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
My teenage daughter, who likes to plan ahead, has decided to pick out my next new car. She insists that a GMC Terrain would be just right for me because it has plenty of space like an SUV, but it ge...[Read More]
Gwen McKay on 06/30/10 | No Comments | Read More
The old trope that autistic people are so withdrawn that they cannot connect to the world, and thus they are inherently selfish and disconnected from people ... they cannot empathize with people ... t...[Read More]
Guest on 06/28/10 | No Comments | Read More
The Unbroken Spectrum: Stockholm Syndrome
This series of entries on the“unbroken spectrum” began as an effort to outline just a couple mechanisms which work to obscure the demographic where paler shades of the autistic spectrum shade over...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 06/25/10 | 5 Comments | Read More
Tattoos, like other forms of art within our society, are a way of making connections with others and statements about personal identity. When gang members go straight, they often have one or more ...[Read More]
Gwen McKay on 06/23/10 | No Comments | Read More
I am not interested, in this particular post, in explaining why assistance technology and supported daily lives do not detract from independence, or why independence is not necessarily a goal, or why ...[Read More]
Julia Bascom on 06/21/10 | No Comments | Read More
Children of Lilith (autism contemplated from a silent and considerable height)
“Longevity, like intelligence or good looks, is largely a matter of heredity,” writer Edward Abbey noted, adding, “Choose your parents with care.” Our parents also pass on to us their storie...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 06/18/10 | 4 Comments | Read More
Monks, Mystics, and Mindfulness
Before the modern era, an autistic child born into a family of peasants would have been put to work on the farm, where there was no need to develop fluent speech or to understand complex patterns of s...[Read More]
Gwen McKay on 06/16/10 | 2 Comments | Read More
Usually I can go a long and happy time without needing to think about the hypothetical “cure” question. But I’ve had a few disparate thoughts lately, probably because I’ve been taking a cl...[Read More]
Julia Bascom on 06/14/10 | No Comments | Read More
Autism and the Enlightenment: Sleeping Dogs And Sleeping Giants
I don’t expect that Shift Journal is unique in pursuing this line of thought, but it strikes me that three contributors have now seen fit to comment on the relationship of autistics and “belief.�...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 06/11/10 | 4 Comments | Read More
Robots for Therapy and the Lack of Empathy Myth
"Empathy is one of those skills autistic children typically lack; this boy wasn’t supposed to be aware of his teachers’ frustration." --"The New Face of Autism Therapy" The idea that autistics la...[Read More]
KWombles on 06/10/10 | 2 Comments | Read More
Theory of mind, which is a social reasoning process that involves drawing conclusions about the thoughts underlying others' acts, includes the tendency of many people to attribute intent and purpose t...[Read More]
Gwen McKay on 06/9/10 | 7 Comments | Read More
So we’re reading The Speed Of Dark in my sci-fi class next week, and I’m going to be sharing some information about autism. Yays. I’m still scripting various things out, but right now I�...[Read More]
Julia Bascom on 06/7/10 | No Comments | Read More
The Unbroken Spectrum: Self-Hatred
A couple weeks ago I sat down to sketch out two mechanisms which serve to obscure the reality that there is no clear dividing line between autistic people and the larger population. What was to be a...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 06/4/10 | 8 Comments | Read More
Today's college students scored 40 percent lower on a measure of empathy than students a generation ago, according to a review study that was presented last week at the annual meeting of the Associat...[Read More]
Gwen McKay on 06/2/10 | 1 Comment | 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