As is often the case, I write a blog on a topic I’m not currently exploring in my research only to discover that I’m about to delve into the depths of that exact topic for an academic article or presentation. A few weeks ago, I confessed that I had not…
Category: Employment
Posts on the employment challenges faced by autistics.
Your disability does not give you the right to be a jerk. This isn’t going to please some advocates, but I am tired of people willing to exploit their challenges to get their way and push others around in the workplace, in school, or in public settings. Jerks exist, with…
As readers know, blogging frequency varies with life events and schedules. This semester, my schedule allows little time for blogging — or even taking much-needed breaks to recharge my body and mind. The list of activities remains long, as always. I’ve mentioned my to-do list many times on this blog…
Although I am complaining lately that my syllabi, lecture notes, quizzes, and homework prompts have yet to be finished, the reality is that I look forward to the start of school and the return to scheduled, predictable days… and a paycheck. I’d be content sitting at home and writing. That…
Now, for some paradoxes about where we choose to live. Greater Pittsburgh (more accurately, the region north of Pittsburgh), as a community, has proved to be a great place for my wife and me. The region, which includes parts of West Virginia and Ohio, offers excellent opportunities for people like…
Each new semester begins with anxiety, doubt, fear, and insecurity. Teaching means standing before a group of people, trying to convince them you are going to say and do something worthy of attention. This was difficult teaching at a mid-range state university, a land-grant research university, and even a small…
I’m definitely leaving any and all cognitive research related to autism behind after 2010. I’m shifting back towards creative writing and, hopefully, new media rhetoric. I’m hoping to find a university where I can work on my poetry, scripts, and novels. Research is interesting, but the public conflict isn’t. (If…
Once I earn my degree and escape Minnesota, I am going to do every thing I can to reset myself and my path in life. Since elementary school, I have wanted to be a full-time writer. While I am interested in different forms, from reporting to dramatic writing, I always…
I have hated this summer. I resent the house because working on it causes way too much physical pain for too little progress. I hate using the sink in the bathroom, as it reminds me of the time and pain wasted on a sink that still isn’t to code. I…
Probably the most difficult decision anyone with a developmental disorder can make is who to tell and how. I certainly do not have a good answer for either question, since I resist the labels experts have offered. There are benefits to disclosure, based on the experiences of others. First, you…