Tony Attwood in Harrisburg, PA 10/20

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October 20 2010 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Autism / Asperger's Syndrome Conference
"Making Friends and Managing Feelings" with Dr. Tony Attwood

$70 for persons with autism ($5 discount if you order online)
7 AM - 4:30 PM (He is presenting the entire day.)

I registered to go to this! Is anyone else planning to go?

I've been wanting to start going to conferences if only for the networking opportunities. (Even though I'm actually very poor at networking in person.) This will be my first one, so I'm excited.

Click here for details on the conference.

I am back from today's conference. It was about what I expected, but my big news is I got to meet Dr. Attwood afterward and I showed him a copy of my book 'Dude, I'm An Aspie!" He really enjoyed it and told me, "This should be published!" He asked to keep the book, and of course I said yes, even though it was my own copy.

There were mostly professionals, teachers, and parents at the conference, and a few people with Asperger's, but they didn't ask us for a show of hands.

Just a few highlights:

Dr. Attwood said in Australia, the Aspies speak with an American accent because they learn language from TV.

On the subject of AS being hereditary: "If someone didn't fall in love with an Aspie, it would have died out years ago!"

He described the feeling of being a ghost in a crowd of people when no one is noticing or responding to you.

He spent some time promoting some of his latest projects, including the CAT Kit for visualizing feelings, and the Exploring Feelings Program.

He mentioned Gary McKinnon and suggested he should be hired by the CIA rather than prosecuted for cracking codes.

He talked about his Aspie sister-in-law who married a man 30 years older, and their marriage lasted 27 happy years until his death.

On the proposed changes in the DSM-V, he voiced his opposition to the removal of Asperger's, since the term helps many understand. If removed, he foresees unintended consequences.

To a question on whether AS should be disclosed in a job interview, he advised to be cautious, perhaps wait until you've got the job, or prepare a brochure listing your strengths and weaknesses.

He was a very engaging speaker and easy to listen to for 6 hours. Go and see him if you get a chance.

'gratz.