We fear change (2012/04/02)
Okay, so, the greenhouse project has started. So today, there are holes in our back yard.
[read more...]Autistic people and phones (2012/03/14)
Hi! If you don’t normally follow my blog, someone probably forwarded you this link because you asked an autistic person to call you on the phone, or have some service or interaction for which your only provided contact information is a phone number.
[read more...]Followup: Why a vacation might not be relaxing (2012/03/01)
It occurs to me that it’s really hard for non-autistic people to understand sometimes why something that sounds relaxing wouldn’t be, as in the example of the family taking their autistic child on a family vacation to a strange place.
[read more...]Why parenting matters (2012/03/01)
Having an autistic child wrecks your life, says a writer whose column on the Daily Mail is apparently “no longer accepting comments”.
[read more...]Cognitive sickle-cell anemia (2012/02/12)
Sickle-cell anemia has been a favorite example of biologists for years, because it’s an obviously harmful trait which is strongly selected for by evolutionary pressures. The gimmick is simple; it’s a recessive trait, so you only get the anemia if you have two genes for it. If you only have one gene for it, you’re effectively immune to malaria. In circumstances where lots of people die from malaria, this can be a marvelously useful trait to have – useful enough to make up for losing a few kids to anemia.
[read more...]Monkeys and Robots (2012/02/06)
I’ve been reading a book on “Scrum” methodology. Interesting stuff, and a lot of it makes sense.
[read more...]Stealing the declaration of independence (2012/01/31)
Tumblr is full of jokes about “steal the declaration of independence”, which are (Jesse informs me) references to a move called National Treasure in which Nicholas Cage intends to do this.
[read more...]Autism and identity (2012/01/23)
Tyler Cowen has a really interesting piece with the catchy title An Economic and Rational Choice Approach to the Autism Spectrum and Human Neurodiversity. I found it interesting, anyway.
[read more...]Rules, boundaries, and autism (2012/01/22)
Something that has screwed me up occasionally is that I tend to take people precisely at their word.
[read more...]Autism: What's a "spectrum" anyway? (2011/12/29)
People occasionally see autism and Asperger Syndrome and related things referred to as “autism spectrum disorders” (ASD). People who work in the field tend to refer to someone being “on the spectrum”.
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