CLEAN LANGUAGE

I want to tell you about something that has helped me. I first heard about Clean Language in early 2013 when my tutor Lea went to a course about it in Austin, Texas. When she returned she invited me to try it. Clean Language aka Symbolic Modelling was first developed to help people with mental health issues but has been found valuable in many applications to encourage clear thinking and self-confidence. What I like about Clean Language: the therapist or facilitator really listens and asks only questions that use the client person's words in phrasing questions. This encourages the person to dig down in their unconscious mind and come up with positive ideas and solutions that they can control. I find this very refreshing and empowering. 

I am in touch with world leaders in Clean Language, James Lawley and Penny Tompkins, who are based in London, England. We have conversations using Zoom programs. It feels that they are here in my livingroom, not thousands of miles away. They start by asking me "And what would you like to happen as a result of this session?" I say what's on my mind, and they ask me questions using only my words. Thus they do not put words or ideas in my mind. Nor do they put me down by rephrasing what I say in their words or ideas. I am really engaged in the conversation and I come to see and work out solutions to what might have been bothering me. So I feel in control! 

We have had five conversations and recorded both audio and video. My computer program also records my words as text. Afterwards, we may join up all my sentences in a format like a poem. They are all about the struggle between grey and green modes in my body and mind. I am including just a small part of each poem here, as they are quite long. But if you ask me, I could send the full text of one or all the poems. We also have video files which are quite large: I could send you part of a file to get an idea. We also have each poem as an audio file. With my supporters here, I am working on a short film to illustrate Clean Language which I will share with you if you like. Perhaps we’ll be able to organize some training in Ontario for Clean Language facilitators. It’s good to have different people as Clean Language questioners from the people like Judi and Jesse who support my typing.

I know we Bridges friends feel for one another. I wish with all my heart that each of you finds something that works for you like Clean Language does for me.

My green comes from my heart

AB 20 Jul 2018 (a green day)

I want to be able to get out of my grey mode:

I do not like to be grey; it feels like hell.

I am happy now and want to stay this way.

It feels good to be happy and green.

My green comes from my heart.

My heart is clean and free from all

of my worry and free from my loss.

..........

When I reach into my heart,

it is like going into a long tunnel

to get the happy feelings out.

The hopeful feelings

just before I am green again

are always in my heart.

I just need to grab them.

I have to think I am blessed.

My family and my home and good life

are my blessings;

I need to remind myself.

Then I can work at getting myself

to the green place I need to be.

I tell myself I am a good man

and Andrew John Bloomfield the third,

the runner and green man.

That’s who I am.

I feel like I can take on the world

when I voice those words

but I need to live it out.

I am trying to live it out every day.

.....

From a pit of hell

AB, 25 Aug 2018 (a very grey day)

I am in a pit of hell now

that I would like to climb out of.

This is a grey time that needs to be flushed away.

It is like I am stuck here

and I cannot make myself move.

The sky is above me and the stars

but I cannot see them when I am in the pit.

I want to see the sunshine again and blue skies.

I want to go to sleep and wake up with a clear mind.

Then I am in my green space and

feel like I can breathe again.

.......

My only strength right now

is love in my heart that

I feel needs to be released.

I want to share my feelings and ideas with others

and be someone who can help not take.

It is important to me to give.

The strength in my heart becomes bigger and stronger

and I have more to share with my friends and family.

I am so blessed to have each of them in my life:

all the people in my life are different and unique.

I find the strength I need to grab on and climb up.

I am going to keep climbing and try to get green.

My future endeavours

AB 25 Sep 2018 (faintly green)

My home helps me to feel safe and secure.

I am happy when I have

my family and friends by my side,

my green oasis in my backyard,

when I am surrounded by my paintings,

and have music in my life,

my canine companions,

and my community as well as

my communication devices.

I feel all those things in my heart.

It is a heart that can give love to everyone

and there is plenty to go around.

It gives people joy and fills my heart with joy.

I have a heart that is full;

I feel refreshed and I am happy.

I want to talk about my future endeavours,

So I can still live here in my home

where I have all the things

that help me feel safe and secure.

I need to figure out a plan

for me to be supported ongoing……

The great escape

AB 24 Oct 2018 (a good green day)

I like being green.

Green is a great place to be,

here with all of you.

When I am green

I want to forget about being grey.

It is hell.

It is a place I do not want to return to.

.....

When I am in the deep dark hole,

I am trapped and stuck and cannot get out.

A type of force is keeping me there.

It tries to control me.

It wants to be in charge of my body.

But then that force weakens

and I take that opportunity to get out.

I see a little bit of light high up in the sky

that shines down in the deep dark hole.

The light is close to my true self

that is in my heart and my head.

I run towards it.

The light weakens the force

and helps me to find my path

back up to the green mode again.

When I see the light is weakening that force,

I can feel it in me getting strength back.

The light throws down vines into the hole.

I break free and I run to the vine

and grab a hold of it.

I try to take advantage of that

to make the great escape.

.......

Words and images by Andrew Bloomfield

in response to Clean Language questions

by James Lawley and Penny Tompkins

Mid Summer 2018,

 I’m hoping to refresh my blog with regular new postings.

 For a start, I want to tell you of a book being published by one of my online friends, Gordon Gates who refers to our Bridges-Over-Barriers communication group. The book’s title is Trauma, Stigma and Autism: developing resilience and loosening the grip of shame. Gordon also has a new website on which he posts blogs:

https://www.sociophenomenal.com

New Guelph resource about Autism Spectrum Conditions

We are happy to tell everyone about a special resource we are creating at the Guelph Public Library. It is a collaboration between  GSA's Bridges-Over-Barriers and Facilitation Wellington Dufferin. At the following link is a list of the first 60 books with a note of explanation about this project. Above all we hope that our  community will come to understand and really support our people who live with ASC (Autism Spectrum Conditions) to be included and have real  choices to sustain good lives.

http://www.ont-autism.uoguelph.ca/GSA-books-FWD-GPL-2017.pdf

Just skimming the titles will give you an idea of the breadth of ASC and the welcome increase in information. 

Sensory issues have come into clearer  focus, including in planning environments that help people to thrive.  For GSA supporters and others interested in creating good homes, we  recommend At home with autism : designing housing for the spectrum / Kim Steele, Sherry Ahrentzen / Kim Steele, Sherry Ahrentzen | Policy Press | 2016.

People  with more complex needs at the severe end of the spectrum are not  always discussed with similar respect, notably people who cannot use  their voices and who are assumed to be cognitively as well as  communicatively impaired. 

While there is still a shortage of books about communication supports, the top Autism book of 2017 must be Naoki Higashida’s Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8,  translated by David Mitchell. Friends of GSA and Bridges: If there’s  only one book about Autism you can read this year, this should be it.  Happy to report that GPL already has this book as well as Naoki’s  earlier The Reason I Jump (2013).  

This is one way we are honouring the memory of Mary Johnston, a great friend and encourager of GSA and Bridges-Over-Barriers for the past 20 years.

Andrew with Gerry & Elizabeth

Guelph Services for the Autistic: Bridges-Over-Barriers

Eden Mills Arts Festival

During May, we will post updates to tell you about the Eden Mills Arts Festival the last weekend of May.

At least ten members of the Bridges Communication Group will be showing their art and often their words as well. These are some of the artists' profiles:

Kevin Vasey: “Painting is a wonderful means of expressing thoughts, feelings, emotions and creativity. Working with colours and textures is calming and satisfying. I also enjoy writing, music, books, gardening and camping.” I appreciate Heidi and the Bloomfields for arranging and setting up the art display at Eden Mills.

Sara Lyne: “I live in Simcoe, Ontario. I enjoy music a lot and especially dancing! I go to Haldimand Abilities Centre very week to participate in the Canvas and Mocktails painting class. I have been doing this for a couple of years and have accumulated a gallery of my paintings. I enjoy using a lot of colour and different flowers are my favourite things to paint. I love to paint and find it relaxing and it makes me smile! I need colour in my life. I hope you enjoy my creations and find it a pleasure to look at!“

Isaac Wong has made a painting of a flower entitled I Love You, showing his colour and autistic love; had painted in the past but in an inclusive arts group for past 5 weeks. 

Christopher:. “My name is Christopher Wrigley and I am grateful to be sharing my writing with you. I have never been a creative visual artist but I enjoy art is in all of its magnificence. Nature is our ultimate inspiration; is it not? I have chosen a rainbow for my work here today because it is a fleeting wonder just as human lives on this our glorious planet. I am now losing my sight. I thank my friend Sophia for her assistance in making adaptations and spending her precious time in working with me. I also wish to thank my friend Andrew for arranging this show of work by individuals who must depend upon the dedication of loving friends to be heard. I give you my heart in peace and greater understanding for all those of differences.”

Jillian Mothersell: expresses herself very eloquently in words. She likes colours, especially light blue, and looking at the sky when the sun is shining. 

Joey Umbrico has been painting mainly in oils in his Toronto studio for 3-4 years with his teacher Gary. 

Matt (Matthew Macdonald): “I paint because it helps me to be free. It is a freeing thing to do.”

Tim Marmura has sent an abstract painting from Antigonish NS. Tim says: I enjoy painting. I prefer making large pieces over which I have more control. Music is very important in my life. It helps me relax. It pleases me that my artwork appears on L’Arche cards.

John Morris-Dadson: “I do artwork at the SEA (Community Services Sensory Exploration Arts) Program using paint and other things like sand, seashells, stones, glass and even eggshells and seeds. I like making art that is surprising and fun to see and touch.”

Andrew Bloomfield: “My words are a painting and my paintings show my words in colour and form. As I cannot speak with my voice, I use computers to express my thoughts and feelings in prose and poetry. I have been painting seriously since 2009, usually with acrylics on canvas. First I compose my thoughts and images in poetry. Then my art mentor Heidi and I collaborate to choose and combine the colours, forms and textures for a painting. Heidi stabilizes my painting arm. This painting combines my sensitivity to Max the horse with my passion to speak up for our rights to express ourselves and make our own decisions.”

*For an online version of the Eden Mills Arts Festival brochure, follow this link:
http://www.edenmillsartsfestival.com/2017-brochure.html

New poem for a new painting about my Green Oasis

Serenity

AB 25 March 2017

The fresh smell of the morning dew 

on the new day

is ready for a fresh start.

Droplets of water are hanging on, 

just waiting to fall

to give the soil a taste of refreshment,

just enough to give a nourishing drink 

and refresh its dryness.

The buds begin to come awake 

and peek out from their slumber.

The winter has given them rest 

and restored their strength.

Now it is time to come to life again.

It’s spring!

Come awake, so we can see all your beauty!

Once the buds develop,

and the leaves and stems

come to life again,

the life in my garden

becomes a captivating green oasis

with lushness to enjoy.

The green gives a place of peace and tranquility

where everything is real.

There is no artificial plastic material in a plant:

it is real and serene.

I love it for what it is.

I sit on my swing to enjoy the birds

as they enjoy the sights of my garden

and benefit from the seeds and twigs for their homes.

Yukon loves to watch the birds play

a game of who gets to the fence first

while the wind pushes their wings together.

It is a green oasis of serene joy

as I sit and take in the sights, sounds, smells

of my beautiful garden.

This is truly serenity.

My Artist Profile-Eden Mills Festival

“My words are a painting and my paintings show my words in colour and form.”

As I cannot speak with my voice, I use computers to express my thoughts and feelings in prose and poetry. I have been painting seriously since 2009, usually with acrylics on canvas.

First I compose my thoughts and images in poetry. Then my art mentor Heidi and I collaborate to choose and combine the colours, forms and textures for a painting. Heidi stabilizes my painting arm and supports me to show what is in my mind. I wish there could be another way of stabilizing my body so I could paint what is in my mind all by myself.

My Horse and Man painting combines my sensitivity to Max the horse with my passion to “speak up” for our rights to express ourselves and make our own decisions. 

Eden Mills Arts Festival

Hello friends, I am posting to let you know about the upcoming Art Festival in Eden Mills (just outside of Guelph). For an online version of the brochure, follow this link:
http://www.edenmillsartsfestival.com/2017-brochure.html

Here is my main art piece that I will be showcasing this year

The Eden Mills 2017 brochure (I am #11):

Please spread the word and I hope to see you there!