Neurodiversity and social change
your dreams will be reduced down to breathing, and you will be grateful
The thing about not-being-a-person is: They will say those people and the price of being a person is to nod and agree that yes, those people aren’t people at all. They will have no idea who they are talking to. You yourself will start to forget, too. They will say a million small things that sow the seeds for violence done against you, and you will smile and let them. You will do math, constantly. How much do I want to be a person today? How much do I want this project to succeed? How much honesty can I afford? How much dishonesty will kill me? What is the cost of coming out? Is there a way to delay, soften, transmute? How long can I survive as half a person? Ever since the world ended ... I don't go out as much. People that I once befriended, just don't bother to stay in touch. Things that used to seem so splendid, don't really matter today. It's just as well the world ended -- it wasn't working anyway. Your dreams will be reduced down to breathing. [Read More]
Julia Bascom on 03/5/12 | 2 Comments | Read More
One of the first pieces I wrote for this site finished with a whimsical suggestion that autistic people were somewhat native to what is known as the uncanny valley, a term that refers to the revulsion...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 04/30/10 | 3 Comments | Read More
Many books and articles have been published on the topic of what makes a marriage or relationship succeed. At the top of my list I'd put willingness to give the other person the benefit of the doubt...[Read More]
Gwen McKay on 04/28/10 | No Comments | Read More
How far can autistic culture develop without excluding neurotypical people?
How far can autistic culture develop without excluding neurotypical people? For many years I have been married (to the same guy). It’s obvious to me that we are both on the autistic spectrum, e...[Read More]
Lili Marlene on 04/26/10 | 7 Comments | Read More
Officially, we don't exist. The hordes of psychological "experts" who regularly comment on the supposed near-impossibility of productive, independent lives and successful marriag...[Read More]
Guest on 04/23/10 | 3 Comments | Read More
I am aware I have a subtly different style of communication and can see how it contributes to social anxiety. I tend to stare at the floor and listen. This way, I can usually get the context of a ...[Read More]
Guest on 04/22/10 | 2 Comments | Read More
Abortion, Violence Against Women, and Autism
Modern society is changing in many ways that increase the autistic population. Andrew Lehman touched on one of them in a November post discussing the practices of sex-selective abortion and fema...[Read More]
Gwen McKay on 04/21/10 | 3 Comments | Read More
The Dark Side Of Theory Of Mind?
“Our reputation-conscious ancestors would have experienced a pervasive feeling of being watched and judged, he says, which they would readily have attributed to supernatural sources since the cognit...[Read More]
Lili Marlene on 04/20/10 | 1 Comment | Read More
We all know them, there is a certain tribe amongst us neuro diverse people who speak of cure and curse what they might have been but for the 'demon' of autism that possesses them. They tend to be r...[Read More]
Guest on 04/19/10 | No Comments | Read More
You Could Be An Autistic Person If …
you are a very curious person, in both senses of the word you say goodbye to your husband in the morning as he goes off to work, and your heart leaps with joy at the prospect of spending the day home...[Read More]
Lili Marlene on 04/16/10 | 1 Comment | Read More
Tips For Socially Awkward Geeks (According to Stanford)
Or perhaps more accurately, according to a certain student at Stanford. Wait, shoot! I broke the rules! Philip Guo has a write-up of rules for the successful social interaction of geeks. Real...[Read More]
Guest on 04/14/10 | No Comments | Read More
You might not expect an adult diagnosed with autism to be a public speaker, especially an adult with a long history of social anxiety, who gets caught out by the occasional bout of depression. And wh...[Read More]
Guest on 04/12/10 | No Comments | Read More
How (and Why) to Use Framing in the Discussion of Autism
As is the case elsewhere, in the struggle over how autism is to be defined and understood, how a discussion is framed has more influence on the outcome of any conflicts that arise within that discussi...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 04/9/10 | No Comments | Read More
Emotions: who is the expert and who is the dunce and what exactly are we talking about?
Over and over again I read that autistic people are disabled in the ability to understand not only the emotions of others, but also our own emotions. Could this mean that the subject of “emotions�...[Read More]
Lili Marlene on 04/7/10 | 2 Comments | Read More
In a part of his brain that he seldom communicated with, but fortunately, was ultimately in charge, he knew that the only way he was going to be able to live and support himself would be to join the N...[Read More]
Clay on 04/6/10 | No Comments | Read More
How he hated that name, how it made him shrink to hear it. For the longest time, he thought it was the cause of all his problems, the snickering, the disrespect he had endured. He cursed his mothe...[Read More]
Clay on 04/6/10 | No Comments | Read More
Autism, Alloparents and Human Evolution
It seems that the Sarah Blaffer Hrdy book, Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding, is blowing my mind. I am discovering a new, yet established, researched human evolu...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 04/5/10 | No Comments | Read More
On Styles of Consciousness, Autism Included
“Whatever else it may be, autism is a way of being in the world. It is a style, a manner of behaving and perceiving, and of being perceived.” Classical Greece had a whole lexicon of differe...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 04/2/10 | 11 Comments | Read More
"Comparing the rates of violence in chimpanzees and humans gives support to the idea that male-male physical competition over females within the social group is vastly less important in humans. Wran...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 04/1/10 | No Comments | Read More
Autism has been here all along.
Considered as an evolutionary condition with far-reaching social implications, its full presence and impact remain hidden in plain sight, unrecognized and uncredited.
Part neurological mystery, part social construct, and part secret society unbeknownst even to its own members, autism does not lend itself to explanation by those who hold it apart from society, from themselves, or from consciousness itself. Definitions are revised, overhauled, and abandoned all while efforts to explore and examine this condition on its own terms are only now gaining momentum.
Shift Journal aims to showcase and encourage such efforts. Entertaining the notion of autistic as a legitimate way to be in the world, from the crossroads of theory, society, and personal experience, Shift welcomes relevant contributions from all comers.
Mark Stairwalt
Editor and Publisher
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Shift Journal founder Andrew Lehman's groundbreaking cross-disciplinary work Evolution, Autism, and Social Change draws from evolutionary biology, neuro-psychology and related fields to outline an evolutionary process complementary to natural selection that may explain some forms of autism as well as -- and perhaps more importantly -- long-term shifts in large-scale social structure. Download or purchase Evolution, Autism, and Social Change here.
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In a world which relentlessly demands practical advice for day-to-day, Shift Journal remains focused on promoting reflection and discovery. Readers however who are seeking useful information and how-to guidance assembled by a down-to-earth, conscientious and scientifically literate crew who once sought such information themselves and found it difficult to come by may find The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism to be just what they are looking for:
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New or established writers wishing to contribute original or previously published posts may use the submissions page or contact us directly.
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Autism and Empathy Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism Neurodivergent Sexuality Just Stimming Autistic Passing Project