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
3 Comments
3 Responses
Thanks DJ and Abram for your efforts. I am a mom of an 8 year old boy newly diagnosed with AS. I have great hopes for him and his future. I struggle being patient with his habits that alienate him from other kids (pacing, flapping, perseverating). What is your experience with attempting to socialize with NTs in school and beyond?
My cousin and I both exhibited some of that type of signs, to what age exactly I can’t recall. Arguably of course, we still perseverate, but among twenty-something friends and colleagues that’s often seen as just being very into your job.
I could, and maybe should, dedicate an entire post to answering you. There’s no certain answer to how a kid will fare at any particular point in the educational system. Up until high school, I often felt like the system was my personal enemy; on reflection, there’s a grain of truth to that. Our public school system has issues. And yet not mainstreaming could be worse. I’ve heard some bad things about aspie kids in schools for the learning disabled.
Focus on the choices that help your child feel safe, on good occupational therapy, and on the belief that it gets better. It does get better.
I am soooo lovin this site!!!
I just got in here today, after talking with Max @ the AANE… I already feel a hundred pounds lighter emotionally, and have some hope of meeting others who need no explanations or apologies for me being me.
Peace, Love, and Lotsa Juice!
Wayniac (Wayne)
http://www.Juiceaholic.org
http://www.phatboyzklub.wordpress.com/raw-wayne/
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