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Home» Ariane Zurcher

Ariane Zurcher

Idiot Spectrum Disorder: We Must Find a CURE!

Posted by Richard Long - March 10, 2014 - A Nation of Idiots, Ariane Zurcher, Autism, Funny shit, Richard Long
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My young daughter Emma, who happens to autistic, recently wrote (because she has difficulty with spoken language):

“I want to know what you think about autism and am curious to understand why wasted time is spent being against a way of thinking and being.”

Emma, here is my simple answer to your “why” question: Because most people are idiots.

Myself included. “Idiot” is merely another label, or course, and as such, it is ultimately just another word on a very long list of categorizations intended to “other.”

I will now (idiotically) expound on my statement, attempting to use that label (idiotically) to describe that same label in some sort of useful (yet idiotic) manner–which I have (idiotically) labeled ISD: Idiot Spectrum Disorder.

Idiot Spectrum Disorder is a devastating condition that affects 80-90% of the human population. At this time, there is no known cause of ISD, nor is there any cure. Genetic predisposition, cultural conditioning and environmental toxins may all play a role in this tragic condition, but the best we can do now is analyze the symptoms and attempt to catalog the various subcategories of idiots on the spectrum.

“Delusional idiots” are ego-based consciousness forms who believe themselves to be intelligent (“know what’s what”). This presupposition leads to many dangerous and/or harmful conclusions. (More)

Read More ASD, autism, autism spectrum disorder, couch potato

What actually matters…

Posted by Richard Long - December 27, 2013 - Ariane Zurcher, Autism, Richard Long
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Love. Family. Parenting. Friendship. Service. Compassion. Activism. Kindness. Helpfulness. Humor. Humility. Awe. Wonder. Curiosity. Investigation. Learning. Discovery. Supportiveness. Encouragement. Cheerleading. Sacrifice. Courage. Strength. Emotional availability. Openness. Willingness. Honesty. What stands in the way of what actually matters… Hatred. Selfishness. Self-centeredness. Egotism. Greed. Betrayal. Dishonesty. Closemindedness. Superiority. Bigotry. Racism. Sexism. Homophobia. Ageism. Religious extremism. Separatism. Us […]

Read More assisted typing, Emma's Hope Book, Facilitated Communication, letterboard, non-verbal, RPM, Soma, speech impaired, stencil board

Happy Father’s Day!

Posted by Richard Long - June 16, 2013 - Ariane Zurcher, Autism, Richard Long, The Book of Paul, The Dream Palace
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Okay, I admit it. I’ve been a negligent blogger. Between finishing The Dream Palace (yay!), looking for an agent for The Dream Palace (meh!), pre-production work on The Book of Paul trailer (dyed Paul’s wig yesterday!), trying to get funding for the set design (help!), sending off rewards to donors (yay to you!) and being a husband and DAD, well, blogging has had to take a backseat. However, I’m going to make an effort to be more consistent in the future, and what better way to begin than by honoring the best thing that has ever happened to me…fatherhood.

When my wife Ariane was first pregnant, we didn’t get an amnio, or check the sex. We said we’d “take what we got.” We got a beautiful boy, Nic. Eighteen months later, we got a beautiful girl, Emma. One of each, as they say. We got “one of each” in another way, too. One autistic, one not. Yes, having children is the best thing that ever happened to me. So is having an autistic child. Our journey with autism has made me a better man than I ever thought I could be. It has changed everything in our lives, for the better. If you want to know why, the best place to see is on Ariane’s blog Emma’s Hope Book. My chronicle of our family’s journey is The Dream Palace, a YA fantasy I just completed.

Read More autistic, Facebook, Family, Father, Father's day, Home, Mary Poppins, parenting, Paypal

The Happiest of Thanksgivings at The Dream Palace

Posted by Richard Long - November 21, 2012 - Ariane Zurcher, Autism, Richard Long, The Book of Paul, The Dream Palace
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU! For those not subscribed yet there is still time to sign up for the newsletter to get a special thank you from Richard and family. If you sign up before the end of November will also receive access to the first ten chapters of Richard Long’s up and coming young-adult fantasy, The Dream Palace. […]

Read More Dream Palace, Family, Holidays, Thanksgiving

Another Sneak-Peak at The Dream Palace: Chapter Two (and why I wrote it)

Posted by Richard Long - November 20, 2012 - Ariane Zurcher, Autism, Giveaways, Paranormal, Richard Long, Sci-Fi, The Dream Palace, Thriller
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There’s still time to subscribe to the newsletter and get your Turkey Day mailing of the first 30 pages of my forthcoming YA fantasy, The Dream Palace. The first one page chapter titled “The Door” that I posted yesterday sets the mood, takes you to the threshold of The Dream Palace and introduces our first protagonist and the story’s narrator, Chris Sullivan. The second chapter, “Daisy” brings you into the Sullivan household and kicks off the action.

A bit of backstory here: I began The Book of Paul two years before I met my wife, Ariane. At the time, I had no children nor any interest in becoming a parent. But all that changed when we connected and…presto!…we had a son, Nicholas, followed eighteen months later by a baby girl, Emma. I LOVE being a dad, and love my family more than anything, as anyone who knows me well will attest. Nonetheless, I came from a very dark place and I continued to write about all the creepy, traumatic, highly sexual and violent material that fans of The Book of Paul have come to love and loathe. But as my children grew, it became increasingly clear to me at bedtime that I wouldn’t be reading any story of mine while they were still children. So, I decided to write a book for my kids that they could read before they were old enough to vote.

The theme of the story and the impetus to write it came when our daughter turned 4 years old, two years after she had been diagnosed with autism. Like many parents who receive such news, the “experts” inform parents about the “tragedy” of autism — and basically scare the shit out of you. I knew nothing about autism at the time, so I dug into the internet while Ariane read every book ever written on the subject. The news was not good. No one knew what autism was, what caused it, or how to alleviate the more difficult manifestations (I never use the “cure” word anymore for reasons I’ll go into at a later date). At this point, Emma had lost most of the language she had, was making very little eye contact and had obsessive/compulsive behaviors that could be dangerous to her.

Read More autism therapy, dreaming, lucid dreams

Jerusalem — still crazy after all these years!

Posted by Richard Long - August 9, 2012 - Ariane Zurcher, Interviews, Occult, Paranormal, Richard Long, The Book of Paul
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I’ve been trying to digest my feelings about my Jerusalem trip ever since I returned last week. Being an ancient culture junkie and writer of occult paranormal fiction, I fully expected to come back full to the gills or maybe even drowning in inspiration.

Well, not so much. Or perhaps I should say not so much inspired in the ways I expected to be.

Read More Abu Simbel, Blue Brain, Church of the Holy Sepulcre, Dome of the Rock, Giza, Henry Markram, Intense Theory of Autism, Jerusalem, Kamila Markram, King David, Petra, TED talk, tomb, Western Wall

An Inspired Evening

Posted by Richard Long - June 23, 2012 - Ariane Zurcher, Richard Long, The Book of Paul
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The launch party for The Book of Paul took place on the evening of the summer solstice. It was a great turnout, a wonderful group, and lots of fun for all. About ten minutes before the solstice I expressed my gratitude to everyone for sharing in the celebration and for all the support and encouragement along the way. I gave some personal shout outs on the book’s acknowledgements page – one of which bears repeating here –

Read More Aspen Ideas Festival, book party, Elaine Pagels, Emma's Hope Book, Huffington Post, James H. Cone, summer solstice, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, The Gnostic Gospels

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