FIXING A BROKEN WORLD
Diagnosed with a psychotic disorder at eight years old, transgendered essayist Aubrey Ellen Shomo (born Justin Michael Shomo) would spend most ofĀ the next decade on neuroleptic medication – over her vocal objections – and would be hospitalized repeatedly. Upon reaching adulthood, furious with the treatment sheĀ receivedĀ for so long and her own powerlessness in the face of it, she became a psychiatric survivor activist.
Over the course of the next decade she would be honored as a semi-finalist in the international Film Your Issue competition for young filmmakers for her PSA about child abuse in psychiatric hospitals; serve on the board of Colorado’s statewide consumer network; speak at the national Alternatives conference and serve on its advisoryĀ committee; and tell her story, most recently for the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery’s CD seriesĀ Voices of Hope and Recovery: Our Stories, Our Lives.
Apart from her work as a psychiatric survivor activist, she works in the real world as a Network Engineer and Programmer and has published inĀ 2600: The Hacker QuarterlyĀ andĀ Transgender Tapestry. Her website can be found atĀ http://www.aubreyshomo.net/.
