CockneyRebel wrote:
^^^I agree. Why not feature one of us for a change. I'm tired of seeing those hot chicks who only come in a size 0. Not all of us are geeks, either. There's over 70,000 of us to choose from. Why doesn't he choose one of us. When I saw the latest girl to be featured, I was thinking in my mind, "Another on of those".
I know who Maja Toudal (the girl on the front) is, one of her YouTube videos was the cause which led to me discovering I was an Aspie.
You all have valid points, and more people should be featured (if they are writing articles like she is), but I think a few of you are misunderstanding why she's being featured.
* She is professionally devoting herself to Aspergers and Autism advocacy. How many others of the 70,000 are doing the same?
* She has already done a lot with her YouTube series about Asperger's; she doesn't speak for everyone but she's careful not to. Her videos are actually very helpful and insightful I think.
* She has personally interviewed and consulted with people like Tony Atwood.
* I don't know why they picked one of her modeling shots, but that was just something she used to do because she was offered a job in it. She doesn't anymore, but she talks about it in some of her videos when discussing how she learned to "act NT". I'm sure she has other pictures too, but I don't know if they're available.
Honestly, I think she deserves to be there for reasons that have nothing to do with her looks. And I think it's helpful in a way to demonstrate that people like her can be Aspies too; it makes people stop and think about their stereotypes.
However, if anyone else is doing her kind of work, I do agree that they should be featured too; whether they are more or less attractive. And if WP starts featuring photos of "everyday Aspies", then of course any of us deserves to be included.