I had written a long reflection on the job hunt (better an essay someday) as I finished preparing yet another portfolio to send to a state university. I found myself focused on a comment from a search committee member.<\/p>\n
“You aren’t anything like Christopher in The Curious Incident. Are you sure you’re autistic? You clearly got over it.”<\/p>\n
That’s a rough paraphrase, leaving out the various comparisons the professor made. At least two other faculty members made similar observations, including, “So, is this like your trip to London?”<\/p>\n
Ever like a book but wish it didn’t exist? I’m starting to dislike the novel, even though I found the structure interesting to study.<\/p>\n
So, that’s what “Rhetoric” (New Media) thinks of autism. A few math savants and some fictional characters… who also happen to be math savants.<\/p>\n
There is much more behind why the job hunt is exhausting. Having to deal with faculty biases and expectations adds to the stress and frustration.<\/p>\n
Depictions of autism — I’ll leave that for other rhetorical scholars. It definitely gets in the way of my own research interests, as I’ve mentioned before. I’m interested in theatre, film, and new media production. Just tired of “autism” being the starting point for most job interviews.<\/p>\n
Whatever the “autistic-like” traits I have, one is a lack of patience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had written a long reflection on the job hunt (better an essay someday) as I finished preparing yet another portfolio to send to a state university. I found myself focused on a comment from a search committee member. “You aren’t anything like Christopher in The Curious Incident. Are you…<\/p>\n