Aspies For Freedom

Nobody is going to have in interest in all the topics discussed here.  There are plenty of topics that I decide not to post on, because I either don't have an interest, or don't have the knowledge to be able to understand what is being debated.  Your interest areas are not science or politics, so don't post on them and just post on the threads where you do have an interest. There really aren't that many science threads that I've noticed anyway.

  I was amused, especially because it was unintentional.

That's a hard one to think about, because I have a habit of analysing myself and trying to come up for reasons for the things I do and like to try to understand myself better. So basically bringing it back to just liking something because I like it is dissecting the reasons I have already come up with.  I can't remember where I got the idea of having to have reasons for everything. I think it was back when I started having problems and so to fix myself I got into an analysing self trap.

Even now when I'm trying to think of things that I like just because I like them, it's very very difficult because reasons for liking them keep popping into my mind.  But I think some of them started out as not having reasons, but reasons have been invented after the fact and it's hard now to separate them.

Actually, after posting this, I thought about it and found one.  When I'm sitting in restaurants I like to pick up the spoons and forks and rest them on one finger and move the finger slightly from one end of the handle to the bend in the middle, just to test the point of balance. It's interesting to see how far the spoon or fork will rotate before falling off. I had to think about it to realise that liking finding the point of balance is not really a reason, I just kinda like it.

Rant for 03/11/07 - EvilZakkie deemed dead for the night
(Bella's fill-in rant)

I'm just starting to get back into myself again now, after spending a whole afternoon at a social do. We had swimming, spa/sauna, movies and an excellent view over the city (the 67th floor of an apartment) to help the conversation, but after a while I still found I hit a wall.  There were two really sweet girls there (identical twins) who were actually really interesting to talk to, but even with people I find interesting, I still hit a wall and it gets hard to keep putting in the effort to keep any conversation going. This is where movies and going on you-tube are helpful, but even still after being around people and in a foreign place for a good amount of time, I just find that I need to escape. I always feel drained after these things and it takes me a little while to get back to myself again.

Meeting those girls brought up a question - when you meet someone at a friend's party, at what point does it become acceptable to ask to meet that person outside of your mutual friend?  I wonder if you have to meet them with that mutual friend on a few occasions first before it is acceptable to ask them to meet with you on the side or does it just come down to the connection you have with them on that first meeting?

I didn't ask for their phone number, it was simply left as a hope to see you at another social do sometime in the future. Knowing when someone wants to spend time with you outside of the space where you met them has always been something I have struggled with.  With work people, I often only start to see people and get their phone number when I am leaving and moving on to a new job. It has always seemed to me that you need to tread carefully with these things. Often the only times I will ask people is if I have some kind of event to invite them to or a movie I think they will really like, almost like I need an excuse to cover my bases.

So, what are your rules for when you are able to talk to a friend of a friend outside of the original meeting acquaintance?

Ah, thankee! Nothing like a good detox at the end of a hard day... *grins*

Rant for 06/12/07 - Standard answers to curbie statements - Part 1

I often talk about debating with curbies. Usually in these debates, it's the same statements that get thrown at you repeatedly. So in the spirit of this, here are some standard answers to some of the statements.

These are ones that work for me. If you have your own points you'd like to raise, use those instead, as the more viewpoints, the better. This is more of an "in case you get stuck" guide...

Enjoy!


You're not low functioning, so how can you speak on behalf of low functioning autistics?

When I speak about autism, I give my own opinion of autism, just like you do. That being said, people that are referred to as "low functioning" have a wide range of views on the subject - they don't all believe that their existence is hellish. In fact, many of the first autistic rights activists were considered low functioning.


How can you be against a cure when my child is in pain?

Suffering is not autism, suffering is something that can occur alongside autism - no-one would oppose the alleviation of pain. Autistic rights advocates greater access to medical services to help with these issues.

Unfortunately, these sorts of medical services to autistic people are underfunded, as the majority of funding for autistic issues goes to genetic research, rather than to things that would help autistic people that are living right now.


My child can't communicate! How could you possibly know what he wants?

There are constant breakthroughs being made in facilitated communication, and other training techniques. Unfortunately, these too are underfunded due to diverting funding into genetic research.

At the end of the day, a "cure" for an existing autistic person is a science fiction concept, but it's being pursued at the expense of things that could actually help your child. In other words, the pro-cure movement might be the reason your child is still uncommunicative.


I love my child, I just wish that he could go out and make friends like normal children

Autism is not just social deficiencies, it is an inseparable part of a personality. Your child does not enjoy the usual activities that may involve him/her going out and making friends, and this is a part of who he/she is. If you are talking about wanting a normal child that does these things, then you are talking about replacing your child with an entirely different child.


Yeah, well your opinion is stupid. You obviously don't know what you're talking about

<DO NOT RESPOND>




This final one is probably the most important of them all, and it's an easy one to forget about in the heat of the moment. If someone gives a response like this, resorting to insults instead of offering any points, they make themselves look like an idiot. I cannot stress this enough - this is the result you want. It may be tempting to point out that they look like an idiot, but that will only give them another chance to respond. If you end the debate here, you've won.

I'll say it once more, just because it's one of the most important rules of public debating - always leave an idiot looking like an idiot.


That's it for tonight! More to follow... Feel free to post your own in the meantime...

Much as I'm not a fan of his work, I tend to think ignoring him is the best policy. Think of him like a shock talkback radio host - the only reason people have heard of him at all is the number of pissed off people complaining about him. If he's starved of this kind of attention, he'll cease to exist...

Rant for 07/12/07 - Still winning, but we can't neglect strategy...

This rant is intended as a counterpoint to my earlier "Dancing with the enemy" rant from 05/12/07.

In that rant, I presented the idea that we were actually winning the cure debate, and that if we keep on doing what we are doing now, we'll actually convince the public that our way of thinking is not "inferior".

I do sincerely believe this. However, I do notice that in many cases we are starting to fall into behaviour traps which could leave us unable to make progress.



The first trap is the overuse of logic and debate. What helped us early on was the use of logical debate to point out flaws in the curbie point of view. At the time, their point of view was so flawed that our point of view was new, shocking, and entertaining.

These days, however, the old debates have gone back and forth long enough that the standard answers are all pretty well established, and a curbie debate can go for days, meaning most people will tune out.

There is still a place for logical debate (especially around people unfamiliar with the concept of autistic rights), but contrary to popular belief, most people will not be swayed by the best logically developed argument. We need to introduce other things to engage the hearts and minds of people - emotionally charged stories, interesting projects to showcase our abilities, unique and entertaining methods of explaining and engaging people in autistic rights issues, showcasing and celebrating personal achievements, public spectacles - you get the idea.



The next trap is in picking targets. It's easy to forget that our purpose is to convince the general public that we are not "flawed NT's". We need to choose which entities we focus on for this purpose.

Unfortunately, it is quickly becoming habit to target obscure yet accessible groups and people that happen to disagree with us - simply because the big groups seem "too big to topple". This includes campaigns against individual posters, anti-autism blogs and nutjob organisations that lack any credibility. This can actually have the opposite effect of making these small players popular.

Generally speaking, the best group to target is always the general public - after all, they're the final goal, so why not direct campaigns towards the source?

Next on from them are the big curbie organisations - Autism speaks, Cure autism now, and any other curbie organisations that have enough funds for an advertising budget. The reason these organisations need to be targeted is that people will actually see their material, so an alternative should be in place.

Next are any other large public groups - autism related or not. This could mean schools, universities, service providers, social groups, interest groups, etc.

We will be able to do something about the small players after we get public opinion on our side. Before then, they're just distractions.



The final trap is complacency. We need to keep in mind that there is a very pressing need behind the push to change public opinion. Prenatal testing research will yield a result - it's only a matter of time. Convincing people of our equality is not just a matter of being accepted - it is a matter of our existence. If we do not convince the public in time, autistic people will literally no longer exist.



So there you have it. I have great hope for the future, and I believe we can do this - but we need to remember to form an actual strategy.

Keep the balance between hope and practicality, and we will triumph.

Absolutely, and I'd love to get in contact with Heather about this. She's already said that she'd be interested in being a spokesperson for aspergers, so it wouldn't be too great a leap to ask her to advocate autistic rights...

Aside from Heather, it's pretty difficult to find spectrumites doing impressive things - there's either articles about people doing things "despite their disability", or impressive people that wouldn't be game to mention aspergers or autism.

The only solution I can think of is for us to push ourselves to achieve impressive things, and go from there...

Absolutely true, and I don't really have an answer. This was more about what things would influence public opinion, rather than what things should be considered by the public.

All I can suggest is that when people feel that they are unable to do amazing things, they just try to be as good a person as they possibly can, and influence public opinion that way...

Hi all! I'm going to take a few days break from Zakkie rants to recharge...

The many joys of perseveration... *grins*

The 20th thing was a holiday - the taking a break from ranting was separate...

*grins* I really have left it a while though - shall see what I can come up with tonight.

At the very least, I'll have a new rant by the 58th of Octember...

Rant for 01/01/08 - The Year Ahead

And... It's back! Zakkie Rants Season 2 begins right now...

Given that it's New Years Day, I thought I'd post on the things I want for the year ahead. So tonights rant is going to be less about philosophy than practicality.

I've decided that this year is going to be our year - the year autistic rights gets noticed. And I've decided that it's my responsibility to put in the effort to get things moving.

So here's what I plan to do.

Firstly, I plan to set up an offline group in my city (Brisbane, Australia - http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthre...#pid165330), and hopefully use the group to help start setting up an offline autistic rights network. About the only way we can really be noticed is if we find a way to bridge the gap from the internet to the physical world.

Secondly, I plan to find ways to reach out to receptive groups in the wider community - for example, via ideas such as the Nerd/Autistic Alliance (http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthre...?tid=11267). The way I see it, the more people we have onside, the better - and we need to find ways to reach more than the 0.66% of people actually on the spectrum.

Thirdly, I plan to help publicise Autistic Pride Day, and make it a notable occasion. Offline, this may be difficult to do due to numbers, but we can definitely make it a big occasion among various online places - after all, we've got over six months to plan (For those that don't know, it's June 18th).

Finally, I plan to continue debating on the curbie forums. Debating among ourselves is all good, but the only way we can actually change things is by debating with people that don't already mostly agree. There is a neurodiversity presence starting to develop on the autism speaks forums, and if we can establish a decent presence in the heart of enemy territory, then we've got a huge advantage as far as influencing the online autistic world.

Things are getting far too serious to merely continue preaching to the converted, or writing posts solely for the sake of proving how angry we are. The way we're going, we will get through to people eventually, but given the possibility of a pre-natal test being developed, eventually may not be good enough.

These are my goals for this year, and I need all the help I can get.

Ooh, I didn't know that - I'll have to have a ponder.

Off the top of my head, if you can get a couple of other autistic people involved, one idea might be to set up an autistic "human library" for the month (http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2...yclopedia/). Basically, it allows individuals or small groups to "borrow" a person for half an hour or so, and ask them about their life...