Neurodiversity and social change
Apologies for the light posting as we gear up for an ambitious year. Encouragingly enough traffic remains strong, however the winter break anticipated late last year seems to have finally arrived. Frequency of posting should head back up as we move into February. [image via Flickr/Creative Commons][Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 01/27/12 | No Comments | Read More
Writing these daily entries, I discover something new almost as often as I record something I’ve earlier discovered. A year ago this is what I collected connected to the hypotheses or prediction...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/30/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
For all that I’m still learning something new every week about what’s been happening with autism in society over the last decade or so, that fact itself provides me with a perspective that is like...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 11/27/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
Somali Children in Minnesota and Autism
A child’s lifelong maturation rates are set several weeks before birth by the mother’s testosterone levels. A mother with high testosterone gives birth to low testosterone males and high testoster...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/25/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
Lucid dreaming is the process of being aware that you are dreaming while you are dreaming. The study of lucid dreaming was popularized by Carlos Castaneda. Scientist Stephen LeBerge conducted researc...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/24/09 | No Comments | Read More
Autism, Dance, Performance and Mirroring
Jacqui Russell is the artistic director of Chicago Children's Theater. My good friend Arnold April mentioned to me the unique program that Jacqui manages at Agassiz Elementary School in Chicago, ...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/23/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
Autistic Genius: Real or Imaginary?
I’ve run across a couple of other writers recently who’ve made efforts to debunk the notion of autistic genius, and since I’ve been one to lean heavily on the idea that “autistic intelligence,...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 11/20/09 | No Comments | Read More
Neurodiversity’s Neighboring Conditions
I’ve sometimes wondered what a theory of human personality and psychotherapeutic intervention would look like if contemporary psychodynamic theory was based on a theory of human evolution that embra...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/18/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
It has been observed that a human baby displays many of the characteristics of an embryo in the womb. The infant is unable to slumber longer in the dark or he or she would not be able to depart. Their...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/17/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
Neurodiversity Deep Sea Diving
We live in a society that believes that it is pragmatic to presuppose that consciousness is contingent upon evolutionary conditions that led to its emergence. Self awareness occurred by chance. Acad...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/16/09 | No Comments | Read More
Time for this Elephant to Leave this Circus
Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Limbo. Those were the four big places to go. The weirdest of all was Limbo. Limbo was where they sent unbaptized babies. The reasoning was, “It wasn’t their f...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 11/13/09 | 3 Comments | Read More
Abortion, Female Infanticide and Autism
Male control of the female body is a hallmark of a patrifocal society, the Right Wing and hierarchical societies. It is no mistake that the contemporary Republican Party has its roots in the anti-abor...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/11/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
A conundrum frequently reveals itself during my observations of left-handed people. An answer to this riddle seems to be connected to an understanding of how bridges, brain bridges, are made. Lefti...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/9/09 | 4 Comments | Read More
There is a short story I read years ago that I’ve always remembered as a tiny masterpiece of irony. It was set among what are sometimes called First Nations people, but viewed with a slightly diff...[Read More]
Mark Stairwalt on 11/6/09 | 2 Comments | Read More
Autism researchers such as Simon Baron-Cohen have noted a pattern. The mother’s testosterone levels influence the likelihood of a child having autism. The higher the mother’s testosterone level, t...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/4/09 | 1 Comment | Read More
Neurodiversity, Neuropsychology and Evolution
In ancient cultures across the world, there are myths describing a time when women controlled society with a magic more powerful than men’s. These stories go on to describe that there is a loss of t...[Read More]
Andrew Lehman on 11/2/09 | No Comments | Read More
Autism has been here all along.
Considered as an evolutionary condition with far-reaching social implications, its full presence and impact remain hidden in plain sight, unrecognized and uncredited.
Part neurological mystery, part social construct, and part secret society unbeknownst even to its own members, autism does not lend itself to explanation by those who hold it apart from society, from themselves, or from consciousness itself. Definitions are revised, overhauled, and abandoned all while efforts to explore and examine this condition on its own terms are only now gaining momentum.
Shift Journal aims to showcase and encourage such efforts. Entertaining the notion of autistic as a legitimate way to be in the world, from the crossroads of theory, society, and personal experience, Shift welcomes relevant contributions from all comers.
Mark Stairwalt
Editor and Publisher
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In a world which relentlessly demands practical advice for day-to-day, Shift Journal remains focused on promoting reflection and discovery. Readers however who are seeking useful information and how-to guidance assembled by a down-to-earth, conscientious and scientifically literate crew who once sought such information themselves and found it difficult to come by may find The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism to be just what they are looking for:
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Shift Journal founder Andrew Lehman's groundbreaking cross-disciplinary work Evolution, Autism, and Social Change draws from evolutionary biology, neuro-psychology and related fields to outline an evolutionary process complementary to natural selection that may explain some forms of autism as well as -- and perhaps more importantly -- long-term shifts in large-scale social structure. Download or purchase Evolution, Autism, and Social Change here.
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New or established writers wishing to contribute original or previously published posts may use the submissions page or contact us directly.
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NeuroTribes Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism Neurodivergent Sexuality Just Stimming Autism and Empathy Autistic Passing Project