Who doesn't like Tony Attwood?

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I do not view patronising behaviour as acceptable or appropriate either. I am still working out an effective way to educate others, since these views appear to be deeply embedded. IMO, labels (associated with the spectrum) contribute to some of the closed-minded points of view individuals have.

I've read parts of his "bible" and thought it was okay.

The above quote, taken from here: http://www.disabilityandrepresentation. ... isability/ made me laugh. If this is a good example of how "mocking" he is, then as usual I'm not the least bit offended, only entertained. It was funny. And just for the record, I have played "not at home" too, so it's not that I don't get it. It's that I do. I know the feeling and I recognize the situation, but I also have no problem seeing how ridiculous I have been at times (and can be) and how it looks to an outsider. Just gotta laugh.

I even find it useful. It confirms some of my assessments of my own past mistakes.

i to have done this when strangers have come to my house when iv been on my own

Haha 'tacky and creepy' approach, I defo agree with that Not to say that I don't think a lot of his work and videos are helpful - I suspect the information is generally good (obviously there will be areas he will be mistaken on or not fully understand seeing as the science of autism or any other disorder isn't well understood in general, as understanding our own brain does seem dramatically beyond the human brain's capability, at least currently, maybe always). So I think his contributions are probably very beneficial, but from the first time I watched him, there was something about him that made me feel uneasy. I think he reminds me of other high-up professionals I have met who have let their status go to their heads - he comes across as a cocky 'know it all' to me. I like clever humour to lighten an issue, but his humour is indeed 'tacky' rather than likeable in my view.

What you perceive is what you perceive, can't disagree with it. But I don't see him that way at all. I don't see mockery or a patronizing attitude.

I have also pretended not to be home in order to avoid social contact and you know what? It weird! So weird and unexpected to NTs that they laugh to cover their discomfort.

Part of his humor may stem from his Anglo Australian background. As an Anglo American I share some of that, so it may seem more natural to me. In any case I just don't see malice I what he is doing. And he has done a lot to create a positive understanding of autistic people.

I like him better than Jenny McCarthy, and I like Temple Grandin the best.

Recently I discovered Uta Frith of the University of London who was Atwood's teacher. I find her to be very profound.

- Thanks, I have just looked her up

That is interesting to know that his humour may just be a bit different from humour I or other people are used to, due to his background. I don't think I had a problem with the actual jokes he makes, I just didn't like how he said them for some reason. But maybe that's just how he is, and maybe he can't help appearing creepy to some

That sounds like you have quite a job there.

Karla Fisher's doing some similar stuff (I think):

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karlas-A ... 9821204141

http://asdculture.wikispaces.com/

She's the one who initially posted about Attwood's behavior, and she used to be a regular poster here.

And still this forum has people acting as apologists for ableism in general and anti-autistic ableism in specific. "Oh it's just a joke" that happens to be made at autistic people's expense for the amusement of NTs.

i can't stand that woman

I suppose that, unless someone did something really bad towards me - and that would have to be something like sustained, severe physical abuse - I neither greatly like nor greatly dislike anyone. I suspect this rather non-plussed, 'neutral' standpoint doesn't bode well in making friends . Unlike many NTs, however, I don't hold grudges, I don't get jealous or envious of anyone - if there have been past disagreements or a certain coldness still exists between people (which might be me and someone else), I operate from a clean sheet and as if no disagreement had happened at all: unlike NTs, who tend to take it to heart, let it adversely affect all future social interaction, refuse to speak to others for the most petty of reasons and, above all, get themselves emotionally upset and bothered by it. You are doing only yourself harm - no-one else is - why bother with it?

Therefore I'd not really have any opinion on liking or disliking Tony Attwood. In any case, I've never met him and I've been neither in favour nor against anything I've read that's he's written. That said, I've not been diagnosed that long and haven't 'studied' autism for that long. And any critique from me would, I guess, be in the measured and cautious academic approach I tend to operate by (I'm not a professor or lecturer by the way).

For a critique of Tony Attwood - he does seem rather big on "theory of mind" stuff. This can be seen not only in Chapter 5 of "The Complete Guide..." (my first thought on seeing the title was 'how can a single volume book ever be a complete guide to anything? But, when I read the book - from cover to cover in one sitting of course - I found it is fairly comprehensive), not only Chapter 5 of the book, but also for example on page 100, where, under the heading "THE SIGNS OF BEING BULLIED", he claims that "Children with Asperger's syndrome are less likely than their peers to report being a target for bullying or teasing as they have impaired Theory of Mind abilities;..." and goes on to cite his own work and that of Baron-Cohen of 1995.

Although two points (and probably more) themselves arise out of this - I was often bullied at school for instance and did often report it - itself a problem as going to teacher and 'grassing' wasn't the done thing of NT peers - my different behaviour set me up (unknown to me at the time) as a target for that - and itself indicated my lack of awareness of social convention so often a symptom of AS - and, second point, as Tony Attwood himself says elsewhere in the book, if two people both enjoy the experience then it isn't bullying - but if, as a child with AS, you don't recognise that you are a target for bullying (due to having impaired Theory of Mind) then how can you be bullied if you don't recognise yourself as being bullied - you may, because you do realise you are being bullied, thereby enjoy the experience (as you haven't seen it as bullying) and therefore it isn't bullying? Or maybe I am missing something here or not recognising it myself and 'being autistic'.

Anyway. Tony Attwood seems big on theory of mind. But perhaps it is not mind-blindness (lack of theory of mind) but context-blindness instead: see http://autismdigest.com/context-blindness/ (which, in this context , or not ) may act as a critique. It is an article by Peter Vermeulen from 2011 entitled "Autism: From Mind Blindness to Context Blindness". Or perhaps I've totally missed the context of that article and it isn't at all.

A couple of posters here have said that "they" didn't take offence at the jokes. I don't recall reading an apologist.

It's often said here (in Australia) that the Americans have no sence of humor. Assuming your sit-coms and canned laughter is representative of American humor, then I don't get it at all. In fact I find most of the sit-coms insult my intelect. So it's feasable that Australian humor would be insulting to Americans.

I saw what I think were the jokes that offended some people. I don't think their(the offended people) analysis of what is funny in the jokes Is correct.

Those people laughing are mostly people who love and care for autistic people. They are laughing because some of the behavior is so far from what they expect that it makes them uncomfortable and yet much of that (their own wrong planet feeling) is never acknowledged. When they see it presented this way they can let off a little of their pent up anxiety and then go on to dealing with the serious stuff they are trying to learn...

Maybe I am not seeing it correctly, but it just doesn't look like cruel or mocking humor, to me.

Verdandi, thanks. I'll check out those links