Category Archives: Society

An autistic rules the world (and vice-versa)

Earlier tonight I asked my wife a if she needed anything from me before she went to bed.  She was brushing her teeth at the time and gave me a thumbs-up gesture which I took to mean “No, I’m good.” … Continue reading

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Can I just be a functioning autistic?

My response to ‘Why This “High-Functioning” Autistic Really Wishes You’d Shut Up About High-Functioning Autistics’ (original linked from my post). Continue reading

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Open Letter to Facebook’s Monika Bickert and Justin Osofsky

Monika Bickert, Facebook’s Head of Global Product Policy and Justin Osofsky, their Vice President of Global Operations co-wrote this letter about Facebook’s Community Standards. Among the principles they claim Facebook is guided by are: Keeping you safe. We have zero … Continue reading

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Intentcasting…to a roach?

OK, so it’s a robot and not a roach. But it is a robot that *looks* a lot like a roach. Researchers at Bielefeld University are experimenting with emergent behavior on a robot platform they named Hector. Their software thus … Continue reading

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Just say “no” to hate

In Florida it is the homeless that are the problem rather than the fact of people having no place to live and starving in the street. Well, Florida and like 20 other states that criminalize homelessness. Some days I can … Continue reading

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Obesity, disability are not capital offenses

This is unbelievable.  The AP story as published here by ABC News begins with these words: “Eric Garner was overweight and in poor health. He was a nuisance to shop owners who complained about him selling untaxed cigarettes on the … Continue reading

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When does intervention cross the line from helpful to harmful?

As most of you know, I’ve been asking people to boycott Autism Speaks and their major sponsors such as Home Depot and Toys ‘R’ Us.  But I want to know in such matters that I’m making the right stand. As … Continue reading

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How do we make people want to change? – Lynne Soraya

Over at her Psychology Today blog, Lynne Soraya asks “How do we make people want to change?” For me the answer is “we don’t”. One of the biggest problems I see today is this epidemic of worrying so much about … Continue reading

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My position on #BoycottAutismSpeaks

There’s a bit of a debate in the autism community concerning Autism Speaks and today I got pulled into a heated Twitter discussion on it.  It’s a bit ironic that a group of people characterized by difficulty communicating with the … Continue reading

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A working definition of hate in three acts

Yesterday I participated in a virtual march on Autism Speaks.  There was a rather large outpouring of tweets and Facebook posts. I thought it would be great if we had some news coverage so I looked up the news staff … Continue reading

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