Where are all the autistic techies? Need your help!

Post Reply New Topic

> None of this was “made up.” I admitted that it was “fictionalized.” That much is true.

Well, Scott, I’m not surprised if some readers find this distinction a little hard to figure out. Yes, the general events described — with great wit and humor, for the most part — in this series occurred. But it’s also clear that you invented dialogue and put it in our mouths. Some of this concocted dialogue tracks the words I remember hearing that day fairly accurately; but some of it is clearly fiction, i.e., “made up,” to make a point that you wanted to make. In a couple of cases in this series, you agreed to change particular wording on the blog when it was clear that people quoted (including me in one case) were unhappy with the fictional words you put in our mouths. That was the ethical thing to do, and I’m very glad and thankful that you did it. But I think you’re muddying the waters a bit to suggest that the issues here fall under postmodern reappraisals of the possibility of truth and accuracy in journalism in general. This blog is only journalism in the gonzo sense, and that’s only obvious if you’re familiar with the concept. Until everyone GETS that a column by John Scott Holman is apt to so blur the lines between truth and fiction that readers can’t rely on any phrase in it being accurate to a world external to John Scott Holman, most readers will assume that if you quote a real person identified by their real name, you’re probably — at least KINDA — reporting what they said. In a book of your own, that won’t be a problem, just like nobody assumes that Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” was a straightforward journalistic account of events. But that’s a very new THANG for an Autism Speaks blog. It’s cool, but at least at first, you should try to be humble and as non-defensive as possible when this confusion comes up.

I am a degreed professional in electrical engineering who gets paid for his work.

If other people want to give away their efforts in exchange for NOTHING, then that's their business - a business model that invites exploitation, but their business nonetheless - and if my "negativity" inspires other Aspies to think twice about being exploited, then so be it

Maybe it's time to "Occupy Autism Speaks"...

I volunteer at my daughters athletics to help man the shot put event. Funnily enough I didn't feel the blight of exploitation as I showed a bunch of eight year old kids how to throw metal balls - for (Gasp) NO PAY.
It's called 'helping others' and there are rewards in that too, it may not be money but it's not nothing as you say. You may not feel like helping others, but don't disparrage those who do.

Those of you who choose to participate in things like this have my appreciation as my son cannot talk and if something comes out of it that helps him, then that helps me too, so thank you

@DC,

I offered a response to that comment. Steve is my friend and understands. He interviewed me for a book he is writing which is goingto be AWESOME! The conversation in question wasn't exactly fictional, but it was summarized and everyone's viewpoints but my own were left out.

Tambourine-Man, you seem to taking quite a bashing on this thread and I'm not sure if my comments came across as critical or constructive.

I was aiming for constructive but I'm not always very good and conveying these things, my communication is more lucky dip than calibration.