Intro, Call for Contributions + Feedback
by DJ Gallagher
(Updated 8/31: new e-mail address)
Hey, all. My name’s DJ, and I recently volunteered to help out with content and Web presence here at AspBlogosphere. I’ll explain about that in a second.
First, a little about me: I am an adult with AS. I’ve got a blog of my own, and I program websites for a living. I’m from upstate NY, but after 7 years in the area I am a Boston techie through and through. I use the Internet to work, chat, read my voice mail, find food and find romance (and some other things with no real-world analogue). And from the local high-tech scene I have learned a great deal about identity and human variation. For instance, if you look closely and in the right places, you’ll see people with a hint of that recognizable peculiarity, that recklessly intense focus, everywhere; and they are using it to do terrifically important things.
Politically I’m something of a left-leaning, digital socialist egalitarian hippy, albeit tempered by the realities of a job in the marketing industry. On the question of religion, I believe in Java 1.6 on 64-bit Linux (a programmer’s joke; really, I’m agnostic). I will try not to let those beliefs, or my armchair psychology musings on the nature of AS–because hey, who doesn’t have his share of those–upstage the core message of my anecdotes here.
If pressed, I would loosely summarize that message as follows. Persist; adapt; deconstruct; defy classification. Blossom.
But as I indicated at the start, I’m not just here to write. I’ll also be working with Abram and other volunteers to bring more visitors and more contributors to this, the humble AANE blog. There’s a wide-open niche for us to fill, by expanding our collection of real, thoughtful perspectives from new englanders living with AS. It’s another way for the organization to do some good. Plus, more traffic to the site means more attention for the organization, and more potential volunteers and donors.
So I will wrap this up with a request. Two requests, actually. One: let us know what you’d like to see here. We’ve got some ideas on how we might refocus and reorganize the blog content, but it’s entirely possible you’ve got even better ideas about what to do with this space, things we haven’t thought of at all. You can share your feedback in the comments section of this post (login is no longer required), or you can e-mail us or AANE directly with your feedback.
Two: if you’re like me, and have been wondering how a person such as yourself goes about obtaining her very own WordPress login, and blogging on this site–wonder no longer. You can now register directly, set up a contributor account, and start drafting your blog posts. Abram and I will be your moderators, and will answer support queries via blog@aane.org (we are a little bit new to this, so be patient). I figure if you’re reading this, and you share our diagnosis, you’ve got a story to tell. We’re looking for storytellers. New England is full of interesting minds and quietly (or loudly) progressive social scenes. It’s a great place to paint a picture of how individuals with differently wired brains come together and try to understand one another.
I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, DJ out.
August 26, 2010
Posted in: AS Community & Culture, AS Information & Support, Life
Tags: blogging, contributing, dj, geeks, hippies, meta, web
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Asperger Syndrome and the Quest for Truth
by Nomi Kaim
Hello again. I’ve been thinking a lot about Asperger Syndrome and values. Clearly, every Aspie’s value system is a little different. Nevertheless, I do think there are some common values or ideologies that unite Aspies and separate us from most Neurotypicals. The one thing I can put my finger on is TRUTH. For many Aspies, life is one long struggle for what is true or real. Not only do we abstain from lying and detest being lied to by others, we also feel an irresistible, itching urge to correct an untrue situation, any untrue situation – even if the untruth is something spoken by a teacher — and make it true. Hence, we correct our family members and get yelled at; correct our teachers and get punished; correct police officers and get arrested. Read the rest of this post »
August 13, 2010
Posted in: Life, Uncategorized
Tags: Asperger's, atheist, audience etiquette, autism, culture, life, quest, real, reality, scientist, search, true, truth, value
One comment so far
Tips on Being a Considerate Audience Member
by A K
Having attended quite a few different events where the audience consisted largely of Aspies, I feel both qualified and compelled to share some indispensable advice on how one ought to behave at such events. First of all, when I say “how one ought to behave,” I’m not talking about some archaic system of etiquette which certain NTs continue to follow out of habit. Rather, I am referring to the sort of social “Best Practices” that will prevent you from annoying your fellow audience members to the extent that they intentionally forget to tell you about the next event. Read the rest of this post »
August 13, 2010
Posted in: Events, Life
Tags: audience etiquette, endless anecdotes, irritation
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Perspectives on Social Awkwardness
by A K
It’s been a little over a week since this year’s Adult Conference at Northeastern University, and I am almost fully recovered. Every time I attend an event where the main attraction is a whole bunch of adult Aspies trying desperately to relate to one another, I come home feeling mildly depressed and in need of a stiff drink. What bothers me is the persistent feeling that I’m witnessing my own flaws from the outside; that as pitiable as some of my, er, less socially adept brethren may appear, that’s just how I look to the rest of the NT world. Read the rest of this post »
August 10, 2010
Posted in: Events, Life
Tags: endless anecdotes, irritation, social ineptitude
One comment so far
