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…
Month: January 2018
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…
Autistic students and their parents contact me all-too-often about writing courses at colleges and universities. For some reason, writing pedagogies (the theories and methods instructors embrace) prove particularly problematic for students with disabilities. Writing courses are tailored for the “normal” students, those without any physical, cognitive, or mental health challenges. Much…
The situation, which represents at least three or four emails I receive per school year: A student requests exemptions from collaborative assignments and participation grades. The professor declines. Disability studies office asks me what the right solution is to this conflict. More often than I would like, this occurs in…
College and university disability offices often ask me to address the issue of assignment deadlines and test accommodations for autistic students and those with other “invisible” disabilities. Professors and instructors often decline to offer deadline extensions and test accommodations, arguing that such adjustments unfairly benefit students with special needs. If…
Autistics make other people uncomfortable, and we do this almost instantly upon meeting. In my communications classes, I teach about the 50 to 500 milliseconds during which most people develop first impressions. These impressions are difficult, nearly impossible, to counteract with evidence and familiarity. Knowing us doesn’t undo the initial…
Winter is a topic I post on, well, every winter. It is a tough time of year for me, but at least it makes spring and summer all the better. Though I don’t like winter, the reality is I also miss our neighborhood from Minnesota and the trips into Wisconsin.…
“You need to sell yourself as The Autistic Me,” is a refrain colleagues and blog followers have offered throughout the years. I’ve heard this after public speaking engagements and conference appearances. “Market your autistic experiences and expertise.” Though I do not wish to go on tour selling myself as an expert…