Family comes first for most of us, even when we make tough choices to follow or not follow career opportunities. Some friends have had to live apart from their partners, their spouses, and even children. They had bills to pay and felt obligated to choose career opportunities over remaining at…
The Autistic Me
There are times when I’m playing solitaire on my phone or computer and realize there has been a good move available for at least several draws from the deck. These moments frustrate me, as I have to admit to not seeing what is suddenly so obvious. Move the cards, open…
Duke University historian Nancy MacLean is currently a trendy historian who spent 2017 touring and promoting her book Democracy in Chains. The book has some serious scholarship flaws, which have been addressed by Henry Farrell and Steven Teles on Vox, a website considered progressive on most issues. MacLean has made the stunning…
If a test emerges that can screen for some forms of autism with 80 percent or better accuracy, parents will seek out the test. I expect such screening to be possible within the next decade. We should consider the implications of accurate tests for forms autism, especially if medical researchers…
When did I ‘become’ the autistic me? That’s a complex question and one that raises questions about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from the American Psychiatric Association. This post, however, does not engage in a debate over the DSM-IV and DSM5 criteria for autism. Instead, I wanted to…
Winter fills me with apprehension, as I wait for illnesses and injuries. The season brings misery. Influenza is a serious, dangerous infection. Despite the challenges of this flu season resulting from unexpected strains and their fast mutation rates, immunizations remain important. Even with our medical advancements, it is possible for…
Flu season hit our house hard, with two sick little girls quickly joined by two sick adults. The girls were vaccinated, but the vaccine hasn’t been effective this season as many news stories report. From ten to 30 percent effective wasn’t great enough for our household. My wife and I…
Podcasts are better with more than one host. They are also better with humor, some differences of opinion, and guests. The Autistic Me podcasts will need to an audience to justify the time and any financial costs. Audiences don’t want to listen to me drone on for ten minutes or…
Atypical students are, at least according to current data, attracted to the STEM fields. Neurodiverse individuals feel safer in those academic and professional fields with concrete questions and problems, with clear approaches to best answers. Autism is, by definition, a concrete form of processing information and a communication disorder. We think differently…
Required college composition courses often serve a gatekeeping function, ensuring that only the right sort of students advance towards degrees. Though anecdotal, every campus course-related hearing I’ve been involved in as an expert on autism and neurodiversity was a writing course. These were not always first-year composition, but they were…