“Schizophrenia’s Unyielding Mysteries” is the title of an article published in the May 2107 issue of Scientific American magazine. Quotations in this blog post are from that article unless otherwise specified. Schizophrenia and Autism: Similarities and Differences I’m interested in schizophrenia because it is so closely associated with autism. At one time, autism was labeled …
Tag: Autism
Aug 01
Brain Fitness, Alzheimer’s, and Autism
An amusing and informative essay on the brain appeared in a recent (July 29) issue of The New Yorker. Entitled “Mentally Fit: Workouts at the brain gym” by Patricia Marx, the article chronicles her investigation of the “brain fitness” industry. The article is partly behind a paywall, so if you’re not a subscriber you can …
Feb 17
Massachusetts Disability/Autism Advocates Update on Legislation
I am a member of the AANE Advocacy Committee, and that committee is now following a fairly large number of bills that are before the Massachusetts General Court. Two of the bills are ones that we helped introduce (description and links at the end of this post). These and three others have been designated as …
Mar 19
Detached and Separate: For Me, Lifelong Feelings
“When did you first realize you were different?” I sometimes get asked this question. My answer invariably is, “I have always known.” Even the first time I was asked, I did not hesitate, so sure was I in this knowledge. Being apart from others is a fate that is thrust upon autistics by our neurology, …
Mar 18
Dilettantes Need Not Apply: Autistic Behaviors are Complex, but not Psychotic
One thing that struck me when I first began to grok what it means to be autistic was how very wrong were many of the “Freudian” explanations and bits of advice I had gotten over the years. I put the word in quotes to indicate I am using it in the vernacular sense of …
Mar 17
Autism is a Silver Car: The Story of Steve Jobs
Maybe, for me, learning that I am autistic was like buying a new car. A few years ago, I acquired a silver car. Suddenly, silver cars were everywhere! I never realized there were so many on the road until I tried to find mine in a parking lot. I have come to think of autism …