Tom Rubenoff Interviews missolive
Interesting insights from a mother, educator, blogger, and autism advocate
The Hub that drew me to you was, “The Girl in the Next Room,” a poem full of empathy for a girl who lives with Asperger’s. The poem is constructed in couplets and uses repetition like many classical forms. What was your process in writing this amazing poem?
Thank you for the complement. I wrote this poem in my classroom during a conference period. I was sincerely concerned for this young lady. To know that her anxiety led her to literally gnaw on her hands provoked anxiety in me as well. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I am a parent of a child with autism. I’m also Special Ed. certified. My awareness and advocacy for people in the spectrum runs pretty deep.
The repetition I used was more than just a stab at dramatic effect. Most auties and aspies are persistent and determined in their needs. It is not uncommon for them to repeat their needs or expectations until successful. Therefore, this was the reason for my own repetition.
I wanted to protect her and offer her asylum. Next thing I knew I was at my computer and the first thing I wrote was what ended up being the repeated verse, “The girl in the next room sits pressed against a wall - I need her to know I am just across the hall” It was reflective of my personal desperation and what I would repeat if I myself was in the spectrum. Eventually, this was the idea that drove the completion of the poem.
How has caring for your son affected your outlook on life?
Well, the obvious answer would be to not take anything for granted. This is an incredible truism and it feeds into so many areas of life. Having a flexible perspective is another outlook that has been enhanced. Whether it is in business, family or friends it is pretty safe to say, there is more than one side to a story.
How has my son influenced this? Two words – public tantrums. Onlookers are very quick to judge during these stressful situations. I literally considered printing out autism awareness pamphlets specifically for these moments. Thank goodness he has not had a tantrum in 4 years – whew!
What are the negative and positive effects of disabilities like autism and Aspergers?
Great question! I’m sure someone out there is saying, positive? My son does have many attributes that amaze us. Most auties and aspies are experts at something. Aside from this a common characteristic is determination and consistency. Add to that a great memory and visualization skills.
Looking over the layout of your profile and the work you’ve published on HubPages, I see you have homed in on a couple of specialized areas. Is this one of your strategies to build readership?
Not necessarily. I have more than one niche that I write in. I had seen profiles that featured the various topics with links. I looked at it as a great way to not only promote my Hubs, but to organize them for my readers. Incidentally, I did add a referral tracker for those links and they do get quite a bit of traffic. So it is an effective technique.
Can you share some of your thoughts about attracting readers online?
It’s kind of a double edge sword. We can easily get caught up in the camaraderie of HubPages and this does create decent traffic. However, the true goal is to create external or what is known as organic traffic. This is the traffic that generates the most income and ranking on search engines. This in turn creates long-term traffic.
I still have quite a bit to learn and I make it a point to follow and learn from veteran Hubbers. I’m personally using my blogs, social networks and sites such RedGage to promote my Hubs. However, I’ll always look up to the veteran Hubbers for guidance.
In your Hub, “Pas de Deux and a Pear,” you display incredible creativity and outline the process of your inspiration. In general, where do your ideas for your creative writing come from?
I love imagery and sensory details. I can easily get lost in a magnificent photo, painting or a sculpture. I’m the same way about music, but my first love is dance. I actually hold a Bachelor’s Degree in dance. My original goal was to finish my MFA and teach at the college level, but as they say – life happens. I also studied music and played the flute during my school years.
My point is, the composition of music, dance, writing and art is very similar. All of these forms of expression are meant to create imagery and depth for the respective audience. Creating an aesthetic experience is an amazing accomplishment. In creative writing and through my personal experience with imagery and dance I literally see words. My goal in “Pas de Deux and a Pear” was to create a landscape for the reader and to honor the power saddlerider1 has over his quill and the aesthetics he creates. So my creative writing process involves an illustration of my perspective while guiding my readers through my vision.
In your Hub Design and Photo Hubs group you share knowledge you’ve gained about publishing on HubPages and elsewhere online. What is your philosophy about sharing this knowledge?
Live, learn and teach. I’m a teacher at heart and I want to share what I’ve learned. I am more than positive that there are new Hubbers out there that are seeking answers and guidance. Just one look at the question and forum feed will tell you Hubbers are seeking additional guidance. If I can offer what I’ve learned along the way and help a fellow Hubber then I have succeeded. It feels great to help. It’s also my business attitude. I sincerely feel we are all indirectly employed by HubPages. They provide a platform, we provide the Hub and they provide payment. I take great ownership in that. We all represent the company and for HubPages to succeed we should promote camaraderie and assistance. That’s just my style.
In your 3 months on HubPages you have amassed almost 450 followers. I find this very impressive. To what do you attribute your success?
I am blessed to have the followers I have. I do my best to respond to my followers. My personal goal is to follow back and provide a sincere comment in return. It is not always easy to keep up, but I do try. I keep a rather busy Hub feed. Aside from personally following and commenting I do utilize my social networks. I’m active on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. However, my greatest following came the week of my Hub of the Day. What a blessing that was! I earned over 75 followers that week. Plus, I LOVE meeting new Hubbers!
If you could give one piece of advice to those new to HubPages, what would it be?
Get informed by dedicating time to the Learning Center and then find related Hubs by fellow Hubbers. If I could throw in one more I would say make sure to create and use referral trackers every single time you provide a link.
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