Would Alex Plank agree to become WP's president?

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thank you, KenG. I would be glad to supply you with that information. I do have a question about knowing my gender. Why is that necessary to the conversation?

Merle

It is indeed not necessary to the conversation at this stage. (as long as you are willing to reveal it to the journalist/s).
I am now researching three optional newspapers/magazines in your local area, which may be willing to publish your story:
1) Statesman Journal ( http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage ).
2) Salem Monthly ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_Monthly ).
3) Salem News ( http://salem-news.com/ ).
If you believe any of these newspapers/magazines should not be researched, then please explain why you believe so.
If you believe there are additional newspapers/magazines that should be researched, then please list them on this thread.

Would you agree to be introduced as a 'mildly autistic man/woman'?
(If you are introduced as an 'autistic man/woman', I'm afraid they will not believe it).
(If you are introduced as an 'aspie', I'm afraid it would mean nothing to them).
If you believe you should be introduced in other term/s, then please list it/them.

I have a concern about using terms like "mildly". It puts people on a hierarchy, which speaks to the same problem as the terms "high-" and "low-" functioning. Perhaps you can use the term man/woman on the autism spectrum, if you're looking for something that is more marketable?

I'm afraid 'man/woman on the autism spectrum' is to esoteric/alien for/to most journalists.

Don't forget your Oregon Public Broadcasting, our local National Public Radio station. I live in a rural state and the repeater stations go much further than our piddling little capitol city news paper.

All these newspapers are on my bus route to work and with in walking distance.
I can just pick up the phone and talk to either Cory Frye of the Women in Business features or Jodi Kerr or Susie Bodman in the Senior Life section. Either one would be appropriate because I am a senior business woman in my community and I can just walk over during my lunch any afternoon for the interview. Not much of a problem there, just a time co-ordination.

Thanks for being the catalyst, KenG. Anyone of us can contact the newspaper or radio station in our area and be interviewed! I urge anyone that wishes to to just read the masthead of their local paper, or National Public Radio station and volunteer their services.

Why was it that we needed you to contact them for us?

all the best,

Merle

that gender thing must be an Israeli thing? We don't define people by their gender here, since the gender we are is not always the gender we portray to the public.

good question, Autistic Advocacy, what is it we are marketing, again?

Merle

It was because we are all autistics, so sometimes we need other people to give us ideas on how to act.

(it is a basic feature within the Autistic Community: Autistic #1 sees some parts of the picture, Autistic #2 sees other parts of the picture, etc. Together, Autistics #1#2etc. see the whole picture...)

No. The gender thing was because I assumed I would need to compose an email on your behalf. (So I wanted to know if to write "on behalf of a 'mildly autistic man'", or "on behalf of a 'mildly autistic woman'").

Do you need further assistance from me? or will you contact your loacl newspaper/s and/or radio station/s on your own?

That sounds a lot like the blind men and the elephant fable.* But thank you for helping an old Autie to know how to act, KenG. Here's a point for you, if you want to find out someone's gender, you can click on the little button under that person's post labled 'profile' and if they have filled it in, their gender is stated.




Being Autistic is not the lead headline in my life, and I have successfully ignored the fact for almost 60 years. I would much rather have them see me for who I am, how I can get the job done and then, as a casual afterthought, let them know about my Autism. That changes their mind immediately about what Autism is, and I don't have to convince anyone of anything. After all, I have much more to recommend me than an accident of birth.

A suggestion for anyone else wants to be the spokesperson for Autism Asperger's Syndrome in their area. . why lead off with your condition? Just show them who you are first and that will impress them more about what A/AS is than anything you can SAY.

good luck and PM me if you need any ideas!

Merle

*In various versions of the tale, a group of blind men (or men in the dark) touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each one touches a different part, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then compare notes on what they felt, and learn they are in complete disagreement. The story is used to indicate that reality may be viewed differently depending upon one's perspective, suggesting that what seems an absolute truth may be relative due to the deceptive nature of half-truths.

Your strategy is excellent for autistics like yourself, who work successfully within the job market. I recommend all autistics who work successfully within the job market, to adapt your strategy.Your suggestion is excellent for those of us who want to speak about the whole 'Autism and/or Asperger's Syndrome' subject, but there are many of us who only want to speak about sub-subjects within it. I, for one, only speak about the specific subject of 'Autistic-Run Organizations'. Therefore, I have no choice but to revolve my stories around the subject of autism.

Well, that depends on the individual, of course, but I think awareness and acceptance of the autistic community and our cultural, social and political priorities should probably be one of the things we're aiming to "market".

You believe then that there is such a thing as the autistic community?

When you talk about our cultural, social and political priorities, I can't help but wonder, who's we? Am I included? If the definition of "we" is all politically active autistic people in the world, then logically I should be one of "us", but I haven't seen evidence of any uniform priorities across different groups and countries. I have a lurking suspicion that if you described your priorities in detail, and if I explained them to my local autistic community, most of them would not agree. They might have largely similar values, but different battles, because of local cultural environments. And partly, they would also formulate their values differently, because of having grown up in a different culture. There are more things that shape communication than AS or autism alone.

To Heta:
* The Autistic Community is the *collection* of all autistic communities which operate on Earth (both online communities and offline communities).
* The Autistic Culture is the *collection* of all autistic cultures which exist on Earth (both online cultures and offline cultures).
* The political priorities of the Autistic Community are the *collection* of priorities of all autistic communities which operate on Earth (both online communities and offline communities).

The political priorities of different autistic communities can be different from each other.
They can even negate each other, but they *all* come under the umbrella of 'political priorities of the Autistic Community'.

A nice, clear definition. However, if we think in terms of marketing acceptance of political priorities, like AutisticAdvocacy mentioned, this would create problems. No one can market acceptance of a wide variety of political priorities without even knowing who's supporting what. The only marketable idea would then be that autistic adults generally know what they need, and everyone should listen. That's a bit too vague to lead to anything.

I think it's more useful to market an idea in the name of some smaller group or community, not making claims about the community, and just honestly tell that we (whoever it happens to be) believe this would improve the situations of autistic adults, even those who might disagree.

It is possible to make a compilation. For example: "ASY - Suomen Aspergeryhdistys" could submit one article, explaining its own ideaologies and political priorities. "PAS – Personen uit het Autisme Spectrum" could submit a second article, explaining its own ideaologies and political priorities. "OA – Organiserade Autister" could submit a third article, explaining its own ideaologies and political priorities. etc.
A main article could then be prepared. The main article will describe the ideaologies and the political priorities of various autistic-run organisations: It will explore/analize the commonalities and the variations between those organisations' ideaologies and political priorities. It would also be nice to have some group photographs of representatives from various autistic-run organisations. (many autistic self-advocates don't mind being photographed together with their fellow autistic self-advocates).
After the main article is prepared, it could be submitted to some newspapers and/or magazines in Europe (or anywhere else in the world).
If enough work is put into the article, newspapers/magazines would want to publish it.

An article about the Autistic Community would be like a musical symphony:
A musical symphony begins with a main theme. It then develops into exploring all sorts of different variations. It is then concluded by a repetition of the main theme.
An article about the Autistic Community would also begin with a main theme. It would then develop into exploring all sorts of different variations between various autistic-run organisations in many places in the world. It would then be concluded with a brief summary of the main theme and of it variations.

What is the main theme? I mean, my own experience of a suvivor of life before the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome is VASTLY different from a single mother trying to parent a child with autism.

and as for a autistic run organization, a few AS and Autistic people sitting around a table once a month for a hour is what the "Autistic Community" is where I reside. We don't even meet in a restaurant because we could not agree what food smells we could all tolerate.

Where are these Autistic communities you are refering to, KenG?

Merle