Books and Poetry
Phoebe Caldwell
There is a tendency to stereotype old people, so their personal stories fade into the typecast of' senior citizen'. Out to Grass looks at the problems of isolation and loss of identity that arise when we outlive those whom we have
known and loved.
As my neighbour said when her husband and sister died: 'Nobody knows who I am now.'
The aim of this book is to listen to the voices of the truly old, through conversations with elderly people in the residential complex we share.
Personal histories interweave with
national and international events as Phoebe explores the lives of twenty of her neighbours and her own. The overarching impression is of resilience and humour - and we need them both.
Maybugs and Mortality speculates in a wholly different way on what it means to be alive. It is about an accidental encounter between the author and ‘Maybugs’, a maybug (cockchafer) on its last legs, that led to a light-hearted and partly autobiographical exploration of the latter half of their respective life cycles. Phoebe Caldwell, pioneer of responsive communication with autistic people, has spent a lifetime understanding and responding to barriers and challenges in communication between individuals, enabling autistic children and adults to engage with a world that is sensorily confusing. In this fascinating and diverse book, she draws on her work, personal experience and scientific advances in psychology and neurobiology to consider key aspects of the shared life-cycles and mortality of maybug and human. From this unique perspective, she examines themes such as consciousness, self-awareness and the need to reach out beyond ourselves in order to find confirmation and understanding. A fascinating and informative read of interest to anyone interested in human behaviour, psychology and autism.
‘While I do not think I actually like insects, Maybugs came with a wealth of stories – if the flight path is erratic, the destination is fascinating. I have learned respect and at times, felt an odd affection for my fellow traveller.’ (Phoebe Caldwell – Maybugs and Mortality)
From wayward plumbing to questions of theology, from art and poetry to arguments with housing associations, and from the classic limestone landscape of the Yorkshire Dales to the stark beauty of the Scottish Highlands, the sweep of Driving South to Inverness ranges poignantly and humorously from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Now in her eighties, and after a lifetime of hard work helping people with profound communication difficulties as a result of autism or other learning disabilities, Dr Phoebe Caldwell made the difficult decision to accept the inevitabilities of old age and leave the home she loved to move into sheltered accommodation. This decision and its consequences form the heart of this passionately written memoir.
How does one take a lifetime’s memories and possessions and make them fit new circumstances, but also hold on to an identity built up over decades?
In Driving South to Inverness Phoebe reflects on her past, her family history, and her childhood during the Blitz. She revisits falling in love with her husband and the realities of raising a large family. She offers evocative descriptions of the Dales that she has now made her home and she shares her insights into life, faith, art and philosophy, the opportunities and failings of modernity, and her frustrations with her altered situation as she accepts the changes she faces
Not for Wimps' is about two journeys to Leh, the first in 1852 by the author's great great aunt, Mrs Julianna Hervey, who scandalised the just pre Raj society by agreeing to marry an officer, and abandoning him at the church door saying she had only agreed as a bet. Following this debacle, she spent the next two years travelling through Northern India, as far as China, the first European woman to be seen in those parts. She left three fascinating journals. The second journey to Leh was made by Elspeth Bradley in 2010, and coincided with disaterous floods in which many people died. Wimp is the author, travelling online without the inconvenience of tigers, mosquitoes, dacoits and mudslides. The book goes on to look at the change in ways in which we relate to those of a different race. The book concludes with a look at changes over 150 years, in the way different ethnic groups relate to each other and how we can do better.
Dr Elspeth Bradley is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, researcher, student and teacher, who has supported people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families over several decades. She works in Canada andthe UK and finds herself traveling in remote places.
Phoebe Caldwell, a biologist, has written twelve books on developing relationships with people with autism and three non fiction books about aging.
Step into the world of Mind Walking, a thought-provoking collection of verse by Phoebe Caldwell. Best known for her groundbreaking work in Responsive Communication, Caldwell turns her gaze inward, capturing life’s transient beauty in verses that linger long after the page is turned.
Provocative, tender and arresting, this collection is a celebration of a life spent noticing and an invitation to see the world through her eyes – eclectic, unexpected and profoundly moving.
Phoebe Caldwell is an expert practitioner and creator of the ‘Responsive Communication’ approach and has worked for more than fifty years with people on the autism spectrum. She is the published author of fourteen books on autism, the most recent combining best practice with contemporary neurobiological research, and four books on ageing. Together with Janet Gurney, she produced a major training film and has won the Times Sternberg Award for her work. In 2011, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science. Now in her nineties, Phoebe is still working via Zoom and says she is a poet ‘by accident’.