Carson Risser

A bonus of two-factor authentication, in addition to added security--it discourages me from logging onto social media when I should really be taking a break.

Singing with OCD as a Theopoetic I use theopoetics as a way of writing about personal experiences and struggles with being in relationship with God and seeing the value inherent in creation. Writing helps me remember how to practi…

I'm planning to post some of the essays from my master's thesis, so today's blog is a version of my thesis introduction to give some background to my writing about singing, OCD, autism, and theopoetics. churchselfworth.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/s...

Become an ASAN member! We’re proud to announce the release of our new and improved membership options! These monthly membership plans come with special perks, along with a membership-exclusive supplement to the ASAN…

Want to support our policy work, help us create more accessible resources to equip our community with the info they need to understand what’s happening, and get some great perks while you're at it? Pledge your support today! autisticadvocacy.org/join

Washington Post headline: "Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds"

Jewish Telegraphic Agency headline: "Israel to spend up to $4.1M to bolster support among Christians in western US, filings show"

These two headlines from the past day are essentially the same story.

A graphic of a cityscape with text that reads: A sneak peek of We Are Made of Scars & Starlight (especially for the chronic illness friends).

A graphic of a cityscape with text that reads: Why was it so hard to tell people? It wasn’t a personal failing. It wasn’t something he had to fix. And yet, he didn’t want people feeling bad for him. He didn’t want them to look at him with pity and a twisted relief that their bodies had never turned on them like that. “I don’t know a lot about lupus,” Ray admitted. “It’s an autoimmune condition, isn’t it? Where the body attacks itself ?” Kai nodded. The tissues and organs, specifically. “My body isn’t very good at its job.”

Ten days❤️

I can't imagine dating in NY without pain, without being sober, without my body. So Kai has lupus, which I wrote as very similar to how my disabilities affect me AND with a sensitivity reader, who was amazing to work with.

🔗 to signed copies on my page! I can't wait for you to meet Kai.

ncnaacp.org/2025/10/03/n...

It is wrong to blame an attack on a synagogue on Yom Kippur on Jewish support for Israel, and it is equally wrong to blame it on Muslim immigration to the UK. We can't give in to mutual hate. Be better, everyone.

If you have two minutes free right now, call Netflix and leave a comment in support of this programming and ask them to stand up for their shows against political pressure.

Phone number is 1-866-952-4456, and I waited less than a minute before a human picked up.

ASAN has been in the news! Check out this collection of recent stories featuring quotes from ASAN staff in major publications: autisticadvocacy.org/2025/10/asan...

If you'd like to donate along with me, I have some fundraisers here: linktr.ee/nicolezelniker

Print Submissions — Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith

Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith is accepting submissions for their 2026 issue today through March 1! www.reliefjournal.com/print-submit

Graphic with text at the top stating Autism Books by Autistic Authors. Published September 2025. In the centre is a collage of book covers, tilted on an angle. Each book is listed in detail in the subsequent graphics and text. At the bottom is the text The Autism Books by Autistic Authors Project @AutisticBooks. In the bottom corner is a small logo with colourful books and a small plant either side.

Books about autism or with Autistic main characters, written by Autistic authors — published September 2025!

🧵

#AutismBooks #AutisticAuthor #Autism #Autistic #ActuallyAutistic #BookSky

White text on a red field. Text reads: Translators are NOT traitors, with letters in bolder white offering the message "Translators NOT AI."

Happy #InternationalTranslationDay!

Keep AI out of translation!

In this installment of Reading Religion's "Four Books" series, Karen Jackson-Weaver lists four books of "pioneering scholarship" that "established a critical Womanist epistemological framework, addressing the intersecting oppressions of race, gender, and class. readingreligion.org/blog/four-bo...

Some Rest I don’t know about you all, but I am more than a little tired. Instead of a written post, here are some floral photos I’ve taken in NC that make me feel peaceful.

This week's blog. churchselfworth.wordpress.com/2025/09/30/s...

📚Practical Theology journal is looking for book reviewers!📚

Interested? Contact our book reviews editor, Jayson Rhodes, at practicaltheologybookreviews@gmail.com.

Current books for review include:
"A Heavy Yoke" - Selina Stone
"Decolonizing Mission" - Harvey Kwiyani

con't...

A panel of authors in a theater speaking in front of a background that says "20th Anniversary, Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors, September 25-28, downtown Winston-Salem."

The @bookmarksnc.bsky.social annual festival was so fun! Here's a photo of the great panel “Tor Talks: A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Sampler.” Left to right: John Scalzi, Maddie Martinez, Nghi Vo, Annalee Newitz, and moderator Jamie Wallis.

For LGBTQ+ History Month, NPR wants to hear your coming out story National Coming Out Day is celebrated on Oct. 11 to recognize the courage of LGBTQ+ individuals who come out publicly. This year, NPR is inviting people to share their coming out stories.

National Coming Out Day is celebrated on Oct. 11 to recognize the courage of LGBTQ+ individuals who come out publicly. This year, NPR is inviting people to share their coming out stories.

Alejandra is not overselling this. This executive order, if weaponized by a lawless administration like Trump, could lead to the dismantling of institutional/nonprofit opposition to Trump.

It can also be used for surveillance and disruption ops similar to the civil rights era and red scare.

IT'S HAPPENING: House Democrats are introducing articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr for slashing research funding and spreading medical misinformation.

A Christian case against capitalism Liberals, writes Phil Christman, accept the political need to keep liberal billionaires happy. Leftists don’t think there should be any...

I really enjoyed James K. A. Smith's review of "Why Christians Should Be Leftists" by @philipchristman.bsky.social on @christiancentury.bsky.social . Looking forward to reading the book! www.christiancentury.org/books/christ...

IOCDF's Online Faith and OCD Conference is November 19! You can register now. events.iocdf.org/event/25Fait...

Tell Governor Stein: Veto HB 307 HB 307 is on Governor Josh Stein's desk. This bill seeks to restart executions in North Carolina with methods such as electrocution and firing squad. Our lawmakers should look for smart, effective wa...

North Carolina: Call and email Governor Stein to veto HB 307, which ends cashless bail and fast-tracks executions: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

Judith Butler is being targeted by the US government. We must stand up | Joel Swanson What is happening to Judith Butler – a Jewish intellectual – in the name of fighting ‘antisemitism’ is outrageous

I wrote about the Red Scare of the 1950's as a moment when establishment Jewish organizations threw the historically large Jewish left under the bus in the name of respectability politics, and how they're making the same calculation today. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

ASAN Condemns Administration's Rampant Misinformation about Autism, Acetaminophen, and Vaccines; Calls for Respectful, Fact-Based Approach - Autistic Self Advocacy Network On September 22nd, President Trump, RFK, and other members of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership held a press conference that contained false and harmful information about…

Monday’s press conference with President Trump, RFK, and other members of HHS leadership contained false and harmful information about autism, acetaminophen, and vaccines. Read our full statement in formal language and plain language here: autisticadvocacy.org/2025/09/asan...

Riveredge Jacob dreamed there was a ladder . . . and the angels of God were ascending and descending.—Genesis: 28:13If not alone on the cabin’s deck,listening to the river whisper,open to day’s light unfolding,...

“I would never have noticed
the tiny spider descending,
dreamlike, thread unseen”

– Read Sarah Rossiter’s new poem: www.christiancentury.org/poetry/river...

CW: Discussion of gun violence My amazing agent and I are going on sub with my newest young adult project, something I started maybe three years ago. I wrote it in its current iteration about a year ago, with some editorial changes in between. In all this time, it's been about guns. The book follows thespian spoonie Maddy Taylor in the summer after her junior year of high school. Her mom, who was a guidance counselor at the elementary school, was murdered three months prior in a school shooting that tore the rocked her small North Carolina community. In talking to my agent about this project, we think it's either going to get snapped up for being current, or else we'll have to put it to the side for a bit if editors don't want to look at a project about gun violence right now (which, fair). But something that's struck me is that I didn't write this book in response to anything that happened in the last few months. This has been relevant my whole life. The reason I started this project is because between the 2000-01 to 2021-22 school years, 1,375 school shootings have resulted in 515 deaths and 1,161 injuries (cited from the National Center for Education Statistics). I hope someone wants to pick up this book. I hope this book makes a difference. I hope people get to read this book and feel seen and understood. But mostly, I hope for gun violence to end. If this book can be one small part of making that happen, I'll be more than happy. For now, I'll speak out in any way I can to bring this unnecessary violence to an end.

TL;DR stop coming for autism and start looking at the number one killer of children in the U.S.

I hope lots of things for this book, but mostly, I hope it makes even a small difference, and I'm so lucky @danieledhunter.bsky.social believes in queer, disabled books❤️

I am begging people to please seek out Autistic voices if you want to learn about autism. You will find that rather than wanting our lives to be prevented or cured, we want appropriate supports for ALL Autistic people (including those with intellectual disability and other co-occurring conditions).

This article makes clear just how much of the current right-wing attack on higher education is rooted in beliefs about "cultural Marxism" - a conspiracy that, as I've described, traces back to beliefs about the Frankfurt School and German Jewish émigré intellectuals. forward.com/opinion/4502...

Republicans Push FBI To Designate Trans Advocacy As Violent Extremism. Inside The Project 2025 Organization's Proposal. On Thursday evening, news emerged that individuals within and outside of Trump administration were pushing to cast trans activists as domestic terrorists. Then, Project 2025 dropped its proposal.

1. Republicans are attempting to get the FBI to label trans advocacy as domestic terrorism.

Project 2025's parent org is pushing it.

It would not label all trans people as terrorists, but it would open the door for heavy surveillance and disruption.

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