My wife and I like to take walks along the main street (actually, Third Street) of the nearby township. It is something out of a movie — even the park gazebo was donated to the community after a film wrapped. My wife said last night that the village across the…
Tag: advocacy
April is autism something-or-other month, depending on whom you ask. It’s all about “acceptance” or “awareness” or “diversity” or “celebration” or “pride” — and I’m sure a few other concepts. To this, I respond with a busy, preoccupied, “Whatever.” I get that people want to find support, inspiration, connections, and…
In January, 2014, I was elected to the board of directors for the Advisory Board on Autism and Related Disorders (ABOARD), Autism Connection of Pennsylvania. For information about ABOARD’s Autism Connection services, visit http://autism-support.org/. [Now https://autismofpa.org/.] Readers know that I’m not a rally or march type of activist. My activism is…
It is possible that all two or three of my regular followers have noticed the relative inactivity of this blog. Though I have tried to consider if there’s anything of value to share, the simple fact is that nothing is compelling me to write about autism, autistic culture, autism causes,…
The Autism Hub is the best guide to autism blogs on the Internet. However, it is primarily a way to track the latest posting and topics on blogs. It is not really meant to discuss the nature of blogging or the technology challenges. To help autism bloggers keep in touch…
I am sick and tired of the “Bill Gates has AS” and “Big Bang Theory is about a group of people with ASDs” lines of advocates who think they are helping. And yes, I’ve mentioned this to the other Ph.D.s with autism… of which I am one. It is rare…
With Autism Awareness Month beginning, so are the annual debates on various online forums and within the media. For the next month, expect stories on the debates, the controversies, etc. involving autism. On LiveJournal yesterday there were more than 50 posts within a few hours on the puzzle piece icons…
While I do write about some issues, this blog was started mainly because I would misplace notes to myself. I could shift to Google Docs or another online setting, but some people do seem to find the posts useful or interesting. I don’t go out of my way to be…
In several earlier posts I have noted systemic failures at the University of Minnesota. In August, 2006, my misadventures began. By the end of September, my position in the Writing Center ended in disaster and a complaint to the university relating to the experience. The university has been less and…
This is a rant, based on exchanges elsewhere… One of the unavoidable aspects of writing and speaking publicly about autism is that I am certain to offend someone with nearly every sentence I type or speak. I have been told I don’t know “anything at all” about autism or its…