Neurodiversity and social change
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Autism, Mysticism, and the Natural Self
There is a common phrase that “there is a fine line between genius and insanity.” I think that line is just the lines imposed by the extreme sensitivity of unorthodox people. Specifically, I am ... [Read More]
Guest on 01/20/10 | 5 Comments | Read More
Social Media and Environmental Integration
I saw this piece appear in March: Too Much Facebook could cause Autism in Children. A doctor in the UK suggested that social networking applications were encouraging dissociation, making it more dif... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 01/19/10 | No Comments | Read More
Consider that those female children with low estrogen levels as they cross over into their teens may find themselves experiencing delayed puberty. This may manifest delayed testosterone surges prunin... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 01/18/10 | 11 Comments | Read More
“Good manners applied without regard for differences are in fact bad manners.” Those words, wherever it was I found them maybe two decades ago, struck me as so apt, so applicable to what I had lon... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 01/15/10 | 5 Comments | Read More
Ouroboros, Autism and Future Past
I’m starting to consider that the highly ritualized environment of aboriginal matrifocal societies, along with the ways children are raised and what they are fed, are preventing the further leftward... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 01/14/10 | No Comments | Read More
Like most people I know, I had a somewhat odd childhood. I started talking when I was three. I remember spending a lot of time confused by adult communication. Speech therapy accompanied my schooli... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 01/13/10 | 1 Comment | Read More
Before the housing bubble burst, my husband and I were among those who built a house in an expensive subdivision, on the theory that it was just as good an investment as the stock market and—yay!—... [Read More]
Gwen McKay on 01/11/10 | No Comments | Read More
An Autistic Ethos: It’s All About Respect
I have been privy to conversation among sexually active librarians in which catalogers, above all other sub-specialties of librarianship, were identified—with good humor but still in earnest—as be... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 01/8/10 | No Comments | Read More
Neurodiversity, Primary Process and Theory of Mind
Imagine that ten years from now autism and Asperger’s are still on the rise. It is discovered that aboriginal matrifocal societies often exhibit what Gregory Bateson described as primary process. �... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 01/7/10 | 2 Comments | Read More
Bouncing around Pub Med looking for patterns connecting handedness, ethnicity, disease, conditions characterized by maturational delay such as autism and social structure, it seems pretty clear that m... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 01/5/10 | 1 Comment | Read More
The idea that autism is humankind’s oldest and largest secret society is one I’ve suggested on this site more than once; here I’d like to explicitly make the case for that idea. Memb... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 01/1/10 | 1 Comment | Read More
Autism: Canary in the Coal Mine
“Nonright-handedness (NRH) has been attributed to hypoxia-induced brain changes in the fetus and associated pregnancy and birth complications (PBCs). Maternal smoking during pregnancy is known to pr... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/30/09 | No Comments | Read More
As a child, I loved to wander through quiet woods and to pick wildflowers in meadows, following paths that I pretended would lead me into fairy tale adventures in a long-ago world. I imagined myself... [Read More]
Gwen McKay on 12/28/09 | No Comments | Read More
Geeks and Nerds: Autism’s Proxy Warriors
Two articles from the New York Times and one from Wired.com this week have been taking a look at what I’ve long seen as a proxy war between the autistic style in American culture and its detractors.... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 12/25/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
Neurodiversity and African Americans
Two biological processes impact the American Black population, resulting in increased learning disabilities, specific medical maladies and challenges not familiar to most other ethnicities and most wh... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/23/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
A superb 25-year study in the UK by Marian Annett ending in the 1990s seemed to prove that in that part of the UK, left-handedness was not increasing over time. It’s been a difficult issue to parse ... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/21/09 | No Comments | Read More
“He’s Canadian, you know,” yields 30,800 hits when entered in a Google search, while about half that many are returned for “She’s Canadian, you know.” The phrase is a sort of running in-j... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 12/18/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
by Jennifer Johnson Autism and its lesser-known relatives in the autism spectrum of disorders has found itself on the receiving end of a generous amount of attention lately. Affecting around 3.4 out o... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/15/09 | 3 Comments | Read More
Marian Annett (Annett & Manning, 1990; Annett & Kilshaw, 1984) has hypothesized a balanced polymorphism in dyslexia that neatly fits with my theory of biological and societal evolution I am ... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/14/09 | No Comments | Read More
“Start Understanding Your Website Traffic In Ways You Never Imagined” is the pitch offered by VisitorVille, a service which provides website owners with a Sims-like representation of visitors to e... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 12/11/09 | No Comments | Read More
Barriers to Understanding Autism
My work has proposed three primary causes of autism and conditions characterized by maturational delay. All three causes impact fluctuating testosterone levels inside a mother, which determine her chi... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/9/09 | No Comments | Read More
The work of scientists is not often poetry. But they do reveal patterns that are profound. “A corollary of our hypothesis is that hormonal effects on the brains of offspring may vary with the ti... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/7/09 | No Comments | Read More
Given the stereotype of the mute, “unreachable” autistic child that comes most easily to many people’s minds whenever autism is discussed, I’m well aware of what a sharp departure from that im... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 12/4/09 | 3 Comments | Read More
Before the conventions, Sarah Palin caused a stir among the parents of children with Down Syndrome. My Leftist buddy Martin has a kid with Downs. Martin was moved by this Alaskan elected official’... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/3/09 | No Comments | Read More
At some point, we’re going to start monkeying with our own evolution. I mean consciously. Clearly we’ve been playing with our evolution, unconsciously, from the start. One premise of this work i... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 12/2/09 | No Comments | Read More
Writing these daily entries, I discover something new almost as often as I record something I’ve earlier discovered. A year ago this is what I collected connected to the hypotheses or predictions of... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/30/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
For all that I’m still learning something new every week about what’s been happening with autism in society over the last decade or so, that fact itself provides me with a perspective that is like... [Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 11/27/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
Somali Children in Minnesota and Autism
A child’s lifelong maturation rates are set several weeks before birth by the mother’s testosterone levels. A mother with high testosterone gives birth to low testosterone males and high testoster... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/25/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
Lucid dreaming is the process of being aware that you are dreaming while you are dreaming. The study of lucid dreaming was popularized by Carlos Castaneda. Scientist Stephen LeBerge conducted researc... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/24/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
Autism, Dance, Performance and Mirroring
Jacqui Russell is the artistic director of Chicago Children’s Theater. My good friend Arnold April mentioned to me the unique program that Jacqui manages at Agassiz Elementary School in Chicago... [Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/23/09 | 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