Archive for December, 2010

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]

on 03/5/12 | 2 Comments | Read More

Our Christmas - Some Things Never Change

Hubby and I have had some all-autistic Christmas Days, and also some Christmases in the company of non-autistic people (or to be completely correct, non-autists and an autist who has unsuccessfully...[Read More]

on 12/31/10 | 3 Comments | Read More

Does Christmas Miss the Mark?

I am going to try not to stress too much in this article how silly I think Christmas is, holidays in general, and New Years eve most of all.  The fact of the matter is, here in the western hemispher...[Read More]

on 12/31/10 | No Comments | Read More

The Anthropology of Nerd Societies (IV)

IV An examination of nerds and their surrounding environment is by necessity a study in anthropology. In this situation an entirely new society with different if not directly conflicting values form...[Read More]

on 12/31/10 | No Comments | Read More

The Anthropology of Nerd Societies (III)

III Nerds possess a great deal of knowledge, some of which makes them highly competitive in the workplace. However, they tend to lack people skills and have more trouble than average doing well at i...[Read More]

on 12/30/10 | No Comments | Read More

The Anthropology of Nerd Societies (II)

II Nerds are a phenomenon that results from the structure of Western industrialized civilization. It is in this society that children spend most of their time around other kids in their age group ra...[Read More]

on 12/29/10 | No Comments | Read More

The Anthropology of Nerd Societies: Formation of New Group Identities Within Industrialized Civilization (I)

I It is not uncommon that those immersed in the culture of sci fi and twenty sided dice are subjected to a high degree of skepticism and even outright disgust. It strikes many as strange and even of...[Read More]

on 12/28/10 | No Comments | Read More

The Ones Who Make a Brighter Day

The story continues, and it just gets more magical. In the days that followed my meeting with Bud's classmates, every afternoon yielded a new surprise as I unpacked Bud's backpack and unearthed the...[Read More]

on 12/27/10 | No Comments | Read More

A Year Ago at Shift Journal

Nut grafs or otherwise relevant excerpts from entries which appeared last year at this time. • • • • • • • • 2009/2010 •  The Path Home By now I had st...[Read More]

on 12/27/10 | No Comments | Read More

Did the Autistic Cohort Beget Wikileaks?

It's been said that analogy is the weakest form of logic, to which I've always wanted to reply, “And Hallelujah for it.”  If analogy is the red-headed stepchild of logicians it finds its true kin...[Read More]

on 12/24/10 | 14 Comments | Read More

How far can autistic culture develop without excluding neurotypical people? (Redux)

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]

on 12/23/10 | No Comments | Read More

Why people with Aspergers seem so awkward around others

Non-autistic people or neurotypicals see safety in numbers.  We see threat. Unless we are shipwrecked and have been floating at sea in a dinghy for four days with no food we don't see safety in other...[Read More]

on 12/23/10 | 2 Comments | Read More

More to Ask, More to Tell

I got an email from President Obama on Saturday; it was one of the periodic updates he sends out to his mailing list of campaign supporters.  In announcing the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell pol...[Read More]

on 12/22/10 | 3 Comments | Read More

Introverts: Creatures of the Night

“You’re looking tired.” “You look like you just got up.” “Why don’t you go to bed earlier.” These are frequent comments an introvert hears in the morning at work/school/whatev...[Read More]

on 12/21/10 | 2 Comments | Read More

Survival in the Void

For one who begins life beneath the surface of the Main Stream of social conventions, there is the constant problem of Human Interaction Deficiency, a chronic source of pain that makes functioning in ...[Read More]

on 12/21/10 | 1 Comment | Read More

Wrapping Up and Moving On

I wrapped up my presentation by thanking the kids for inviting me in to talk with them, and I asked if they had any questions. "Is 'The Upside Down Show' a real show?" Noelle asked. "It sure is,...[Read More]

on 12/20/10 | No Comments | Read More

A Year Ago at Shift Journal

Nut grafs or otherwise relevant excerpts from entries which appeared last year at this time. • • • • • • • • 2009 •  Geeks and Nerds: Autism’s Proxy Wa...[Read More]

on 12/20/10 | No Comments | Read More

A Haunting Photo

I want to share a photo of my father.  In the photo, he is about eight or nine years old, and he’s kneeling behind his younger twin siblings.  Except for a photo taken of him as an infant, it’s ...[Read More]

on 12/17/10 | 2 Comments | Read More

Redirection

I am reading through the parent handbook provided by our son’s speech therapist and I reach the section that begins, “Autistic children do not know how to play.” Although I cringe when I read...[Read More]

on 12/16/10 | 2 Comments | Read More

Working

Fargo, North Dakota, August 2163 Like many people these days, Callie Forsyth was a telecommuter.  She went to work by means of a virtual reality interface, its precise connections to her brain mak...[Read More]

on 12/15/10 | 2 Comments | Read More

Rulers of Celephais

There was once a story by H.P. Lovecraft that particularly stirred me. It was about a man who ruled over a fantastic kingdom in his mind yet seemed a half-mad beggar to all those who saw him fumbli...[Read More]

on 12/14/10 | No Comments | Read More

With a Little Help from My Friends

"The last question that many of you asked," I said, "was my favorite question:  How can I help? "I’ve already given you some ideas – talking slowly, giving Bud lots of time to answer questions...[Read More]

on 12/13/10 | No Comments | Read More

A Year Ago at Shift Journal

Nut grafs or otherwise relevant excerpts from entries which appeared last year at this time. • • • • • • • • 2009 •  Neuropsychology and Autism Heteroch...[Read More]

on 12/13/10 | No Comments | Read More

Which War Are We In: Good vs. Evil, or The One vs. The Many?

Gwen McKay with what has become trademark optimism remarked in a comment the other day that “Right now I’d say that we are going through a long-term process of discarding our collective identity a...[Read More]

on 12/10/10 | 13 Comments | Read More

I Am So Not Like the Other Soccer Moms!

Now that my daughter’s high school soccer career has drawn to a close, I’ve had some time to reflect upon the ways in which I fit in—and didn’t fit in—with the other parents. Of course, w...[Read More]

on 12/9/10 | No Comments | Read More

The Albatross

Because introverts spend many hours alone, they are often misconstrued as lacking, or having lesser capacity for friendship and love for their fellow human beings. Nothing could be further from the...[Read More]

on 12/9/10 | 1 Comment | Read More

The Blank Exterior

“Don’t be so serious.” “You need to smile more.” Are some of the most annoying and most common admonishments an introvert receives in everyday life. Highly social persons mistake a...[Read More]

on 12/9/10 | No Comments | Read More

Permanence

Although we tend to think of ourselves as separate individuals, all that we encounter while going through our lives becomes part of who we are, a process vividly set forth in Rachel Turiel's article ...[Read More]

on 12/8/10 | 4 Comments | Read More

I am made of books (and trillions of microorganisms)

Biologist Lynn Margulis was recently quoted in the New Yorker saying “there is no such thing as an individual. Humans are walking, talking microbial vats. Nearly all the DNA in our bodies belongs to...[Read More]

on 12/7/10 | No Comments | Read More

Different Like Me

"The next question that some of you asked," I said, fast-tracking toward the finish line, "was 'Does Bud know he's different?' "And the answer is:  I think he does, but it doesn't bother him.  Bu...[Read More]

on 12/6/10 | No Comments | Read More

A Year Ago at Shift Journal

Nut grafs or otherwise relevant excerpts from entries which appeared last year at this time. • • • • • • • • 2009 •  Ruminations There are two major cu...[Read More]

on 12/6/10 | No Comments | Read More

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