Processing Disorder: by Rambling Justice, a page dedicated to useful resources for people with APD. It features organizations, youtube videos, ways of finding other people with APD and captioned television, videos, and movies, and many other useful links.  

@brainhearingjumble and @thatcapdfeel: blogs dedicated to people with APD (and CAPD, central auditory processing disorder)

Dyscalculia

My world without numbers: by Line Rothmann. A TadTalk about what is like to have dyscalculia and how it is perceived by society.

Dyscalculia.org: a website dedicated to dyscalculia. It helps with finding tools, books, and news, explores the legal options, has a large section which focuses on college, and another with numerous infos on this condition, symptoms included.

Intmath: IntMath provides clear examples, relating things to the “real world”, and interactive applets that allow the user to explore mathematical concepts. It’s not specific for dyscalculic people, but it presents several tools which simplify math a lot.

@lets-talk-dyscalculia and @thisisdyscalculia: blogs dedicated to dyscalculia.

Dyslexia

Tips from Dyslexic Students for Dyslexic Students: a list of tips by people who get what it’s like. Mostly young teenagers.

DyslexiaTalk and BeingDyslexic: forums for dyslexic people where you can share experiences, tips, and rants. In the second one you can interact with experts, too.

Dyslexiaida: website belonging to the International Dyslexia Association. Here you can find infos about dyslexia, statistics, success stories, publications, and other resources.

@thatdyslexiafeel and @this-dyslexicked-into-that: blogs dedicated to dyslexia.

Dysgraphia

Understanding dysgraphia: an overview on dysgraphia that includes the legal aspect. Also in Spanish.

Do It Afraid. Living with Dysgraphia: by Carla Lytle. A youtube video about personal experience with dysgraphia. It’s a very intimate speech.

Dysgraphiahelp: website focused on dysgraphia. It has a page dedicated to resources, both online and physical.

@dysgraphicadult: blog dedicated to dysgraphia.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxiausa, Dyspraxiafoundation, and Dyspraxia: 3 (three) websites dedicated to dyspraxia respectively in the USA, UK, and Ireland.

Dyspraxicadults and dyspraxicteens: forums dedicated to dyspraxic adults and teens, to share experiences and tips and have in general a good time.

Dyspraxia exercises: ideas and prompts for useful exercises on Pinterest.

@actuallydyspraxic and @thetumblingdyspraxic: blogs about dyspraxia.

Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

NLDline: websites dedicated to Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities; includes possible co-morbid conditions. Various resources.

The Misunderstood Child: The Child With a Nonverbal Learning Disorder: a 17 (seventeen) pages dissertation on NLD.

What Does Nonverbal Learning Disorder Look Like in Adults?: an article that explains what NLD looks like in adults. Useful to feel understood and if you’re wondering wether or not you have NLD.

@thatgirlwithnld​ and @thisnldlife​: blogs about NLD. The second doesn’t update anymore but it’s still a useful archive.

Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit

Visual Perceptual / Visual Motor Deficit Learning disability: a prezi presentation on this condition.

Visual Perception: a page dedicated to explaining the many aspects of visual perception and resources to help with every one of them.

VisionAndLearning: website that focuses on how vision and vision perception in particular can interact negatively with learning; offers tips and resources.

I couldn’t find any blog about visual perceptual/motor deficit, so why don’t you make your own? I can’t wait to see it!

AUDIO

Apps

SoundNote: this app is useful if you have to take notes. It records the lesson and then, if you’re looking for a specific moment, you just have to type what you remember (even just a word) and the app will jump at that point in the recording. For Apple, not free.

Typ-O HD: app that uses a powerful word prediction engine and a sophisticated spelling error model to help you write, even if your spelling isn’t perfect. The integrated synthetic voice let you hear the word prediction suggestions before selecting and check your text. The app is designed for dyslexic people, but it could be useful for other LDs, too. For Apple, not free.

Ginger Keyboard: app that offers advanced artificial Intelligence capabilities to analyze your text, learn your writing as you type, and provide you with grammar, punctuation, and spelling corrections accordingly. Support for over 50 languages. For Android, free.

myHomework: useful for students, especially those of us with poor memory. This app is a practical planner: it syncs across devices so you can easily access your classes and assignments anytime and anywhere, and it reminds you of assignments, classes, tests, due dates, etc. For Apple, Android, Amazon apps, and Windows phone, free.

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

Auditory Processing Studio: created by a certified speech and language pathologist for adults and children ages 7 (seven) and up. It focuses on improving auditory processing through auditory discrimination, auditory closure, and phonological awareness activities. Only for Apple, not free.

White Noise Free: app that simulates white noises. I found this suggested in a website about APD. I don’t have it, so I don’t know if it could help, but I thought to post this anyway. For Apple, Android, Amazon apps, and PC, free.

Dyscalculia

Photomath: point your camera toward a math problem and this app will show the result with a detailed step-by-step instructions. In English, Italian, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Turkish, and Russian. For Apple and Android, free.

Mathematics Dictionary: as you can guess, a dictionary of math terms and symbols. Both for Apple and Android, free.

GMAT Math Flashcards: sometimes you just have to memorize stuff. I don’t think this was the original plan of this app, but shh. It includes 425 flash cards written by actual GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) tutors, a range of questions and solutions to help you practice, and a wide variety of difficulty levels. Both for Apple and Android, free.

Dyslexia

Lectio: point your camera toward a text and this app will recognize words, read them aloud, and give you a definition. For Apple, not free.

BeeLine Reader: makes reading faster and easier by using a color gradient that guides your eyes from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. For Apple (called Read Across The Aisle) or PC, free.

OpenDyslexic: a new open source font created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia. For PC, free.

CapturaTalk: you can compose text, either through dictation or typing (dyslexia fonts available), and have it read aloud, or visit a website and hear the text read aloud to you. Same with epubs, documents, books. View everything in a simple, plain text format to remove distractions such as adverts, images, and text styling. For Apple and Android, free.

Dysgraphia

Wet-Dry-Try: you can use your fingers to practice forming letters and numbers on the screen, and when you’re ready, you can switch to a stylus. The app uses a virtual slate chalkboard for writing capital and lowercase letters and numbers. It also has personalized audio coaching. For Apple, not free. An Android version is currently in development.

Dexteria: app that offers therapeutic hand exercises (not games) that improve fine motor skills and handwriting readiness. It has an automatic tracking and reporting feature that makes it easy to see progress. For Apple and Android, not free.

Easy Dyslexia & Dysgraphia Aid: app that lets you dictate what you want and presents it in written text, without mistakes, using the OpenDyslexic font. In English, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese. For Android, Apple, and Amazon apps, not free.

Dyspraxia

TapTyping: if typing on a mobile device is difficult for you, this app can help. Its heat map shows where the majority of errors are occurring, lessons improve your typing speed and accuracy, and its metric track your performance. Only for Apple, not free.

Dexteria: again, dexteria. For Apple and Android, not free.

Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning: non Verbal Reasoning (NVR) has 11+ (eleven) non-verbal reasoning questions (NVR) that are designed to test a person’s ability to work out problems regardless of their knowledge of English. It designed for children but it’s still useful. For Apple and Android, free.

Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit

How to make origami: creating origami can improve visual perception and fine motor skills, so it’s a useful hobby to have. For Apple and Android, free.

Drawnimal: an app for drawing on paper and learning letters with your iPad or iPhone. Part of an animal appears on the screen and you have to continue it (very simply) on paper. For Apple, not free.

AUDIO

And that’s all folks! I hope you find something useful in this super long post. Please let me know if you find any mistake, both in spelling and content, and add any other resource you want!

Hot take but sign language should be taught in schools as a language option and all cinemas should provide subtitles on all their movie screenings

Pro-tip to young trans guys:

If a stranger misgenders you, please please please do not ever utter the phrase, “I’m a man.” It sounds very unnatural and immediately sounds overly defensive.

My advice? Just look at the person like they’re an idiot and, in the deepest voice possible, say, “Uh. Alright, then.”

Just act as though they made a huge and obvious mistake, and don’t get flustered. If you’re comfortable with it, handle the situation with humor and say something like, “Man, I know I’ve got a babyface, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Italian Doctors Fooled Nazis by Inventing This Fake Disease

In 1943, a team of ingenious Italian doctors invented a deadly, contagious virus called Syndrome K to protect Jews from annihilation. On October 16 of that year, as Nazis closed in to liquidate Rome’s Jewish ghetto, many runaways hid in the 450-year-old Fatebenefratelli Hospital. There, anti-Fascist doctors including Adriano Ossicini, Vittorio Sacerdoti and Giovanni Borromeo created a gruesome, imaginary disease.

“Syndrome K was put on patient papers to indicate that the sick person wasn’t sick at all, but Jewish” and in need of protection, Ossicini told Italian newspaper La Stampa last year. The “K” stood for Albert Kesselring and Herbert Kappler — two ruthless Nazi commanders.

The doctors instructed “patients” to cough very loudly and told Nazis that the disease was extremely dangerous, disfiguring and molto contagioso. Soldiers were so alarmed by the list of symptoms and incessant coughing that they left without inspecting the patients. It’s estimated that a few dozen lives were saved by this brilliant scheme.

The doctors were later honored for their heroic actions, and Fatebenefratelli Hospital was declared a “House of Life” by the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

The Jewniverse

I am so absolutely pissed off that i never learned this in school 

That is fucking brilliant.

baby micro-transactions

So if you lived in a society where you had to secure your communication in order to be yourself around others, here are the apps that could help you do that.

Signal let’s you securely text and make phone calls.

Onion Browser allows you to surf the web without leaving a trail.

Duck Duck Go isn’t super secure but it won’t record your searches like Google.

ProtonMail is a email client that lets you email other secure email accounts.

Periscope allows you to stream live video.

Semaphor is there so you can securely make group chat rooms.

American privacy laws allow you to use these all. So that’s pretty cool.

Because we’re currently living in the prologue of a cyberpunk dystopian novel, imma reblog this.

Weird how opening spotify in a web browser with a decent ad blocker allows you to skip ads just like would happen if you had premium. Sure hope no one takes advantage of that.