Art/Play/Myth

Brief Hibernation

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. Fre... [Read More]

on 01/27/12 | No Comments | Read More

Tolkien the Introvert

J.R.R Tolkien was the sort of man who tended to stick close to an adored few friends and family. He was an academic who spoke awkwardly and had an uncharismatic presence. He loved obscure subjects tha... [Read More]

on 01/23/12 | 5 Comments | Read More

Introvert vs. Extrovert: Restaurants

I found the ideal sort of introverted restaurant in England. It’s a dying breed of restaurant except perhaps in the countryside where only 20% of the country’s population lives. It’s another B... [Read More]

on 01/2/12 | 8 Comments | Read More

LA Times Scooped by Shift Journal (seven times)

Directly in the title of the fourth and final installment of a series on autism which has been by turns both predictably biased and reasonably informative, the LA Times last Friday ventured to print w... [Read More]

on 12/20/11 | No Comments | Read More

Still Half Drunk with Delight

Bee Swarms Mimic Human Brain Neurons to Make Decisions Swarms of bees and brain neurons make decisions using strikingly similar mechanisms, reports a new study in the Dec. 9 issue of Science. In previ... [Read More]

on 12/10/11 | 1 Comment | Read More

Metaphors for mental illness

Last summer, my son began having severe, unexplained panic attacks several times a day. At the time, my only framework for understanding his symptoms was the medical model of mental illness. I was int... [Read More]

on 12/6/11 | No Comments | Read More

Introvert Survival: Any Small Thing

One of the most powerful remedies for feelings of depression, loneliness, and rejection is a hobby or discipline that commands your intimate attention. As a kid I loved insects and all kinds of small... [Read More]

on 12/5/11 | 2 Comments | Read More

The Story of the First Thanksgiving (Journal of Alternatives Edition)

In England, along time ago, there were people called Pilgrims who were very strict about making everyone observe the Sabbath and cooked food without any flavor and that sort of thing, and they decided... [Read More]

on 11/24/11 | No Comments | Read More

Whose Stories Get Told: Regarding Feeling Unsafe In The Glee Fandom

This is the second completed installment of five in the Don’t Give A Damn ‘Bout My Bad Reputation series, the other four of which are Dear Fail!Allies,The Greatest Crime In Television, and eventua... [Read More]

on 11/23/11 | No Comments | Read More

Dear Fail!Allies (Don’t Give A Damn ‘Bout My Bad Reputation)

Will I ever stop writing about Glee? Who knows! Not today! I should note that this actually turned out to be the second part of five, not the first of three as I say below. The first part is The Great... [Read More]

on 11/15/11 | No Comments | Read More

Sugar, Self-Diagnosis, Appropriation, And Ableism: So Here’s What You Missed On Glee (pt. 2)

I have four short little stories for you all. One of them is about my brother. Well, my brother and I–we’re both autistic, and neither of us can pass for shit. We might not be identified as autist... [Read More]

on 11/10/11 | 1 Comment | Read More

Sugar, Self-Diagnosis, Appropriation, And Ableism: So Here’s What You Missed On Glee (pt. 1)

Glee is a show whose buzz is owed almost entirely to manufactured controversies. Unfortunately, this latest one is invoking autism, and as an autistic person and fan, I’m weighing in. Again. I’m n... [Read More]

on 11/9/11 | No Comments | Read More

Extrovert Critic: “You Read Too Much”

We’ve all heard this criticism. We read too much. When we’re seen reading, especially some subject material that seems uninteresting, we seem ‘out of touch,’ ‘with our head in the clouds,�... [Read More]

on 11/7/11 | 2 Comments | Read More

The Greatest Crime In Television (pt. 2)

Stealing a person’s words, their ability to look clearly at something and see it and know that they do, is the smallest and easiest way to kill someone. What I mean is, I say child abuse, and people... [Read More]

on 11/4/11 | No Comments | Read More

The Greatest Crime In Television (pt. 1)

Sometimes I think the greatest crime in television is caring. Giving a damn is already practically illegal anyways, so it makes sense. A lot of the time, in fact, giving a damn is actually more of a p... [Read More]

on 11/3/11 | No Comments | Read More

Evidence Christ Was Autistic?

Here is the abstract from a recently published paper (Izuma 2011): People act more prosocially when they know they are watched by others, an everyday observation borne out by studies from behavior... [Read More]

on 10/20/11 | No Comments | Read More

What Is Psychopathy’s Place In Neurodiversity?

Psychopaths loom large in the autistic anxiety closet. Our single-day traffic record at Shift Journal belongs to Scott Shea’s Spotting Psychopaths in the Workplace, which garnered nearly 1800 hits o... [Read More]

on 10/11/11 | 5 Comments | Read More

Thoreau’s Visit from a Canadian Woodcutter — Conversations (pt. 2)

He was so genuine and unsophisticated that no introduction would serve to introduce him, more than if you introduced a woodchuck to your neighbor. He had got to find him out as you did. He would not p... [Read More]

on 10/6/11 | No Comments | Read More

Thoreau’s Visit from a Canadian Woodcutter — Description (pt. 1)

Rather than trying to spark a debate over postmortem diagnoses, the primary intent here is to showcase and encourage an appreciation for Thoreau’s fascination with and delight in his neighbor who wa... [Read More]

on 10/6/11 | No Comments | Read More

Asperger, Self-diagnosis and the Media

I am aware that the TV show Glee portrayed a self-diagnosed Aspie (someone with Asperger) as someone using this as an excuse for being a jerk. Not only could this not be farther away from the truth, t... [Read More]

on 09/27/11 | 1 Comment | Read More

Aliens Invade Psychiatric Conference

Autistics Blamed, As Usual: Confusion in Satire City Earlier today, a small group of extraterrestrial visitors landed their flying saucer in the courtyard of a convention center just as an American Ps... [Read More]

on 09/6/11 | 1 Comment | Read More

The Eternal Song, Part Eighteen: Coda

The hiking trail was well maintained, wide and smoothly graded, where it led inland from the beachfront hotel. Elaine Dalton looked up from her brightly colored map of tourist attractions, noticed th... [Read More]

on 08/24/11 | 3 Comments | Read More

The Eternal Song, Part Seventeen: Nightfall

Awiyan counted the stars in the clear sky above the foothills. The familiar patterns of the constellations gave her comfort in a world where so much was changing. She could sense the uncertainty fro... [Read More]

on 08/17/11 | No Comments | Read More

The Eternal Song, Part Sixteen: Unicorn

As Riadne descended the mountain, the bare rock beneath her sandals gave way to hard-packed earth dotted with small shrubs and thin, dry tufts of grass. The afternoon sun had been warm enough, at the... [Read More]

on 08/10/11 | 1 Comment | Read More

Invitation to a Flash Mob - August 6th

When : Saturday August 6th at 11am. Where – Downtown Olympia on the East side of Heritage Park at Capitol Lake Parking : Free Parking is available around the lake. WTHECK? – Try to find us for ou... [Read More]

on 08/5/11 | 1 Comment | Read More

The Eternal Song, Part Fifteen: Ebb Tide

Clumps of seaweed cast up on the rocky beach shriveled and stank under a hot cloudless sky. In the tide pools, small fish darted back and forth while crabs scuttled across the pebbles. Apart from th... [Read More]

on 08/3/11 | 2 Comments | Read More

You Are My One Beating H’artWork

Back in April while recommending a somewhat different exercise than the one undertaken here, I suggested “Try it in the spirit of the pranksters behind the early Whole Earth Catalog, who in one ... [Read More]

on 07/29/11 | No Comments | Read More

The Eternal Song, Part Fourteen: Light

Rain, shadows moving, dim fragments of sight. Not much pain, now. The poppy draught had taken Eldest Grandmother’s pain away. It brought sleep, and tangled thoughts. Hushed voices of women, soft f... [Read More]

on 07/27/11 | 2 Comments | Read More

Neo-Typicals of the Divergent Spectrum: A Communiqué (part two: the long)

Neo-Typicals of the Divergent Spectrum: A Communiqué by Anonymous Leadership Functionaries of the Cortical Executive Index of Contents - the short - the long The Long – Hey You. Drop ev... [Read More]

on 07/22/11 | No Comments | Read More

Neo-Typicals of the Divergent Spectrum: A Communiqué (part one: the short)

Neo-Typicals of the Divergent Spectrum: A Communiqué by Anonymous Leadership Functionaries of the Cortical Executive Index of Contents - the short - the long The Short – So let it be: a... [Read More]

on 07/22/11 | No Comments | Read More

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